The God I Call Father

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Kia here.

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I'm this week's host of the creative

spiritual journey podcast, where I

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talk about what I've been learning on

this remarkable journey we call life.

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As I considered my topic for this week.

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The thought kept coming to me that

I should talk about heavenly father.

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And that's because I talked

about heavenly mother in may.

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And June is the month for father's day.

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But everyone already knows about

heavenly father don't they.

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Hmm.

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Good question.

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The more I thought about it.

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The more I realized that in reality,

I don't know much more about heavenly

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father than I do about heavenly mother.

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Any image for heavenly father is so deeply

interwoven with the image of Jesus Christ.

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That it's hard to tell where one

God ends and the other begins.

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It would appear as if both gods are one.

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Which is the point, right.

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They want us to see them that way.

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Two distinct beings, but one in purpose.

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Still, I found myself wondering about

the nature of this almighty God.

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The big kahuna, the man at the top.

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And I wanted a unique,

personal way to connect to him.

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Scripture names, this God Elohim

or L I like to use L because Elohim

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is actually plural as in gods.

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This is a fascinating thing to note

and it would be fun to talk about, but

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that would get us off topic for today.

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So this God L this great and

marvelous, all powerful God.

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He has asked us to call him father.

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Does that melt your heart a little.

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It feels really personal and tender.

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The word father, besides being the

male contributor to the creation

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of a child, also carries with it

certain rights and obligations

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such as provider and protector.

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Father can also reference the founder

producer author or responsible party.

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I like seeing my God that way, my

provider, my protector, the responsible

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party, the person who is making sure this

mortal experience works out as planned.

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So my question was.

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What to me represents

this God I call father.

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And I went in search of symbols.

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The first thing I found was the bowl.

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Remember the golden calf, the Israelites

created it to represent the Messiah or

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Jesus Christ, the savior of the world.

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While Moses was conversing

with God on Mount Sinai.

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And they pick the golden calf because

heavenly father was known as the bull

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and heavenly mother was known as the cow.

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Yes.

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I know that sounds terrible.

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In our current culture.

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But there are actually some amazing

Egyptian images of a heavenly

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mother goddess with bovine ears.

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That are so sweet and beautiful.

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So I think this bull symbol is super

interesting when you consider all

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the different religions and cultures

that have revered cattle as sacred

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Hinduism, Buddhism, African paganism.

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As well as ancient Egypt,

Greece, Israel, and Rome.

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It kind of makes you wonder of all

these religions have the same roots.

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Doesn't it.

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Which makes sense, because

we know that truth has been

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scattered all over the earth.

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But as sweet as the warm brown eyes

of cattle are, they didn't seem

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like the symbol I was looking for.

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And I went searching for something more.

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Another symbol I found is the hand.

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As in the hand of God.

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We do everything with our hands.

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Can you imagine life without them?

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I'm so sorry for anyone without hands

or without the use of their hands.

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Hands all parts of them.

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Palms fingers, joints,

nerves are so important.

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We make things with them.

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We eat with them.

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We care for ourselves

and others with them.

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I love my hands.

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I also like thinking about

how we shake hands and all the

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things handshakes are used for.

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A greeting.

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To seal an agreement or

contract to make an Alliance.

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Does that sound like a

great symbol of God to you?

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Think of Leonardo DaVinci's

famous painting on the

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ceiling of the Sistine chapel.

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The finger of God, giving life to man.

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To merely touch God's hand

is to connect with divinity.

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This is a powerful and wonderful symbol.

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Still it's not quite

what I was looking for.

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I wanted something that connected

heavenly father to me, to my personality.

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Then I found it.

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The rock.

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Granted, this is one of those symbols

that represents Jesus Christ as well.

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But I love it as a representation

of the God I call father.

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Rock is a material of

integrity and longevity.

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It has an unchanging nature.

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It creates a firm foundation that

patiently bears, heavy loads.

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It characterizes the steadfast,

the immovable, the ageless, the

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eternal, and even the divine.

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But here's where the symbol

of a rock is personal to me.

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Around to my home in the high desert of

the four corners area, I am surrounded

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by huge monoliths of red sandstone rock.

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Giant towers of them.

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Often they are named for how they look.

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For example, the mittens, the

three gossips, the needles, castle

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rock, the priest and the nuns.

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There is even one I pass by

on my way into town that is

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called the king and the jester.

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This has been my favorite

rock formation since I first

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discovered the red rock desert.

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It's not the biggest or the most

grand, but it has always made me happy.

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This formation has one Spire with the

distinct shape of a crown on its head.

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And next to it as a smaller figure

with what looks like a round head.

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This figure appears to be

kneeling before the king.

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One day as I was driving past

these rocks, I had the thought.

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That is an adjuster.

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That's me.

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I'm the little figure Oh, my

gosh, that was such a revelation.

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I love driving past that formation and

imagining myself kneeling before my king.

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It's such a powerful

thought provoking image.

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Now I love this formation

even more than I did before.

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But that's not all often when I'm

praying, I opened my prayer as

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usual with dear heavenly father.

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And then I just like to sit there.

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As if I've opened a door

into the throne room of God.

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And I don't say anything.

