THE "PEARL" / "TREASURE" OF JESUS

Life.

I have just now glimpsed this!

I cannot prove this to you, but if you want, I can show you.

You are young parents in the first minutes of holding your first newborn. What is more valuable?

Now, imagine a Heart as expansive of that of Jesus, Teresa, Gandhi, King or any other uncrippled adult human. What is the "Pearl," the "Treasure" for which you would sell everything? The "Pearl," the "Treasure" for which you would sell everything is EVERY SINGLE, ANY SINGLE HUMAN LIFE.

WITHIN EVERY LIFE IS CREATION, AND THE CREATOR - THE ALMIGHTY. INFINITE WORTH. INFINITE VALUE. INFINITE BEAUTY AND WONDER.

Separating ALMIGHTY TRUTH from manmade "truth"

Who are you? What are you to become?

What if you and anyone on earth have never encountered a "Golden Retriever" baby puppy; or a tulip bulb?

How would you go about discovering what it was, its "nature?"

• Patience
• Respect
• Honesty
• HUMILITY
• Rigor....

The real point is that YOU would KNOW THAT IT HAD A "NATURE," unlike a piece of clay or Iron Ore that, although these two have a nature, they are inanimate and "invite" manipulation and forming. Alive "nature" invites discovery and nurture. Yes?

Human Beings provide an infinitely more complex problem due to their practically limitless capacity to be enculturated. Yet, imagine that you are a species from a distant planet, extremely "humane," and you encounter a human infant. What do you do? The above list, right?

The point is, humans have a "nature." By Jesus time we had lost much of our sense of this. With Judaism we were living as though we were weak clay that needed constant force to assume a shape pleasing to the Almighty.

Jesus saw the Truth. Our nature is Humane / Brotherly / Universal Family / Compassionate / Loving. He died to have us re-envision ourselves and to re-envision our relationships. He died to Lead us to Lead others to recreate ourselves and our culture - to Heaven on Earth.

We have been crucifying him ever since. Jesus has company that in more recent years have arrived at much his conclusions: Carl Rogers, Alfred Adler, Pitirim Sorokin, Victor Frankl, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Abraham Maslow. Those who are evidence that Jesus was correct in seeing the full "health" of a human include Gandhi, Teresa, King, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abe Lincoln, Dietrich Bonhoeffer....

EVERY "BROTHERLINESS" IS A "BRICK" IN THE KINGDOM

Wow. This was a much needed bit of encouragement last week.

This was important clarity. We need Heaven constructed and a bridge for all of us to get to Heaven to be constructed. This is a HUGE JOB!

But make no mistake, think about your own experience.

What is YOUR bridge toward Heaven so far. Is it no made up of acts of Love / courage / Heroism / Altruism ... bricks made and laid by people directly and indirectly in your life?

• Mom
• Dad
• Sister
• Brother
• Teacher
• Historic characters
• Strangers
• Fiction characters
• Jesus
• etc
• etc

Every act of Love / Family / Brotherliness / Kindness / Humanity / Altrusm... is a brick.

Take heart! Get on with it!

JESUS SAID THERE WOULD BE A "PRICE TO PAY"

So far for me it has been exactly as Jesus said:

MarkChapter 8 "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel 9 will save it. 36 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 What could one give in exchange for his life? 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Mark Chapter 10 28 Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

Matthew 19 29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.

ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE FOR "NONVIOLENCE"

Who could be satisfied with the term "nonviolence?" It so defines itself in terms of what it wants NOT to be. The reverse should be true.

Potential alternatives include:

1. Militant Brotherliness
2. Militant Family
3. Militant Loving
4. Militant Love
5. Militant Nonviolence
6. Militant PeaceMaking
7. Brotherliness
8. Revolutionary Brotherliness
9. Tough Brotherliness
10. Tough Loving
11. Universal Family
12. PeaceMaking
13. ?
14. ?

Thine is the... "Glory"

Oh my. What a tragedy that people like me were never taught how to be prayed by this prayer, the Our Father! Year after recent year I find this a perfect prayer, the perfect prayer for developing me as a disciple, for making me Christian.

