CHALLENGE Pharisees
A Pharisee, in Jesus’ words, is a hypocrite. All about the law and not the spirit. The talk and not the walk. The rules left behind by moments of true inspiration -- not the inspiration itself.
We all know these people. A boss, a teacher, or even a friend. Someone who just seems to miss the point — someone who sacrifices true meaning in order to live by the book.
But for me, this summer isn’t about challenging an unfair boss or setting a friend straight. It’s about challenging the Pharisee within. Do I always act out of true inspiration — out of that true oneness with the infinite? As an artist, am I always creating from the truest source, or from a surface-level, uninspired place?
Mary Baker Eddy, who founded the Christian Science church, said “Honesty is spiritual power.” She also talked about becoming a “transparency for Truth” -- a transparency for God. She even thought it was possible “to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal.” Rather than just rising to the occasion once in a while.
People expect that our relationship with God should flicker off and on. That we should have dry moments -- even whole dry seasons. But Jesus didn’t. As far as we know, he lived in the sacred present. Every moment, a moment of Truth.
I want to live in that sacred present, and make decisions as well as create art from there. So let’s go ahead and challenge Pharisees. Out there. In here. And please share your story below!
Justin Belote, June 2012
Related Bible citations
Matthew 5:17-22 Mark 3:1-10 Luke 13:10-17
Related songs, stories & reviews
Let the rains fall by Tabea Mangelsdorf
A great Christian? by Megan McGinnis
Killing for Jesus by Paul White
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Everything in these acts is about the religion that is ‘of the heart and not the head’ (MBE) it came to me reading one of the comments: it is the Spirit (divine Love) that quickeneth, the flesh (self-will, self-justification, self-love, self-righteousness) profiteth nothing.
I’m particularly drawn to the befriend lepers etc… Act, and this one, because I think the lessons go hand in hand, and the only place these flip sides of the same coin of ‘personal sense’ can be met is in our own heart as we walk together, loving our neighbor as ourself.
The self-righteous Pharisee speaking from the ‘inside’, and the so-called sinful one on the ‘outside’, are often in much different mental states than they think as Jesus illustrated with the Pharisee and the publican! But we’re all drawn together to see the same Love dissolve the tenacity of the full range of either self-assertive or self-condemning error. Really, the point is, God is all, and is the cause of all impulse, action, and fruition! So there’s no room for either pride or fear! Lots to think and pray about :))
When I saw the recent movie Les Miserables I saw the Pharisee within me.
Les Miz tells the story of how blind, stubborn morality destroys itself and how seeing the face of God transforms evil for good. Jean ValJean steals a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children, and after 20 years of hard labor breaks parole. Inspector Javert makes it his life purpose to put ValJean back in prison and make him pay for breaking the law.
How often I have practiced Christianity like Javert. I know I am right. I do not drink, I do not use drugs, I am straight. My mission in life is to bring everyone else in the world in line with my righteousness. It’s a really difficult precipice to walk, as portrayed by the image of Javert walking on the edge of a wall in the movie. When he realizes that he can never bring ValJean into his way of thinking, he throws himself off a pinnacle. Didn’t the devil tempt Jesus to do the same.
I’ve realized, through a journey driven by the same determination to achieve highly esteemed worldly goals, that things can come to the same shattered conclusion.
Some good friends have helped me along the way, softening, cajoling, tearing at my heart with their humanity as I find their love melt my frigid creed and warm me with candlelit tenderness. They have invested in me as the priest did in ValJean when he gave him the silver candlesticks. I kneel before these friends who have seen the good in me, who gently pointed out that it is the spirit of the law that transforms and heals, not simply turning down a beer.
Feeling the love of God and having his true spiritual identity awakened in him, ValJean is able to keenly understand the sorrow of the downtrodden and those in pain and he helps them.
Dear God, thank you for helping me thus, on this challenging journey.
Just wanted to say that I really value what you’ve shared here and the spiritual meat that you found in Les Mis. I found it to be a revealing, inspiring, and healing movie, too – often in ways I least expected. Thanks for each of your thoughts and time you took to share them here.
I like to think of the antidote for Pharisee which is Prophet. Some years ago a long standing friend decided not to be friends with me anymore. I was shocked and hurt. Many pharisaical thoughts rushed in: ”After all I have done for her to be treated so unfairly.” And could I think of every good thing I had ever done for her. I felt puffed up with my self-righteousness with regard to the friendship. And then the angel messages came,: ”Look at all she has done for you through the years.” And then the prophet consciousness spoke to me: ”Because of the demands on my time, she is feeling left out; however, the friendship had to develop a more spiritual basis. This was not reciprocal. So, I had to accept with love the outcome. Mrs. Eddy writes:
The spiritually minded meet on the stairs which lead up. Ret 76:14
What became a radical act on my part? After making every attempt to solve the problem, I shut the door on the temptation to feel distracted and wanting to fix things. I had to wholeheartedly trust the insight that I had, and eventually,peace came. I understood the wisdom in this parting friendship. She really had no choice in her decision, it was for my freedom to carry on my work.
LaMeice, anyone who’s ever been in your shoes knows how truly radical this is!
