Debra Clemente artist/author
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I just opened the door. A dream.

10/26/2014

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From the pages of my journal, a dream I dreamed January 15, 2012.
I had a new job working for a large company. I was excited about my work and did something in the creative department. A guy named Ted was the head of it. No one ever saw him but many people kept very busy doing his work. The offices were large and open, faced with tall walls of glass with views to the outdoors. One day I was in the office, apparently alone as I saw no one else around, and some man appeared banging on the a glass door near my desk. He may have knocked at first but when he came to my attention it was as if he was desperate for someone to pay attention to him and he was shaking the door trying to get in.

I went to the door and looked out to him asking what it was he wanted. He told me that I needed to let him in that this was his place. Despite the fact that I didn’t recognize him, I opened the door for him and let him in. He immediately stepped in and stood tall like he owned the place and was in charge and in fact he did. I knew instantly that his was the Ted everyone has talked so about. So I knew it was okay I had let him in and did not fear him. No one had ever told me that he was coming to our office. He was not expected. No one had ever described to me his physical form nor the sound of his voice but I knew instantly that this handsome man with a commanding presence was the man in charge. The head honcho, Ted himself.

I walked somewhere on the company property with him and we admired some grand moving installation that he had engineered. It reminded me of Disney World and the fantastic work of the Imagineers. Ted reminded me of a cross between Walt Disney and Steve Jobs of Apple. I asked him how it worked and laughed and said “tape and string.” I was awed and realized then that I was lucky to have this great man alone to myself for a few minutes before the others arrived. I wanted to talk with him, get to know him and have him remember me. I was so happy to know that this was who I worked for and became all the more excited about being a part of the grand things he imagined and thus created. I introduced myself to him telling him my name and that I was a rather new hiree and very excited to be part of his team.

He asked me to tell him something nice about family, myself, and my husband. I proudly told him that my husband and I had been married thirty years and had two children now 24 and 22. I told him that my husband and I worked together as a creative team, we were home builders and had owned a restaurant. I also told him that I was an artist, a very good painter collected by many. I told him I was a colorist. He seemed impressed and interested in seeing some of artwork. He wished to have some images of water for the offices.

They next thing I remember is that I was helping him carry something large that would help his car run better. I remember walking so very close to him and that it was actually very intimate and thought that I was perhaps too close but then I realized that if I was to help him as he wished I had to walk that close to him. The next memory I have is again walking with him inside the company headquarters and going past some project I had worked on and pointing it out to him. He remarked that it was nice and had value.

We were going to go to higher level of the building together to talk to others and the only way I knew to go was up some narrow rickety ladder. I was talking to him all the while but soon realized that he was depending on me to carry him and I was but he was not heavy. It was like he was a baby and I held him close in my arms. He was depending on me to take him to the others. When I realized how silly it was that I was using this flimsy ladder to ascend, I stopped where I was to call someone and ask where the grand staircase  was as I had Ted with me and was talking with him.

Whoever I was talking to about Ted was more than surprised at what I said. Their voice sounded incredulous, as if they didn’t believe what I said was possible or true. You see, even though there were a great number of people working in this grand building for this man they reverently called Ted, none had actually ever seen him nor heard his voice. They were all just doing work per some very old orders left behind so very long ago.

I believe this Ted had been standing just outside those glass doors the whole time knocking and calling out hoping to catch the attention of all those busy doing whatever it was they did. They weren’t expecting him to come check in on them as they believed he was far away and way too busy to speak personally with them and help them direct their affairs. But not I, I heard the knock within the silence and opened the door and welcomed him in. I told him I was excited to meet him face to face and hear what he had to say and learn from him.

He showed me that I had to follow him and walk so very close that I walked intimately with him in the world to be his vehicle and that my very hands and feet and voice is what he needed to let all his people know he was so very near, so near that he is here. Do you hear me? This is the message of today.

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Here I am, Hear I am

9/19/2014

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This is what I have been looking for, the fount of all goodness.

Here it is. Where it has always been. You have been looking in the wrong place. You have been looking without, not within. When in doubt, don’t look without. Look within. Seek the answers of your heart within your heart. They are all here.