My experience with the last three phrases is the newest. I expect to spend many hundreds of hours, if granted by the Almighty, being pondered by "For Thine is the Glory." In my experience so far, what is as glorious as:

• The Love that your caregivers provided as you grew
• The Love of your best teachers
• The self-sacrificial Love of histories Heroes
• The way Truth wins out ... in the end
• The wonder of Life in an infant
• Etc
• Etc

Thine is the "Kingdom"

Oh my. What a tragedy that people like me were never taught how to be prayed by this prayer, the Our Father! Year after recent year I find this a perfect prayer, the perfect prayer for developing me as a disciple, for making me Christian.

My experience with the last three phrases is the newest. I expect to spend many hundreds of hours, if granted by the Almighty, being pondered by "For Thine is the Kingdom." In my experience so far:

• Yes! Thine is the ONLY KINGDOM in which anyone that had experienced it would want to live!
• Thy Kingdom is the only one with the power of the Almighty!
• Thy Kingdom is the one WITH the Almighty - that you can reside with Love, Life, Truth.
• Thy Kingdom is the one that is Heaven on Earth, including for those most dear to us.

It is really important to intimately envision the Kingdom:

1. To know where we need to be.
2. To know where we WANT to be.
3. To know what to try and build.
4. To know where we need to lead others.
5. For the motivation that comes from seeing the prize.

Thine is the... "Power"

Oh my. What a tragedy that people like me were never taught how to be prayed by this prayer, the Our Father! Year after recent year I find this a perfect prayer, the perfect prayer for developing me as a disciple, for making me Christian.

My experience with the last three phrases is the newest. I expect to spend many hundreds of hours, if granted by the Almighty, being pondered by "For Thine is the Power," THE ALMIGHTY! In my experience so far:

• Napoleon: "Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the spirit."
• Not Gandhi, but he as an instrument of the Almighty.
• Not King, but he as an instrument of the Almighty.
• Not Jesus, but the Almighty Power for two hundred years, and vague recollection that will not fully die for 2000 years.
• Etc.

What has brought "Heaven" into your life?

Have you any glimpses into heaven? Of course you do.

For me the examples are endless, however I wish there were a million times as many:

1. My father's joy at given me a motor bike, something he never could have afforded as a child;
2. Bev writing me of her love after years of putting up with me;
3. Dicken's writing - "A Christmas Carol," etc.
4. The book "Endurance" as a child,
5. The movie "Captains Courageous" as a child,
6. My sister Marcia's undying love and kindness to me as a child,
7. The million things my mom did for us kids,
8. Soldiers giving their lives for us,
9. Gandhi's example,
10. JESUS' EXAMPLE,
11. Msgr. Ryan at the Catholic Church when I was little - his unending warmth and kindness,
12. Etc.
13. Etc......

Every one of these is a brick toward the Kingdom!!!!!!!!

Every kindness we do is a brick toward the Kingdom!!!!!!

Obstructions to "paying the price" for Heaven on Earth

1. MODEL-POOR / EXAMPLE-POOR ENVIRONMENT. Imagine a near perfect community as probably existed in certain American Indian tribes and among the early Christians. Someone in such a tribe would require much, much imagination to Err / Sin.
2. TEMPTATION-RICH ENVIRONMENTS. Western, free-market, consumer capitalism INTENDS TO BE THE MOST TEMPTATION-RICH ENVIRONMENT EVER CONCEIVED!!!!!!!!!!
3. PERVERSION / POLUTION / DISGUISE / DISTORTION / MUTILATION OF JESUS "GOSPEL" AS SUCCESSFULLY AND TOTALLY ACHIEVED BY THE "CHURCH" FOR 1800 YEARS!!!!!!!
4. LACK OF PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE.

Darfur Vigil Goal: Post-it Note Darfuries to the Hearts

As what is written in the title of this post came to me in the last two weeks it has been enormously useful to me staying on the path, Joyful, and Serving out of Solidarity from my Soul.

I think that is an almost perfect example of what the life of a Disciple does: Works to connect "the least of these my family" to the Hearts of all people - to "Save" them from thinking about themselves and "their family."

In front of the Sudan Embassy I am trying to live my life in such a way as to post-it note Darfuries to the Hearts of those that pass by every day. I have no doubt that to some degree this is happening.

The "Our Father" saved me again, and again...