Dear LaMeice, this story gave me a pang in my heart because the past few days I have been thinking about ending a friendship. This friend does not seem to see “me”, even though we’ve been through so many milestones in life together. I’m not sure where I’ll go with this yet, as I am a little zinged by the idea. I always thought that if you were loving and kind friendships, even loves, would last forever. That is all it took. But I am thinking and re-thinking, and praying. How kind of you to share this very personal, yet universal growth experience.
When I started to study Christian Science I was living in an environment quite contrary to its teachings. My house mates were some of my best friends, but to me, our relationships were based on drinking, drugs, and others questionable activities. I felt I needed to move out of the house and be away from this lifestyle.
It was hard to do, but I cut ties with many longstanding friends. It was very hard but I had to follow God’s call. After a few months, and LOTS of rapid healing – all addictions gone – one of my old house mates called me and asked to meet. I was happy to.
We met a few days later and had lunch. He asked me why I was so happy. From what he could gather I had stopped doing all the things that were supposed to make people happy – drinking, smoking, sex, etc – and he did not understand it. He said I just read these books all the time and he could not understand how that could make one happy. It took me a while to realize what was going on. He was seeing what good really was – seeing the purification that was going on in my life – and wanted to learn more. I shared a bit with him about Christian Science and gave him S&H. He was grateful.
Much like Jesus, I had to challenge long standing doctrines in my life that seemed self evident as to how one would seek happiness and fulfillment. When we challenge the Pharisees in our lives we may encounter storms, but it will always bless us and others when we do.
Summer – I like how you got to share Science & Health and some of the ideas that had transformed your experience. It’s so much better when we can meet people right where they are and love them there. That’s where I want to be met…right where I am and not in some place I can’t relate to. Thanks!
I had a brief encounter with an elevator service technician who appeared to be very skeptical about working inside a church. I assured him that “God doesn’t have a religion, He loves all of His children equally and we are definitely loved.” His reply, “Now that’s a good philosophy. I can accept that!”
The second story in Luke and the story of the woman with an infirmity is so powerful to me. When Jesus says she is “loosed from her infirmity” that is the bestowing of FREEDOM. Imagine having something that has yoked you, oppressed you, confined you for years be suddenly lifted with one absolutely loving thought, a thought that shows you your TRUE FREEDOM. Wow. Anything that is constraining us from being a freest expression of God is pharisaical it seems to me.
Thanks for making sense of this Lynn. I love your perspective and clarity.
“Don’t be a Pharisee, Don’t be a Pharisee” Alex Cook’s song echoes in my head. A pharisee, to me, is one who “peeps and mutters” things that aren’t helpful, that aren’t kind, that aren’t True. That the world is a bitter place, a hard place, a place where people feel alone, where everyone’s out for themselves. That mankind is filled with strident opinions that clash loudly and violently and tangle our hearts so that we distance ourselves from each other and the One Mind. That “success” is defined by financial gain and “happiness” will never be won.
As an artist and an art teacher, I consciously, daily, vigorously fly in the face of the age-old assumption that a “true’ artist will be “starving” and otherwise is a sell-out. Today I renew my insistence of independence from this assumed “rule”, knowing that my inspiration comes from the One Mind and is ever-flowing. And that, because we all have that same Mind, everyone can be witness to that same renewal of inspiration, identifying Good, celebrating Beauty.
A postcard of love to a family in Newtown, CT, who crave uplift and touchstones of joy,
A small financial donation to a local family (though I don’t know them) who lost their home and 2 daughters in a house fire,
A gift of several art classes to a family who were under monetary strain after a job loss,
An art class schedule flexing to take on a “labeled” student in “dire” need of consistent positive experience and encouragement.
Generosity. Sincerity. Compassion. A “wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.” [MBE, Science And Health, pg 265]
Acts of Love defeat any pharisitical thought.
Thank you! Posting this comment is yet another Act of Love.
Applying the laws of Christian Science to daily life can sometimes feel a little challenging. When I’m up against this wall I think of what Mrs. Eddy writes in her 1901 Message to her church because it reminds me that two acts are required: applying and feeling or as I like to think of them — hearing and doing. Here’s what she says, “As Christian Scientists you seek to define God to your own consciousness by feeling and applying the nature and practical possibilities of divine Love: to gain the absolute and supreme certainty that Christianity is now what Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated — health, holiness, immortality” (1). This statement has bailed me out of trouble a lot!
Seeking to define God to my own thought by feeling His presence (or at least seeking a better sense of it) and applying His presence through my prayers for myself and others often moves my feet in a direction I never thought of before and any hypocrisy begins to dissolve in my thought and then in my experience. Why else have this “still small voice” guiding us if when we hear it we don’t follow it?
Hearing God, for me, takes a quiet stepping aside from the world and world-view — then when I do get a sense of direction I know my feet have to follow. In other words, the hearing and doing of God’s directing are so tightly connected that they’re not really separate.
This type of experience happen to me a few months ago. A friend of mine had taken some aggressive steps to end our relationship many years ago, but a few months ago we were thrown into a mutual experience. I realized that it was time to try to end the love/hate relationship. I wanted a peace of mind and hopefully she wanted it, too. I prayed to hear God’s directing and then to follow it. When my friend and I had to make decisions together on a project it went smoothly. The minute we entered the room together I could feel the past years melting away and we were able to part friends, too. These acts: hearing and doing — feeling and applying — are the way to go!
