Being the Way

By Rev. Patrick McAndrew

Being the Way is a collection of personal experiences and insights blended with a very different view of the journey Jesus took after his baptism on the River Jordan, which led to his living in an awareness of Heaven's Presence. Being the Way wi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rev. Patrick McAndrew, D.R.S Publishing
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958169346

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Being the Way

Rev. Patrick McAndrew. D.R.S

Being the Way

Copyright © 2022 Rev. Patrick McAndrew, D.R.S

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022943848

Paperback: 978-1-958169-33-9

eBook: 978-1-958169-34-6

Contents

Dedication

Being the Way,

An Introduction

Angels Watching Out Over You

Ascension:

A Rising Up in Consciousness

Catching a Glimpse of Spirit

Coming Out of the Wilderness

The Way the Mortal Mind Works

Surviving Life’s Earthquakes

The New Law

In My Father’s House

The Swirling Winds

An Angel and Fireworks

Heaven’s Presence

When the Road Gets Really Tough

Rending the Veil and The Fall of Babylon

Rising Up and Returning Home

Being the Way

About the Author,

Endorsements

Dedication

This book was inspired and is dedicated to help all those who might be living in a place of darkness and to help them move into a place where they live in and awareness of Heaven’s Presence. The ideas and spiritual concepts shared within it help me and others to do so. Knowing that Love’s Presence always surrounds us and it’s up to us to repent (to change our focus) and to experience its Presence. Know that God Loves you and is waiting to welcome you home, to help you to realize It is always there waiting for you.

It is also dedicated to all those who helped me and inspired me to put these thoughts into a printed form. This list is very long, which includes Barbara Duff, Connie Bradley, and many more, but you know who you are! Thank You for inspiring me and helping these words of hope to reach millions of souls.

Being the Way,

An Introduction

What if you knew there was a way to allow peace, harmony and every good thing your heart desires to flow into your life? Despite whatever turbulence that might be occurring in the outer world: say at your work, or being reported on the news, or the craziness being produced or heartaches in your personal relationship – there is a way you could experience the wonder of life in each and every moment. Yes, there is a way; I discovered it many years ago when I unknowingly set off on a journey to find my true self. My life was spinning out of control and I couldn’t deal with it any longer, then something happened that would change the direction of my life and the way I see the world. But it wasn’t so much about learning this new way of being, but rather it was about Being the Way these insights invited me to follow.

Now, I say I discovered this new way of being, but it is part of a spiritual teaching that has been around for centuries, although other concepts grew up out of the teachings that had been shared. These teachings taught us to worship the Masters who originally shared the Truth they left us, and then completely disregarded the very powerful insights those Spiritual Masters shared.

One of these spiritual masters was a man named Jesus, who lived in an ancient land called Israel. Much has been written and taught about this individual, but little of their teachings had anything to do about what he taught. To truly understand what he taught, we need to have a broader and truer understanding of the times in which he lived; a more accurate historical perspective. Not one influenced by religious viewpoints that evolved out what has been termed the Dark Ages, where both science and accurate historical perspectives were considered heresy and were punishable by death! The religions that evolved out of, or through, these Dark Ages, changed the meanings of words and terms and concepts to lay a foundation for compliance to their rules, or suffer the consequence here and now, just as the Pharisees did during Jesus’ lifetime. The Dark Ages stretched from the forming of Constantine’s Empire to the early 1800’s, where questioning (what the term heresy actually means) and seeking to involve a deeper understanding and meaning for life was a crime!

For me this is a very interesting insight, because I have come to believe this was one of the teaching methods that Jesus used, who I believe to be the most powerful spiritual teacher of all time. He invited us to explore the questions he shared and to take them into thought and consider them. Not only did he teach many parables (we will explore several in this text), but he often just left his listeners with a question to explore. When someone came up and asked him a question, he would at times turn the question around and would ask the questioner to explain their insights about it. He also taught through his example on how we might Be the Way! Seldom would he do, what is done in churches around the world today telling someone how they had to believe! Actually, I can’t even think of one example. No, he taught through parables, percepts and his example, always inviting us to explore the answer we found more deeply, that is the only way we will find heaven’s presence right here, right now in our life today!