My early May traumatic divergence from the "Path" has been written of extensively in following posts. "PAY ATTENTION" LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Guidance for my young friends, of every age. I've neglected there to mention that the "OUR FATHER..." has once again been instrumental in regaining the Path despite great odds.

No, I do not mean "reciting" the Our Father for some "magic" effect. I mean having the "OUR FATHER..." work my nervous system for hours, to hammer me back into shape, back into a Follower, a Disciple.

Walking the path: weed or cultivate? WEED BARRIER

Where are we best to focus our time?

1. WEED: Do I spend my time finding my Errors and working on them?
2. CULTIVATE: Do I spend my time growing within myself Love-in-Action for "the least of these my family?"

Gandhi seemed to say, WEED. Gandhi was obsessed with finding the errors in his life and weeding them out.

Gandhi seemed to say, CULTIVATE. TRUTH IS GOD. Gandhi relentlessly pursued Truth.

Jesus said CULTIVATE! No? The religion He replaced was Judaism which was obsessed with "laws" that were for the minute dealing with weeds. Jesus said No! CULTIVATE. "Follow me." Just Do It!

Both Weeding and Cultivation are necessary, but the emphasis, the strong emphasis needs to be on CULTIVATE, in my experience and practice. Weeding is too much of a "Brain," "Thinking" function. We need to stop "Thinking" and Start Loving. The Heart is the only thing strong enough, wise enough, and visionary enough to get us to Heaven.

The best defense is a good offense: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you.? "As you do unto the least of these my family you do unto me."

JESUS' TWO SOLUTIONS ARE "CULTIVATE:"

1. "Love [the Almighty - Truth, Love, Life] with your whole Heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind."
2. "You shall love your neighbor ["the least of these my family"] as yourself."

Or, WEED BARRIER!!?!??!!!!!!!!

Leo Tolstoy Quotations

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.

All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

All surrounding interests, such as the peace and safety of my family, my property, and myself were based on the law that was rejected by Christ – on the law of a ‘tooth for a tooth.’

All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.

All His first disciples obeyed the same law of the non-resistance of evil [to not return evil for evil], and passed their lives in disability and persecution.

And all people live, Not by reason of any care they have for themselves, But by the love for them that is in other people.

And I understood from where my error arose. It arose from my professing Christ in words and denying Him in deed.

And Levin, a happy father and a man in perfect health, was several times so near suicide that he hid the cord, lest he be tempted to hang himself, and was afraid to go out with his gun, for fear of shooting himself. But Levin did not shoot himself, and did not hang himself; he went on living.

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.

Art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen.

Boredom: the desire for desires.

But the peasants - how do the peasants die?

Christ does not require us to turn the other cheek, and to give away our cloak, in order to make us suffer; but He teaches us not to resist evil [to not return evil for evil], and warns us that doing so may involve personal suffering. Does a father, on seeing his son set out on a long journey, tell him to pass sleepless nights, to eat little, to get wet through, or to freeze? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Go, and if on the road you are cold or hungry, do not be discouraged but go on’?

‘Do not resist evil’ means never to resist evil, i.e., never offer violence to anyone. If a man reviles you, do not revile him in return; suffer, but do no violence.

Ecclesiastical teachers told me that the doctrine of Christ was divine, but that its observance was impossible on account of the weakness of human nature.

Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

Faith is the sense of life, that sense by virtue of which man does not destroy himself, but continues to live on. It is the force whereby we live.

Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us.

He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.

I did not carry out that teaching in deed [to not return evil for evil], for I admitted and respected the unchristian institutions that surrounded me.

I did not see that it was impossible to admit the Godhead of Christ – the basis of whose teaching is non-resistance of evil – and, at the same time, to work consciously and calmly for the institutions of property, courts of law, kingdoms, the army, and so on.

I imbibed such a notion of the practical impossibility of following the divine doctrine gradually and almost imperceptibly. I was so accustomed to it, it coincided so well with all my animal feelings, that I had never observed the contradiction in which I lived.

I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.

