Life is self organizing and optimizing.
IT knows what it is doing, in spite of my inclination to make comment about how it is doing. IT is going to keep doing and going where it knows to go.
It is evolving a consciousness of ITself through me. What an interesting adventure this has been.
My heart has brought me here and my breath is taking me the rest of the way.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Today's Inspiration - re-definition - EGO
Posted by Andy Skadberg on Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Under: Thought for the Day
In a conversation with Desmond today.EGO = Exponential Growth Opportunities.
Our growth, and evolution has the fullest support - One Breath.
Life's purpose is to grow itself - to be more loving.
This is the Mission of Self. O = Organization, Opportunities, etc.
Our only job is to fine tune our breath consciousness "tool-set", skills.
Mantra: EYE AM MY SOVEREIGN, COSMIC, SNUGGLEABLE, PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL BREATH OF ABSOLUTE ABUNDANCE NOW WITH EXPONENTIAL POTENTIAL FOREVER.
"Snuggle your ego"
Life is Self Evolutionary, creating a consciousness of itself.
Learn more at www.reverenceforlifeuniversity.com
Sunday, October 12, 2014
SNUGGLE - how to Transform the world
From the night of October 12, 2014
On Saturday the 11th our car ran out of gas. After we had done a friend a favor. We had just spent $470 on repairs. Also, the gas gauge indicated it had half of a tank of gas so it was very perplexing. The car quit a few times then finally stopped in the street next to the Unity Point Hospital, right where Shiloh was born. Sarah was pretty exasperated, which, at some level was understandable. We had two very tired, crying children in the car with us. But everything turned out great.
Two men in an ambulance helped push the car out of the street. Then I called Tom Chouteau and asked him to bring gas because I was suspect. Then Sarah called Jasmine. Tom brought the gas in about 15 minutes and then Jasmine and Isaiah arrived soon after. The car started right up. Then Jasmine filled the car with gas.
As we left Sarah said, "I guess the lesson is just being able to ask for help." She also realized that "Gratitude" is key. The two messages she derived from this experience. The car is running great and we got a full tank of gas.
Then, during the night, or morning I was dreaming, pretty distinctly. It had something to do with Redmond Jones, going back and forth about how things just always seem to work out. God takes seemingly hopeless situations and creates a beautiful results. It had something to do with communication, what God might say.
"Snuggle" said Sarah right then. I woke up and said "What?" Snuggle with Lincoln she meant.
"Snuggle" I thought to share on Facebook. Will heal the world.
Yesterday, on the 11th, at the park I had a thought if we were more spiritually aware we would not have made all this interesting "stuff". We had to have a huge material bent to see the things we do in the world. There is nothing wrong with the "stuff".
We are physical beings, learning. This is how we learned to play with the material.
This morning woke up with insight. Thoughts run astray/rampant, can cause a lot of issues. Being aware of physical and feeling reactions provides guidance.
Thinking and feeling in harmony, as a team will create the new experience.
Imagination has taken us on a lot of adventures.
Future and past thinking is going where there is no power or an inaccurate thought of reality.
Breath Based - physical Practice will bring back into harmony.
The Moods Channel - www.themoodschannel.com
On Saturday the 11th our car ran out of gas. After we had done a friend a favor. We had just spent $470 on repairs. Also, the gas gauge indicated it had half of a tank of gas so it was very perplexing. The car quit a few times then finally stopped in the street next to the Unity Point Hospital, right where Shiloh was born. Sarah was pretty exasperated, which, at some level was understandable. We had two very tired, crying children in the car with us. But everything turned out great.
Two men in an ambulance helped push the car out of the street. Then I called Tom Chouteau and asked him to bring gas because I was suspect. Then Sarah called Jasmine. Tom brought the gas in about 15 minutes and then Jasmine and Isaiah arrived soon after. The car started right up. Then Jasmine filled the car with gas.
As we left Sarah said, "I guess the lesson is just being able to ask for help." She also realized that "Gratitude" is key. The two messages she derived from this experience. The car is running great and we got a full tank of gas.
Then, during the night, or morning I was dreaming, pretty distinctly. It had something to do with Redmond Jones, going back and forth about how things just always seem to work out. God takes seemingly hopeless situations and creates a beautiful results. It had something to do with communication, what God might say.