You may have noticed I used the word way several times in this introduction, which is because I believe Jesus was a teacher of The Way, of Being the Way, and not the founder of and teacher of Christianity. Jesus’ intent was never to establish a church, but rather a following, a gathering of believers who practiced his unique Way of Being. Yes, Jesus was a teacher of The Way! Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was a teacher of The Way, Lao Tzu was a teacher of The Way, and Hinduism arose out of the teachings of The Way, as expressed in the Bhagavad Gita and Dhammapada. The fact is that many of Jesus’ teachings can be traced to the words of Buddha, and some to Lao Tzu. You might ask, How could Jesus be exposed to these teachings shared in India and China? Perhaps you have heard the legend that Jesus traveled there during his missing years. But in truth Jesus, didn’t need to go to India or China, because they actually came to him. You see Jesus, as an Essene Jew living in Nazareth, lived along the Silk Road. As history shares, the Essenes¹ loved knowledge and loved to share their knowledge with others and in turn learn their customs and spiritual beliefs. So, they would go out to the passing caravans and share their sacred text and invite the passerby to share theirs. They would sit by the roadside and share meals and talk. Yes, that might not be what you heard about the Essenes, a group of Gnostics and Mystics who loved to learn, from the religions that evolved out of the Dark Ages! But it is what history has recorded outside of those restricted belief systems.

What is The Way and how can you go about Being the Way and fulfill the law and develop a deeper understanding of It in your life? That is what I seek to share through this text, which blends my personal stories with insights I have gained about the Jesus’ teachings and other spiritual seekers across the centuries. Sometimes I share these concepts through what I call the Gospel According to Patrick, because I have come away with a very different awareness than what is traditionally taught. One reason is I learned that it was good to question things, as both Socrates and Jesus taught us to do. Through the use of parables Jesus actually models the teaching process that Socrates taught, just as many ancient Jewish mystics did in a process called Midrashing!

A book that highlights this process that Socrates, Jesus and other ancient mystics used and shares how to utilize it is Awakening the Fire within: A Primer for Issue-Centered Education by William Dols. It was published by The Educational Center, in St. Louis Missouri. This process invites us to explore the actual and factual history and beliefs of the time a story takes place and then to contemplate the polarities, the tensions, that may arise in the telling of a story. What might be the right way or the wrong way as seen through various perspectives, and how those perspectives prompt us, causing us to take action or to question the dynamics of teachings that are being shared. The process Socrates’ shared, and Jesus utilized has taken my understanding of the Bible and what it shares into a whole different dimension, or as Jesus might have said, given me new ears to hear, and new eyes to see.

Another reason I decided to share these concepts of what I believe to be about Being the Way is that I have been exposed to the writings and teachings of George Lamsa, Rocco Errico and Neil Douglas Koltz, who were involved in translating the Peshitta Text of the Bible from Aramaic directly into English. What they share provides a very different understanding of what is written about the Gospels today, and quite honestly it makes much more sense. Combined with the process William Dols shared with me, these insights have quite literally set my mind on fire and helped me to enter into an awareness of Heaven’s Presence.

I invite you to join me in my process of learning and in taking the insights deeper into your very own personal relationship with the Divine. Someone recently asked me what I meant by having a personal relationship with God and I responded, When you move into an awareness of God’s Presence, the feeling you experience, the energy you experience, the knowing you experience, is deeply profound and it is in you as you as the Lord moves through you. So, I invite you to move into that type of awareness with the Divine.

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1 Since the early 1900’s there have been a number of ancient texts and writings found throughout the Middle East: including, the Dead Scroll, the Nag Hammadi Library, the Coptic Scriptures, the writings of Josephus and Philo, the Peshitta Text, missing Gospels and more. Since 1980 information about these recently discovered ancient texts has been slowly and reluctantly released. Information about the life and the true ways of the Essenes are contained within those writings. The DVD series titled the History of Christianity produced by the History Channel shares some of this information as well. There are many stories about the Silk Road and how it connected the ancient world in some older college level world history text books. Another illuminated book on Ancient Jewish customs is The Interpreters One-Volume Commentary on the Bible.

Angels Watching Out Over You

I still my mind and heart to feel the Sacred Energy of Life fowing through me!

Just before Thanksgiving reporters interviewed some senior citizens about what they were thankful for. A 104-year-old woman replied, I am thankful cause I have no peer pressure. Another added, The nicest thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs. And a third responded, "I’ve sure gotten old. I’ve had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, and fought cancer and diabetes. I’m half-blind and can’t hear anything quieter than a jet engine! I take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. I can hardly feel my hands and feet anymore, can’t remember if I’m 85 or 92, and I’ve lost all my friends, but, thank God, I still have my Florida driver’s license!