I was taught from my childhood that Christ is God and that His teaching is divine and authoritative; while, on the other hand, I was also told to respect those institutions that, by means of violence, secured my safety from evil; I was taught to honor those institutions as being sacred. I was taught to resist evil; and it was instilled into me that it was humiliating and dishonorable to submit to evil and to suffer from it; and that it was praiseworthy to resist evil. I was taught to condemn and to execute. I was taught to make war, i.e., to resist evil by murder. The army, a member of which I was, was called a ‘Christ-loving’[1] army, and the Church consecrated its mission. I was taught to resist an offender by violence and to avenge a private insult, or one against my native land, by violence. All this was never regarded as wrong, but, on the contrary, I was told that it was perfectly right and in no way contrary to Christ’s doctrine.

If a man were to set all the faculties of his mind to the annulling of a given law, what more forcible argument could he use for its suppression than that it was an impracticable law, and that the legislator’s own opinion of it was that it could not be kept without supernatural aid? And yet, this was exactly what I had thought about the commandment ‘not to resist evil.’ I tried to remember when and how the strange idea had first come into my mind, that the doctrine of Christ was divine in authority but impossible in practice. On reviewing my past life, I discovered that this idea had never been transmitted to me in all its nakedness, for then it would have repelled me; but that I had imperceptibly imbibed it from my earliest childhood, and that the associations of my life had confirmed some strange error.

If so many men, so many minds, certainly so many hearts, so many kinds of love.

If there existed no external means for dimming their consciences, one-half of the men would at once shoot themselves, because to live contrary to one's reason is a most intolerable state, and all men of our time are in such a state.

If you want to be happy, be.

If you deal carelessly with bees you will injure them,and will yourself be injured. And so with men. It cannot be otherwise, because natural love is the fundamental law of human life.

In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.

In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.

It did not then occur to me, as it does now, that it would be much simpler to regulate our lives according to the doctrine of Christ; and then, if courts of law, executions, and war were found to be indispensably necessary for our welfare, we might pray to have them too.

It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.

It was only after losing all faith in the explanations of learned theology and criticism, and after laying them all aside in obedience to the words of Christ (Mark 10:15), that I began to understand what had until then seemed incomprehensible to me. It was not by deep thought, or by skillfully comparing or commenting on the texts of the gospel, that I came to understand the doctrine. On the contrary, all grew clear to me for the very reason that I had ceased to rest on mere interpretations.

Judgment sins by punishing for crime, and all judgment is annihilated by the law of God – mercy.

Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.

Love is invincible.

Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.

Love is the unity of souls

Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity.

Music is the shorthand of emotion.

My faith in these ‘toga,’ in these empty idols, hid the truth from my eyes. In my way to Him these ‘toga,’ which I did not have the strength to renounce, stood before me, obscuring His light.

Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal.

One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.

Our body is a machine for living. It is organized for that, it is its nature. Let life go on in it unhindered and let it defend itself.

The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life.

The chief difference between words and deeds is that words are always intended for men for their approbation, but deeds can be done only for God.

The greater the state, the more wrong and cruel its patriotism, and the greater is the sum of suffering upon which its power is founded.

The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people.

The law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits.

The law of God - mercy.

The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God; and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgment and profession of the truth by each one of us.

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.

The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people.

There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.

To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can't eat it.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur.

Truth is communicated to men only by deeds of truth.

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.

War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves.

War on the other hand is such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the right to assume the responsibility of starting it.

We lost because we told ourselves we lost.

We must not only cease our present desire for the growth of the state, but we must desire its decrease, its weakening.

We were taught that it was possible to be a Christian without fulfilling His law not to resist evil.

What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.

What an immense mass of evil must result... from allowing men to assume the right of anticipating what may happen.

Why should Christ have given to us such clear and good precepts, applicable to us all, if He knew beforehand that the keeping of them was impossible by man in his own unaided strength?

Without knowing what I am and why I am here, life is impossible.

May 23: 22 Priests go on Hunger Strike

UCAN: Priests go on hunger strike to protest naval base plan
5/23/2007
UCANews (www.ucanews.com)
SEOUL, South Korea (UCAN) – After the governor of Jeju agreed to accept a controversial naval base on the island province, local priests went on a hunger strike and their bishop wrote an open letter to South Korea's president urging a referendum on the plan.

On May 21, about 40 priests of Cheju Diocese organized a Mass for peace on the island off the Korean peninsula's southern coast. Afterward, 18 of them joined four colleagues on the third day of a hunger strike against the base. Cheju is the former spelling of Jeju. [click link above for full article.]