"Snuggle" said Sarah right then. I woke up and said "What?" Snuggle with Lincoln she meant.
"Snuggle" I thought to share on Facebook. Will heal the world.
Yesterday, on the 11th, at the park I had a thought if we were more spiritually aware we would not have made all this interesting "stuff". We had to have a huge material bent to see the things we do in the world. There is nothing wrong with the "stuff".
We are physical beings, learning. This is how we learned to play with the material.
This morning woke up with insight. Thoughts run astray/rampant, can cause a lot of issues. Being aware of physical and feeling reactions provides guidance.
Thinking and feeling in harmony, as a team will create the new experience.
Imagination has taken us on a lot of adventures.
Future and past thinking is going where there is no power or an inaccurate thought of reality.
Breath Based - physical Practice will bring back into harmony.
The Moods Channel - www.themoodschannel.com
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
The Poet of My Heart
The poet of my heart
arrives at itself
riding on my breath
the stars sliding by
in the quiet night
ride on the waves of my breath
my eyes see the beauty
in all because I breathe
who am I to doubt
that the design
is less than perfect
the tears fall from my eyes
at the joy of love
and also the angst
this world, this life
invites
more
for me to embrace by breath
and share.
arrives at itself
riding on my breath
the stars sliding by
in the quiet night
ride on the waves of my breath
my eyes see the beauty
in all because I breathe
who am I to doubt
that the design
is less than perfect
the tears fall from my eyes
at the joy of love
and also the angst
this world, this life
invites
more
for me to embrace by breath
and share.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Thomas: On The Forefathers Of His Doubts - Kahlil Gibran
from Jesus the Son of Man by Kahlil Gibran
My grandfather who was a lawyer once said, "Let us observe truth, but only when truth is made manifest unto us."
When Jesus called me I heeded Him, for His command was more potent than my will; yet I kept my counsel.
When He spoke and the others were swayed like branches in the wind, I listened immovable. Yet I loved Him.
Three years ago He left us, a scattered company to sing His name, and to be His witnesses unto the nations.
At that time I was called Thomas the Doubter. The shadow of my grandfather was still upon me, and always I would have truth made manifest.
I would even put my hand in my own wound to feel the blood ere I would believe in my pain.
Now a man who loves with his heart yet holds a doubt in his mind, is but a slave in a galley who sleeps at his oar and dreams of his freedom, till the lash of the master wakes him.
I myself was that slave, and I dreamed of freedom, but the sleep of my grandfather was upon me. My flesh needed the whip of my own day.
Even in the presence of the Nazarene I had closed my eyes to see my hands chained to the oar.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
Doubt is a foundling unhappy and astray, and though his own mother who gave him birth should find him and enfold him, he would withdraw in caution and in fear.
For Doubt will not know truth till his wounds are healed and restored.
I doubted Jesus until He made Himself manifest to me, and thrust my own hand into His very wounds.
Then indeed I believed, and after that I was rid of my yesterday and the yesterdays of my forefathers.
The dead in me buried their dead; and the living shall live for the Anointed King, even for Him who was the Son of Man.
Yesterday they told me that I must go and utter His name among the Persians and the Hindus.
I shall go. And from this day to my last day, at dawn and at eventide, I shall see my Lord rising in majesty and I shall hear Him speak.
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
My grandfather who was a lawyer once said, "Let us observe truth, but only when truth is made manifest unto us."
When Jesus called me I heeded Him, for His command was more potent than my will; yet I kept my counsel.
When He spoke and the others were swayed like branches in the wind, I listened immovable. Yet I loved Him.
Three years ago He left us, a scattered company to sing His name, and to be His witnesses unto the nations.
At that time I was called Thomas the Doubter. The shadow of my grandfather was still upon me, and always I would have truth made manifest.
I would even put my hand in my own wound to feel the blood ere I would believe in my pain.
Now a man who loves with his heart yet holds a doubt in his mind, is but a slave in a galley who sleeps at his oar and dreams of his freedom, till the lash of the master wakes him.
I myself was that slave, and I dreamed of freedom, but the sleep of my grandfather was upon me. My flesh needed the whip of my own day.