This Radical Act always reminds me of Alex Cook’s song, “Don’t Be a Pharisee.” You can find it here:
http://alexcook.bandcamp.com/track/pharisee
The Pharisaical, hypocritical idea that I have been grasping to internally is…. “everything will go back to normal when… [fill in the blank]. There have been many challenges this past year: divorce, betrayal by two friends supporting me through the divorce process, loneliness, and homesickness. There has seemed to be a lot of reasons to be sullen and sad. Another sullen creed that often creeps into my thoughts and conversations is this phrase that predicts when and how things will be okay. Accepting this is hypocritical!
Why, you ask? Jesus Christ, the Way-shower explained our oneness with God and demonstrated this. Oneness with God means that we don’t need to experience some sort of pain or suffering due to mistakes we have made or disease that seems to be festering. What we need is to remember God’s care for us, now, always, infinitely. It is like the glimmer of sunlight that shines through the clouds, brightening up the day. There are no conditions to enjoy that glow and warmth. It’s always there and freely given.
I was tempted to feel sorry again for myself after spending a difficult evening at the same party as a friend who was no longer talking with me. I felt I had already worked through the change in this relationship, and then it came to the surface again, along with this echoing creed – everything will be okay when… if… I thought about the RADICAL idea that everything is okay now, because right in that moment I was one with God. God was directing me, inspiring me, guiding my work, my relationships. I could just relax and know that God was pretty much taking care of everything in my life, and all I needed to do was remain open to God’s inspiration.
Soon after, I noticed the sun streaming into my apartment through the clouds, and a clear voice telling me I should go outside. Then, I received a call from a friend, inviting me to join her and her visitor for a dinner in a nearby city. Hanging up he phone, I strapped on my roller blades and took a ride through a nearby park. It was so inspiring to see all the people out enjoying the sun! And, it was like an affirmation of the harmony of God’s oneness with His creation being reflected in everyone that day. I attended the dinner with my two friends joyfully.
There is no reason to wait for good, when Goodness and the expression of Good is a law of God. When we are acting selflessly, meekly, and appreciating the blessings already in our lives, we cannot fail to follow this law and experience God’s goodness in our lives. Also, this directs us to understand how to move forward in our relationships. Wonderful things are happening, and no sullen or sad-seeming experience can keep the sunbeams from glowing in our hearts.
I love this story, especially how it relates to something Justin says in the blog above: “People expect that our relationship with God should flicker off and on. That we should have dry moments — even whole dry seasons. But Jesus didn’t. As far as we know, he lived in the sacred present. Every moment, a moment of Truth.”
I’ve felt a bit off-kilter lately, to put it mildly. In the quiet of this early morning I pulled out an article written by Allison Phinney called “One idea needed above all”. It caught my attention because there have been so many voices in my head whispering/shouting a cacophony of unhelpful but really convincing things, that the prospect of just one idea being the most important one was like a bright LED light in the whole swirl:
“What is this idea? Isn’t it the spiritual idea of God, of limitless divine good, all and everywhere? So different is this spiritual idea from all ordinary human thinking that it is indeed the one idea with power to save humanity from error and sin. It is the Christ itself, the very Truth which infused Jesus and made him the Messiah.
(later, the article goes on to say…)
But can anyone have this idea? Yes, anyone who will turn away from the mistake of assuming the material senses are authoritative, and who will wholeheartedly follow Christ Jesus. It isn’t too hard; it’s truly natural.”
The “wholeheartedly follow Christ Jesus” sentence brought me here – to Radical Acts. That’s what this website/project/adventure/challenge is all about, right? A perfect place for me to 1) “turn away from the mistake of assuming the material senses are authoritative” and 2) “wholeheartedly follow Christ Jesus”, and take with me into every moment the ‘ah-ha!’ that there is “limitless divine goodness” at hand, always.
So here I am. A first step in what I have a feeling will be quite an adventure on the Radical Acts webpage and in my head/heart/life. I’m starting with the Pharisees – the ones in my head that seem to rule the roost – and challenging them with the “one idea needed above all”.
I’ve already been hugely inspired by Justin Belote’s intro and all the sharing by other radical actors. Thank all of you for lighting the way and acting radically in Jesus’ example! It’s a good morning.
I’ll certain I’ll share along the way – and add more radical acts to my “to be and do” list.
Looking forward to being inspired by your adventure, too – so share a bit of it when you have a moment, or a quiet morning before the day begins…
-T
A progress update:
The first day of challenging the Pharisees in my head was…challenging. I’ve let them run the show for awhile now, so they got louder when I resisted them. I felt a bit like a bouncer with a rowdy line of folks trying to get past me.
So I took my lead from Jesus and how he dealt with them - he called them out unflinchingly, knowing their judgements, however confidently boasted, were 100% wrong. He didn’t go with their flow. Sometimes he even called them out using pretty forceful language. So I tried that – and it worked.
His time in the wilderness “being tempted of the devil” was also an informative model. Jesus’ response to the devil never responded to the devil’s surface question, which always included the implication that he wasn’t really spiritual and good and taken care of by God (as God’s son/idea/reflection). He didn’t get tripped up by the sneaky, manipulative argument. Jesus responded with a strong God-centered directive from the Bible. His answers always set God 1st as “the Great I AM” and Jesus second as the ‘I am’, expressing God.