THE "NARROW GATE" = "SEEING" THE "PEARL" / "TREASURE"

This is a really important post: THE "NARROW GATE" = "PAYING THE PRICE!!!!!!!!!" The point of this just mentioned post is that more than we recognize, we know:

1. What we want - Heaven
2. What to do - Good
3. The Pearl / Treasure - totally dedicating ourselves the least of these

The point of the just mentioned post is that we know what we want, but we will not face the "Price!"

But, why will we not face the price?

1. We are DISTRACTED, DISASSOCIATED, SEPARATED from "the least of these our family," PHYSICALLY, VISUALLY,. SPATIALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, EXPERIENTIALLY, FINANCIALLY....
2. "If you know, and you do not do, you do not know"
3. We are drowning in mis-direction; away from the Kingdom, toward the Hell of non-family, non-brotherly
4. We are drowning in a culture, we are drowning in role models that prize distance from "the lest of these my family."
5. We are devoid of an environment rich in Serving, from the Soul, in Solidarity

THE "NARROW GATE" = "PAYING THE PRICE!!!!!!!!!"

MatthewChapter 7
[FINDING / KNOWING THE PEARL - THE TREAURE - THE EASY PART!] 12 6 "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. " And, Mark Chapter 12 30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

[DECIDING TO PAY THE PRICE - THE NARROW GATE - THE HARD PART!] 13 7 8 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14 How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few. "

Oh my goodness. What am imbicile I am. Finding and Living "Life" all comes down to this - PAYING THE PRICE!. I spend most of my time in the mistaken confusion that it comes down to:
* Knowing WHERE the path is...
* What the path LOOKS LIKE...
* How to walk the path...
* Etc...
* Etc...

Well, all of those things matter. But the fundamental problem is, WE DO NOT THINK THAT WE WANT TO "PAY THE PRICE!" We know WHAT to do. We don't have the WISDOM, COURAGE, CONVICTION, KNOWLEGED, TRUTH, LIFE, LOVE... to PAY THE PRICE.

MatthewChapter 13 44 23 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, 24 which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." I have always thought that the focus of this was FINDING the Pearl or the Treasure. It is helpful for me to realize that it is about the wisdom, courage, FAITH... to "PAY THE PRICE."

IF WE HUMANS ARE ONE BODY, WHAT DOES OUR FATHER SEE?

IF YOU WERE ONE "CELL," WHERE WOULD YOU FOCUS YOUR BODY?

IF YOU WERE ONE "CELL," WHERE WOULD YOU FOCUS YOUR BODY?

This idea of "one body" is all around us from the great souls:

• The body of Christ.
• "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools," Martin Luther King, Jr.
• "All men are brothers," Gandhi.
• "In reality, of course, we are all cells in the body of humanity," Peace Pilgrim
• Etc.

Well, let's not blow them off for a second. Time out.

So if we in the whole world are all one body, and you were one "cell," where would you want the body's attention?

1. Your "family? Probably not. You are a high achiever, wealthy beyond all world standards.
2. Your "neighborhood?" Probably not. Same as above.
3. Darfur? Congo? Palestine? Guatamala? Etc? GOOD CHANCE! Huge death rates. Terrible suffering.
4. The U.S.? GOOD CHANCE! CANCER, MESTASTASIZING AROUND THE WORLD, SPREADING ITSELF - SPREADING FREE MARKET, CONSUMER, CAPITALISM.

DARFURIES & JESUS WONDER: "ARE YOU OUR FAMILY?"

Think of this, DARFURIES & JESUS WONDER: "ARE YOU OUR FAMILY?"

Think of this, not for the "guilt" value [horrible waste - guilt] but for the potential insight and "wake up" value!

Jesus must be wondering, "who is my family?" He said, "As you do unto the least of these MY FAMILY."

WHO IS TAKING CARE OF "JESUS" DARFUR FAMILY? No one? The Jesus TOO has no family?

Jesus follower? WOULD BE LEADER.

Properly understood, the "OUR FATHER..." is a passionate exhortation for us to Lead our brothers and sisters to Heaven:

Lead us all not into temptation

Deliver us all from evil!!!!!

