Jim Palmer's Blog, page 55

Your perfect scenario

The prefect scenario for…

experiencing transformation,

charting a new path,

starting over,

finding peace,

being happy,

doing it differently,

letting go,

moving forward,

listening to your heart,

following your passion,

forgiving yourself,

loving yourself,

becoming more human,

is exactly what is showing up in your life right now.

First look at cover for Notes from (Over) the Edge

Here’s the mock-up of the cover for Notes from (Over) the Edge. The cover photo was taken by phenom photographer Darla Winn, and the cover design was created by the talented Anne Goodrich.

Several others have made significant contributions to the effort of independently publishing Notes from (Over) the Edge, including:

Mike Willis – editorial design

Yana Cortlund – editorial design

Ryan Ange – copyeditor

Heather Palmer – proof reader and author sanity

Rachael Jefferies Kelly – proof reader

Many of you offered “endorsements” that will appear on the cover and inside the book. And thank you to everyone who has contributed to The Notes Campaign, left a comment, and shared the campaign link with your friends! The goal of the campaign is to have a minimum of 100 contributors. Please take five minutes and visit The Notes Campaign, and help support the cause of publishing this book. There are several “perks” at different giving levels. Whether it’s $5, $15 or $50, every contributor, every dollar and every comment makes a difference! Thanks

Here’s the link.

It’s not the title that frees people, it’s the Truth.

I received an email this morning asking if I believed “Jesus was Lord.” A conventional definition of “Lord” is “a deferential title for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.”

But consider this possibility. What if embracing Jesus’ Truth means divesting yourself of beliefs that you have long held in the highest certainty? What if “Jesus as Lord” means seeing God, yourself, others and life itself in a way that you have never seen before? What if the idea of “Jesus as Lord” means parting with your religious tradition, even the “Christian” one?

Many people are fond of applying “Lord” to Jesus as a title of honor and authority. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will walk in the reality of my kingdom.” Why is that? Because it’s not the title that frees people, it’s the Truth.

Myths of Pop-Christianity

 

“10 Myths of Pop Christianity:

1. Church is a place, a location, a building.

2. Christianity happens in services, classes, meetings, events, and programs.

3. What people need most is good information about God.

4. “God’s work” needs organizational or corporate infrastructure.

5. The more control the better; no telling what people will do if left to themselves.

6. It’s best you let us decide how to use and distribute your money.

7. Depend on us for the spiritual formation of your children; we are trained.

8. The bigger the church, the better.

9. People are more valuable and spiritual based on their involvement and giving level.

10. Relationships happen in group meetings.”

- Jim Palmer

I am an explorer.

I see value in every person’s story and journey. I am convinced that every human being past and present knows something profound that I must learn. Some days John Muir is my teacher, other days it’s Marilyn Manson. Whether it’s Sylvia Plath, James Baldwin, Stephanie Myer, or Stephen King, I am drawn to words that don’t hold back or try to protect me from what’s real – words courageous enough to speak to the most terrifying and darkest moments and experiences of life, or the most rapturous and beautiful ones.

Sometimes I get stuck on the inside and the quotes I post are my way of expressing something that I don’t have words for myself. There are times when people like Thomas Merton, Audre Lorde, and Jim Morrison spoke for me.

I am an explorer. I have never met a subject, topic, area or facet of life that I wasn’t interested in, which accounts for the fact that I post quotes about nearly everything under the sun. For me, it all holds significance, it all matters. Life is my religion.

I made peace with my religious past.

Some Things I Did, Exploring Spirituality Beyond Institutional Religion:

I made peace with my religious past.

I took responsibility for my spiritual journey.

I stopped dividing up the world into “sacred” and “secular”.

I began listening to and trusting my inner voice.

I started looking past the externals, and relating to the deepest reality I knew was present in every human being.

I quit making my humanity the enemy.

I resisted the need to build a persona around being an enlightened person.

I opened myself to the rhythm and flow of life in nature.

I explored what it meant to truly be “present” in life and became a student of my spiritual aura and energy.

I focused on addressing the root of my suffering.

I paid attention to my deepest desires and passions.

I sought to cast off my fictitious self, and be an authentic and fully-expressed me.

I explored the connection between spirituality and sexuality.

I expanded my relational world beyond religious sub-culture.

I resisted creating a new religion out of my latest discovery.

I operated with the assumption that every human being knew something I needed to know.

I resisted latching onto the latest guru, and began seeing all people as my teachers.

I explored new fields and areas of interest that were largely unknown to me.

I gave up the idea of needing to accomplish some epic thing for God.

I approached my life as a reality I was free to create.

I became interested and involved in the lives of people I encountered naturally along the everyday paths of my life.

15 Things Jesus Didn’t Say

15 things Jesus Didn’t Say:

“For God was so disgusted with the world and you that he gave his one and only Son.”