So I followed Jesus’ lead yesterday and it was a good day. A spiritual workout. Exercising the quiet moments, stopping to pray and spiritually reason, and calling out the Pharisees rather than agreeing with them.
Thanks for listening :) A new day dawns…
t
I love that you’re sharing with us as this story unfolds. Thank you Tessa!
It was a quiet day for me. I’ve managed to challenge the the pharisees well enough for now to keep them quiet. Tessa, your words have definately helped. Just to be able to identify them as such was a good first step. But to call them out as Jesus did in the wilderness completely shuts them down. I wonder why, then, I let them have their way sometimes (or more often then I should). I suppose it doesn’t matter to ask why, but to simply let the silence rest. Thank you for your light, Tessa.
-A
Hi Amy and Nina,
It’s so sweet of you both to write about my sharing! An update – since starting the mental project of “challenging the pharisees”, I can happily report that there are far fewer of them around to challenge! The first few days it seemed like my commitment to not letting them run my thought/life drew hundreds of them out from the shadows, but sticking to my commitment and challenging each one has meant that they shrink away and the job is so much easier. I’m especially grateful for the realization that my thinking is a natural reflection of what God, Love is thinking. So with that barometer, I am quick to notice the bossy, unloving (to myself or others), hurtful thoughts and it’s easy to see that they aren’t a natural fit in my life – or in anyone’s!
Beautiful, Jenny – and all.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the sacred present and spiritual devotion. The word devout has taken on a pretty conservative meaning – you can only be devout if you’re “religious” – if you fit a pre-conceived notion of a human kind of god: humanly perfect.
Well, if the cat wasn’t out of the bag before, it is now: I’m not humanly perfect. My flesh is weak, but my spirit burns to see and understand spiritual reality. I make hasty decisions and have trouble staying in one place if I don’t feel inspired there. I try to find inspiration, I really do, but sometimes I’m just called on like the wind.
Mary Baker Eddy, the woman whose teachings have inspired this website, says, “The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action” (Retrospection and Introspection, 93).
Stationary is defined not only in terms of movement, but steadfastness of condition.
Do we have the right to challenge any difficult circumstances unless we are true to ourselves first? This video I watched recently caught me in criticizing others and made me take a step back and check myself first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_gQxVOmod0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
We must be the change we want to see.
Knowing God helps us know ourselves. That’s the real way. When we go to God, we glimpse our true identity. No one else can show us this. I’m so grateful for what I am learning about Love.
I wanted to share an update after several days of trying to live my life with this RA close to my heart.
One of the things I’ve always admired about Jesus was that he was loving, but he wasn’t a patsy. He could be firm–he could even offer a rebuke–but he was able to do it from a place of pure love, so as to lift the person on the other side of the rebuke out of whatever behavior wasn’t Godlike.
As I’ve challenged Phariseeism in my own thought this week, I’ve realized the importance of doing it from the standpoint of love. Yes, fear, rigid thinking, and materialism all need to be challenged–and challenged with authority. But I’ve realized how much more liberated I feel from this kind of thinking when I rebuke it from the basis of who God made me, and each of us, to be. There is nothing in anyone that responds, or is attracted to, Phariseeism. We are not fearful mortals, clinging to old opinions and rigid, uninspired ways of acting and thinking. God loves us too much to leave us in a place of rigidity or fear.
I feel like this past week got me to realize that I need to love myself and others more the way God does–the way Jesus taught us to. It’s only as I do that that I can effectively challenge any element of Phariseeism. Can I love my way out of fear and materialism? I think so. This next week will be the test of that.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this RA this week, trying to get a deeper understanding of how it applies to my life. This morning, as I was praying, the idea that occurred to me was very direct:
“If you want to challenge Pharisees, challenge FEAR.”
I realized that the times when I’ve identified Phariseeism in my own thought, it’s always because I’ve been clinging to a very “by-the-book” way of doing or thinking about something. Why? Because I’ve been afraid. I’ve been afraid of being wrong, or of doing something wrong. Or I’ve been afraid of having my own opinions or strongly-held beliefs about something upended by another perspective.
But doesn’t that leave God completely out of the picture? Aren’t we each connected, every moment, to the divine wisdom and inspiration that offers the best, the most enlightened, and the safest way of thinking, judging, and acting–in every situation?
Today, I’m challenging the fear that would try and convince us that we’re separate from God, slaves to a human mind that sees things only in black and white. I’m excited to see what happens.
Dear Amy (N.)…
I love that Mary Baker Eddy says, “Honesty is spiritual power.” And since Spirit is synonymous with Love, the power of Love is behind the beautiful, humble honesty you have shared with us here. When I think of you I think of kindness, grace, and gentleness. I think of the children you serve each summer, the families you have devoted your life to caring for, the spiritual growth you nurture each day.
This is your Truth and it cannot be separated from your daughter and her child. You’ve given so generously to her…and to all children in your care. Grace is the power behind each gentle word you speak. It is so clear that your love for your daughter has been invariable. We all get afraid for our children…but that fear has no power to leave a lasting impression. Only Love endures.