Even in the presence of the Nazarene I had closed my eyes to see my hands chained to the oar.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
Doubt is a foundling unhappy and astray, and though his own mother who gave him birth should find him and enfold him, he would withdraw in caution and in fear.
For Doubt will not know truth till his wounds are healed and restored.
I doubted Jesus until He made Himself manifest to me, and thrust my own hand into His very wounds.
Then indeed I believed, and after that I was rid of my yesterday and the yesterdays of my forefathers.
The dead in me buried their dead; and the living shall live for the Anointed King, even for Him who was the Son of Man.
Yesterday they told me that I must go and utter His name among the Persians and the Hindus.
I shall go. And from this day to my last day, at dawn and at eventide, I shall see my Lord rising in majesty and I shall hear Him speak.
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
Friday, October 3, 2014
Rachael A Woman Disciple: On Jesus The Vision And The Man
I often wonder whether Jesus was a man of flesh and blood like ourselves, or a thought without a body, in the mind, or an idea that visits the vision of man.
Often it seems to me that He was but a dream dreamed by the countless men and women at the same time in a sleep deeper than sleep and a dawn more serene than all dawns.
And it seems that in relating the dream, the one to the other, we began to deem it a reality that had indeed come to pass; and in giving it body of our fancy and a voice of our longing we made it a substance of our own substance.
But in truth He was not a dream. We knew Him for three years and beheld Him with our open eyes in the high tide of noon.
We touched His hands, and we followed Him from one place to another. We heard His discourses and witnessed His deeds.
Think you that we were a thought seeking after more thought, or a dream in the region of dreams?
Great events always seem alien to our daily lives, though their nature may be rooted in our nature. But though they appear sudden in their coming and sudden in their passing, their true span is for years and for generations.
Jesus of Nazareth was Himself the Great Event. That man whose father and mother and brothers we know, was Himself a miracle wrought in Judea. Yea, all His own miracles, if placed at His feet, would not rise to the height of His ankles.
And all the rivers of all the years shall not carry away our remembrance of Him. He was a mountain burning in the night, yet He was a soft glow beyond the hills. He was a tempest in the sky, yet He was a murmur in the mist of daybreak.
He was a torrent pouring from the heights to the plains to destroy all things in its path. And He was like the laughter of children.
Every year I had waited for spring to visit this valley. I had waited for the lilies and the cyclamen, and then every year my soul had been saddened within me ; for ever I longed to rejoice with the spring, yet I could not.
But when Jesus came to my seasons He was indeed a spring, and in Him was the promise of all the years to come. He filled my heart with joy; and like the violets I grew, a shy thing, in the light of His coming.
And now the changing seasons of worlds not yet ours shall not erase His loveliness from this our world.
Nay, Jesus was not a phantom, nor a conception of the poets.
He was man like yourself and myself. But only to sight and touch and hearing; in all other ways He was unlike us.
He was a man of joy; and it was upon the path of joy that He met the sorrows of all men. And it was from the high roofs of His sorrows that He beheld the joy of all men.
He saw visions that we did not see, and heard voices that we did not hear; and He spoke as if to invisible multitudes, and ofttimes He spoke through us to races yet unborn.
And Jesus was often alone. He was among us yet not one with us. He was upon the earth, yet He was of the sky. And only in our aloneness may we visit the land of His aloneness.
He loved us with tender love. His heart was a winepress. You and I could approach with a cup and drink therefrom.
One thing I did not use to understand in Jesus: He would make merry with His listeners; He would tell jests and play upon words, and laugh with all the fullness of His heart, even when there were distances in His eyes and sadness in His voice. But I understand now.
I often think of the earth as a woman heavy with her first child. When Jesus was born, He was the first child. And when He died, He was the first man to die.
For did it not appear to you that the earth was stilled on that dark Friday, and the heavens were at war with the heavens?
And felt you not when His face disappeared from our sight as if we were naught but memories in the mist?
Jesus The Son Of Man by Kahlil Gibran. Page 37 of 121
Get a free copy of the digital book
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
Often it seems to me that He was but a dream dreamed by the countless men and women at the same time in a sleep deeper than sleep and a dawn more serene than all dawns.
And it seems that in relating the dream, the one to the other, we began to deem it a reality that had indeed come to pass; and in giving it body of our fancy and a voice of our longing we made it a substance of our own substance.
