Chasing the wrong carrot

All of us at some point in our lives have had dreams and goals. We have set them as the dangling carrot in front of our face to encourage us what we are working towards. For some of us though, it may seem like that carrot is a mile away and never getting closer. Every time you believe you have just finished that final step and think of your sweet reward, you look up to see the carrot further away from you.

Life can is chaotic this way. We never really know when or why but we do know how. How can I get the love of my life? How can I get that promotion? How can I land that job? These are questions where it seems the answers land in our lap like a dog or cat wanting attention. Why is it though that when we take the time ask the harder questions we never receive an answer. When will I get that promotion? When will I land that job I wanted? When will I find the love of my life?

Patience. We are always told to have patience. "Good things come to those who wait" after all. So why not be willing to wait? That is the real issue here. We are not a very patient society. We are a society that has become dependent on the now mentality. Everyone at some point in their life has heard the word "Now" being demanded of them, more so if you have children.

So how do we break this "Now mentality" and replace it with patience as one of the virtues all over again? The answer is simple. Remember that all things happen in God's time and not our own. Remember that goals are dreams that we like to achieve however, sometimes God has a different plan for us.

I have had a calling to the Priesthood since I was about 9 years old. My dreams were to be a Priest, even more so a Roman Priest. God called me over and over again, each time louder than the previous. I would ignore this because I had a passion for music. Through high school I kept insisting that I was going to be a music teacher. Next though is where I had my first experience. Immediately following my high school graduation, my family moved to Davenport, IA and I didn't know the area and moved with them. I didn't look at any colleges in Iowa prior to the move. The person we lived with worked for the local college, St. Ambrose University. She told me about them and I went to the school and was immediately accepted into their music education program. It was there that I met a father who helped shape my life. I was only at St. Ambrose for a semester, but it was an important step.

My family came back to Ohio and I with them. I struggled in my jobs because my heart wasn't there. I would get promotions but never the promotions I wanted, always the assistant manager. I attempted a few times to go back to college for music education but each time something would come up and I would have to back out. The story of life right? We all have had this happen to us. Family issues, time issues, transportation issues, you name it. That was sign number two that I ignored.

Eventually my relationship went to hell that I was in. We fought and had issues every day. I wasn't happy and I knew why but still denied to accept it. It was in 2001 when I finally had a therapist I was seeing tell me that I was struggling because I wasn't answering my calling. After all, she should know because although she was great at counseling her heart wasn't their. This was sign number three. With her assistance she helped me reconnect with people who I had rode off. At this point I was a priest but not Roman. I obtained my full ordination, but again not Roman.

I had a church and everything was going great. We were large. We provided services. We were compassionate and merciful to all. We supported the neighborhood. Everything was going great, except for one thing, my calling was still knocking. Next thing I knew I was attending Catholic Mass again different days while attempting to serve my church. Here we have sign number four.

That carrot that I placed in front of my face as my goals was only going further away because I was chasing the wrong carrot. I was chasing what I wanted and not answering what God wanted. If only I would have been patient and actually do what I felt was right I never would have suffered through what I believed to be my own sorrow. I would have been a happier person the entire time.

It works a lot like walking into and windstorm. We are fighting against 35MPH winds when really we should be using the wind to our advantage. Usually after fighting the winds we get where we thought we wanted to go and usually find the item is sold out, it wasn't what we wanted, or no one was there. Take this as a simple sign that if we had patience and waited another time things would have gone differently.

So the next time you say when or why, let the question be why aren't I using my patience right now? The phrase "let go and let God" is not only beautiful but also true.

Yours in Faith,

+++Isaac

If you don't believe, then why ask.

If you don't believe in GOD, how and why do you expect GOD to believe in you?

When you pray asking for miracles and they aren't answered you get discouraged. You begin to question GOD's existence. You even deny GOD any attention. But why should GOD help you? GOD doesn't truly know you.

Imagine it this way. A stranger comes up to you and says, "I need $50.00 for my family, please help me." You may have the money, hell you may even have enough to spare right now, but you don't know the stranger. Would you give them $50.00 not knowing if they really have a family? Most of us would say no or give them something much smaller as a consolation prize.

