Gifts
by Dahni
© 2014, all rights reserved
Though it has just been recently, I am pretty sure that I am not the newest to be ordained and I am quite confident that there will be many more to come. I am hopeful that I am not the first nor the last to make such a post as you will see here to follow.
I could have titled this post 'Ordination' as it relates, but it is what it is and it is the word "gift" that I will begin with here.
My recent ordination through the Universal Life Church Monastery is exactly this, a "gift." And for it and to the ULCM, I am extremely grateful. My ordination in this sense is a "gift" because, it cost me nothing to acquire it except a few minutes of my time. Anything I purchased I did so freely because, I needed and wanted the materials, but still, my ordination was free, it is a "gift."
I do not know the motivations of others that have been ordained through the ULCM, are considering or may one day apply online through the ULCM for ordination. I only know my motivations and can only believe, hope and pray that all others now or in the future, will treat this as a "gift," reverently, respectfully, lovingly, professionally and as seriously as I do! There are reasons to believe that some may not.
If you look at the numbers of ordination (20 million or so) and the names and numbers of celebrities ordained, it might seem like the ULCM is a degree-mill; an ordination-factory; not a legal entity and something of a joke. I concede it is possible for some to think this way. I watched the video posted on the home page of ULCM. see: http://www.themonastery.org/
The video is of TV talk show and comedian, Conan O'Brien, getting ordained online. The scene was anything but reverent and respectful. The audience is laughing and he pointed out the age of 13 being acceptable for ordination. To that, the audience roared in laughter, even louder. Thirteen does sound pretty young or is it?
At first I wondered why the ULCM would even post it on the website, not to mention their HOME PAGE??? But the point is made, as the ULCM clearly states from their 'About Us' page from their website:
"We believe that everyone should be an ordained minister of
the Universal Life Church Monastery."
This obviously would include Conan O'Brien as well as, any others, even thirteen year olds. I suppose it is possible that if you knew all the necessary information required for ordination, you could fill it out for a friend, loved one, a pet, someone deceased, an associate, etc. or even get someone this as a novelty gag-gift, for "the one that seems to have everything else." Yes, what do I get, so and so, for their birthday? But I would not be among them. I take my ordination seriously as should everyone, even Conan O'Brien and his audience. I do believe that we who do take this seriously, if we take the time to educate others on exactly what this could mean to everyone, more people will take this "gift" of ordination seriously. What could this mean to others? I'll answer this to the best of my ability a little later here, but I'm not through with the word "gift," just quite yet.
Before finishing with the word "gift," let's look at the idea of ordaining a thirteen year old. Are they still not just a child? And of course the law would say it was not legal for them to perform any legal, official, officiant service. But what about the age of 13? I cannot answer definitively as to why the ULCM decided on this minimum age, but I can offer some biblical perspective.
Biblical traditions involved arranged marriages. Parents often chose the future spouses for their children when the child was still an infant. Families would teach their children how to be a husband or a wife. Many families lived together and these family-units included the parents, grandparents, maybe great grandparents and other family members. The one-day-to-be-wed children, had plenty of exposure to teaching, training, experience and wisdom.
Often, the marriage-age women were between the ages of 14-16 years old and their spouses were often older and more mature. Fourteen to sixteen years old? Are you kidding? No, this was common. Also, it was common that if a woman was not married around this age, her parents would present her to the temple to serve there as an unmarried and virgin woman, for the rest of her life. Yes, after around 16, she was considered to be an "old maid." :)
If not married by around 16, the young woman was thought to be beyond the hope of her parents that she would ever marry and perhaps be the one to bring forth the promised messiah. It was a pretty big deal in Jewish culture, for a woman to marry and bare a child and that this child could be the promised messiah.
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ was between the ages of 14-16, when she married Joseph, conceived, and brought forth her firstborn child, Jesus of Nazareth. I would say she and women of this age were pretty mature then. What sayeth you?
Most of us are familiar with the Jewish term of bar mitvah.