You keep yourselves so busy. So busy you are. So still I am. On you go. Go, go, go! Here I am. You look here. You look there. You look everywhere. Here I am. Seeking fulfillment, seeking joy, looking for a way to fill the void you feel. Here I am. You don’t’ know what to do. You don’t know where to go. You don’t know what to say. You do not know My way. Here I am.

“What is God’s will?” you ask? “How can it be done?” you ask. But still you do not listen. You do not hear Me say, Here I am. You read books. You look it up. You look up to others. You seek to imitate one whom came before you as your brother. “What would Jesus do?” you ask as if there was a certain rule for every task. Here I am.

You disagree on the “Word’s” meaning. You do not hear clear. You divide and separate. You fear. You hate. You did not hear the Word clear. The Word is Love. Here I am, Love said. Love Me. Love yourself. Love your neighbor. Love the stranger. Love where you are. Love who you are. Love all that you can be.

Love the stillness. Love the silence with the silence of your heart. Here I am. I am you with you, the you, you do not know, and do not show. Show up within. Within the silence be. Sit with me in this space called eternity. Here I am for you, with you, as you your brother too for I am all. I am whole. I am holiness. I am your true heart, the golden heart of God. Here I am.

Come here. Come hear. Hear Me speak. Nothing to do. Just be. Be quiet with Me. No rushing. No pushing. No shoving. There is nothing to choose when they way is one. One way, My way. My will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Heaven is here within your heart, within your being. So close, as close as your throat, My Word lives. My Word may be spoke when you are so close to Me. I use you to speak. I give you words to say. I tell you where to go and how long to stay. When you live so, as directed by your heart’s pleadings you know My way, for you are My way. You don not need to ask any other, you need not look for answers from your brother. For I give you what you need as need be. This is how life is, true life, life with Me. Here I am. Hear I am.


May 23, 2013 - from my journal - Debra Clemente


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The time of joy is here!

4/15/2014

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At 11:11 a.m.` today this thought was given to me “The winter of my discontent.” I had to find out what it meant. My research led me to find that it was from Shakespeare.
Now is the winter of our discontent made
glorious summer by the sun (or son) of York.

Shakespeare/ Richard III, 1594
Meaning, the time of unhappiness is past. The time of joy is here!

Excerpted from the book Listen Hear, A Divine Love Story by Debra Clemente

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176:2.6 “And now concerning the travail of Jerusalem, about which I have spoken to you, even this generation will not pass away until my words are fulfilled; but concerning the times of the coming again of the Son of Man, no one in heaven or on earth may presume to speak. But you should be wise regarding the ripening of an age; you should be alert to discern the signs of the times. You know when the fig tree shows its tender branches and puts forth its leaves that summer is near. Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new visitation draws near.

176:2.7 “But what is the significance of this teaching having to do with the coming of the Sons of God?"


~ The Life and Teachings of Jesus


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What if it is true?

4/4/2014

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The following is some of my early journaling which I called "Painting Titles." Just words that came to me that I recorded as they came. But now I see that they were a signal of my awakening. Do you see what I see?

Valid Messages
Tapping the Door of My Mind

April 2009

I changed my mind.

I changed my life.

Don’t let self talk to you.

Talk to self.

Affirm how you expect your life to be.

Change of consciousness

Tune out

Tune in

Art path growth

Spiritual growth

Getting younger

* * * *

Not far from here

What if it’s true?

Move forward

All natural ingredients

Locally grown

Around here

Not far off

No fine print

Overall

Beyond me

Listen here

Keeps coming up

If you believe

What’s your angle?

From the ground up

About yeh high

Don’t waste a moment

Pass it on

Give thanks

Be still

Still here

Way to go

Gone but not forgotten

Forget me not

What lies here

Stand still

A nature song

A clearer view

One viewpoint

I keep thinking

Clear and present

Fellowship

Alone time

I see beauty

Joy to the world

Angels sing

Sing a song

Sing it out loud

Voices

Soft whisper

Keep a secret

Ain’t misbehavin

Watch out

Look both ways

Like no other

Pay attention

The way it goes

Goes like this

Something to see

Stand tall

More and more

Surprised to find

Here comes the rain

Daily

Good offer

The bells are ringing

The birds are singin’

The thing of it is

A round about way

Say what you mean

I hear singing

Been there once or twice

Romance me

Feels right

Mixed emotions

When you are near

Bitter and sweet

Nobody knows

For sure

Waltzing at night

For some reason

We hear rustling

Being that age

This day and age

Why so quiet?