“I have come to bring you a new religion.”

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have correct theology.”

“If anyone would come after me, let him disparage all other religions and their followers.”

“If you love me, you will regularly attend a church of your choice… within reason.”

“Blessed are the tithers for they shall be called the children of God.”

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in Heaven after the earth goes up in flames and destroyed.”

“You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor,’ which means the people with whom you attend church and relate to in your Christian sub-culture.”

“In my Father’s house there are a limited number of rooms. But no worries, there is plenty of room in Hell.”

“The kingdom of God has come!… Well, not exactly. I mean, not completely. Let’s face it, the really-real kingdom comes after we die. Hang in there. It won’t be long.”

“And you will know the truth and the truth will make you superior to all the other simpletons who never learned Greek or Hebrew.”

“You are the light of the world… well… in a sinful-filthy-scum kind of way.”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you a checklist of things to do and not do in order to remain in God’s favor.”

“For God so loved the world… you know like theoretically… as in, God loves the big ‘W’-world. But when it come to you specifically, that are quite a few things that would need to change for God to actually and specifically love… or even like… YOU.”

“He appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days and spoke about how to incorporate his life and teaching as a 501(c)3, and go into all the earth to build mega-churches in his name.”

- Jim Palmer. Notes from (Over) the Edge

*I appreciate everyone who is sharing this post. It’s an excerpt from my upcoming book, Notes from (Over) the Edge. You can learn more about all my books on my Goodreads Author Page.

On the making of a book

I wanted to give a brief update on the effort to have Notes from (Over) the Edge available before Christmas. First off, a shout-out to the team who have been working on it:

Yana Cortlund – content structure/design

Mike Willis – content structure/design

Ryan Ange – manuscript copyedit work

Darla Winn – cover images

Rachael Jefferies Kelly – manuscript copyedit work

Anne Goodrich – cover design

Heather Palmer – author sanity management

Once the manuscript is properly prepared, it will be handed over to Amazon to make it available in digital and print. From there, a different group of folks will lend their expertise in helping to get the word out about the book through social media and other avenues.

From start to finish, a conservative financial estimate for pulling all this off as an independent effort is $5,000. We started The Notes Campaign a week ago to generate funds to make all this happen. I am SO grateful for each person who has been contribution and left encouraging comments. I also did a post yesterday, asking people to write a brief “endorsement” for my writing to be included on the cover or inside the book. You can still do this by leaving a comment on yesterday’s post. Please take a moment and go to The Notes Campaign and make a small contribution and leave an encouraging comment for the team. $5 contributions are perfect! Notice also the “perks” for various giving levels. The amount you give is not important. From the very beginning we were hoping for at least 100 contributors. We are about half way there now. Consider sharing the campaign with your friends and network.

Check out The Notes Campaign at this link -> http://igg.me/at/notes/x/294635

The above pic is the cover photo by Darla Winn, Photography

We laugh, we cry, we hurt – this is being Jesus

“It is okay to feel what human beings feel and we are not supposed to turn into rocks or trees once we are enlightened, awakened, or transformed. We laugh, cry, dance, feel ecstasy, even feel despair. It is how we know the world. It is how we live inside of our hearts and not dissociated from them.

Jesus didn’t psychologize or spiritualize people’s suffering. He didn’t even seem to try to explain it in light of God. Jesus faced suffering and tasted the depths of it. He leaned into it, endured it, and fully met others in their suffering. Jesus did not live a detached life, as I had understood it. Jesus cared. Jesus wept. Jesus felt it all deeply. There is some way, perhaps a middle way, between living in denial and being swallowed whole by the pain and suffering of human existence, and this is how Jesus lived.

Being Jesus means that we go through life embracing it all fully and feeling it all deeply. That we don’t hide and try to protect ourselves. That we live. That we show up. That we laugh. That we cry. That we hurt. That we heal. That we care. That we love. And then, that we wake up the next morning and sign up for it all over again.”

- Jim Palmer, Being Jesus in Nashville: Finding the Courage to Live Your Life (Whoever and Wherever You Are)

It’s both the bliss and the ache

“I’m not sure which will kill me first – the beauty of this life or the sadness of it. There’s this feeling I sometimes come upon that’s one part joy, one part freedom, and one part peace. It’s like they all happen at once mingled together, and saturates every molecule of my being with bliss. But there’s also a sorrow that sometimes pierces and pounds my heart so deeply that it feels as though I might die from the sheer magnitude of the pain and ache of it.

There is a bliss that no amount of ache can steal away. And there’s an ache that no amount of bliss can rescue you from. Enlightenment doesn’t spare you from being human. You are supposed to be here. You are supposed to be human. You signed up for it. You chose it. You are supposed to feel both the bliss and the ache.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes from (Over) the Edge