I am mid-deconstruction and I feel like there is no way I could ever go back to the bible…. Until I hear you talk about it. I have been so hurt by bible verses. And then I hear your words and it makes me feel so much better for even believing in the first place. This is the Jesus I wanted to exist. Does this version exist? Is this him even if so many people I once trusted say it isn’t?
This means the world to me today. Currently in a tense situation regarding coming out and my extremely resistant mother is having so many issues with it. I’ve been stressing what to tell her tonight when I see her and this is what I needed.
Yes Cliff, heartening isn’t it, to realise that God is just human, too… makes the divine principle so much more approachable, accessible, and personally knowable…
This is so great. The more I read your thoughts the more I come to realise it is OK to disagree with the Church, and that does not mean I have a lesser faith or relationship with Jesus 🩷
I once heard a Rabbi say just what you've elucidated here: that Jesus was capable of learning and growing and outgrowing a mindset that no longer fit. And in the moment of this story, Jesus' understanding of the Realm of God (I no longer like to say Kingdom, but that's another story) expands from the small view of the Jewish nation to the eternal and all-encompassing view of EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE.
Thank you for sharing this illumination. So, so timely.
. “as we move toward love, we rise and converge to meet God”… Yes! Thanks Brian for your thought provoking read.
I’d suggest that maybe not all movement is holy. I agree that positive change, movement towards greater openness, unity and oneness is Spiritual action or Holiness.
Perhaps in contrast “negative change” - movement towards closed-mindedness, fragmentation, separation, greed, lust, fear (and all their other usual compatriots)- are egoic contractions, what we might call unholy actions or Sin.
So Vice and Virtues are complimentary movements: Virtue moves us towards Devine realms of wholeness, holiness, peace, joy and unity in universal Great Love; and Vices contract us into hellish realms of self centredness and separation from nature, society and the higher deeper potentials of our True Self.
It doesn’t matter where on the ladder we current stand, what appears to matter is which way we choose to travel moment by moment.
… and then we wakeup… to realise there is no ladder - no time, no space - just here, now, and the blissful silence beyond words… breathe
I am very glad that I have found your InstaChurch. :) As a really un-bibley person and recovering Catholic, I have always interpreted this passage and others where Jesus seems quite harsh and unfeeling to be more of a lesson to his followers and those in his direct proximity at the time. He listened to disciples telling him to send her away, he acted to the Canaanite woman in the way of the time, as his followers would have expected, and then when she pressed to be seen and heard, he showed that her request deserved action. Whether that's his own growth (I'm not sure on that for a diety) or rather him showing what growth looks like for those close enough to see his reaction and response. PLUS everyone knowing the illness of the daughter, would see the cure and the mother would tell the story of being heard and receiving that action. Clearly Jesus's modeling didn't stick, whether it was showing his own growth, or giving the example to those following him. A diety can grow, but we mere mortals don't have that capacity?
I am mid-deconstruction and I feel like there is no way I could ever go back to the bible…. Until I hear you talk about it. I have been so hurt by bible verses. And then I hear your words and it makes me feel so much better for even believing in the first place. This is the Jesus I wanted to exist. Does this version exist? Is this him even if so many people I once trusted say it isn’t?
Same sister. I've been out for a while. Beloved is the only connection back that I can tolerate, and it's starting to feel good.
This means the world to me today. Currently in a tense situation regarding coming out and my extremely resistant mother is having so many issues with it. I’ve been stressing what to tell her tonight when I see her and this is what I needed.
Thank you.
Sending you so much love.
Love this. It’s a new perspective for me. To see Jesus growing, realizing, repenting. Awesome I kinda feel a new connection maybe
Yes Cliff, heartening isn’t it, to realise that God is just human, too… makes the divine principle so much more approachable, accessible, and personally knowable…
Thank you for this thoughtful explanation.
This is so great. The more I read your thoughts the more I come to realise it is OK to disagree with the Church, and that does not mean I have a lesser faith or relationship with Jesus 🩷
“And if we resist? If we get stuck? Well, thank God for those who will sass us into the kingdom.” 🔥🔥🔥
This was delightful to read. Your voice is making a change.
I once heard a Rabbi say just what you've elucidated here: that Jesus was capable of learning and growing and outgrowing a mindset that no longer fit. And in the moment of this story, Jesus' understanding of the Realm of God (I no longer like to say Kingdom, but that's another story) expands from the small view of the Jewish nation to the eternal and all-encompassing view of EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE.
Thank you for sharing this illumination. So, so timely.
. “as we move toward love, we rise and converge to meet God”… Yes! Thanks Brian for your thought provoking read.
I’d suggest that maybe not all movement is holy. I agree that positive change, movement towards greater openness, unity and oneness is Spiritual action or Holiness.
Perhaps in contrast “negative change” - movement towards closed-mindedness, fragmentation, separation, greed, lust, fear (and all their other usual compatriots)- are egoic contractions, what we might call unholy actions or Sin.
So Vice and Virtues are complimentary movements: Virtue moves us towards Devine realms of wholeness, holiness, peace, joy and unity in universal Great Love; and Vices contract us into hellish realms of self centredness and separation from nature, society and the higher deeper potentials of our True Self.
It doesn’t matter where on the ladder we current stand, what appears to matter is which way we choose to travel moment by moment.
… and then we wakeup… to realise there is no ladder - no time, no space - just here, now, and the blissful silence beyond words… breathe
I am very glad that I have found your InstaChurch. :) As a really un-bibley person and recovering Catholic, I have always interpreted this passage and others where Jesus seems quite harsh and unfeeling to be more of a lesson to his followers and those in his direct proximity at the time. He listened to disciples telling him to send her away, he acted to the Canaanite woman in the way of the time, as his followers would have expected, and then when she pressed to be seen and heard, he showed that her request deserved action. Whether that's his own growth (I'm not sure on that for a diety) or rather him showing what growth looks like for those close enough to see his reaction and response. PLUS everyone knowing the illness of the daughter, would see the cure and the mother would tell the story of being heard and receiving that action. Clearly Jesus's modeling didn't stick, whether it was showing his own growth, or giving the example to those following him. A diety can grow, but we mere mortals don't have that capacity?
Just as God, too, changed his mind. The chiastic structure of the flood story reveals the point, “God changed his mind.”