"The Bar Mitzvah (Hebrew: בַּר מִצְוָה) and Bat Mitzvah (Hebrew: בַּת מִצְוָה) (plural: B'not Mitzvah for girls, B'nai mitzvah for boys) are Jewish coming of age rituals. Bar (בַּר) is a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic word literally meaning son (בֵּן), while bat (בַּת) means daughter in Hebrew, and mitzvah (מִצְוָה) is a commandment and a law. While this literally translates to "son of commandment" or "daughter of commandment." According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys become 13 years old, they become accountable for their actions. A girl becomes a bat mitzvah at the age of 12."
Excerpts from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_Bat_Mitzvah
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is just one example of maturity. And remember, her coming of age was 12. Boys were 13.
There was another Jewish law. This law dealt with illegitimate children, children born when and where the father was unknown. The child born was considered to have been "born out of wedlock," from an adulterous relationship. But the bastard sons were still required by Jewish law, to be accountable for their actions and participate in the "coming of age" rituals. To set them apart from other legitimate sons at 13, these were to partake of the ritual at age 12. I am not sure if this was to put them on the same age as women, calling attention to their "unmanliness," nor at what age women were required to partake in this "coming of age" ritual. I do not know the answers, so please do not ask or argue with me about it. But I do know that Jesus Christ had to participate at the age of 12, not 13, because, he was considered to be an illegitimate child and was set apart, to call attention to what many believed to be true that he was, the bastard son of some unknown father. Well, what did this twelve year old do at the required age of 12?
"And when he was twelve years old, they went up
to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast."
The Bible, Luke 2:42, King James Version
"And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."
The Bible, Luke 2:46, 47, King James Version
Can you imagine a room full of the most learned people at say, Princeton or Harvard Universities in the United States, being listened to, being asked intelligent questions of and being astonished by the understanding and the ANSWERS from a 12 year old that certainly did not have the proper background, pedigree, education and etc.? I would say he was pretty mature! So a thirteen year old being ordained by the ULCM, I've no problem with. What sayeth you?
Back to the words "gifts." We all know what a gift is. Simply, it is something we do not have to work for or earn. And we may or may not deserve it, but it is still a gift; it's FREE.
Most of us like free stuff. I like free stuff, but for myself, I long ago understood that there really is no such thing as free. Someone, somewhere and at sometime paid for every single free gift!
A "gift" is also, viewed often as a curious thing. Sometimes we may think that if something does not cost us anything, then it must not have any value. After all, if I did not go to seminary and spend years and thousands of dollars (or perhaps more) to receive a degree in spirituality, then my ordination must be a joke or illegitimate? Oh yes, my ordination through ULCM was free so it must not be worth anything? Oh, but I paid for my credentials, papers, card, materials and etc., so I guess it really wasn't free after all? Since I had to pay for this, it's really a joke, a rip-off, a rouse, illegitimate and worthless? If you believe any of that, then the same argument could be made to someone that paid for their degree through any so-called legitimate institution. What if they received a scholarship and paid nothing, would their degree then be without value?
It's not the "gift" or the thing that makes something less than or other than what it truly is, it's the StinkN' ThinkN' that makes it so!
I'm new here on this site; on this blog, but already, I have read this and that about this person attacking that person, for this and that. Why do they do that? Why is it allowed? Why does anyone put up with it? Why is anyone offended by it? Why would anyone get defensive about it? The short answer is, IGNORANCE! Now just relax, allow me to explain.
Everyone has been ignorant, is presently ignorant, and most likely will be ignorant in the future, about many things. But ignorance can be fixed! You, we, anyone and I that understands that the ULCM and ordination is a "gift" to not just the individual ordained, but to every person in the universe (wherever they may presently be now or in the future). Ignorance is overcome by instruction, right teaching; right thinking.
We fight and argue because we are afraid; we are ignorant. Truth never has to be defended, error does. It is not my responsibility to make you either agree with me or believe what I believe. That's the individual's right and it's their job. My job is simply to be a witness, that's it! Now after someone has been properly instructed and they refuse to change, well, God cannot, you can't, no one else can and I can't, fix stupid!