Your honesty touches me deeply. And since Love is synonymous with Truth, and is impartial and universal, your honesty sharing reaches you, your daughter…and her family, with Love’s healing balm.
Sharing your story with us is such a generous gift of Love…thank you, k.
Thanks for your comments Veronica! Thank goodness we know who our real “parents” are – Father, Mother, God! Be sure you tell your dad that you know his stern behavior was rooted in love. I would love to hear my daughter say she forgives me for being angry with her.
Thanks for your comments Nina – I have heard Alex sing at CedarS CampS and really love his messages and talent.
Thanks for your honest Amy. I am grateful, as a daughter, to parents who can look back on their actions and invite a conversation and healing, ultimately.
I would echo Amy’s comments above and say that forgiveness is always possible. My father and I did not have the best relationship when I was younger. In fact, it was outright incidiary at times. There was once a fight where things were said to one another and specifically, things were said to me by him that I thought I could never forgive him for. After going to college and maturing in a space separate from my homespace, I found the need to forgive my dad and myself for that interaction. It is funny, bc when I mention the incident to him now, his memory fails him ;) which is why I said my first sentence.
Regardless, I knew that I had to forgive him to grow in my life and I am sure your daughter will come to a similar conclusion and you already have.
My brother and I had a convo about this and some of his outstanding issues with my parent later and i really impressed upon him the need for forgiveness. Don’t get me wrong, my dad is an amazing person, but we just butted heads and his expectation for his children was rooted in love but sometimes manifested in sternness.
I am sure you all will realize your most harmonious expression of family.
Several years ago my daughter had a baby out of wedlock at age 16. I dearly love my daughter and grand daughter. Unfortunately at the time this was happening I was unbelievably upset and angry. I said some very unloving things to my daughter. I actually caught myself saying I hated her in my head. Being a parent is something I really wanted to succeed at and this whole situation seemed to scream – you are a huge failure. How could you let this happen? It didn’t help that my own mother was actually telling me this too. I needed to listen to God and not bow to human guilt and opinion.
Since then our relationship(with my daughter) has been very strained. I have been seeking a healing – a return to the true loving relationship we once enjoyed. Angel thoughts very clearly pointed to my uncompassionate stand for the 10 commandments. I was so hurt that our daughter (who knew better) broke many of the commandments – don’t commit adultery (this one also includes not having sex before marriage), honor your mother and father, and do not steal (I felt she had stolen our happy life), that I missed the greatest aspect of God and CS – LOVE! Yes, the 10 commandments are VERY important! When we break them, we’re punishing ourselves by missing out on the blessings they set us up for. I was struggling with how far do I go with parental punishment/lecturing/condemnation. If I wasn’t angry with her, did it mean I was condoning her behavior? If I didn’t tell her how aweful she was, would she do it again? I was really struggling with, what does society think I should do. What do “good parents” do in this situation? Unfortunately, I threw stones like the Pharisees. Not literally, but verbally. She moved out less than a year later. I realized too late that the situation needed more love and forgiveness and not more rules and condemnation. I knew God was her true parent, but I was trying to take over His job / fix the mess she was in….
The Jews have A LOT of rules. Jesus was a radical because he told people to really just concentrate on 2 rules. 1. Love God completely 2. Love your neighbor as yourself. I think if I had stuck with those two rules, the whole situation would not have been so painful for our entire family.
Amy, this is a very beautiful and touching comment. Thank you so much for sharing it.
I love how adamant Christian Scientists are about dropping the old, dead past. Someone once told me: “The second you stop doing something wrong, it’s past, it’s done with, stop agonizing and apologizing!” Someone else once urged me to think of God thinking us anew in every moment, always fresh and pure.
Now that you’re radically loving and forgiving your daughter, I know you can do the same for yourself. Check out Fenella Bennetts’ August 11th story here: http://time4thinkers.com/7-forgive-70-x-7/ And my favorite self-forgiveness theme song here: http://time4thinkers.com/alex-cook-forgive/
Love and blessings to you and your family!
Dear Amy, I know we all have so much compassion for you … I too am a mother, & have two daughters and a son; there seemed to be so many hard lessons in all of our lives, but I often remember Jesus words: For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.” and am comforted that this is the only “real” identity – of all man … we’re not a conduit for pharisaical beliefs. We daily spurn this false identity by realizing the real. It took many years for me to “get over” some of the stuff we experienced, but today my darlings are so precious in wonderful amazing new ways, every day! Forgive yourself that un-You identity and joyfully know that you are Love in action and that “Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend [daughter] can ever seem less than beautiful.” Once your true “sense” of yourself is restored[returned to the original], all other relationships will follow because this is where you both are right now – the “stories” are so unworthy of being held onto – you will always love your daughter and are simply above the material stories about both of you. We never are required to “filter” life thru mortal history. Real education is coming “out of the box and releasing the frozen assets already available in Mind”. Let our minds accept the invitation and enjoy this wonderful journey we we’re already engaged in. Don’t be afraid to step out of the boat!
Isn’t it wonderful to know that there will always, only, ever be – “today – this moment”!
Yesterday and tomorrow can only be what this moment “is”.
