A Little Light on the Subject

When we don't see God's great Gift,
spirit eyes are dark.
Hope in D'Oso curtains lift,
rest in Him we park.

In the Dark About the Light

"Well, that was certainly an interesting experience, to say the least," said Dad. "But now I think I know less than I did when I went to the Tent Revival Meeting."

"Me, too, Dad," Quest agreed. "I feel a little afraid. The speaker said we couldn't 'Not Choose.' What does that mean? How can I choose, if I don't understand the options?"

"You make great points, My Boy. I tell you what. You get some sleep. For now, I will continue to protect you to the best of my ability, until I can find out more about this D'Oso Reimi fellow. If He wants to come to live with us and to provide us with better protection than I can provide, then I am all for that. Don't worry yourself about it for now. You need the sleep and I need the time to think."

"Thanks, Dad. (yawn) I really am very sleepy. I am so glad you keep the night watch, while I sleep. While I'm thinking about it, if you want to find out more about D'Oso Reimi, then run a BearNet search. You will get hits for the most updated information. Please, tell me what you find in the morning. I do want to know more."

"No sweat, Buddy. Thanks for the tip. You sleep. I'll Net a Bear, I hope,...whatever that means."

D'Oso Reimi

"O, I get it now. D'Oso Reimi is the main character of The Life of Bears on Reimi IV series of children's stories by someone, named Winston Middlesbrough. That must have been the namesake for the Prophet Winston Grizzly, but why is D'Oso Reimi so important? Wasn't he a fictional character?"

"Not all fictional characters have the luxury of nonexistence." The low growling voice chilled Casa to the bone. Slowly he turned in search of the voice. He came face-to-face with the most regal, perfect specimen of a grizzly bear he had ever met.

"Who,...who,...who...are you?" stammered the bear.

"Now, that IS interesting," winked the grizzly. "You look like a bear, but you sound like a hooty owl. Which do you claim to be, Sir?"

"You...are...D'Oso Reimi," gasped Casa, coming close to fainting from fright.

"Guilty on all counts. However, I asked you, who do you claim to be," said the grizzly with a wry smile. "I already know, who I am."

"So sorry, Sir. I confess to being a bear just as you are, but you have scared me witless," he stumbled. "I want to know more about you, but I am having trouble chewing the huge piece of steak you just carved up and laid down on my plate."

"I tend to do that to folks," the large grizzly assured him. "No worries. Take your time. I'm not in a hurry."

Questions & Answers

"If you don't mind me asking, who...ARE...You?" Casa stumbled over the words.

"Well, let's start with the obvious. I am a grizzly bear."

"That's pretty hard to miss. But other than being the king of the forest, why is that important?"

"I know you just learned that I am the main character in Winston Middlesbrough's' The Life of Bears on Reimi IV. The best place to start learning about Me is in the first chapter, 'How Did We Get Here?' and in the last chapter, 'Survival'."

"I'm sure they're interesting reads, but would you be so kind as to clue me in on what I can expect to learn about you in these chapters? After all, I thought the book was supposed to be the work of pure fiction. Now, you want me to believe it's some sort of history or an operating manual?"

"Close, but there's more," the big bear assured him. "Fiction can be merely the imaginings of a great writer's mind,...BUT...fiction (or allegory as it is sometimes called,) is a vehicle for expressing to some degree a mystery that is quite challenging to understand. Allegory is never a lie. They are merely pictures of the Truth carved into smaller pieces, making the mysterious more able to be comprehended to some degree."

"I understand this much. There is a lot about you that I don't understand, but the parts that I do understand help me to trust You enough to pursue the parts I don't understand."

"Well said, Dear One," smiled the grizzly. "You are well on your way to starting a dear friendship with Me. Remember, one does not teach a small child about the world at large. One teaches a small child about the world at home. As the child grows and comprehends more, the world we teach enlarges and he or she understands more of it. Understanding the world of the spirit is the same way. A person, who has never known about the spirit, must be taught about the spirit world as the little child learns about the physical world. 'Line upon line. Line upon line. Precept upon precept. Precept upon precept. Here a little and there a little.'"

"Don't you ever get frustrated, when we earthly creatures take a long time to learn anything about You and Your mysterious life beyond what we can see?"