Who is to do the "Leading?" Who is to do the "Deliver"ing? YOU AND ME.

Leading, successfully or not, is what we were created for - it is Heaven.

Leading, WHEN SUCCESSFUL, is the only thing that will "DELIVER US ALL FROM EVIL!"

START: "RECENTLY SELF PITTY, EGO, SELFISHNESS FILLED ME"

After weeks of Spiritual success and bliss, despite an arduous campaign in front of the Sudan Embassy, I plummetted off of the path: "PAY ATTENTION" LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Guidance for my young friends, of every age.

Within several days I got approximately back, but it was another week before I was fully back on firm footing, and back in Heaven. In the intervening days, the symptoms and penalty for being off of the path included the Fruits that filled/sickened me included:

SELF PITTY: Why didn't I have more support from people!
EGO: Oh, I was so angry at folks for not joining the campaign, and not being smart enough to follow me!
SELFISHNESS

SELF PITTY, EGO, SELFISHNESS are ONLY FOUND OFF OF THE PATH. Watch for and respond to these warning signs. This entire site is designed to help us back to the Path, but this post in particular can help: TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!

"CHRISTIAN" MARRIAGE? TOTAL SERVICE.

Oh, I wish as a young person I had seen this. Maybe I could have established a marriage with a similarly enlightened person.

If you are open to considering the Truth of this post title, "CHRISTIAN" MARRIAGE? TOTAL SERVICE, then ponder this and you will see it:

Jesus called us each individually to TOTAL SERVICE to "the least of these my family." 'Pick up your cross and follow me' he told us. Well, if individually this is what we are to do, then except for violating this Solution to Life, in Marriage this is what we must do as TWO instead of ONE.

There is no other "Christian" Marriage. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE.

Jesus called us to "Love," NOT "Justice." Careless mistake?

JESUS; WE DO EVERYTHING BUT WHAT HE SAID.

Why did Jesus NOT call us to "Justice?!!?" Because our Father's Kingdom, Heaven is in and through the Heart. Justice calls us to our Head, AWAY from our Father's House.

NOT "MY FAMILY" IS THE ROOT OF ALL SIN; ALL SELFISHNESS THE FRUIT

TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!

THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD,

JESUS DISCOVERED LIFE. ADAM SMITH - CANCER.

Jesus, according to Tolstoy and your own heart, gave us the Solution to Life: "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you."

Adam Smith gave us Cancer / Death: Do unto others, within Man's law, all that you can BEFORE they can do unto you.

Smith said, it is impossible to effectively look after your brother. Take care of yourself and let the Hand of God worry about the rest. Hmm. Adam Smith overrode Jesus, Son of God. Smith had no malice or mal intent. CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!

DIVORCE / NEGLECT / NON-FAMILY: OUR UN-NAMED RELIGION

See TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!! , THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD, and CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!

Our western culture is based on our ability to divorce ourselves from concern for others under the guise of rugged independence, free market capitalism, and "family" values.

WE SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE, as an early and immediate indicator of the "body's" death from this cancer, a skyrocketing "Marriage Divorce" rate. Divorce from others is what we train our children in from the earliest age.

CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!

It would seem like the ultimate free lunch. Listen cells, the other cells can take care of themselves. It will build character; survival of the fittest.

Quit thinking about them, and look out for yourself, and for "your family."

My gosh, without the "burden" [Life, Love, Truth - the Almighty] of thinking about others, wow, just think of the growth, the wealth of resources available to you! Why, you could do as well for yourself as you were willing to sacrifice and work for!

But then the body would die.

Thank you Adam Smith. Thank you wester, free market, consumer capitalism. The body, the masses, are rapidly dying. And the Almighty is not to be found among the Cancer Cells. They are already all but Dead.

TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!

TOXIC WASTE OF THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY-TO-THE-LEAST-OF-THESE?

For much of the last six weeks or so I've felt much more enlightened with the new insight that all Error, all Sin is Selfishness. Much has been written of this; THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD, and see partial list below.