May this moment always, only, ever be – your best and serve to honour the “best & real” you – not filtered thru the baggage of perceived mistakes and regrets of yesterday, or … fear of tomorrow.
To educate = “to lead out” -amazing that it goes on regardless of the limiting human “belief system”! It is: time – less.
Thank God our Mind/Universe is actually in good hands!
Thank you Fay for your comments. I think I can just let go of this sad story now. :)
Hey, I’ve been really thinking about letting go of sad old stories too. Let’s do it together!
Oh Amy, I’ll bet every parent can relate to your feelings to some degree if they’re being honest, as honest as you are.
I love your last paragraph. Those two commandments keep us safe. But it’s never too late. Your relationship with your daughter can be completely restored, I am positive. There’s so much humility in your post. That’s a good foundation for real forgiveness.
xoxo
Thanks for your optimism! I’m hopeful too.
This was the Radical Act that stole my heart. With Justin’s unique twist:
“People expect that our relationship with God should flicker off and on. That we should have dry moments — even whole dry seasons. But Jesus didn’t. As far as we know, he lived in the sacred present. Every moment, a moment of Truth. I want to live in that sacred present, and make decisions as well as create art from there.”
For me, to “create art from there” means telling stories that are real and raw and breathe Life/Truth/Spirit. I can do it with close friends. But with strangers my shyness takes over. There’s so much I’d rather not say in public. Until . . . Radical Acts.
I started slow, a comment here and there. My comments gradually got more revealing, then I posted a reeeeally personal blog. Finally, last week, I gave a presentation about Radical Acts to 80 strangers and decided to let ‘er rip. I told a story from deep in my heart that, in fact, was about the way Radical Acts has transformed my life.
When I finished telling the story you could have heard a pin drop. It was the silence of PRESENCE. All 80 people were fully THERE — fully “opened” to something very real and very precious. They offered crazy huge applause, with part of the audience leaping to their feet. Afterwards a line of people waited to speak with me, tears brimming in their eyes.
People often tell me they’re too shy to share their stories on Radical Acts. But I question that. Because our stories aren’t embarrassingly “ours” — they’re universal. And because healing and spiritual growth are contagious. One of the most loving and useful things we do for each other is share in this way.
So let the stories fly. Let them be real and raw and breathe Life/Truth/Spirit. Let’s challenge Pharisees, Justin style!
It was a phenomenal testimony! I do hope that, someday, you are moved to write it up and share with an even broader audience! I’ve told some people about the conference, and I’ve been unequivocally saying that my favorite part of the whole conference was the presentation you gave on Radical Acts — partly because of that incredible testimony you shared! I’ve also told people that I wasn’t comfortable sharing any of the details of your testimony, since it really isn’t mine to share, but I would add “suffice it to say… it was a really powerful one!” I’m so glad I was there to hear it!
Thank you so much Gordon! I’m working on it. And you too — you shared a fabulous forgiveness story that I hope makes its way soon to Radical Acts.
And…it did. http://time4thinkers.com/letting-go/ Thank you Gordon!
You’re welcome, Nina! (And a little birdie told me I might be saying “de nada” and “de rien” soon…)
Love this Radical Act…and this thread by such amazing Radical Actors…
I think the thing that has become so clear to me during the practice of this Radical Act has been that it says “challenge the Pharisees” not destroy or hurt them.
I’ve loved this shift.
A Pharisee was someone who loved God, loved their church/temple/religion/philosophy/way of thinking/politics.
To try to “take them down” seemed like fighting “judgement with judgment,” anger with anger…etc. I don’t want to do that, I want to sit down and start with finding common ground, then learn how someone came to the conclusions that feel so right and defendable to them, and then challenge…lovingly, and with a desire for mutual respect… false conclusions (no matter whose they are).
My Scriptural model for this Radical Act has been Jesus in the temple at 12 with the doctors, rabbis and lawyers. Not only is he in discussion, but just be being there he is challenging Pharisaical creeds and practices…and his parents (God bless them) have the courage to challenge their spiritually “born” son (who they know is “of God”) to be obedient to their parenting, but his mother has entered this “forum” (a place women may have been unwelcome in) and challenges her son’s disobedience. We know that she was there, because she is recorded as having “kept all these saying in her heart.”
The Gospels are FULL of examples of pharisaical creeds and practices being challenged by Jesus, but we never think of him as “destroying” them or making them feel stupid or small.
I love this Radical Act…k.
“All about the law and not the spirit. The rules left behind by moments of true inspiration.” Justin, these words of yours really hit home for me. We can all err by getting caught up in the law. Seeing the world’s material focus can make us feel angry and want to lash out at it sometimes, but the reaction is just that, a material sense response to a lie. That does no good because it is not a spiritual response. Oh, and Kate, your post so touched my heart. We’ve all been there, learning that lesson. I know I have. Greater understanding just keeps unfolding.
I recently had an experience with my son that applies to the theme of this blog. He sometimes becomes very negative, taken in by the evil or stupidity he sees in the world. He protests it vehemently but gets stuck in the rebuke and does not move on to replacing lies with love and truth. I’ll digress to say, he’s not a Christian Scientist and I’ve never been able to help him understand the nothingness of evil and allness of good. I believe this understanding is crucial for him spiritually and also to be healed from an illness the doctor calls terminal. Recently I played some online testimonies for his wife from Sentinel Radio where three people were healed. My son and his wife are Christians and she asked me if I had “that book.” So I gave her a copy of S&H. That was a wonderful moment, as you can imagine.