"I probably would get frustrated, if I wasn't expecting it. Some of my creations learn very quickly because I have created them to learn very quickly. I'm not surprised. They are doing what I created them to do. Some of my creations learn very slowly because I have created them to learn very slowly. I'm not surprised about this, either. They, too, are doing what I created them to do. Does any artist get frustrated or 'put out,' when his or her creation operates according to design? Hardly. That artist jumps for Joy because the creation is operating according to design."

"Honestly, Sir (or is it D'Oso Reimi?) Is that Your Name? May I call you, simply 'D'Oso'?"

"Of course. My Name is D'Oso. Please, call me, D'Oso. Now, you were about to ask me something. Please, continue."

"O, YES! Honestly, D'Oso, when I try to teach Quest how to track or to gather or to study his A-B-Cs for the umpteenth time and he still doesn't 'get it,' then I get frustrated because I think I am wasting my time. Don't you ever get frustrated about anything?"

"No, Casa. I don't. It is just not part of my nature. Let me tell you a little story. Back before the physical universe was created, but just after the faithless angels committed mutiny and left with a third of my created helpers and trusted workers, I gathered the faithful angels together and I told them my plan to create the Earth, Mankind and a ubiquitous universe for the backdrop of their unique existence."

"WOW! That must have been some meeting!"

"You have no idea, Casa. Indeed, it was. I told them, 'I am about to create everything in the material universe, but I will hide my own Existence in mystery. Here is the brilliant part of the mystery. I will hide my Existence in plain sight in order to be seen by the simple and to remain hidden from the complex. Put another way, children will be able to see me, easily, but the highly intelligent, who love learning more than they love Truth, will never see Me.'"

"Seriously? You created a hologram. That hologram shows or hides a picture based on one's perspective. SWEET."

"I'm glad you think so, Casa. Throughout History, children have loved me, but proud intellects have hated me. They call themselves, 'atheists,' but why would they expend so much energy hating Someone, who 'didn't exist,' unless they actually believed I exist in their heart of hearts that can't be fooled by intellectual play-acting."

"Don't they ever think that one through?"

"Some do. Some don't. The ones, who do are changed into believers in the process."

"You mean it's kind of like the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. If it wasn't so hard for the butterfly to press outside of the cocoon, then they would not have enough strength to fly. It is the struggle that forces the fluids of the wings into place to create flight. 'Working out one's salvation' into every part of life creates soldiers and workers, who are fully developed for the task ahead."

"Exactly. Let me finish the account of my meeting with the faithful angels. I told them right before the Creation, 'I'm going to make the physical/material universe. It's going to exist in its original form for less than ten thousand years. (I'm not going to tell you exactly how long. I want you to trust me.) Everything will go according to schedule, even though impatient humans will point to my apparent delays as proof that I do not exist. They will try to put everything right, but everything they do will be according to my Plans because I will make every human to operate according to my Plans.'"

"Doesn't that make everybody a robot?"

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it? Yet, the difference between my purposes and the human accusations of Determinism is simply this. I will hide my Purpose in plain sight. A child will be able to see the Plan and because they love me and want to agree with me forever, they will accomplish my Plan on purpose. The proud intellect, who hates me will try to thwart my Plan and implement his own plans, but he will actually accomplish my Plan in disobedience. The child chooses to agree with me and helps my Plan. The Proud Intellect disagrees with me and helps my Plan. Bottom Line: All choose. All help my Plan. It's the ultimate Win-Win Scenario. Individuals have Freedom to Choose. I maintain my Sovereignty at the same time."

"WOW! That IS hard to comprehend. Let me see if I understand a little bit of it. D'Oso Reimi plans for choice. Choice is intrinsic in D'Oso Reimi's Sovereignty. We choose for or against D'Oso Reimi and His Sovereign Plan is advanced, while we remain responsible for our choices. That is more brilliant than I can fully comprehend. AMAZING."

"Thank you so much. I love it when someone 'gets me'."

"By the way, about the subject of choice. Quest and I went to a Tent Revival Meeting tonight. We were demanded to choose, but we couldn't comprehend the choices. I now understand more, but would you help me to understand the choice the prophet was demanding that we make tonight?"