But in truth He was not a dream. We knew Him for three years and beheld Him with our open eyes in the high tide of noon.
We touched His hands, and we followed Him from one place to another. We heard His discourses and witnessed His deeds.
Think you that we were a thought seeking after more thought, or a dream in the region of dreams?
Great events always seem alien to our daily lives, though their nature may be rooted in our nature. But though they appear sudden in their coming and sudden in their passing, their true span is for years and for generations.
Jesus of Nazareth was Himself the Great Event. That man whose father and mother and brothers we know, was Himself a miracle wrought in Judea. Yea, all His own miracles, if placed at His feet, would not rise to the height of His ankles.
And all the rivers of all the years shall not carry away our remembrance of Him. He was a mountain burning in the night, yet He was a soft glow beyond the hills. He was a tempest in the sky, yet He was a murmur in the mist of daybreak.
He was a torrent pouring from the heights to the plains to destroy all things in its path. And He was like the laughter of children.
Every year I had waited for spring to visit this valley. I had waited for the lilies and the cyclamen, and then every year my soul had been saddened within me ; for ever I longed to rejoice with the spring, yet I could not.
But when Jesus came to my seasons He was indeed a spring, and in Him was the promise of all the years to come. He filled my heart with joy; and like the violets I grew, a shy thing, in the light of His coming.
And now the changing seasons of worlds not yet ours shall not erase His loveliness from this our world.
Nay, Jesus was not a phantom, nor a conception of the poets.
He was man like yourself and myself. But only to sight and touch and hearing; in all other ways He was unlike us.
He was a man of joy; and it was upon the path of joy that He met the sorrows of all men. And it was from the high roofs of His sorrows that He beheld the joy of all men.
He saw visions that we did not see, and heard voices that we did not hear; and He spoke as if to invisible multitudes, and ofttimes He spoke through us to races yet unborn.
And Jesus was often alone. He was among us yet not one with us. He was upon the earth, yet He was of the sky. And only in our aloneness may we visit the land of His aloneness.
He loved us with tender love. His heart was a winepress. You and I could approach with a cup and drink therefrom.
One thing I did not use to understand in Jesus: He would make merry with His listeners; He would tell jests and play upon words, and laugh with all the fullness of His heart, even when there were distances in His eyes and sadness in His voice. But I understand now.
I often think of the earth as a woman heavy with her first child. When Jesus was born, He was the first child. And when He died, He was the first man to die.
For did it not appear to you that the earth was stilled on that dark Friday, and the heavens were at war with the heavens?
And felt you not when His face disappeared from our sight as if we were naught but memories in the mist?
Jesus The Son Of Man by Kahlil Gibran. Page 37 of 121
Get a free copy of the digital book
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
Our Spiritual/Soul-Growth - who does it?
Who is going to do your "spiritual", soul-growth work for you if you don't? We are not just pinballs in a pinball machine. Of course there is growth that will occur naturally from random experience. However, if one ruminates on the process, occurrences, and contributing factors, and the subsequent learning to be digesting, one will find themselves in the most phenomenal school environment. Between the physical and spiritual, not two but one, blended breath-based reality, one can find an everlasting adventure space within oneself.
Each person is a self contained cosmos. Each representing a diverse aspect of the perfect love from which all come. An eternal avenue for creation, life to discover new aspects, new truths, new perspectives - all contained within each person.
These are only discovered through effort to uncover and digest. Living life as a a habit, a repetitive, simply physical exercise will not reveal what and who we are. Thinking was created to do this, not to try to "figure things out" - there is no figure things out as everything is happening in.
Languaging. Processing. Contemplating. Digesting. These are a few of the tools at our disposal. Repeating the same phrases, thoughts, actions will only disguise life. Life is emergent, active, expansive. Invest some time in the wonder that you are.
Right as I finished this, our kids video came to "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are?"
Reminded me of the wisdom of the other song that we all know. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."
Each person is a self contained cosmos. Each representing a diverse aspect of the perfect love from which all come. An eternal avenue for creation, life to discover new aspects, new truths, new perspectives - all contained within each person.
These are only discovered through effort to uncover and digest. Living life as a a habit, a repetitive, simply physical exercise will not reveal what and who we are. Thinking was created to do this, not to try to "figure things out" - there is no figure things out as everything is happening in.