Why then do we expect GOD to give us our large miracles if we in exchange do not give worship?

It is through worship that GOD gets to truly know us and know our hearts, our dreams, and our intentions. All of this just like how through interaction that stranger becomes our friend. We learn about their spouse and children. We learn about their goals, their dreams, and their intentions. We then long to see them achieved and go as far to help them. That is because there is a small form of worship in all friendships.

Worship goes beyond chanting, singing, and waiving about of censors and wearing of articles of clothing. It is about prayer and conversations. Worship is the placing of a value on an item or aspect of our lives. If we value a friendship then we worship that friendship. If we value GOD, then we worship GOD.

So what is the moral?

-GOD is like a friend. Don't expect miracles from GOD if you don't know each other. You wouldn't expect miracles from strangers and you aren't likely to provide them to a stranger either.

Start your friendship now and have a small heart to heart conversation with GOD daily.

Yours in Faith,

Archbishop Isaac L. Kramer

Where Faith Goes to Die

As a minister is it always our biggest fear to be prepared for service and on time to find a room full of empty seats. We dream of it happening to each of us. Why? Because this is a sign that faith has died. Faith in ourselves as a leader; Faith in our beliefs of our religion; Faith in all we stand for. The problem is we had faith and belief. We can not force faith on others though.

Faith is defined as a Belief, Trust, or Confidence, not based on Logic, Reason, or Empirical studies, but based fundamentally on Volition often associated with a Transpersonal relationship with God, a Higher power, a Person, elements of Nature, and/or a perception of the Human race as a whole. Faith can be placed in a person, inanimate object, State of affairs, Proposition or body of propositions such as a religious Creed.

When you look at this definition it appears to be a broad one. But when you simplify it Faith just means believing when all else fails.

As a minister I have faith that my congregation will grow and that I will not let any of them down. This is a huge step for anyone and those who are in my shoes understand what I mean. To be a minister is a full time job without pay mostly nor benefits as most would understand it. The benefits we really see are the change in someone’s life as they found acceptance. The smiles on a sick persons face as you are visiting them. The benefit of helping someone by being there whenever you are needed, including all hours of the night.

We as ministers can have all the faith we want, but the harsh cold reality is, usually not all of our congregation will. Someone will lose faith in us and stop believing at some point in every minister’s career, even the best of us. As a minister this hurts and we look and turn to see what we did wrong. How did we lose that one person? How could we have done it all different? Where did the faith end?

These are questions that sometimes we have to place into the hands of God and allow Him to guide us. We are not Him, and therefore we do not know all of the answers. Was it a test of our faith? Possible. Will it happen again? There’s a good chance.

Faith has died in most of the people today. They have been burned or scorned in some way by religion. As humans we sometimes have a difficulty in differentiating religion and church. We believe that if the church was bad than the religion is bad so now we have no faith. Why you may ask? That’s because we feel that the next church will do the same. God is punishing us for some reason therefore, if I don’t believe in the church the punishment will cease.

This illogical thinking is driving the world today. Faith is diminishing in front of our eyes and the religious leaders are trapped in the middle. Every day a minister looses their way and falls helpless to the same beliefs mentioned. We fall because faith has died in us. We fall because we believed that our seats will be filled one day with members who respect and love us the way we dreamed of loving them. All of us ministers have faith that we will do well and serve well. We can but our congregation must trust us as we trust them. We vow to have open hearts and not judge, but we are human just the same.

So where does faith go to die? It goes to the internet. It goes to the families who have been wrongly hurt by a church. It goes deep inside to wither into nothing but cold, darkness.

I speak with different people almost daily that tell me why they will never return to a church again. My first question to them is a natural one, where did you use to go? They usually tell me very quickly the name of the church and are more than willing to tell me their story as to why they hate all churches now. My next question to them is usually a little bit more of shocking one to them. Did you try another church afterwards? At that point I usually get a look of shock mixed with “are you kidding me?” To which most usually reply, “No, and I never will”

We as humans are quick to lose our faith for this reason. Just by telling you this story you would question your own beliefs and faith in me and God and church. God is not bad; do not lose faith in Him. People can be bad, it’s in our nature. Church is not bad, but sometimes those who lead are. I just ask that if you are going to lose faith in something, please don’t make it the church or God. Make it the people who lead that church and try again.