When I was driving him back from the doctor, he became intensely critical and scornful about people in New Orleans who did not evacuate from hurricane Isaac and had to be rescued. He said they should have learned better after Katrina. We talked a bit about the Bible and he said he would never allow someone to die. He would help them, but he would give them a good rebuke so they would never do that again. His tone was still very unkind and abrasive. I can’t tell you how difficult it was for me to see this lack of love in my son, whom I love so much. In these moments I prayed to listen for God’s guidance so I would know what to say. I needed to help my son change his thoughts. Angel thoughts came immediately and I told my son to remember in the Bible while on the cross, Christ said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” I pointed out to him that the New Testament is full of passages about loving one another and forgiving. God forgives us to the degree that we forgive others. God shows us mercy to the degree that we show others mercy. I asked him where would we be today, had Christ not forgiven and loved us? I reminded him of the Sermon on the Mount, which is not about rebuking others. When I finished talking, he was quiet. He was loving. He was himself again. The lies had washed away and he was calm. He began remarking about what a beautiful day it was. Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” That is who my son is and always will be. It is who we all are.
There is a right estimation of effort involved with helping others draw closer to God. And we are so blessed that God is All in All, ever present so we can reflect Him. Obviously different situations call for different responses, fresh and inspired ideas as only God knows how to create. A rebuke without love and truth just mires people more deeply into a material sense.
All of your insights and kind words in these posts are so uplifting. I can’t thank you enough and yes, itsallaboutgood. Love your post! “No more. This isn’t you and we’re going to feel God’s love right now.” Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!
Great thinking to “challenge the pharisees within”! I love reading all these great stories.
Hey All!
So I wanted to share this song that Justin was a part of producing a few summers ago through The Mother Church Youth in Boston. The whole concept for this song, Now, was really to communicate that progress is the law of God and cannot be stopped by pharisees, fear, or anything else.
During our recording this track someone mentioned that the song was missing something. It seemed, well, a little mean. So after some prayer and lots of listening it spontaneously came to us to add this very important line to the near end of the song,
“God’s law is what we follow: the Truth and the Life. And for those who think you’re not ready – well you are. And we love you. We’re all in this together. And the wagon isn’t leaving until every candle is lit. Let’s go.”
http://itsaboutgood.bandcamp.com/track/now
Can’t we think that same way about people who APPEAR to be pharisees? It’s not them! It’s the beliefs that are controlling them. So we can’t go after them. We have to destroy the beliefs – not people.
This approach is especially helpful when working in large organizations that appear to have lots of bureaucracy and red tape to get things done. The real way to get things done is to love, love, love! And sometimes that love means you look a person right in the face and tell them, “No more. This isn’t you and we’re going to feel God’s love right now.”
Love works.
I’m having fun reading these Radical Acts commitments and comments one by one, taking in every thought and feeling, nodding pretty much nonstop, and smiling a lot, especially at the questions in the gorgeous poem Veronica shared above.
Justin, as an artist I’m sure you’ve soaked up the many Sentinel and Journal articles on that subject, including those extra-deep ones by painter/sculpture-turned-practitioner Barbara Cook Spencer. Actually, one of her most intriguing pieces is not in print or even digitized text; rather, it’s an audio article on individuality that she created for Sentinel Radio in late 2011. If you’re a JSH-Online subscriber, you’ll find it here: http://sentinel.christianscience.com/audio/sentinel-radio-edition/2011/a-deeper-view-of-your-individuality-and-identity-program-1149
Loving every idea here — everyone’s unique expression of the infinite One. Glad I’m less than one-quarter of my way through these blogs; still have lots of enjoyment and education and enlightenment to look forward to. But more importantly, I have the enacting of these ideas — the using of these gifts of grace, the BEing of them — to look forward to practicing. Thank you one and all.
Now … I pray I can correctly read those ReCAPTCHA words the first time around, so this note of gratitude will post pronto!
Before travelling to Europe with a friend for a month many people drilled into our minds that my friend and I would fight a lot. We would also have many problems with the different cultures, food, and communication. It was almost disheartening because we were both so excited and looking forward to our trip together. We’d never spent that much time together but were looking forward to not being alone in many different foreign countries and sharing all the fun together. However I was getting fearful of hearing peoples problematic experiences, and skepticism of how my friend and I would work together as a team. When we got there we were in heaven. We were grateful to have one another and created fun for others. The trip wouldnt have been the same without our teamwork and partnership. We challenged the pharisees words by questioning their prejudgement of our friendship and ability to communicate with one another. We were together everyday for over a month and could not have imagined our trip separate from one another. We met many people along the way who had started travelling with someone but had to split along the way due to miscommunication and problems but we were grateful to God everyday that we were able to be together and it made our trip much more enjoyable. It was such a simple yet powerful blessing.
I really love these humble examples guys. So beautiful.
I have taken a lesson from the language the bible often uses to describe people who are disobedient to God – “stiff necked”. The last 2 stories express the opposite – flexibility.
