"Rapture's Delight" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series American Dad! It originally aired on the Fox TV network in the United States on Dec. 13, 2009 [and remains one of the funniest and most satirical takes the show dared to make]. This episode centers around CIA Agent Stan and his housewife Francine's life after the vast majority of the church, including their children Hayley and Steve, are raptured ("taken up"), leaving everyone else Left Behind. When Stan begins to blame Francine for not getting into heaven, Francine ends their relationship and befriends a man whom she later finds out to be Jesus Christ. Francine becomes his bride, leaving Stan behind to participate in the showdown at Armageddon. More
"The Rapture" is a Christian eschatological ("end-times") belief held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of a magic event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, together with Christians who are still alive, will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord [who might be in a spaceship] in the air" [1, 2].
I don't want to be left behind with all the sinners!
Many different timelines have been asserted that tie to ideas of a seven-year "Great Tribulation": pre-tribulation [3], mid-tribulation, pre-wrath, and post-tribulation raptures; and to a thousand-year age of Messianic rule: millennialism, pre-millennialism, post-millennialism, a-millennialism, and preterism [4, 5].
The origin of the term extends from translations of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians in the Christian Bible, which uses the Greek word harpazo (Ancient Greek ἁρπάζω), meaning "to snatch away" or "to seize."
The idea of a rapture as it is defined in dispensational premillennialism is NOT found in historic Christianity. It is a relatively new doctrine, originating from the 1830s.
Why was I left behind, not good enough?
Most Christian denominations, and the numerically largest, do NOT believe or subscribe to "rapture theology" and have a different interpretation of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4 [6].
They do NOT use "rapture" as a specific theological term, nor do they generally subscribe to the dispensational theology associated with its use [7].
Instead, most Christians typically interpret "rapture" in the sense of the elect (the saved) gathering with Christ in Heaven directly after the Second Coming. They reject outright the idea that a large portion of humanity will be "left behind" (like the very profitable, fearmongering book series depicts) on Earth for an extended tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 [6, 8]. More
Every year, Peace Class goes on hiatus from July through September. There is this meeting tonight and again next week (June 24th), then summer hiatus begins. Join me for final two classes of this cycle. This is the text of the peace talk delivered last week:
When all beings can clearly see everything-that-is, all beings will choose to live in peace, in harmonious coexistence with one another.
Harmony (akin to kshanti) happens effortlessly when everyone has access to all-that-is. Harmony is what happens when everyone is engaging their full intuitive powers, seeing with clarity, gazing at the world through their higher consciousness, through their Peace Minds.
Harmony happens effortlessly when all is known by all. But we aren't there yet.
We are at the end of the age that precedes all beings knowing all. We are at the beginning of the time of revelation that bridges two ages. We are at the beginning of the revelation that gets us from not-knowing to knowing.
What does this transition period look like? What does it feel like? Imagine that all-that-is-true were shown to us as a huge sweeping picture, a massive wall-sized image, one enormous scene.
Then imagine that wall-sized picture sliced up into 10,000 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Yes, one would be able to reassemble the full picture, if one had all of the puzzle pieces.
What's happening during this time of revelation is that some people are receiving some of the pieces of what-really-is, whereas most people hold just a handful of the pieces. And rarely do two people hold the same pieces.
That means we might hold a few puzzle pieces of what-really-is, and our neighbor might hold a few pieces, and those pieces could be from different quadrants of the picture. Those assembled pieces could show entirely different things.
Our neighbor might hold three pieces that seem to be part of a barn and might say, "I've seen what is, and we're in the countryside."
We might hold a few pieces that seem to make a skyscraper and might say, "I've seen what is, and we're in downtown."
A third neighbor might be holding pieces that show part of a cloud and might say, "We're in the clouds—not touching ground at all!"
All three of these neighbors might have glimpsed some aspect of what-really-is yet not understand how those things fit together. So they might be tempted to turn to each other and say, "You're wrong!"
They might even be in despair wondering, "How can so many people think that this is an image of clouds we're in when I know it's a picture of a barn?"
This is what the Time of Revelation feels like, especially in the beginning. It feels to many like deep confusion. And such confusion can lead to despair.
But when we realize what's really going on, which is that all-that-is is being revealed, slowly, we can cross this bridge and transit this period with grace.
We can hold compassion for ourselves, knowing we are all undergoing a process that takes time. We can hold compassion for our neighbors, benighted as they seem. We can hold compassion for ALL beings.
Kill Iran so we can build up Israel. - OK, Bibi.
These are not easy times to transit. Our politics are polarized. Many of us look at our neighbors and say, "How can you believe that? How can you possibly see things that way?!"
What's happening is a literal difference of seeing, not a figurative one. This is not just a duel of differing opinions. Some have seen what's-really-happening by way of direct exposure or spiritual revelation, and others have not. Some have seen one slice of what's-really-happening, and others have seen a slice of a different portion.