Languaging. Processing. Contemplating. Digesting. These are a few of the tools at our disposal. Repeating the same phrases, thoughts, actions will only disguise life. Life is emergent, active, expansive. Invest some time in the wonder that you are.
Right as I finished this, our kids video came to "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are?"
Reminded me of the wisdom of the other song that we all know. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Jesus The Son Of Man by Kahlil Gibran. Matthew and about Paul
Jesus The Son Of Man by Kahlil Gibran.
Matthew: The Sermon On The Mount
One harvest day Jesus called us and His other friends to the hills. The earth was fragrant, and like the daughter of a king at her wedding-feast, she wore a ll her jewels. And the sky was her bridegroom.
When we reached the heights Jesus stood still in the grove of the laurels, and He said, "Rest here, quiet your mind and tune your heart, for I have much to tell you."
Then we reclined on the grass, and the summer flowers were all about us, and Jesus sat in our midst.
And Jesus said:
"Blessed are the serene in spirit.
"Blessed are they who are not held by possessions, for they shall be free.
"Blessed are they who remember their pain, and in their pain await their joy.
"Blessed are they who hunger after truth and beauty, for their hunger shall bring bread, and their thirst cool water.
"Blessed are the kindly, for they shall be consoled by their own kindliness.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall be one with God.
"Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be in their portion.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for their spirit shall dwell above the battle, and they shall turn the potter's field
into a garden.
"Blessed are they who are hunted, for they shall be swift of foot and they shall be winged.
"Rejoice and be joyful, for you have found the kingdom of heaven within you. The singers of old were persecuted when they sang of that kingdom. You too shall be persecuted, and therein lies your honour, therein your reward.
"You are the salt of the earth; should the salt lose its savour wherewith shall the food of man's heart be salted?
"You are the light of the world. Put not that light under a bushel. Let it shine rather from the summit, to those who seek the City of God.
"Think not I came to destroy the laws of the scribes and the Pharisees; for my days among you are numbered and my words are counted, and I have but hours in which to fulfill another law and reveal a new covenant.
"You have been told that you shall not kill, but I say unto you, you shall not be angry without a cause.
"You have been charged by the ancients to bring your calf and your lamb and your dove to the temple, and to slay them upon the altar, that the nostrils of God may feed upon the odour of their fat, and that you may be forgiven your failings.
"But I say unto you, would you give God that which was His own from the beginning; and would you appease Him whose throne is above the silent deep a nd whose arms encircle space?
"Rather, seek out your brother and be reconciled unto him ere you seek the temple; and be a loving giver unto your neighbour. For in the soul of these God has builded a temple that shall not be destroyed, and in their heart He has raised an altar that shall never perish.
"You have been told, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you: Resist not evil, for resistance is food unto evil and makes it strong. And only the weak would revenge themselves. The strong of soul forgive, and it is honour in the injured to forgive.
"Only the fruitful tree is shaken or stoned for food.
"Be not heedful of the morrow, but rather gaze upon today, for sufficient for today is the miracle thereof.
"Be not over-mindful of yourself when you give but be mindful of the necessity. For every giver himself receives from the Father, and that much more abundantly.
"And give to each according to his need; for the Father gives not salt to the thirsty, nor a stone to the hungry, nor milk to the weaned.
"And give not that which is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine. For with such gifts you mock them; and they also shall mock your gift, and in their hate would fain destroy you.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures that corrupt or that thieves may steal away. Lay up rather treasure which shall not corrupt or be stolen, and whose loveliness increases when many eyes behold it. For where your treasure is, your heart is also.
"You have been told that the murderer shall be put to the sword, that the thief shall be crucified, and the harlot stoned. But I say unto you that you are not free from wrongdoing of the murderer and the thief and the harlot, and when they are punished in the body your own spirit is darkened.
"Verily no crime is committed by one man or one woman. All crimes are committed by all. And he who pays the penalty may be breaking a link in the chain that hangs upon your own ankles. Perhaps he is paying with his sorrow the price for your passing joy."
Thus spake Jesus, and it was in my desire to kneel down and worship Him, yet in my shyness I could not move nor speak a word.
