Archive for the ‘Illusion’ Category

The Messages in James Cameron’s Avatar Movie

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

The Messages in James Cameron’s Avatar Movie

Avatar is also loaded with hidden messages for the viewer: political, environmental, antiwar, spiritual, and religious messages. I watched the movie in IMAX 3D and I would encourage anyone planning to see it to at least see the 3D version.

For the first 90 minutes, you are taken to the lush and gorgeous planet Pandora. You walk among astonishing and beautiful plants you have never seen before. The plants often have an electroluminescence that glow and change as you touch them. The movie screen seems to disappear. You are on Pandora.

The humans are here to mine a mineral Unobtanium, an energy source that the humans need, as earth has been depleted of their oil source. An indigenous people group already lives on Pandora, and the richest deposits of the mineral lie under some floating Hallelujah Mountains, islands sacred to the indigenous Na’vi people. You can guess the rest of the plot. There could be a war that would destroy everything and everyone. And the Na’vi seem to have little in the way of defense. Sound familiar? (Hint: Think of the history of the Native Americans in America.)

One of my favorite stories in the movie is when the Avatar/Human, Jake, is struggling to learn the culture and is surrounded by hundreds of tiny, illuminated, and animated, and floating entities. He is told by his Na’vi friend that these are the sacred “seeds of Eyra” and have a healing property. He is told not to fight them, but to hold out his arms and let them bring him the healing that he needs. Later in the movie as you are walking in Pandora you see thousands of these seeds surrounding you and “filling the theatre”, some only inches from your face. You reach out to touch them, only to realize you must wait and let them touch you. And you experience a sense of healing as you watch.

I liked the quote of Jake, the human/Avatar who is confronting the military strategists. The military strategists have really have sent him into the Na’vi to warn them of the destruction of their world.

“Out there [with the Na’vi] is the real world….in here is the dream,” Jake replies.

And then you watch as the militant humans with their illusion try to destroy the reality as all-out war breaks out. It hurts to watch.

How about your world? Are you in the illusion or the reality?

Illusion versus reality is the theme of my new book: Beyond Illusion: Leading from Reality that we are shipping now. Order it at http://www.creatingnewworlds.org. What does a real leader look like today? Does he or she even exist?

Tags: , ,
Posted in Avatar, Cameron, Illusion, Movies, Uncategorized, leadership, make a difference, reality | No Comments »

The recession will last how long?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

The latest TIME magazine showed the results of a survey of people on this question. Some 12% said six months. Some 53% said 1-2 years. Some 25% said more than three years or either we are in a long-term decline. I think the latter group is correct. You want to know why?

First, the guys that got us in this mess are still there. In Congress Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Roy Blunt, and Judd Gregg got over 20 million dollars in lobbyist money the last few years and made sure the bailout they created kept the Wall Street Executives wealthy and happy with lots of money, bonuses, and parachutes at the expense of using our tax payer money. GM got taxpayer money so they could buy placement ads for their Hummer on CSI:Miami. The rest of Congress has turned their backs to this and have done nothing. They keep bailing out AIG with your taxpayer money because AIG holds their pensions. Nothing has changed. As long as these people are not held responsible, no one - and I mean no one - has any faith in the system.

In all fairness, there are people in Washington investigating and plan prosecutions. Meanwhile, the bad guys enjoy your tax money. Also, do you really think it will change? Or is this another Libbygate where the real baddies go free?

And it’s not just the government. Our educational systems have failed. In my church, most families home school, use the church school, or send their kids to Christian schools. The health system, business system, and even a lot of the churches haven’t figured what is going on yet.

The paradigm the world is moving into is a major shift from where we have been. To understand this, look at a quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that he made about 1930 or 1931.

“For the Observers of the Future, the greatest event will be the sudden appearance of a collective human conscience and a human work to make.”

What does that mean? Even back then, Teilhard saw a global consciousness emerging, and now the Internet has become the tool for initiating this change. President Obama saw this and understood it when he ran for President. I’m not saying Obama is the answer. We’re on a Titanic that hit the iceberg and we are trying to turn it around and get home. President Obama is right in one thing, however. If the ship gets turned around, it won’t be President Obama that turns it. It will be our collective consciousness hearing the words that the Holy Spirit is speaking to the Church and then with us willing to take the risks necessary to make a difference.

Now here’s a tip if you are trying to get in there, change your life, make a difference, and need a job for it: If you are a professional, start with a membership in Linkedin.com and aggressively start your personal network. That doesn’t cost a dime. Then join a few groups on Linkedin.com that interest you. Make social networking work. Do all types of networking with and without the Internet. Then network with others in your church and build a network raising the consciousness in your church. Put your church group as a group on http://www.Linkedin.com. Pull the larger church into working with you. Then join Facebook, another social network. And then start publishing a blog (maybe use WordPress.com, it’s free). Remember, for this change we are in for the long haul and you need to be involved in changing things if things are going to be changed.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Government, Healing, Illusion, Uncategorized, change, church, economy, employment, jobs, leadership, make a difference, unemployment | 1 Comment »

The Recession 1 - We are not in Kansas any more

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

“Toto, I’ve got a felling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz

No matter how one looks at our world, the nation, and our personal lives today, one thing is certain. Extremely major shifts are taking place at this point in history on a global scale, and it is essential for even our survival to understand these. Our institutions as we know them: government, medical, economic, educational, and even the church have often become nonfunctional. Unless you understand this shift and how to lead through this you are going to have a serious problem.

