Dennis Diehl
Greenville, SC, USA
SCMassageTherapy@aol.com
Editor’s Note: Also see Dennis’ An Open Letter to the Worldwide Church of God Administration (And anyone else who cares to listen) (offsite).
Hi all….I came to the WCG when I was 14 and attended Ambassador college from ‘68-’72 going into the ministry for the next 26 roller coaster years. As a student of science and theology in general I found that the more I studied the fewer and fewer sermons I felt comfortable giving and the list of available topics kept getting smaller and smaller. I have come to believe in the process of evolution of all life as generally understood by science, and have always suspected it to be true even back in the "Whale of a Tale" days. Theologically I have come to accept that the Bible is errant and a relatively small example of the hundreds of non canonical documents available to christians. The gospels are not a coherent account of the life of Jesus and a number of the books attributed to Paul are simply not his. It may well be that the Christian story has evolved from all the dying savior godman cults that preceeded it. The story of Jesus in every detail is certainly not unique to Jesus. I have no current use for organized churches, shoulds, musts and threats of punishment should I not chose to believe with my heart what my head cannot accept. John Spong has said that "Sanctified Ignorance is still Ignorance" and I agree…
I enjoy the study of current thought on quantum physics, reality and metaphysical thinking. I am easy going, live and let live and pretty much just wish to be left alone by fundamentalist, literalist, creationist Christians. Each to their own. I study buddhism and holistic healing and have a therapeutic massage practice here in Greenville, SC with several chiropractors. I am going thru a divorce for which I accept responsibility. My oldest son owns a restaurant in Columbia, SC and my youngest is a chef in Seattle, and so to me he is Chef Seattle…:) I am very proud of them.
Thanks for letting me chat. Would love to hear from any past friends.
Warm regards,
Dennis Diehl
December 17th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Hi Dennis!
I found your letter by looking up metaphysical churches in Columbia, SC and found your statement interesting, so I clicked on it. I am not sure if you are still in Greenville or not and if you are how far that is, exactly, from where I now reside. I am about 20 miles outside of Camden, SC on Lake Wateree.
I share you views on religious dogma and am also very interested in Quantum Physics, metaphysics and basically not only thinking outside the box, but living outside the box. There are quite a few of us out in the world now, however, here in the midst of one of the nations “bible belts”, free thinkers are far from embraced, if you know what I mean.
So, I am reaching out via the Internet to people who are near and far (vicinity wise) that I may share my thoughts with to keep my vibration as close to alignment with the Universe as possible. There is, I noticed, a Christ Unity Church in Columbia which I may check out. I lived in FL for 12 years, which is where, what I refer to as “My Mr. Toad’s Wild Spiritual Ride” began about 6 years ago. Before that I followed in my professional parents footsteps as a rip-roaring alcoholic. I got sober in 1999. Neither of my parents ever did before passing. I am a certified master shaman and sage(mentor) and have the certificates to prove it, ha. I also spent June of 2006 in Peru and climbed Apu (quecha for sacred) Ausangate Mountain and recieved the 9th and final rites from direct decendents of the Inka’s who fled during the Spanish Inquisiton and hid in the mountains for 500 years. What an experience that was! Anyway, if you are still in Greenville, I would love to meet with you sometime and if you are not, perhaps we could become Internet buddies. I have also studied mysticism under Carol Myss, Spiritual Metaphysics under Sonia Choquette and recieved my degree’s from the Four Winds Society under the tutalage of Dr. Alberto Villoldo. I have also studied with John Holland on intuition and mediumship, among numererous other’s. I mention the people I do only because I have come to know them personally and them me. And, no, I am not out to impress anyone…if anything, the most challanging aspect of this whole thing has been harnessing my ego, even though I have suffered from low self esteem my entire life. I must say, I do not suffer from that anymore, thank the god’s, Source, Universe, whatever you are comfortable with. Anyway, I hope to hear from you, even though this is an old website, or at least your letter is dated 2002.
With Muney (Quecha for Love) and Light,
Mary Beth (Fishpaw) for now, I too am divorcing:)
February 8th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Hi Dennis I knew you when you were in Toledo,Oh Many years ago. Love to exchange some memories. What is your e-mail address?