Getting Stoned
By Summer Bacon
The title of this article is about something that has bothered me for a long time. No, I'm not talking about drugs. I'm talking about getting stoned in the old fashioned sense. The "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" kind of stoning. I'm talking getting stoned in the biblical sense.
Okay, "why?" is a good question. Well, see there's this disturbing biblical reference to trance mediums. It reads like this:
Lev 20:27-And a man or woman, when there is among them a medium, or a spirit-knower, dying shall die; they shall stone them with stones; their blood is on them.
Eek.
I became a born again Christian about twenty years ago, in the hopes of getting rid of the spooks who seemed to follow me everywhere in my life. It didn't work. No amount of prayer got rid of them. In fact, the contact just intensified. I had to know why, and decided to work with my mystical abilities, rather than fight them.
I was SO afraid of possession. I was SO afraid of Satan. I was SO afraid of offending God. I prayed fervently everyday, "Dear God, let Thy Will be mine." I prayed for Him to guide me every step of the way as I entered the realm of trance mediumship so that I would know that my work was pure and based in love.
It was not easy. Every step of the way brought some new challenge. Every step of the way I was challenged to love more deeply, to release my fears, to not be consumed by my own expectations, to surrender to a much bigger picture, and to trust that every step would bring me closer to God, not further away. It was exhausting as my judgements, biases, fears, and expectations were stripped away from me. I became raw and vulnerable, but eventually I relaxed with this new awareness, and found myself surrounded by more love than I could have ever imagined possible. I soon realized that these were angels, guides and friends working with me and through me. I knew that there was nothing to fear after all. I had my love and faith in God to guide me.
Having channeled spirits for seven years now, I have heard every possible question and concern that trance channeling evokes in people. Many people have the immediate concern about whether or not the source of information is pure. Those who have grown up with Christian indoctrination have found themselves feeling very challenged to embrace Dr. Peebles' guidance-they can feel the love he offers, but is it approved by God and Jesus Christ? I had the same questions, once upon a time.
Long ago, someone asked Dr. Peebles whether the channeling process was approved by the Bible. Dr. Peebles responded, "My dear, how do you think the Bible was written?"
Other people have blatantly expressed their fears that I might possibly be some kind of cult leader. I just have to giggle at that. Those who know me well, know that my immediate response to people who say I have "quite a following," is "Don't ever say the 'f' word around me!"
I am forever humbled by the fact that I am able to do this work with Dr. Peebles. I have watched with joy and wonder the profound impact of Dr. Peebles' guidance has on people's lives. I know now, beyond a shadow of a doubt that my work is indeed based in love, and that God endorses it, and yet…that passage. What does it really mean?
A few months ago I was sent an angel incarnate, in the form of Michael Scott, a devout student of the Bible, and one of the most sincere and compassionate people I have ever met. I asked him to interpret that passage for me.
He first explained so eloquently the meaning of "law" and "sin" in the Bible. He explained the word "stone" which in Hebrew is "eben" which means "to build; begin to build; make; repair; build up." The act of stoning (ragam) means "to cast together; bring together; build up or heap up." In Aramaic, "stone" is also an idiom connoting "Truth."
"Therefore," Michael wrote, "God's judgement on anyone who transgresses the Law, or sins, or stumbles along his way and fails to meet the objective, by whatever means misses the mark, by not allowing God to flow freely in and through him or her, 'is to be taken outside the camp and stoned with stones to death.' In other words, the person is to be taken aside and built up, repaired, taught where and how he has erred, brought together and back into God's flow. That ego or personality which is not living in harmony with Divine Nature is to be put to death by building up that which is of God. In this manner the true child of God may blossom.
Jesus put it this way, 'Anyone who wishes to save his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for My sake will gain it.' Jesus also taught this principle in His parable of the mustard seed that is buried in the ground. Once that seed dies to its old nature the natural flow of God's current of life transforms that hardened crusty seed into a magnificent tree, giving refuge and comfort to many. The mustard seed does not, indeed cannot, work at becoming the magnificent tree it was created to be. But, once the seed's outer shell falls away, it's true, inner identity begins to take form. In the same way, Jesus is asking us to give up, let die what we have been so that God may develop through us that which we were created to be."
Beautifully put, don't you think?
I always say that we are all channels. As you seek the greater goodness of life and self, you clear the way for God's light to shine through you. Sure, sometimes growth is painful, as we are torn down, and then stoned-built up-once again. But isn't it worth it?
So, what do you think?
Wanna get stoned?