Chase me

No more lists

For a laugh

This happened

Not too flashy

Sing along

Posture

I stopped walking

Enough said

Out of the blue

No time limit

Free parking

Just like that

I’ll share with you

The exception

Pay attention

Like it or not

The last time

It was a party

Like always

A proposal

Eventually

Together now

So many details

Keep close

Accessible

I was lucky

Not everyday

You’ll know

Had to laugh

All along

Ladies and gentlemen

Everything I wanted

All I hoped for

Room for more

Get out of your head

More to come

No reason

Fad or fashion

Dressed to the nines

Leads the way

Dress comfortable

It’s casual

Come as you are

Make note

No introduction needed

We’ve met

Local celebrity

Town gossip

No need to brag

Attention please

Take the scenic route

Be my guest

Give it a rest

Coming back

To whom it my concern

A good stopping place

Rest area

Softer now

No exaggeration

I’m not there yet

I see it now

Can’t be forced

Something I have to do

Let me say it

Please listen closely

I need your full attention

* * * *

Spirit song

Soul song

More or less

As it is

Deep within

Come to me

Like always

A knowing

Okay fine

Fondly

Feel good

Be happy

Rejoice

Not a thinking thing

It’s a feeling thing

I’m listening

Just ask

You are heard

Joy

Joy to the world

May unbounded joy be yours

By the goodness of God

Listen to your heart

Goodness gracious

Your heart knows

Gracious goodness

Going somewhere?

Enough for you and me

No limits

Change your mind and you’ll change your life

What is good

Worthy of praise

Just keep looking

It’s all here

Keep an open mind

Time will tell

I love this earth

Behold the beauty

Enjoy today

May joy be yours

Love be with you

Spirit of being

Just be

Spiritual awareness

Authenticity

See the light

Extraordinary

Be open minded

I open my mind

Sense of tranquility fills me

My heart is filled with joy

Full of grace

Simple truths

Healing

The art of being

A way of life

Energy shifts

Limiting beliefs do not serve you

Take the lid off

Claim it

You are worthy

Empowered

Possibilities exist

Allow the wonderful

I can deal with that

Just ask

* * *

Somewhere to go

So much more

Let go

I’m feelin’ it

Get it out of your head

Make it real

We really don’t know

Room to breathe

Give me space

Go with it move back

Move back

I’m starting to see

I’d like to believe

The day will come

The basic idea

Believe what you see

Look away

What you make of it

All there is

Out there

Where I was

In that hour

Realm of light

We drank happiness

Walk slowly

Seeking to understand

Guiding light

Look with new eyes

See the world anew

Not for sale

Come back soon

Don’t be a stranger

Take a hike

Be where you are

No excuses

It’s that time again

More to say

Another layer of my heart

Divine ideas

Divine mind

Divine love

Seems to me

I’m still here

A matter of time

Wake up world!

No time to waste

Reflecting back

Upon reflection

Not for sale

In the light of the day

Talk to me

Tell me more

From the inside

I felt alive

Without reservation

Imagine the day

No holding back

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Love Letters Left Behind

2/2/2014

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“Connecting to the Divine within, instead of praying to God without.” This idea, I recently read, was attributed to the Upanishads. Yes! This is exactly what I do. This is my truth expressed. But who or what are the Upanishads, they who so say? And so another search begins.

The Upanishads are love letters left behind so others as they come can find their way inside to the Divine. Attributed to the Indian mind, they were written by many hands spread far and wide. But the Truth contained within each is the same, for all Truth is One, though called by many names.

This is what you are doing now, you and the many others. You are doing the same. You have called My name. You have answered My call. And you have found Me, realized Me within, within yourself, within all. Thus you write what you know and your life as well shows.