We have a desire to worship in groups. We long for companionship. We live for social events and gatherings. Why would you deprive yourself of something as valuable as this? When you take these desires away you find that you lack wholeness and Spirit. When you lack in faith you lack in you.

Remember to keep faith in your hearts no matter how difficult a situation may become. Faith is not a bad thing.

Yours in Faith,
Abp Isaac L. Kramer

The Interfaith Creed

I believe in one God who goes by many names and is worshipped throughout the world. My God doesn’t care what name I use as long as I give honor.

From this God came forth all humans who are created equal as brothers and sisters of this world. Each of us, no matter what we believe, are the sons and daughters of God with the ability to have a oneness with God.

God granted unto all humans unconditional love, peace, and self-responsibility.

As a gift, God gave each of us Spirituality to express it any way we choose. In doing so, we have used it as a way to suppress one another.

God commanded us to “Be Still and Know that I AM”, but we did not listen. God then commanded “The kingdom of heaven lies within you” as a way to remind all of our equality to one another, but again we did not listen.

So to assure that salvation could be reached, God sent forth messengers to all faiths of the world. Through these great teachers, we are able to be saved from our own destruction. They were given many names and many titles but we used that as a way to divide us further.

Their messages were said louder of “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet we still did not listen.

God has promised salvation to any who believe in unconditional love for all, peace, and self-responsibility.

Therefore, I believe in the Spirituality of a loving God who does not care what name I give, but only that I uphold the promise of a better tomorrow through my own actions.

I believe in a Spirituality that does not seek to divide humanity but bring us back together through the foundations of God.

I believe in the message set in stone and parchment that has been told throughout all generations of a God who walks with me.

I believe that when I am silent God is near and that my body is a key that unlocks the spirit of heaven within me.

I believe that one day all my brothers and sisters, made by and in the image of God, will unite again as one for the salvation of humankind. Together we will give honor to God as the messengers have instructed and God has commanded.

Until that day I will know that God is and always will be.

"Holy Father, Love me still"

"Holy Father, love me still. I have fallen from your will." When I awoke this morning, these lyrics were running through my head. The song is from the Christian music group Selah. These words are something that many of us fear on a regular basis. We think that sometimes we have made mistakes that will make God no longer love us, but why?

What did I really do to cause these lyrics to run through my head? I did just only awake for a normal dream. I didn't have any impure thoughts or actions in my dreams either. What "will" did I fall from?

I continued to lay there thinking about the lyrics as the song kept playing through my head. "Holy Father, love me still. I have fallen from your will." I realized that I was worried about God not loving me for me. I realized that because it is a Sunday and I wasn't jumping at my childhood actions of attending a church, I had believed subconsciously that I had "fallen" from God's "will".

This song can make one become very humbling and sorrowful at the same time. Why must I feel ashamed of my actions to not attend a church on Sunday? As we age, we find ourselves not caring in our 20's, to being concerned in our 30's, to looking for answers by 40's, to eventually reverting to conservative beliefs by our 60's. We continue in a pattern that we say from our youth that we will not be like. Is this God's "will" for us to come to a point in our life where we are worried about disappointing him?

The answer is simply, no. God's "will" is for us to love ourselves and one another. It doesn't matter if we attend church on Sunday. It doesn't matter what our fears of age tell us, God does love us all the time. It is next to impossible to truly "fall" from God's "will". I realized now why this song was running through my head this morning. It was to help inform myself and many others that the "Holy Father" does love us still. And that we have not "fallen" from His "will".

Please keep these words in your heart as you enjoy your Sunday and Summer time fun. And don't forget to take just a few moments out of your day to just say "thank you" for what you have.

In loving faith,
+Isaac L. Kramer

What Constitutes Peace

This topic is something that is somewhat controversial when first looked at, but I promise you by the end you will be asking why. Why is this such a big deal to me and to others? Why did I allow this to go so far? It is okay to ask those questions, as long as you remember the answer in your next conversations, actions, and thoughts.

All religions have different laws. Those of us who are religious allow these laws to dictate and judge who we are and what we do. The most controversial set, for the United States, is the Ten Commandments or also known as Decalogue. We watched last year as different court houses and state house yards were fighting to keep monuments up with these Ten Commandments listed.