Sounds like they all have angels watching out over them, doesn’t it?

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you knew there was so much more to life? That some mysterious Force surrounded, enfolded, and protected you; and, if you allowed It, It would guide you? Such experiences touch the fabric of our being, leave us with a deeper insight into life, and provide a profound knowing there is so much in life to be thankful for: the air we breathe, the beauty of each day, the love in our relationships, and the very life we live. Such awe-inspiring moments help us to realize we are part of something much greater than ourselves.

I have had several such experiences. One of those experiences was a number of years ago, while I was attending ministerial school. My wife, Yvonne, and I were living in Kansas City, Missouri, and we decided to make the five-hour trip to northern Arkansas to visit Yvonne’s mom. We were driving in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains on a narrow, winding, two-lane highway and came up behind a tractor-trailer just poking along. It seemed like an hour before we finally came to a passing zone. Finally, I saw the road was clear as far as I could see. I threw my Explorer into passing gear and went around that long truck, increasing my speed as I went. When I got around the truck, I was going close to 70 miles per hour. As I pulled back into the right lane, a deer, a buck with big huge antlers, jumped out of the woods onto the roadway, just 30 yards in front of me! I was going 70 miles per hour!

Have you ever noticed how time slows down when you start to panic? Well, the seconds passed like hours. All I could think and say was, God help me! God help me! God help me! I stepped on the brakes, but not too hard, because I had that enormous eighteen-wheeler just behind me, and I could hear his tires beginning to squeal. You know the sound they make just before they run over something! However, that deer kept coming closer and closer, filling more and more of my vision. I jerked the car back into the left lane and blew the horn. But the buck just kept walking casually across the centerline, staring at me through the windshield of my car! I can vividly remember those big brown eyes coming closer and closer. Without a thought, I jerked the Explorer back again into the right lane, and I braced for the impact. However, the deer just suddenly leapt out of the way. All I felt was the thump of one hoof lightly touching the bumper of my car, and the deer was gone. With one leap that buck was gone, off into the woods!

In the next instant, I heard and felt the rush of a line of cars going in the opposite direction. My heart was still pounding, so I realized I was still alive! I was OK! Yvonne sat in a stunned silence with her fingernails gripped into the front dashboard. My four-year-old daughter, Shavonne, always one for following the rules and curious why others did not, asked from the back seat, Daddy, why was that deer standing in the middle of the road?

Then a voice came across our CB radio, Hey Blue, you got your ears on? It was the trucker behind me, asking me if I had my CB radio turned on. I fumbled for the mike and responded, Yeah, yeah ah ah . . . I mean 10-4.

I can still remember what that trucker said next: Are your pants wet? No! I said, but they probably should be!

The trucker’s voice came back across the radio, That sure was some fancy footwork you did there. I can’t believe you didn’t hit that deer. Of course, I did some fancy driving back here too, trying hard to stay off of you. You must have angels watching out over you. Indeed, it was as if a giant, invisible hand had moved that deer from my path, and just in the nick of time! I felt like I was being held in the palm of God’s hand, and that the wings of angels were protecting me.

I thought to myself, When we stay open and receptive, allowing Spirit to work within us and through us, Spirit will guide our hands and feet to do what needs to be done. Now, when I say this, I do not mean that the Infinite One stopped everything that He was doing! You know, like monitoring the outworking of the universe, making sure that the stars and planets stayed in their proper orbits, allowing His attention to stray from the Earth’s weather patterns, or some other potential calamities--to push a deer out of my way to protect me. I do not mean that at all. It is more like experiencing what can be read in Psalms 91:

You who dwell in the shadow of the Lord, will say to the Lord, my refuge, my rock in whom I trust . . . for the Lord shall give his angels charge over you, to guide you in all of your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. (Psalms 91:1 - 12)

It is quite a powerful reading, and quite different from what many of us have been taught is in the Old Testament. Now a skeptic might ask, Why would God protect you? Why would God send angels to guard you, when you were breaking the law by exceeding the speed limit? God always punishes those who break the rules! Is that not what the Good Book is all about? Why would God move a deer out of your path, and not someone else’s? If that were true, then the deer would not have been there in the first place! All very good questions. Was it some Mysterious Power, a band of angels watching over me, or was it just plain luck and super-quick