Truth can not be kept down. Forever Truth lives. As you read these long ago writings you will see plainly the same Truth spoken again and again. Come home unto your heart. Come within.
Some attribute this wisdom to oral tradition but Truth such as this is only known spiritually. Words do not serve the heart. Words are only a place to start.


 quotes below from: http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/upanishads.htm
The authors of the Upanishads were many, but they were not solely from the priestly caste. They were poets prone to flashes of spiritual wisdom, and their aim was to guide a few chosen pupils to the point of liberation, which they themselves had attained.
The term 'Upanishad' literally means, "sitting down near" or "sitting close to", and implies listening closely to the mystic doctrines of a guru or a spiritual teacher, who has cognized the fundamental truths of the universe.
In the Upanishads we get a glimpse into the workings of the minds of the great Indian thinkers who were unhampered by the tyranny of religious dogma, political authority, pressure of public opinion, seeking truth with single-minded devotion, rare in the history of thought.
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Spiritual Rest

1/8/2014

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This I write:
What if you were happy, what if you felt peace no matter what the world said, no matter if anyone believed as you believe?

You would have achieved Kingdom Consciousness. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all good things will be added unto thee. 

The question remains for many, how do I get there? How do I arrive? How can I become so aware?

You have to let go of what you know, of what you have figured out, of what you have decided. You have to let go of it all, for every bit of it is what keeps you small. In no way can you define with your words or with your mind this which I am, which you are. It is not about following a list. There is no list which I insist you must obey. Instead I tell you to be still, be silent. Do not move. For it is in this way, this way of inactivity you shall find Me. You will see Me within you, as you. Silently, I await your stillness to know your wholeness, our unity.

And then this I read:
Says the Lord God, the Holy One:
‘In returning to your spiritual rest
shall you be saved;
in quietness and confidence
shall be your strength.’


 
The Urantia Book (1444.6) 131:2.6 w

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Worth Repeating

12/3/2013

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The following are excerpts from the recently published EVANGELII GAUDIUM an APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS that I believe are worth repeating.
 
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"Worth Repeating" 48" x 36" oil painting by Debra Clemente
The joy of The gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept this offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.
Jesus himself “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Lk 10:21). His message brings us joy: “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Our Christian joy drinks of the wellspring of his brimming heart. He promises his disciples: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (Jn 16:20). He then goes on to say: “But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22).
I never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”.
Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?
A renewal of preaching can offer believers, as well as the lukewarm and the non-practicing, new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work of evangelization. The heart of its message will always be the same: the God who revealed his immense love in the crucified and risen Christ. God constantly renews his faithful ones, whatever their age: “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint” (Is 40:31). Christ is the “eternal Gospel” (Rev 14:6); he “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), yet his riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is for ever young and a constant source of newness. The Church never fails to be amazed at “the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God” (Rom 11:33). Saint John of the Cross says that “the thicket of God’s wisdom and knowledge is so deep and so broad that the soul, however much it has come to know of it, can always penetrate deeper within it”. Or as Saint Irenaeus writes: “By his coming, Christ brought with him all newness”. With this newness he is always able to renew our lives and our communities,and even if the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it will never grow old. Jesus can also break through the dull categories with which we would enclose him and he constantly amazes us by his divine creativity. Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world. Every form of authentic evangelization is always “new”.
All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.
Moreover, pastors and the lay faithful who accompany their brothers and sisters in faith or on a journey of openness to God must always remember what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches quite clearly: “Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors”. Consequently, without detracting from the evangelical ideal, they need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively occur.  I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best. A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties. Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.
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If ye love me, keep my commandments.

11/19/2013

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John 14:12-17 King James Version (KJV)

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I know what this means. Now, I hear it clear. What God is saying through Jesus, the man, the Christ.

* * *

Love Me first. Love Me with all of your being. Love Me with all of your heart and mind and then thus my commandments will be kept by you. For this Love I am shall fill you and give you the power, the sight, to do my will freely.

I did not mean that one is to fulfill My commandments by his own power and thus as he does he shows his love to Me. That was the story of old. But this story Jesus tell is new, it is the Good News. And the Good News is if you love me completely, I will fill you with my Love completely. I will give you My power, the power of my Holy Spirit to do as me easily.