But now I think that Selfishness is the fruit of something deeper: the root of all evil - detachment / separation / distance / "divorce" from anyone; that is to say, the root of all evil is ANY VACUUM IN YOUR HEART, any space that is non-family, non-brotherhood-t0-ALL-of-the-least-of-these-MY-FAMILY. Is not this insight in line with Timothy 6:10 (King James Version): "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith [universal brotherliness], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows?" Yes. The love of money [Stuff, Superiority, Systems/Institutions] is the displacement of the LOVE OF "THE LEAST OF THESE MY FAMILY."

EVIL IS ANY MOMENTS OF ABSENCE OF LOVE OF EVERYONE - UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS / OTHERISHNESS / "FAMILY." SELFISHNESS IS THE RESULT / FRUIT. "GOOD" IS THE PREDOMINATION OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS... IN THE HEART.

The importance of this distinction? A FOCUS ON SELFISHNESS WILL ALLOW THE ROOT TO TAKE HOLD - NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM - A HEART JUST PARTLY FILLED WITH BROTHERLINESS WILL BECOME FILLED BY SELFISHNESS.

THE KINGDOM DEPENDS ON OUR VIGILANCE IN KEEPING CONNECTED TO ALL OTHERS / keeping from being diverted ["diversion" being worshiped in our western free market capitalist society.]

This puts Jesus focus on the "least of these my family" in new perspective for me.

This puts Gandhi's statement in a new perspective for me: "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

Caution! Mother Teresa's kind of LOVE - "Love [that] cannot remain inactive in the face of suffering." [paraphrase]

THE BOTTOM LINE!!! THE MOST TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT, THE GREATEST DANGER IS BEING NOT-ENTIRELY-BROTHERLY-TO-ALL-THE-LEAST-OF-THESE.

WHAT TO DO!?!?!?

1. PRAY. "OUR FATHER..." PRAY. SELF-MONITOR. BE ACCUTELY AWARE OF WHAT IS ON YOUR HEART, AND IF IT IS NOT THE-LEAST-OF-THESE-MY-FAMILY, PRAY DELIBERATELY AND PRACTICALLY TO BRING THE-LEAST-OF-THESE-YOUR-FAMILY TO FILL, FILL, FILL YOUR HEART.
2. BE VIGILANT, WATCHFUL FOR THE AVALANCHE OF "DIVERSIONS" AND DISTRACTIONS THAT OUR CULTURE THROWS AT YOU EVERY MINUTE.
3. REMEMBER, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE LEADING THOSE DEAREST TO YOU WHERE YOU GO. LIFE OR PULSE? HEAVEN OR HELL? THE "GREAT" OR THE "GOOD?"

WHERE IS THE SELFISHNESS / SIN IN MY LIFE?
!!!!!!!!!! DEFINITION: "SAVED" !!!!!!!!!!
Exploitative U.S. "Family Values" will be its demise...
The Anti-Christ: American Capitalism and its Export
DEFINITION OF VIOLENCE - "Enemy," Non-Brotherly, Selfish, Not-as-you-would-have-them-do behavior
Take away Selfishness and Western Culture Vanishes
WE ARE IMMORTAL. THE ONLY DEATH IS SELFISHNESS
And many more posts. Search the blog with the tool a the top left of the site.

TOXIC WASTE OF THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!

Ooops! Please click here for this extremely important post:

TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!

HEART: DOES NOT KNOW ITS OWN PAIN, SACRIFICE

This is a really important factor in our "wiring" to be aware of:

WHEN YOUR HEART IS IN CHARGE THE FEEDBACK LOOP OF YOUR FLESH IS EXTREMELY ATTENUATED. (You are racing to the hospital with your child in your arms. How much are you "feeling" the pain in your body?")

This is why those who follow Jesus, serve the Almighty "LOOK LIKE" they are in misery, but actually "THEIR JOY IS COMPLETE."

No?

"Heart in the right place"

A long and wonderful conversation with my friend caused us to arrive at the thought that it is of monumental importance to have one's "heart in the right place." This is of monumental importance. THIS MAY BE THE ENTIRETY OF WHAT IS IMPORTANT.

Why do I feel however that this concept is incomplete? IT IS A MATTER OF DEGREE, I see now!!!

But as Dr. King showed us, HOW MUCH SPIRIT MATTERS!!!! (See Dr. King's idea: JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING.)