We are stepping into knowing-what-really-is at vastly different rates. And this is exactly as things are meant to happen. What-really-is is that we're a group of beings evolving towards discovery and an expression of our own peaceful and loving truest nature. That's what's really happening!
We are evolving forwards. And eventually, we will know who we are. We are beings of peace. And eventually, we will feel as we are. We will feel the urge to choose to live peacefully, to express compassion-for-all.
We will choose to fully express our unique selves and selfhood, while creating space for others to express themselves fully. We will choose compassionate coexistence.
The trees have been waiting patiently in peace.
We will choose harmony with others, harmony with the waters and the forests and the soil and the air, harmony with the animals of this planet.
We will choose selfhood, and we will choose harmony. But we have a ways yet before arriving there. We are departing from one shore, sailing towards another.
We are departing the shore of believing our community is dog-eat-dog, that the rules are an-eye-for-an-eye. That's the shore we're leaving.
I like it better when we ALL get along in peace.
We'll arrive at the shore of dog-celebrate-dog, dog-help-dog. That's where we'll land.
Revelation is the time to discover who we truly are as a species. This is the time to learn, not later in peace. Right now, we can learn that dog-eat-dog was never our true nature. We were living through a dog-eat-dog phase, just as people, while they're babies, are living through growing pains in a diaper phase. A child grows out of using a diaper: A child becomes a grownup. We are now growing into dog-celebrate-dog.
Higher we rise, easier to see the big picture
We get from one shore to another by learning the truth about who we are. Now, there's a lot to know. The full picture of who we are as beings is a lot to take in. The full picture of what our planet is, how it fits into the greater universe, is a lot to take in.
The full picture of what's been happening in our societies, what's been happening of which we have been unaware, is a lot to take in. A lot.
Revelation arrives in pieces. It arrives as different pieces that are in the hands of different people fall into place at different rates. Eventually, all will know all. As for now, some know some.
So when we look at our neighbor and think, "How can that [bleep] think that way?" we must understand that our confusion is natural and know that our neighbor will eventually see everything. And so will we.
All will eventually see all.
In the beginning
The light slowly began to dawn.
What does revelation look like at its beginning? It can look like deep differences between how we see the world and how our family members, partners, children, and those pesky neighbors see the world.
If we choose to walk with compassion, we will understand that the children of earth are doing the work of waking up and becoming enlightened in perfect pace, with appropriate timing for everyone, at the right rate for each individual.
Everyone has the right to choose how quickly to evolve. Some will choose to cling to the dog-eat-dog way-of-being, and some will let go of such thinking, feeling, and being.
What happens when a person sees the completed puzzle, the full image of all-that-is? That person knows and chooses peacefulness, one's own peaceful way of being in peace. And what one feels for others at that moment is compassion-without-end.
Once we understand that all who can see the full puzzle will carry peacefulness, and once we understand that the puzzle pieces are arriving into the hands and lives of most people we know, at varying rates, this era of revelation begins to make sense.
I never saw it that way! It makes sense now.
This is what revelation looks like: It looks like a few more puzzle pieces arriving into the hands of a few more individuals.
Revelation happens in stages, dependent on an individual's desire to know more. And individual who really wants to know more creates space within oneself.
If we create openness in mind, if we cultivate compassion in heart, with non-judgment and non-attachment (letting go), more puzzle pieces will begin to fall into our hands.
I'm starting to see, but my eyes are blurry.
It may take five or 10 or 20 years to have enough puzzle pieces to get a full sense of what's really going on, but we are so loved. Every human alive is so loved through this process, so loved by the divine, so loved by our ancestors, so loved in all phases of self-discovery and self-actualization. All who walk this process do it perfectly.
This summer, we might spend time with family members whose puzzle pieces imply a completely different picture than ours, and if we allow the lower mind to run the show, we are very likely experience, at best, frustration being around them, at worst, anger and hate, at very worst, expulsion of others from own compassionate heart because they're holding different pieces of the puzzle and they imagine that the shape of the puzzle is different than what we imagine it to be!
We get to choose how we walk this moment of revelation. We can do it with compassion, we can do it with grace, or... Walk in the way that builds the world you want. When you see all, you will know your own peace, and you will choose your own peacefulness.
If we choose peace now, even before we see all, we will walk through challenging times with the most possible ease. And our presence here, among those of earth, will be a living slice of grace.
(Psyfluence) This video delves into The Apocalypse of the Mind: The Age of Idiocracy and Idolatry, a deep analysis of how contemporary [American] society is caught in an unprecedented intellectual and spiritual crisis.
We reflect on the decline of critical thinking, the glorification of [idiocy and] superficiality, and the worship of false idols—from celebrities to empty ideologies.
This content invites us to question our dominant culture, its values, and how this reality impacts our inner and collective freedom. Through current examples and philosophical reflections, we are invited to awaken and seek an authentic path amid the noise and confusion of the modern age.
Are we ready to challenge our own beliefs and open our minds? Some are. Everyone else can return to consuming corn and cattle, body parts and synthetic plastic contamination.