Unfortunately for most of us, we build an illusion around that somehow, in some way, things will keep on going. And we keep on going like we always gone. We stay in our illusion and try to muddle on. Like the old cliché, however, if you keep on doing what you always done, you will keep on getting what you’ve always got. Unless there is a sense of desperateness (dissatisfaction), it is difficult to initiate change. This sense of desperateness is already sweeping a nation.

I like the story in the Bible of blind Bartimaeus as Jesus is leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem for the last week of his life. As the man is screaming to Jesus for mercy, Jesus replies with what seems like a really stupid question.

“What do you want Me to do for you?” Mark 10:51

The reply of the man is the heart cry of each of us.

“Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Mark 10:51b

Each of us is trapped in our illusions and we can’t see what God is really doing and our part in the Kingdom Enterprise. Until we can see that and claim authority in our lives in terms of this, nothing changes and we remain trapped in our illusions. Jesus will give us that vision if we ask, just like He did with Bartimaeus.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Government, Healing, Illusion, Portland, Transfomation, economy, jobs, leadership, make a difference, politics, purpose, unemployment, visioning | No Comments »

What the Obama Inaugural Means

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Watching the inaugural today was a very emotional experience for me. I lived in Washington, DC from 1962 to 1968. I walked that mall back then during that March on Washington (August of 1963) at the mall when King spoke and gave his I Have a Dream speech. The emotions of that moment still flood my mind. It is still amazing what happened from that astonishing non-violent action.

Then JFK was shot (November 1963) and I was caught up in the emotions of Washington with the loss of this leader with his vision of a coming Camelot and our responsibility to make it happen . Part of that vision was to put us on the moon. And that we did. I got to be a part of that vision. After three astronauts died when their capsule caught fire, my company sent me to Houston to check out things there for ideas on how to make those flights safer.

I remember walking the streets of a poor part of Washington one day much later and not seeing not a single person. Off in the distance somewhere I heard shouts. I finally found a lonely walker and asked what was happening. One of the Kennedys’ (probably Bobby Kennedy) was moving down the street in (probably an open) car, and the people were shouting greetings with hope in a coming Camelot.

Then Martin Luther King was shot in April of 1968. Again the emotions of another leader’s death shook the city. I was working at the coffeehouse of a church in the inner city that night, and calls were coming in to us that the city was burning just a few blocks from where we were. We stayed at the coffeehouse. And not even a single window was broken there that night as we worked.

Then, a few months later (June, 1968), we saw the death of Bobby Kennedy. Camelot never came.

Today, again, at this same mall we see the visions that these leaders held in the past beginning once again to break loose of the bondage that has held them for years. The most important thing about President Obama’s inaugural speech, however, is that the President only used the word “I” about three times. What really happens here in this change is up to us. It wasn’t “A change I can believe in” but “A change we can believe in”. The responsibility for leading is with us – not President Obama. What are you going to do about it?

Posted in Government, Healing, Illusion, Inspiration, change, freedom, leadership, politics, power, purpose, visioning | No Comments »

Catching the Wind

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Carl will be speaking on September 14th at Rolling Hillis Community Church, 3550 SW Borland Rd, Tualatin Oregon 97062. He will speak to the Young Singles class at 10:45 a.m. . Probably about 75 there, but anyone is welcome.

Title: Catching the Wind

One of the reasons our personal faith has so little authority in changing the world about us is that we have never really fully connected with God’s transcendent vision. We don’t see the reality. We see only the illusion.

Carl will share some examples from the Bible of where people were trapped by their illusions. He’ll also share some of his own story and how you can move out of those and reclaim your heart and dreams. You will also see some steps and strategies for moving to the reality God has for you and how to catch the wind.

Here are some relevant resources:

Books: (John Eldredge) Wild at Heart, Captivating, Waking the Dead, Epic Hegstrom, Paul , Broken Children, Grown-Up Pain: Understanding the Effects of Your Wounded Past. Search his name on Amazon.com for more. Also see the interviews:
http://www.sidroth.org/site/News2?abbr=rad_&page=NewsArticle&id=6205&security=1042&news_iv_ctrl=1185

Posted in Healing, Illusion, authority, change, purpose | No Comments »

The Reality of Faith

Monday, February 11th, 2008

In reality, faith always springs from a relationship. You don’t have faith that it won’t rain for your party tomorrow or to win the lottery. Faith is the result of believing someone. It is an unconscious process of acting on something because we believe someone. If you scheduled that outdoor party tomorrow, it’s because the weatherman said it would not rain. You believed the weatherman. Faith is beyond reason. If we are acting on reason, it isn’t faith.

When I had that GBS, it wasn’t reasonable that I would walk again. The doctors said I would not. I had to step out in faith beyond reason. I had to be a proactive step on my part. And there was a relationship, and it wasn’t with the doctor. It was with God. If I had believed the doctors I would never have walked again.
(from The Illusion by Carl Townsend, (c) 2008

Posted in Healing, Illusion, Prayer, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Illusion

Monday, July 2nd, 2007

Pray for Carl as he begins work on his next book, The Illusion. The book will take at least a year to complete. We will share pieces of it as work progresses. Some of the material can be seen off the prayer menu at:
http://www.creatingnewworlds.org//prayervision.htm
If you haven’t seen the movie The Illusionist, be sure to see it. Then come back and follow the threads on prayer as he book is written.

Posted in Healing, Illusion, Prayer, Uncategorized | No Comments »