"It would be my pleasure."

The Choice

"Why is there such a severe choice?" Casa asked. "Do you really have to make the unfaithful 'burn forever'?"

"The key sticking-point, My Friend, is the word, 'make'," said D'Oso. "I don't make anybody do anything. I DO believe in freedom of choice, regardless of my smeared reputation among the humans."

"Woah. That's heavy. I don't quite 'get it.'"

"Do you remember the fact that I said I would accomplish my entire purpose for the physical/material universe in its first state in less than ten thousand years?"

"Sure, but why is that significant?"

"I will accomplish all of my Will for the physical realm in a short time from the perspective of Eternity while being a long time from the perspective of humans. I'm not in a hurry. I don't demand that everyone agrees with me..or anyone at all...for that matter. Yet, my entire Purpose will be accomplished perfectly through those, who agree with me and through those, who disagree with (and even hate) me."

"That's still a mouthful, but I am starting to understand a little bit of it. However, the question still remains,...WHY?"

"Finally, I will shut the mouths of all of my detractors, when I prove that in all cases, win, lose or draw,...I always win as to my Purpose in the Creation," smiled D'Oso.

"It sounds like this conversation has been debated since eons ago in Eternity past."

"Nicely put, Casa," D'Oso assured him, "but if I may, a slight correction is in order. Eternity simply exists outside of Time. There is no Eternity Past nor Eternity Future. There is only Eternity. Putting that to rest, I must say that the angels in their first state had everything that the fallen angels now use to 'prove' that I do not exist. 'No man can see God (or me, D'Oso Reimi.)' Yet, in the eons, the angels could see me in their first state. 'Nobody's perfect,' however, the angels were created in perfection along with the rest of The Creation."

"Dear D'Oso, what does all of this mean?"

"Simply this, Dear One. Heaven was filled with perfectly created helper/messenger beings. Yet, one of them chose to sin and to defect from my ranks along with everyone, who agreed with him. I let them go. That was their choice. I didn't force them to stay and to remain faithful to me because I knew that, even their disobedience would accomplish my Purpose."

"That sounds like a fail. How did it serve your purposes?"

"First, it showed that intelligent individuals could see my Glory, watch my Power, personally know my Love and still reject Me. Step #1 was accomplished. I proved that 'Seeing is not Believing. Believing is a choice to use the faith I give to all as a tool to receive my Goodness, my Mercy, and my Gracious Favor."

"It seems like there was nothing left to prove. Trust was broken, irrevocably."

"For the ones, who saw Me and rejected Me, their relationship with me was permanently set in the mode of Rejection. I would love to receive them back to Myself, but which of them would ever admit their faithlessness. Therefore, Seeing + Rejection = Lostness Forever. '4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.' (Hebrews 6:4-6, ESV)"

"How is that possible?"

"They chose their own way. They rejected My Way. Their Pride will never allow them to admit that they were ever wrong in the first place," D'Oso listed the truism, and added one business operating procedure. "Now, let's chew on a perspective. What human business owner would ever receive back into his truest confidence an upper management Vice President, who was positively convicted of a hostile takeover attempt? Would he ever be able to trust him, again? How could he be sure that there was a true change of heart or merely a truce to gain ground, gathering strength to attempt a second hostile take-over?"

"I see what you mean."

"There was a great deal of wisdom in the mind of a Scottish philosopher. One of the wisest statements ever to pass through his lips was this. 'Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me.' There is too much at stake for me to ever give my once-right-hand-man a second chance to usurp my Government. They saw, but they did not conquer. They were deposed."

"That is a great deal to digest, but I'm guessing that is not the sum total of Your Plan and Purpose."

"Quite right. Next, I did the work of The Creation in six literal 24-hour Earth days, then I took the day off for the seventh day to admire My Masterpiece."

"'Admire My Masterpiece'? If I may, Sir, that sounds like pride. I thought pride was a sin."

"Sin is an archery term, which means to shoot at a target and to miss the Bull's Eye. One sins when he misses the mark of perfection, which is the Bull's Eye of how that individual was created to be. Pride is the arrow that misses the mark. Pride thinks more highly of himself than he really is. Pride is, also, the sin of thinking more lowly of himself than he really is. Actually, pride is the sin of thinking about oneself more than is warranted, given the status of one's true nature as a sentient being."