David Wilcock was a professional lecturer, [whistleblower,] filmmaker, and researcher of ancient civilizations, consciousness science, and new paradigms of energy and matter. [As the rebirth of Edgar Cayce, "America's Sleeping Prophet"] he was rewriting entire branches of science and leading a new narrative of human history, one that includes races of highly advanced [extraterrestrial and interdimensional] beings that we share earth and space with.
The golden thread that weaves his work together is the science of Ascension, a solar-system-wide transformation elevating earth and humanity to a higher phase of spiritual advancement. David Wilcock’s message is one of unity and love, encouraging people to live a life of goodness and harmony. He was a cosmic reporter of poignant news and events in the Ascension timeline and drama. The divinecosmos.com website contains countless articles, free books, meditations, and lectures that will stimulate, challenge, and inspire. Enjoy! More
The Christian and Jewish Bibles have so little to say about masturbation that in a mindboggling reach, Church officials (guilty Catholics or officious Protestants or killjoy Jews) could only come up with the story of Onan and the awkward, inapplicable synonymous term "onanism." Nothing could be less connected to masturbation.
A Jewish man's brother dies, leaving his wife without a child. By Jewish custom and (levirate) law, he has to impregnate her in his absence. But just as he finishes the fun part his duty, he thinks better of it, reflecting on how troublesome another child and/or wife will be for him and not wanting to be burdened by those responsibilities, he withdraws as he finishes. God is so p'd off, we're told, that He smites (murders) him on the spot for "spilling his seed" on the ground rather than the fertile woman. Voila! Masturbation. Which as we all know involves having procreative sex with a partner but then changing your mind, right? 🙄
Buddhism and sexuality In Buddhism, prohibitions against masturbation apply to monastics. By extension lay people may undertake to avoid them, and that is healthy and good, but one can no more find a "commandment" against it for ordinary people in Buddhist texts as one could locate one in Christian texts. Inciting lust, particularly through porn, is terribly harmful, and the Buddha did say something to the effect that it would be better to swallow a red-hot iron ball. But even that is in reference to being an "immoral monastic" swallowing food offered as alms by laypeople. If one insists on having sex (or fornicating, which means doing it without being married), go Tantric.
A man nudged his wife for some nookie in front of their child. She asked him, "What?" - "How about we, you know?" - "What, are you crazy? You're going to ask me for that in front of our baby?!" - "Well, what do you want me to do?" - "Next time you want some whoopie, ask me to do 'a load of laundry.'" - "Oh, O.K." - Later that night, the wife primps and preps and makes a dramatic entrance in the bedroom. But the husband rolls over, turning his back to her. She pokes him and angrily and says, "I thought you wanted me to do a load of laundry!?" - "Oh, that's O.K. It was a small load. I did it by hand."
Fortunately, Wiki has this caveat: The word onanism is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story. For the word onanism is not found in any form in biblical texts. Thus, the etymological connection of onanism (as masturbation) with Onan's name is religiously misleading" [62][47]. More
Epstein’s personal calendar, 2/21/2013 (Source: House Oversight Committee)
. Leaked emails show [Mossad Agent or asset] Jeffrey Epstein working on a wire transfer to [Israeli Minister] Ehud Barak’s top aide, Yoni Koren, who regularly stayed at his apartment.
An Israeli military intelligence officer stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment on at least three occasions—including once, in February 2013, while working as a senior aide to then-Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.
Yoni Koren made his intelligence career working in covert operations alongside the Mossad and remained a lieutenant colonel in reserve duty after he officially left the intelligence directorate.
He stayed in Epstein’s apartment again for two weeks, in October 2014, and a third time for ten more days in September 2015. Drop Site News compiled evidence of these stays from schedules released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee last month and Israeli Minister Barak’s hacked emails, originally released by the Handala hack team and later shared by Distributed Denial of Secrets.
On all three trips, Koren appeared to be conducting official or unofficial business. A Times of Israel article from late January 2013, a few weeks before Koren’s first documented stay, identifies him as still actively serving as the “bureau chief” for the Israeli Ministry of Defense that month.
After Barak’s retirement from government, Koren continued to serve as an informal intermediary between the American and Israeli intelligence communities, with Minister Barak acting as his handler.
Israeli spy Yoni is Itzhak Koren
Email records show Israeli Minister Barak using Koren as an intermediary to exchange information with AMAN, the Israeli military intelligence directorate. Koren was also active in Epstein and Barak’s efforts to source cybersecurity startups from the technology research units of AMAN, demonstrating how enmeshed in Israeli spy networks he remained.
In February 2015, leaked emails show Barak sending Epstein bank details for funds to be wired to Koren’s Citibank account. The purpose of the wire transfer is not known.
Drop Site was unable to confirm if the funds were successfully transferred. But the bank transfer information was followed by an unusually cryptic communication between Barak and Koren regarding hand-off of a physical bank card. More
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.