Let's say your mistaken idea was to value material riches (you don't do you?). If you valued this, and pursued it a little you might say your "heart is in the right place." But it does not stop there. HOW MUCH IS YOUR "HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE!" HOW GREEDY ARE YOU!!!

It is really important to:

1. Have your "heart in the right place."
2. Be extremely greedy!

Why?

1. Why Jesus came: Abundant Life; Complete Joy. PERIOD.
2. We build the Kingdom, or it does not get built. Most of your family is in torment. "HURRY," the still, small voice within says.

Why Jesus came: Abundant Life; Complete Joy. PERIOD.

Hmmm. How much longer will we continue to doubt what He told us - substituting instead our own thoughts or the thoughts of preachers, etc?

Was Jesus the most perfect of men, a genius by whatever name... or was he an imbecile in whose mouth we need to put words?

Jn 15:9-11 “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”

John Chapter 10 I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

Guilt: Almost always a Sin / Error

Hmm. Picture it: you are up in the waiting room of the Pearly Gates. Jesus comes in to interview you. You tell him all that you did to try to follow him. One of the ones you speak of is guilt. "Wow, Jesus, I spent so much time in guilt." You are hopeful He is pleased at this.

"Did I suggest for you to be guilty? NO. I told you many things, but I did not tell you that. Why did you ignore what I told you:

• As you do unto the least of these my family...
• There is not greater love than to...
• Love God (the Almighty - Truth, Love, Life) with your whole...
• Love your brother...
• Love your enemies...
• Love your neighbor...

Do we think Jesus was careless in what He said?

JESUS; WE DO EVERYTHING BUT WHAT HE SAID

I know, DUH!

But wait a second. I've "known" this for all of my life. But reflect on this Eastern saying:

IF YOU KNOW, BUT YOU DO NOT DO, YOU DO NOT KNOW.

Only now am I starting to do. I DID NOT KNOW.

START, YOU HAVE SO MANY ABSOLUTES!!!!

An elephant absolutely has a rope-like tail!
An elephant absolutely has sheet-like ears!
An elepahnt absolutely has tree-trunk-like legs!
Etc.
Etc.

If you get the Almighty / God (Life, Love, Truth) you get a whole bunch of things together - aways. It is important to understand each element. But you cannot get just the element.

Maslow wrote of this phenomena, admitting that he couldn't further explain it. In his study of self-actualizing humans he found that in highly self-actualized people, one in millions, if you get one of the following, you get them all in abundance:

Truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness dichotomy-transcendence, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, completion, justice, simplicity, richness, effortlessness, playfulness, self-sufficiency - THE ALMIGHTY / UNITY / SINGULARITY... LIFE - The "Bread" of Life.

The movie "Rudy." SPIRIT IS THE ONLY SUCCESS.

More and more I glimpse what never before I could - Jesus teaching that what man (not the Almighty) makes is so futile / trivial / wasteful / meaningless. Napoleon: "Do you know, Fontanes, what astonishes me most in this world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit."

So, what role is left for us? To be the dwelling place of the Almighty - Truth, Life, Love. This was RUDY. And look at how he was an instrument to build the Kindom.

King, Jesus, Teresa, Gandhi... all were ademant that EVERYONE can be great. "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve," ML King.

There is no other service than than done by Rudy. "They Kingdom comes as thy will is done."

God calls us to be faithful, not successful.

BE FAMILY / BROTHER / SISTER FOR THE JOY OF IT

For the joy of it - no other reason.

Jesus came "to give... life more abundantly," and "to make joy... complete.

Jesus gave us the SOLUTION TO LIFE:

• Do unto others all that you would have them do unto you.
• Love your brother as yourself.
• The Good Samaritan
• As you do unto the least of these MY FAMILY you do unto me.
• A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.

99% OF MY LIFE HAS BEEN ERROR. YAHOO!

99% of my life has been organized around the society of western free market capitalism - SELFISHNESS. This was the best I knew.

Yahoo?!?!?!?
1. Shall I feel guilty for doing the best I knew?
2. Can feeling guilty or bad help me reclaim those decades?
3. Now that I recognize the error / the missing Joy, YAHOO I CAN AVOID THOSE ERRORS BETTER!

How much cancer is good for your body?

How much toxic waste for your mind / Soul per day?