"But that didn't really answer my question."

"You didn't let me finish. Humility is the opposite of pride. If pride is thinking something other than the actual condition of one's true nature, then humility is thinking that is in agreement with the true nature of one's actual being. This leads us to the answer to your question about my alleged pride. As some Southerners are wont to say, 'It ain't boasting if you can do it.' That being said. I am perfectly in agreement with Myself, with my Father and with The Holy Spirit. Perfection is the Standard we set as Three Unique Individuals in One Corporate Godhead. If we were to ever deviate, even slightly from our own Standard, then We would sin, becoming proud and the whole fabric of Existence in Time and in Eternity would completely unravel and disintegrate."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I can't get my head around that one!" Casa bellowed.

"Don't bother, Dear One. Just trust Me on this. I created as an expression of who I am. For me to admire my work is not pride. It's humility because the admiration is in agreement with my essential Person."

"My Goodness."

"May I continue, regarding why I created?"

"Please do, but forgive me if I fall asleep. I feel like I need a nap. My brain is so full."

D'Oso placed one of His forepaws on Casa's head. "There. I've given you more strength, and I've removed your sleepiness."

"That's amazing! I do feel better."

The History & Purpose of the Physical Realm

"The reason I created the Physical Realm was both as a classroom for the faithful angels and as an incubator for my greatest Creation of all Existence. I am creating a wife for myself since I am the Son of God. The angels already knew that seeing my Power did not create complete devotion to my Purpose. In the Physical Realm, I would prove that not seeing did not create a complete rejection of my Purpose."

"So, you're saying that sight and mystery were neither helps nor obstacles to being rightfully related to your Majesty. Amazing."

"You're exactly right. Angels that saw me in Eternity were aware of the true nature of my Person. Some rejected me. Most remained faithful to me. Throughout the history of Earth and Mankind, some have remained faithful to me, but most have rejected me. Relationship with me has always been based on trust. Truth is a Person. Truth is not merely a set of facts that human beings can ferret out by the strength of their wills."

"Have you always been mysterious to Mankind on purpose?"

"I started by placing Man into the perfect creation. I walked with Man in The Garden of Eden every day. We had great conversations filled with many teaching moments. Adam trusted me...at first. Eve trusted me, too,...at first. I was the only Truth that they had ever known. That is the way Truth is best known through trusting The Perfect One, Who knows everything because He IS The Standard for all meaning and everything is expressed from the core of His Very Being."

"It must have been easy for them to trust You since they didn't have any obstacles."

"Actually, they did have one obstacle. It was called, 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.'"

"O, Yeah. That's where they met the snake. I saw that on a movie that told The Bible's historical account."

"Slow down, Buddy. You're getting ahead of yourself, but you are right. Adam and Eve were given a test, regarding how fully they trusted me to know and to do what was ultimately the best for them and for all of their descendants, Mankind."

"You gave them the opportunity to reject You and to choose to go their own way? Why?"

"Like a smelter of precious metals, I turned up the heat to find out the impurities that existed in Man. The man proved his distrust of me in The Garden of Eden by eating the forbidden fruit. The dross was skimmed off and they were covered with animals skins and moved outside of the Garden. The entirety of the history of Mankind is filled with examples of impurities being seen and then redeemed. Many humans reject me and continue to reject me throughout their lifetimes, but others admitting their wrong (or sin,) turn to me. I purify them and draw each one of these believers into a deeper relationship with me to be part of my eternal Bride."

"I'll bet there's still more to learn about my informed choice, but if you don't mind, D'Oso, I'd like to get something to eat. All of this talk about fruit is starting to remind me how hungry I am."

"Of course, why not pick that fruit...right...there." D'Oso's paw touched the limb of a nearby tree and the most gorgeous fruit Casa had ever seen appeared on the place D'Oso touched. "It's a gift from me."

Casa picked the fruit and bit into the juicy, red, burgeoning fruit. "It's delicious!"

"There's more where that was created. Enjoy. Rest, Dear One."