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I just want to be in his presence.

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It's a powerful way to pray.

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So there are lots of religions throughout

the world that have a God of rocks,

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often the God of rocks and mountains.

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This has generally a God

who is strong and powerful.

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A God who, when angry can shake

the land with earthquakes.

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But as I imagined myself in the throne

room of God, It's not fear and trembling.

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I experience it's more like

these words from Deuteronomy.

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My God is my rock.

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His work is perfect.

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He is truth.

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Just and right.

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Is he.

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In this throne room, I find stillness.

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Not just that God is still,

but that I want to be still.

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Like I'm a mouse hiding in the corner.

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Not because I'm afraid but because

I want to be allowed to stay

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there for as long as possible.

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Hmm, the God I call

father is also my rock.

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And speaking of rocks.

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I love rocks.

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Possibly more than big spires.

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I like small rocks.

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The size I can hold.

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I have piles of them around my house.

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So many, in fact, that I've had to ban

myself from bringing any more home.

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Well, unless, you know, Unless one is

absolutely too good to leave behind.

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. What is it about rocks that makes

them seem like treasures to me.

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I like that they are free and

something I can put in my pocket.

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I like that.

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Some of them sparkle or

have beautiful colors.

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Or have been smoothed

by rivers are glaciers.

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I like the ones that are heart

shaped or ones that simply

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remind me of a place I've been.

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So let's talk more about rocks.

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Do you recall from grade school that

there are three different types?

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Igneous rock is formed as

magnet cools and solidifies.

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Sedimentary rock is formed as great

pressure is applied to layers of

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sand, silt plants, or animal matter.

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And metamorphic rock is formed as

existing rock is melded together

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under great heat and pressure.

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And beyond that there is a structure that

can be found in all three types of rock.

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Though it's most commonly

found in igneous rock.

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And that is the structure of crystals.

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There are lots of different

types of crystals.

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For example, snowflakes

are water crystals.

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Salt and sugar or crystals.

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Crystals are created when the atoms

that form them become highly organized.

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So when crystals are formed in igneous

rock is because the magnet cooled

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so slowly that the atoms have time

to form that organized structure..

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The longer it takes to cool

the larger the crystals get.

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So when I hear this term highly organized.

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I can't help, but think of the

words from the creation story.

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Matter unorganized and how God created

the world from unorganized matter.

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Did it give him great pleasure

to slow down and highly

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organized a few rock molecules.

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So they formed crystals.

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I love to think so.

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And I believe crystals were formed

for more than just pleasure.

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I believe they are magical.

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Meaning there is way more to them

than my puny brain can fathom.

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People with more sensitivity than I

have can distinguish crystal vibrations.

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These vibrations feel like

peace, abundance, courage.

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Self-love.

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Determination protection, compassion, joy,

creativity, and the list goes on and on.

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I love this.

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It makes me believe that crystals

are here to support and even heal

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the earth and all of its inhabitants.

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To support us as we move

through this mortal existence.

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Crystals are mentioned

throughout scripture.

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.

They were worn on a breast plate by high priests and represented

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the 12 tribes of Israel.

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The brother of Jared use

crystals to light his boats.

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Crystals are used as sea or stones.

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And here is a scripture I love

where crystals are common enough

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to be used as building materials.

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Isaiah says, quoting God, I will lay

the stones with fair colors and lay

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the foundation with sapphires and

I will make the windows of agates.

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And the gates of carbuncles and

all the borders of pleasant stones.

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And this one is from revelation chapter

four and describes God in his throne room.

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I picked the new living

translation for this first.

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It says.

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The one sitting on the throne was as

brilliant as gemstones like Jasper and

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carnelian and the glow of an Emerald

in circled his thrown like a rainbow.

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In front of the throne was a shiny

sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.

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Hmm.

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And I thought my king of

red sandstone was cool.

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How about a God in developed in jewels?

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I love it.

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I love this rock image

of the God I call father.

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There was one more thing about

rocks that I want to talk about,

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and that is the minerals

that are found in them.

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Mineral such as iron zinc,

calcium iodine, magnesium, copper,

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and selenium to name a few.

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Minerals are the building blocks of life.

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We need them in order to be happy and

healthy without enough of any one of

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them, our bodies would begin to fail.

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Yup.

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The very rocks that represent

God, the father provide the

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building blocks of life.

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As water passes over and through

these rocks, it picks up dissolved

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minerals and we drink them.

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Taking what I like to think of as

little bits of God into our bodies.

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He is literally inside us.

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We need him.

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Nothing would happen without him.

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No life, no earth, no

galaxies, no nothing.

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That is the God I call father.

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The provider of the elements of life.

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My rock.

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Thank you for spending your

valuable time with me today.

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If you like this podcast, please, please,

please drop it in a text to a friend

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or post it on a social media feed.

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Anything you can do to help spread

the word would be greatly appreciated.

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Seeing our audience grow makes it fun

for Judy and me to show up each week.

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One final thought before I go.

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If you would like to emulate

this God we call father.

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I consider.

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Being a little bolder.

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Get it.

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Rocks boulders.

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Oh, nevermind.

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See you again next week, Nama stay.