Do not wait until you are perfect to come to Me. For I say again, none can be perfect except as they live through Me. This has been and continues to be the confusion of the masses. My Love is above all written law, for My Love is My Law which I offer unto each heart as the transforming agent. When you call upon the power of My Love you are not alone for all the power and grace of Heaven moves through you, as you fluidly, naturally. For I am your God and Live in the Heart wishing so to express the power of My great Love through thee.

Express your love. Express your loyalty to Me and you shall know this Love I am, this Love Divine living as you, through you. Thus you shall keep all of My commandments for Love is the Law of all. I am God. I am Love. I am this Love for you to be. I am this Love for all to see.

Limit yourself not. It is not God that forgot. You My children have forgotten Me. You call you not My name in love. You seek not the Presence of Me within thee. I call your name continually. Speak to Me. Ask to know the Love I am intimately.


* * *

The “Spirit of Obedience” is not something we do of our own will. The “Spirit of Obedience” is that “Grace” God gives us to do His will naturally. It is a gift of, a sign of, the New Birth within. Again, we can not do the will of God on our own. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love must so fill us and thus shall “will” us to do and God wishes us to do. I have felt this. I do feel this. I do know this, which is the difference, the difference the indwelling of God’s Spirit of Love makes within one’s human heart. I have know this and shown this all before I have found and understood biblical reference to it. I know the difference for I lived fifty years the other way, trying to be good, trying to do God’s will, trying to be perfect, to be in my own eyes worthy of God’s Love.

But one day I changed. I changed the way I prayed. I began to pray a new way. I asked for God’s Love to fill me and flow through me. I asked God’s Love to be me. He answered my prayer and continues to do as I continually ask Him to fill me with His Divine Love. No where else could such a great treasure I find than this Love I have found that within me dwells.

* * *

Love Me in the spirit of obedience, in the spirit of truth, with the wholeness of your heart to know the wholeness of My Love. My Holiness as you expressing, naturally, fluidly, abundantly without your mind action, without thought. Call upon the Spirit of Truth to lead you in all your thought and action.

Let My will be known unto your heart and mind. Through this Love Divine I offer you each, I come to teach, not to preach. I come to show, so each will know My way as their own. Know Me intimately. Know Me immediately. Know me presently, for I am with the continually. The Spirit of Truth will come, leading you in all right ways.


August 29, 2013  ~  Debra Clemente



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The Pope Understands Me, Thank God

9/20/2013

3 Comments

 
Those who have opened their hearts to God’s love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves.  ~ Pope Francis
Amen! Amen! Amen! What a joy, what a gift my heart has received from reading this message of God's Eternal Love delivered by the Pope Francis, the Holy Father of the Catholic Church. He speaks my language, the language of my heart. I have not heard this Truth, which I know so intimately, proclaimed by the Voice of the Catholic Church so blatantly. This is the Truth that we have failed to see. This is the Light we have failed to seek. But, alas It remains to be found by the ardent seeker. Yes, God's Love is True, just like I have been telling you for I can not remain silent. God's Love within me begs me to speak.

The following are excerpts from the encyclical letter Lumen Fidei of the Supreme Pontiff Francis which particularly speak to me and my own experience finding and following the Divine Light of God through Christ's Love most Divine. The complete Lumen Fidei discourse is available at this link.