But at last I spoke; and I said, "I would pray this moment, yet my tongue is heavy. Teach me to pray."
And Jesus said, "When you would pray, let your longing pronounce the words. It is in my longing now to pray thus:
"Our Father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name
Thy will be done with us, even as in space.
Give us of Thy bread sufficient for the day.
In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another.
Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness.
For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfillment."
And it was now evening, and Jesus walked down from the hills, and all of us followed Him. And as I followed I was repeating His prayer, and rememberin g all that He had said;
for I knew that the words that had fallen like flakes that day must set and grow firm like crystals, and that wings that had fluttered above our heads were to beat the earth like iron hoofs.
I guess the following is where the Truth of Jesus began to become the beginning of our current chapter of worldly experience.
Saba Of Antioch: On Saul Of Tarsus
This day I heard Saul of Tarsus preaching the Christ unto the Jews of this city.
He calls himself Paul now, the apostle to the Gentiles.
I knew him in my youth, and in those days he persecuted the friends of the Nazarene. Well do I remember his satisfaction when his fellows stoned the radiant youth called Stephen.
This Paul is indeed a strange man. His souls is not the soul of a free man.
At times he seems like an animal in the forest, hunted and wounded, seeking a cave wherein he would hide his pain from the world.
He speaks not of Jesus, nor does he repeat His words. He preaches the Messiah whom the prophets of old had foretold.
And though he himself is a learned Jew he addresses his fellow Jews in Greek; and his Greek is halting, and he ill chooses his words.
But he is a man of hidden powers and his presence is affirmed by those who gather around him. And at times he assures them of what he himself is not assured.
We who knew Jesus and heard his discourses say that He taught man how to break the chains of his bondage that he might be free from his yesterdays.
But Paul is forging chains for the man of tomorrow. He would strike with his own hammer upon the anvil in the name of one whom he does not know.
The Nazarene would have us live the hour in passion and ecstasy.
The man of Tarsus would have us be mindful of laws recorded in the ancient books.
Jesus gave His breath to the breathless dead. And in my lone nights I believe and I understand.
When He sat at the board, He told stories that gave happiness to the feasters, and spiced with His joy the
meat and the wine.
But Paul would prescribe our loaf and our cup.
Suffer me not to turn my eyes the other way.
For a free digital version of Kahlil's book, copy and paste this link in your browser.
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
Matthew: The Sermon On The Mount
One harvest day Jesus called us and His other friends to the hills. The earth was fragrant, and like the daughter of a king at her wedding-feast, she wore a ll her jewels. And the sky was her bridegroom.
When we reached the heights Jesus stood still in the grove of the laurels, and He said, "Rest here, quiet your mind and tune your heart, for I have much to tell you."
Then we reclined on the grass, and the summer flowers were all about us, and Jesus sat in our midst.
And Jesus said:
"Blessed are the serene in spirit.
"Blessed are they who are not held by possessions, for they shall be free.
"Blessed are they who remember their pain, and in their pain await their joy.
"Blessed are they who hunger after truth and beauty, for their hunger shall bring bread, and their thirst cool water.
"Blessed are the kindly, for they shall be consoled by their own kindliness.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall be one with God.
"Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be in their portion.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for their spirit shall dwell above the battle, and they shall turn the potter's field
into a garden.
"Blessed are they who are hunted, for they shall be swift of foot and they shall be winged.
"Rejoice and be joyful, for you have found the kingdom of heaven within you. The singers of old were persecuted when they sang of that kingdom. You too shall be persecuted, and therein lies your honour, therein your reward.
"You are the salt of the earth; should the salt lose its savour wherewith shall the food of man's heart be salted?
"You are the light of the world. Put not that light under a bushel. Let it shine rather from the summit, to those who seek the City of God.
"Think not I came to destroy the laws of the scribes and the Pharisees; for my days among you are numbered and my words are counted, and I have but hours in which to fulfill another law and reveal a new covenant.
"You have been told that you shall not kill, but I say unto you, you shall not be angry without a cause.
"You have been charged by the ancients to bring your calf and your lamb and your dove to the temple, and to slay them upon the altar, that the nostrils of God may feed upon the odour of their fat, and that you may be forgiven your failings.