OK then, what can we do with this free gift of ordination? Absolutely nothing if that is what we choose. We can disrespect it and the ULCM that gave it to us. We can dishonor it, discredit it, smear it and influence others not just to think the same things about the ULCM, but religion, any religion, all religions and no religions, and lump all of it into the same unimportant and irrelevant package.
To those that believe nothing you still believe something because, nothing is still something. Still, you just might want to get all ecstatic as if there was nothing? But do you know what your unfounded crazy joy could help usher into the world and what it would do? For one thing, the absence of the freedom of religion is really, the absence of a freedom. If one freedom is taken, why not the rest and if just one is taken from anyone, just how free do you suppose yourself to be? To believe in God or no God, are you not free to choose? I don't have to agree with anyone and are not I free to choose to not agree? Are you not free to choose to not agree with me? We are not all the same, but we are all similar. In this, we all have the same rights, anywhere in the world, whether anyone or any government recognize that or not. Though I may not agree with you, what do I have that you do not, NOTHING! What do you have that I do not, NOTHING! We all have the same rights. So cannot we with our ordinations use this "gift" to help support the rights of others? Yes we can, yes we should and whether or not an ordination through the ULCM is viewed as a joke or for any other reasons unintended, held as less than it is and is supposed to be, we are all still responsible, for the "gifts" we receive.
So what else could these "gifts" serve others with, by our ordination? There are places and situations that only the press and clergy are allowed to go. I know because, I was an investigative reporter, a member of the press. One could gather information not otherwise available to the public at large. I know because, as a member of the press, I filed many requests under the law called, the F.O.I.A. (Freedom of Information Act).
Ordination would allow you to minister in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons where in some situations, not even the immediate family would be allowed. I know this because, I have previously worked in hospitals in situations, where only the medical staff, the patient and the clergy were allowed, and the police had to wait outside too. A member of the clergy can visit a prisoner in situations, where only the prisoner's lawyer could. I know this because, a member of the clergy was allowed to see a prisoner, when I, as a member of the press, was refused until later. There are other benefits that I will not mention, but you can figure them out if you really want to. And these can be used or they can be abused.
Of course these and the services of an officiant (one ordained) would not be possible without the legality of the standing, as one ordained with the ULCM. Many have attacked and taken them to court and have lost. Today, the ULCM is recognized worldwide as any other national or international spiritual (religious) organization. This is a "gift," people!!! We should support the ULCM and each other. Stand for something together or fall, for almost anything.
I take my ordination with the ULCM seriously. As far as what the Bible teaches and what I believe, I was already ordained of God to minister. And this is also true of any of God's people. If you work the scriptures of the Bible, using any concordance and look up every usage of the word "gift" in the Bible, you will discover something profound and quite simple.
We often use the word "gift," when describing individual talents, skills and abilities, "Oh he/she has a "gift" or "he/she is just gifted.". But God of the Bible only ever gave 7 gifts. One was to anyone that becomes a child of God, has the spirit of God in them. Another is the "gifts of healings." Both words are in the plural form. These healings are "gifts" (for more than one kind or different "healings" and "healings" is also plural because, God is willing and able to heal someone more than once of the same sickness, disease etc. These "gifts of healings," are also a manifestation (an evidence or operation ) of the spirit. Any child of God can receive these "gifts" and can minister these "gifts." The last 5 "gifts" that the God of the Bible gives are, the five "gift" ministries of: 1: apostles 2. prophets 3.evangelists 4. pastors, and, 5. teachers. Though individuals operate these ministries and benefit from them, they are specifically, "gifts" to God's people.
As many ministries teach and apply, to those ordained, there is often a ceremony simply called, "the laying on of hands." This service is performed by say, the head minister and others to bless and call the one ordained to the ministry. This is to call their ordination of God as a ministry to the public.
