ABOUT US

Community Service

From its inception in 1993, Church of Truth of Texarkana has engaged in community service.  Initially, the Church provided a meeting space and facilitation for a Co-Dependents Anonymous group, slightly used clothing was provided to those who were in need, and used furniture was sought out and provided to those who had had house fires or were setting up their dwelling space.  As the service became more wide-spread, a building to house our meetings, the CoDependent Anonymous meeting that we sponsored, and accommodate donations was acquired.  In time, we were provided with a donated building to house all of our activities.  At that point, the Church was also providing Tai Chi classes.  All of the above, of course, was provided at no cost to the recipients.  In 2004 the Soup of the Day free community soup kitchen was opened.  When the first shelter in place order related to Covic-19 pandemic was issued, the manner in which services were provided had to be altered but the service remained.  At that time provision of tents, tarps, ponchos, tools, etc. to those living in tents was added, together with information on services such as free health care and other basic services being taken out into the streets.  It is the Church’s position that community service is part of existence

Great Teachers

There have been many Great Teachers throughout history.  They include but are not limited to:  Lao Tsu, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi, Marcus Aurelius, Mohammad and, more recently, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, and the Dalai Lama.  They all have taught essentially the same thing – how to live a decent life.  Each taught in a different manner, poetry, prose, parable, homily, etc.  In this way, wisdom has been made available to all of mankind.  Since people learn in different manners, it is necessary to present the wisdom of the ages in different ways.  We can find no basis for elevating any one teaching above any other.    Their similarities are far more numerous and important than a few slight differences.  We choose to pass by the fact that in some instances, their adherents have chosen to emphasize differences and claim superiority for their particular path.   We all have the same goal – to return to the Divine.  How we do that is a series of individual choices coming from the depth of each individual.  What one person may believe is the right path for them has no bearing on the path another should take other than the sharing of wisdom as one may understand it.  We must each respect the other’s right to build and walk their own path.

SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION

                We believe that there are many ways to come to God and that all are equally valid.  Therefore, we believe that the name which is given to the Creator of the Universe is irrelevant.  That name may be The Divine, The Great Spirit, Allah, God, I AM, The One, The Creator, Yahweh, He Who Cannot be Named, etc.  The point is the connection itself rather than the label one puts on the other end of the connection.  To go a step further, The Creator is beyond this Dimension of the Pairs of Opposites and thus is neither male nor female.  Unfortunately, in our language, it is considered rude to refer to a sensate being as “it”, so we are linguistically stuck with the ongoing battle rather than the rational solution. 

                The idea that we as mere mortals can conceive of or name a being which is so far above us is ill-advised.  Being able to recognize the chasm is about the best we can do.  The English language is beautiful and very effective because of the shades of meaning which it allows its users to express; however, it simply is not up to the task spiritually speaking.  Feelings are the true language when communicating with the Spirit.  Those feelings cannot be properly described by words.  While we must use words as part of communicating with others, we must not let them be a stumbling block to that same communication of which they are a part.

                Allowing oneself to become distracted by the name someone with whom you are discussing spiritual matters puts on The Divine is a convenient way to avoid the real substance.  It is instructive to note that none of the many wars which have been fought about this have settled anything.  It is our intention at all times to penetrate past the name which someone uses and have an open and honest discussion for the benefit of all concerned.  This, of course, is easier when one is not trying to convince someone else of the “correctness” of one’s own thought, but merely attempting to discern wisdom in the other which one can adapt to one’s own journey. 

Til

Mevr. Matilda C. D. J. Van Wijk (Til to her friends and associates) was a remarkable human being.  In her ninety-plus years she saw the devastation of two World Wars, personal loss, personal tragedy, and, yet, they took no place in her life.  Til was a curious, intellectual, spiritual, humane human.  Her great joy was to connect with other humans and share the joy of living with them.  For some years she created original needlework art to express her understanding of the relationship between the human and the Universal. a sample of which can be seen on our Home Page. She called it “Escaping the Ego”. As she expressed it, one day she simply stopped doing needlework and started writing poetry.  She espoused no “religion” and yet, or perhaps as a result, was a very spiritual person. 

          Til’s poetry is beautiful and profound.  We, her readers, are most fortunate that Til was multi-lingual and so translated her own work into English from her native Dutch.  In editing her works much of the Dutch syntax has been retained because of the beauty it lends to the thoughts expressed.  Where necessary for clarity slight alterations have been made, with her permission. 

          It is a joy to have known Til and to have had the privilege of discussing life and the human spirit with her.  It is hoped that you, the readers, will participate in our joy and come to regard Til and her wisdom highly as do so many of us who have been privileged to access her poetry.

Using the Language

            The structure of the English language is such that it presents a problem when speaking or writing about The Divine.  The Divine is beyond the pairs of opposites.  This concept has been expanded on by Joseph Campbell as “neither he nor she, neither is or isn’t” .  As users of the language we consider it rude to refer to a sensate being as “it”.   Given this, using “it” to refer to the Divine, although accurate, carries with it the danger of unconscious dismissal of the subject.  We have chosen to avoid this problem by simply using the proper noun at all times.  Although at times this may be cumbersome it is our current best effort at the truth of the matter.