- Debra Clemente, author of LISTEN HEAR, A Divine Love Story


A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfillment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time.   4. Lumen Fidei
The word which God speaks to us in Jesus is not simply one word among many, but his eternal Word (cf. Heb 1:1-2). God can give no greater guarantee of his love, as Saint Paul reminds us (cf. Rom 8:31-39). Christian faith is thus faith in a perfect love, in its decisive power, in its ability to transform the world and to unfold its history. "We know and believe the love that God has for us" (1 Jn 4:16). In the love of God revealed in Jesus, faith perceives the foundation on which all reality and its final destiny rest.  15. Lumen Fidei
Our culture has lost its sense of God’s tangible presence and activity in our world. We think that God is to be found in the beyond, on another level of reality, far removed from our everyday relationships. But if this were the case, if God could not act in the world, his love would not be truly powerful, truly real, and thus not even true, a love capable of delivering the bliss that it promises. It would make no difference at all whether we believed in him or not. Christians, on the contrary, profess their faith in God’s tangible and powerful love which really does act in history and determines its final destiny: a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. 17. Lumen Fidei
In faith, Christ is not simply the one in whom we believe, the supreme manifestation of God’s love; he is also the one with whom we are united precisely in order to believe. Faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing. In many areas in our lives we trust others who know more than we do. We trust the architect who builds our home, the pharmacist who gives us medicine for healing, the lawyer who defends us in court. We also need someone trustworthy and knowledgeable where God is concerned. Jesus, the Son of God, is the one who makes God known to us (cf. Jn 1:18). Christ’s life, his way of knowing the Father and living in complete and constant relationship with him, opens up new and inviting vistas for human experience.  18. Lumen Fidei
The beginning of salvation is openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being. Only by being open to and acknowledging this gift can we be transformed, experience salvation and bear good fruit. Salvation by faith means recognizing the primacy of God’s gift. As Saint Paul puts it: "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). 19. Lumen Fidei
Faith’s new way of seeing things is centered on Christ. Faith in Christ brings salvation because in him our lives become radically open to a love that precedes us, a love that transforms us from within, acting in us and through us... Christ came down to earth and rose from the dead; by his incarnation and resurrection, the Son of God embraced the whole of human life and history, and now dwells in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Faith knows that God has drawn close to us, that Christ has been given to us as a great gift which inwardly transforms us, dwells within us and thus bestows on us the light that illumines the origin and the end of life.  20. Lumen Fidei
We come to see the difference, then, which faith makes for us. Those who believe are transformed by the love to which they have opened their hearts in faith. By their openness to this offer of primordial love, their lives are enlarged and expanded. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17). The self-awareness of the believer now expands because of the presence of another; it now lives in this other and thus, in love, life takes on a whole new breadth. Here we see the Holy Spirit at work. The Christian can see with the eyes of Jesus and share in his mind, his filial disposition, because he or she shares in his love, which is the Spirit. In the love of Jesus, we receive in a certain way his vision. Without being conformed to him in love, without the presence of the Spirit, it is impossible to confess him as Lord (cf. 1 Cor 12:3). 21. Lumen Fidei