Now I want to make one thing very clear, we live in a country of religious freedom. With that said, contrary to popular belief not all religious follow the "Ten Commandments". The ones that do are Jewish, Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and most other Christians. There area a lot of other religions in the U.S. who don't follow all ten of these.

I want to give a quick refresher on them based off the Jewish (Talmudic) source

1. I am the Lord your God
2. You shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself an idol
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5. Honor your father and mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Now depending on your religious beliefs, from the one's stated above, these will be in a different numbering order. Again, another fine example of how we as religions must find a way to vary from one another. Heaven forbid if we even agree on the exact numbers of what we all believe in! Though I digress.

You would think that following these 10 simple laws would be easy to do. If you think that you are wrong. Years later, we have the New Testament which states that Christ says all of the laws of old are gone with him. Now I find it a bit funny that we have "Christ" saying no more old laws, and yet so many want to continue to cling to these ten. Most other religions were willing to throw out the dietary laws instantly, but not these ten. Why is that?

Here is your answer. Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence." This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it. "Love others as well as you love yourself." "These two commands are pegs, everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Now, I want to summarize that into the easiest terms you ever heard. Love your God and treat others as you want to be treated. These are the 2 laws/commands/Decalogue that we are to follow. If you follow them, all of the previous laws will follow in naturally. Think of it! If you love your God you won't use his name wrongly and you won't want to worship another. You will also remember to keep the Sabbath holy by honoring your God.

With treating others like how you want to be treated is even easy. You wouldn't kill someone else. You won't steal from them or take from them what they have earned. You won't lie about them. You won't have an affair with someone else if you are in a relationship.

I didn't touch one of the ten commandments for a reason, "Honor your father and mother". I saved it for last because I believe that this law is not fully explained or understood. If you were to divide the Ten Commandments by Heaven and Earth value you have 4/6 ratio. That means 4 commandments for God and 6 for Earth actions. I believe that is not suppose to be the case. I find that the fifth commandment is actually a blending line. It is designed to actually stand for both Heaven and Earth.

"Honor your father and mother" means both your Earthly parents who gave physical birth to you and your Heavenly parents who gave Spiritual birth to you. God the Father and Queen of Heaven/Holy Spirit/Goddess or any other name that you wish to use to describe the mother.

Now where I'm going with this is simple. If we take the time, no matter what religious views you have, to honor the basic foundation of the two commandments given to us our world would be better. "Do what thou wilt as long as it harms none". This is the Golden rule. Also, what all religious people tend to forget is the first commandment states "I am the Lord your God". This means whoever you interpret God to be to you personally, not who another religious leader says he is.

When we finally take the time to realize that we must each follow "Honor your God" and "Love others as you would yourself" we would stop violence on all levels. We would know the real meaning of peace. This is what ministers should be preaching, not hell, damnation, and sin (which I will cover sin another day).

In Faith,
†Isaac

First time

This is my first attempt ever at blogging so I ask that you please bare with me. I should probably start with who I am. My name is His Most Rev. Isaac Kramer, Interfaith Bishop of Ohio. You can call me Bishop Isaac for short if you like. I'm not too big on the formalities of my name unless it's a social event or function that really calls for it.

I have been studying religion for over 18 years now, it just fascinates me. Not any one in particular, but all of them. I have started off in one and worked my way through several of them over the years. I believe that the perfect religion isn't just one religion. We are here to better our Spirit and to experience things for our maker. Religion is something that hinders Spiritual growth, Faith builds it though. I believe that once you start using doctrine and creeds you prohibit the Spirit from being free to experience pure love. Faith is something that I ask everyone to believe in, not religion.

Through the series of blogs, I hope that I can help convey that message. I hope to write about Faith, Spirit, and God (the Maker). I intend to write so everyone can understand and have some connection to it without a religious attachment. I hope that you check back and really get the chance to challenge your every day thoughts with what I write. I also want you to know that I would love to hear from you as well. Email me at Bishop.IsaacKramer@straphaelinterfaith.org anytime with any questions. In the meantime, have Faith!

+Bishop Isaac