Many people think of the term "calling" or the "call of God." God is the one that is supposed to call an individual to the ministry and He and the individual, by their natural and spiritual abilities, their believing/exercising, determine which of the 5 "gift" ministries they will operate. It could be more than one. As far as I can determine from my many years of research, the one to operate 4 out of all 5 of these "gift" ministries was Jesus Christ. He was not an evangelist because, this "gift" ministry was not available until after his ascension and the day of Pentecost in the Bible, The Book of Acts and chapter 2. An evangelist is adept at teaching people about the family of God and calling people to, the Family of God. They function very similar to a teacher only what they teach, the focus is more refined; more specific. In our day and time, it would not surprise me to know that there are individuals that operate, several "gift" ministries.
I want to be very clear here. I have never professed that I have any unique calling of God to the ministry. I have not been prayed over publicly or had "the laying on of hands" service given to me. I have not graduated from any theological seminary. I hold no degrees of divinity or theology whatsoever. I cannot say nor have I ever said that I am or was called and ordained as, an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor or a teacher. But I can, like the apostle Paul told Timothy to do, "do the work of…," an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor and a teacher. So can any child of God. Every child of God is ordained of God and every child of God is supposed to teach. So can anyone that is ordained by any means, perform any service that an officiant performs.
I do consider my over 40 years of research in religion and the Bible and life experience, to be equal to a doctorate degree. OK, 40 + years I'm just slow! :)
But I can put together exactly what I believe and why, and I can show anyone that wants to know. Do you know why you believe what you believe? Can you source it? Well, I can, so I think this qualifies me to be in a position to know what I'm talking about. You may neither believe me nor agree with me, but I can still put it together simply enough and can show anyone from the most educated to a child . If the whole purpose of education is, "to draw out from within," does this not require simplicity in presentation? Is not it important that everyone understand? I do confess my limitation is based on language, but if you and I both understand English, I can teach anyone that has eyes to open and minds to ask.
I mentioned "doctorate" above. I have applied for a doctors degrees through the ULCM. Yes, I do realize it is, an honorary degree and it will be my honor to receive it, why? Do I want to be called Dr., Rev. or by any other title besides just Dahni or Don, absolutely not!! Is it just so I can hang my certificate on the wall and say, "hey, look at me," NO AGAIN! Why then is it important to me and should it be to you? Well, in case my many words above somehow got lost in translation, let me try to make it clear and simple. The "gifts" and the ordination I was talking about was spiritual in nature. I do not need the ULCM or any other ministry, church, theological seminary, a doctorate or any other degree or title to make me who I am or what I am called to do in this life! The "gift" or "gifts" or callings or ordination I have are, from God. What I did not have prior to my ordination through the ULCM, was the "legal" means to serve.
Sad but a fact, anything spiritual or any service we desire to perform or are asked to perform, may only be done if the law says its legal. If you think about it for a moment, that's like the government saying, "OK God, you can legally be God and practice in our country, states, counties, cities, towns and hamlets. That's pretty ridiculous, but that's the way it is.
I will use my ordination and honorary doctorate so that I may be viewed as a professional and as a lawful officiant, in order that I may serve others. So I am thankful, grateful and appreciative of the ULCM for my ordination. You should too and teach others to treat this as a "gift" and as an honor. Isn't it an honor to be able to spiritually and legally serve others? Do you understand? Just imagine that you were Moses, Mohammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius, or any other great pillar of your belief. Imagine how powerful you are, how much you can do to bless others, but you cannot bless anyone because, the law does not recognize you! So, THANK YOU ULCM, for my ordination and making it legally possible, for me to serve others!!!
I will do everything within my power and according to what abilities I have, to honor God, to conduct myself professionally and reverently, to not discredit the ULCM that FREELY gave me this "gift" of ordination, and I will also, to the best of my ability, use it spiritually and lawfully, to serve others that any and all I touch in this life are blessed. And in conclusion, I will support and defend the rights of anyone to be ordained and to believe whatever they believe. What will you do with your "gifts."
Peace,
Dahni