Faith becomes operative in the Christian on the basis of the gift received, the love which attracts our hearts to Christ (cf. Gal 5:6), and enables us to become part of the Church’s great pilgrimage through history until the end of the world. For those who have been transformed in this way, a new way of seeing opens up, faith becomes light for their eyes.  22. Lumen Fidei
The question of truth is really a question of memory, deep memory, for it deals with something prior to ourselves and can succeed in uniting us in a way that transcends our petty and limited individual consciousness. It is a question about the origin of all that is, in whose light we can glimpse the goal and thus the meaning of our common path. 25. Lumen Fidei
This being the case, can Christian faith provide a service to the common good with regard to the right way of understanding truth? To answer this question, we need to reflect on the kind of knowledge involved in faith. Here a saying of Saint Paul can help us: "One believes with the heart" (Rom 10:10). In the Bible, the heart is the core of the human person, where all his or her different dimensions intersect: body and spirit, interiority and openness to the world and to others, intellect, will and affectivity. If the heart is capable of holding all these dimensions together, it is because it is where we become open to truth and love, where we let them touch us and deeply transform us. Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love. Through this blending of faith and love we come to see the kind of knowledge which faith entails, its power to convince and its ability to illumine our steps. Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment. Faith’s understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes. 26. Lumen Fidei
The bond between seeing and hearing in faith-knowledge is most clearly evident in John’s Gospel. For the Fourth Gospel, to believe is both to hear and to see. Faith’s hearing emerges as a form of knowing proper to love: it is a personal hearing, one which recognizes the voice of the Good Shepherd (cf. Jn 10:3-5) 30. Lumen Fidei
 As a truth of love, it is not one that can be imposed by force; it is not a truth that stifles the individual. Since it is born of love, it can penetrate to the heart, to the personal core of each man and woman. Clearly, then, faith is not intransigent, but grows in respectful coexistence with others. One who believes may not be presumptuous; on the contrary, truth leads to humility, since believers know that, rather than ourselves possessing truth, it is truth which embraces and possesses us. Far from making us inflexible, the security of faith sets us on a journey; it enables witness and dialogue with all. 34. Lumen Fidei
Of Enoch "it was attested that he had pleased God" (Heb 11:5), something impossible apart from faith, for "whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Heb 11:6). We can see from this that the path of religious man passes through the acknowledgment of a God who cares for us and is not impossible to find. What other reward can God give to those who seek him, if not to let himself be found? Even earlier, we encounter Abel, whose faith was praised and whose gifts, his offering of the firstlings of his flock (cf. Heb 11:4), were therefore pleasing to God. Religious man strives to see signs of God in the daily experiences of life, in the cycle of the seasons, in the fruitfulness of the earth and in the movement of the cosmos. God is light and he can be found also by those who seek him with a sincere heart. 35. Lumen Fidei
An image of this seeking can be seen in the Magi, who were led to Bethlehem by the star (cf. Mt 2:1-12). For them God’s light appeared as a journey to be undertaken, a star which led them on a path of discovery. The star is a sign of God’s patience with our eyes which need to grow accustomed to his brightness. Religious man is a wayfarer; he must be ready to let himself be led, to come out of himself and to find the God of perpetual surprises. This respect on God’s part for our human eyes shows us that when we draw near to God, our human lights are not dissolved in the immensity of his light, as a star is engulfed by the dawn, but shine all the more brightly the closer they approach the primordial fire, like a mirror which reflects light. Christian faith in Jesus, the one Saviour of the world, proclaims that all God’s light is concentrated in him, in his "luminous life" which discloses the origin and the end of history.[31] There is no human experience, no journey of man to God, which cannot be taken up, illumined and purified by this light. The more Christians immerse themselves in the circle of Christ’s light, the more capable they become of understanding and accompanying the path of every man and woman towards God.

Because faith is a way, it also has to do with the lives of those men and women who, though not believers, nonetheless desire to believe and continue to seek. To the extent that they are sincerely open to love and set out with whatever light they can find, they are already, even without knowing it, on the path leading to faith. They strive to act as if God existed, at times because they realize how important he is for finding a sure compass for our life in common or because they experience a desire for light amid darkness, but also because in perceiving life’s grandeur and beauty they intuit that the presence of God would make it all the more beautiful. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons tells how Abraham, before hearing God’s voice, had already sought him "in the ardent desire of his heart" and "went throughout the whole world, asking himself where God was to be found", until "God had pity on him who, all alone, had sought him in silence". [32] Any-one who sets off on the path of doing good to others is already drawing near to God, is already sustained by his help, for it is characteristic of the divine light to brighten our eyes whenever we walk towards the fullness of love. 35. Lumen Fidei
Right faith orients reason to open itself to the light which comes from God, so that reason, guided by love of the truth, can come to a deeper knowledge of God. The great medieval theologians and teachers rightly held that theology, as a science of faith, is a participation in God’s own knowledge of himself. It is not just our discourse about God, but first and foremost the acceptance and the pursuit of a deeper understanding of the word which God speaks to us, the word which God speaks about himself, for he is an eternal dialogue of communion, and he allows us to enter into this dialogue.[33] 36. Lumen Fidei
Those who have opened their hearts to God’s love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves. 37. Lumen Fidei
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Deepening into Truth

7/27/2013

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I have been through an amazing process of deepening into Truth and integrating the power and presence of God within me. 
Words from Silence: An Invitation to Spiritual Awakening by Leonard Jacobson


This is what I am as well doing presently, "Deepening into Truth." I am learning from these Words, this Wisdom that come to me. I feel I am to do more with all that I am being given, given so continually and in time I will. For God's Will be done through me as I surrender my own will so completely. ~ Deb

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http://www.leonardjacobson.com
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    Debra Clemente

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