"But I say unto you, would you give God that which was His own from the beginning; and would you appease Him whose throne is above the silent deep a nd whose arms encircle space?
"Rather, seek out your brother and be reconciled unto him ere you seek the temple; and be a loving giver unto your neighbour. For in the soul of these God has builded a temple that shall not be destroyed, and in their heart He has raised an altar that shall never perish.
"You have been told, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you: Resist not evil, for resistance is food unto evil and makes it strong. And only the weak would revenge themselves. The strong of soul forgive, and it is honour in the injured to forgive.
"Only the fruitful tree is shaken or stoned for food.
"Be not heedful of the morrow, but rather gaze upon today, for sufficient for today is the miracle thereof.
"Be not over-mindful of yourself when you give but be mindful of the necessity. For every giver himself receives from the Father, and that much more abundantly.
"And give to each according to his need; for the Father gives not salt to the thirsty, nor a stone to the hungry, nor milk to the weaned.
"And give not that which is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine. For with such gifts you mock them; and they also shall mock your gift, and in their hate would fain destroy you.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures that corrupt or that thieves may steal away. Lay up rather treasure which shall not corrupt or be stolen, and whose loveliness increases when many eyes behold it. For where your treasure is, your heart is also.
"You have been told that the murderer shall be put to the sword, that the thief shall be crucified, and the harlot stoned. But I say unto you that you are not free from wrongdoing of the murderer and the thief and the harlot, and when they are punished in the body your own spirit is darkened.
"Verily no crime is committed by one man or one woman. All crimes are committed by all. And he who pays the penalty may be breaking a link in the chain that hangs upon your own ankles. Perhaps he is paying with his sorrow the price for your passing joy."
Thus spake Jesus, and it was in my desire to kneel down and worship Him, yet in my shyness I could not move nor speak a word.
But at last I spoke; and I said, "I would pray this moment, yet my tongue is heavy. Teach me to pray."
And Jesus said, "When you would pray, let your longing pronounce the words. It is in my longing now to pray thus:
"Our Father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name
Thy will be done with us, even as in space.
Give us of Thy bread sufficient for the day.
In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another.
Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness.
For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfillment."
And it was now evening, and Jesus walked down from the hills, and all of us followed Him. And as I followed I was repeating His prayer, and rememberin g all that He had said;
for I knew that the words that had fallen like flakes that day must set and grow firm like crystals, and that wings that had fluttered above our heads were to beat the earth like iron hoofs.
I guess the following is where the Truth of Jesus began to become the beginning of our current chapter of worldly experience.
Saba Of Antioch: On Saul Of Tarsus
This day I heard Saul of Tarsus preaching the Christ unto the Jews of this city.
He calls himself Paul now, the apostle to the Gentiles.
I knew him in my youth, and in those days he persecuted the friends of the Nazarene. Well do I remember his satisfaction when his fellows stoned the radiant youth called Stephen.
This Paul is indeed a strange man. His souls is not the soul of a free man.
At times he seems like an animal in the forest, hunted and wounded, seeking a cave wherein he would hide his pain from the world.
He speaks not of Jesus, nor does he repeat His words. He preaches the Messiah whom the prophets of old had foretold.
And though he himself is a learned Jew he addresses his fellow Jews in Greek; and his Greek is halting, and he ill chooses his words.
But he is a man of hidden powers and his presence is affirmed by those who gather around him. And at times he assures them of what he himself is not assured.
We who knew Jesus and heard his discourses say that He taught man how to break the chains of his bondage that he might be free from his yesterdays.
But Paul is forging chains for the man of tomorrow. He would strike with his own hammer upon the anvil in the name of one whom he does not know.
The Nazarene would have us live the hour in passion and ecstasy.
The man of Tarsus would have us be mindful of laws recorded in the ancient books.
Jesus gave His breath to the breathless dead. And in my lone nights I believe and I understand.
When He sat at the board, He told stories that gave happiness to the feasters, and spiced with His joy the
meat and the wine.
But Paul would prescribe our loaf and our cup.
Suffer me not to turn my eyes the other way.
For a free digital version of Kahlil's book, copy and paste this link in your browser.
http://www.ruralinnovationinstitute.com/resources/Kahlil%20Gibran%20-%20Jesus%20The%20Son%20Of%20Man.pdf
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