Just checking in, please find 2nd paper

I am back from Italy and I haven't seen the previous paper I sent to Rev. Guy from Italy. I couldn't get this blog site in english while in Italy so I asked Rev. Guy to post for me which he agreed. I am home now and will post myself. I apologize for the delay but here is my second paper. I got the homework from Joyce and Joanne and will be listening to the class prior to Saturday's class. Wanted everyone to know that I missed them, but had a good time anyway! Here is the paper on Jacob.

Regional Class: Metaphysical Bible I
Instructor: Rev. Guy Williams
Holmes Institute
Los Angeles Campus

Interpretation of the Story of Jacob, Hebrew Bible
Prepared by: Les DeMarco, RScP


As I study the story, I keep trying to place historical content into a theme, forgetting that the allegory of this is in relevance to me personally through interpretation.

So how might I reinterpret this?

Where do I see myself as Jacob (unfolding consciousness), moving from the darkness of ignorance (Egypt) towards a realized spiritual awareness (Haran)?

But as the story begins, I ask myself, “What am I holding on to that can hinder me or keep me stuck so that I feel a sense of separation (Luz) while the desire is waning to create unity (Nebojath) through this struggle?”

The narrative is more like this:

“I have fallen asleep, wandering through the vast ethers of mental anguish and trickery. The arguments I have had with myself linger on as memories, sometimes comforting me and at other times leaving me scared to death. I tremble, and feel as if I must awaken from this dream. My head hurts! It feels like I am sleeping on the tombstones of past existence, struggling to understand my place in life; the life my parents may have dreamed for me; the hopes I have had for myself; and the imprisonment of having to live with the life that now exists outside this holy nightmare.
Somehow, I see a ladder in the distance, a way to climb out from under this vision that is held by me and for me. The ideas flood my brain (descending the ladder) and stimulate my body (ascending the ladder) and I am in ecstasy with this stolen mirage. I watch as each idea demonstrates a more powerful experience of life. I see the movement in harmonious patterns; the vision keeps expanding and with it, as the Spirit moves within me, the ideas fall like rain into the fertile soil of my desires. I see the glorious exchange of love and wisdom, as they dance together in force and companionship. I find the tombstones of existence now exalted into holy sacrament, as the new moment arises to reveal its power and abundance. I claim the inheritance that is mine on this earthly plane and accept the intertwined activity of thought (mental) and action (body), reveling in the instances of seeming discord. For I know the power of Spirit is endless and purposeful. I want to speak of this life, this dream, but ears struggle to hear my voice. The truth falls on the hopeful and the angry, and some are satisfied.
Those that are my family (the hungry, the needy, the sleeping, the angry, the listless and the helpless) cling to me and multiply, as the caress of divine inspiration moves through me. Something stirs within them, as the light of understanding moves them toward self-discovery. Those of my family that have been born of the Truth, spread out into the fields of illusion bringing with them realization and hope. A new family is born and becomes the descendants of Love.
As I awake from my dream, I am taken captive by a stranger, yet I struggle in my slumber to overcome. I wrestle with indecision and uncertainty as to the future of my ministry. Suddenly I am victorious! My mind is clear, yet the stain of my injury lingers on and I walk vicariously between two worlds. Those that knew me before the dream no longer recognize me, and those upon whom my eyes now gaze know me by a different name.”

Though the version in the Hebrew Bible is told in a fashion that lends itself to many interpretations, faith is by far the continuous theme. There is faith in Rebekkah by Jacob. Faith in Laban that Jacob will finally get the wife he desires. Faith in God. Faith in Jacob’s ancestry. Faith in his dreams. Faith that he is safe to speak his dream. Faith that Rachael will have children. Faith that God will entreat Rachael. It goes on and on. There is much else to this story as well, but I figured one theme is enough to bring forward.
For me as a minister, I feel that to continue to trust Divine Inspiration is the fruit of my faith. This inner calling must have a way to demonstrate itself or it cannot be of God (Universal Consciousness). The idea in this story, fear versus trust, applies to me personally in that I have now become keenly aware of what fear looks like and how I act (show up in the world) when I move from a place of fear. Though I don’t always have a clear view of the activity of trust, or should I say, what the outcome of my faith might demonstrate, there is no doubt in my mind of the power of the Mind of God or my use of it!