I love what happens when the heart is flexible. Then the riches pour in.
Hi Justin (and all)
I’ve been at camp this summer, so most of my thoughts about these radical acts over the last few weeks have had some connection to that work.
I’d love to share a story of how a teen’s willingness to question “pharisaical creeds and practices” changed me “for the better” one summer quite a number of years ago.
The session had been in full swing for a week or so…sweet friendships were forming and new relationships were blossoming. This particular evening an afternoon storm had blown in and instead of having our end of day gathering at the fire ring, we had sent the campers into the lodge and the staff was meeting on the back porch just outside the big picture windows.
The camp director was in the middle of explaining the plans for our evening program when someone noticed that a number of campers seemed a bit too cozy by the fire. She asked if I would go in and ask them to be more inclusive of others, and I was more than happy to oblige.
I wish I could say that I’d been graceful and courteous, but I hadn’t. It wasn’t what I said that was dismissive and condescending, it was how I said it. I treated that sweet group of campers like they were intending to be exclusive. I didn’t speak to them as if they were spiritual thinkers whose motives for being at camp were as Love-impelled as my own. In other words, I spoke down to them…and it was demeaning.
And the sad part was, I was clueless. NONE of that had been my intent. I’d just wanted to get things “on track” and go back to our meeting so that I could be better prepared for spiritually supporting the campers and their evening activities…boy, talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Thank goodness one of those campers loved me, my office as practitioner, (and camp) enough to call me on it. He went to the Camp Director and said that it would be hard for him to go to me for spiritual support if I didn’t see him (and his friends) as spiritually mature children of God, impelled by good, and motivated by Love.
When the Camp Director brought his concerns to me I was stricken…”heart chastened, pride rebuked.”
There was NOTHING in me that felt justified, nothing that sought to defend my actions. I was so deeply grateful for that young man’s love for me, and my office. I knew this was a gift…and I gathered it into my heart and let it grow all year.
By the next summer I was a different person. My sense of “Children” was more aligned with the kind of spiritual dignity and respect she gives us when she defines “Children” as “The spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love…not in embryo, but in maturity…”
If that camper hadn’t challenged my pharisaical thinking about “children” I might have blindly gone on from “bad to worse” in my treatment of others…until disciplined by the prison and the scaffold of my own making.
I have learned that Pharisaism is often born of the ego’s insidious urging for power, place, or blind self-importance. It is rarely malicious and often emboldened by a cultural or hierarchical distortion of an original principle that once served rather than stifled.
When I remember that this Love-impelled motive power is operating unspent within each of us, and that we all want to serve God, through out love for good, then I have the courage to love another enough to first ask myself “Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good? Am I demonstrating the healing power of Truth and Love? If so, then the way (to help my brother man by defending the dignity of his/her childlikeness) will grow brighter ‘unto the perfect day.’ The fruits of my own mental pruning will prove what the understanding of God’s love brings to all of us.
If I can have the humility to accept another’s love for me that expresses itself in a defense of my dignity, innocence, and the purity of my heart…I am always blessed by the transformation and healing it brings to my life.
just a thought…love, k.
Oh Kate, I love what you’ve shared here. I’ve learned that Pharisaism is sometimes born of ignorance. I’ve jumped to conclusions about motives or actions when I didn’t have all the facts (and when do we?).
A few years ago, my daughter told me about something that one of her friends did that wasn’t nice. I’m sure we talked about it, but it was a brief conversation. My daughter knew that was unacceptable behavior and we moved on. A few days later, I was upset with my daughter about something minor and I was on a roll…I lit into her about whatever it was that was bugging me and then I said, “And you’re making poor choices where your friends are concerned. Why would you want to be friends with someone who treats people like that???” A little while later she calmly said she had 2 things to say to me. 1) Why didn’t I comment on the friend’s behavior when she brought it up to me? Why did I wait until I was mad to say something? and 2) Didn’t I think that her friend needed someone who would let her know if she wasn’t being nice?
Of course she did! And I could see that my young daughter *was* making wise choices and with a level of maturity that surprised me. AND I needed her honesty to show me in a gentle way where I was making poor choices.
It took humility, Kate, for you to grow that way, and the love I have for my daughter paved the way for humility for me. That’s true strength. :)
these are great points and SO important in the creative process. I have always found that, as an artist, i struggle between the constant flow of inspiration from the divine mind and the battle of working out a creative solution with my human consciousness. It is interesting to me but the idea just came to me about how a lot of it has to do with trust. When I am looking at a piece of art from a human thought process, I always feel that I ned to be in complete control of my next move and it needs to make sense to me and if I was to just let go and let the natural flow of inspiration take over, then the piece would somehow be ruined. However, inevitably, when I finally am mentally exhausted and have no choice but to let go, then the the flow of inspiration always takes over and the work of art becomes so much more than I ever expected. This, for me, is the sign of true success in art: to go beyond and push yourself farther than you thought was possible. It comes down to trust. when you let go and trust Mind, then there can be no other outcome to go beyond what your human thought believed was possible.
I was going to respond more directly to michelle, but somehow this stemmed off a bit. But I really liked what you said and agree with it totally. It is interesting, actually, because I often spend so much time thinking about how to make a work totally originally, totally ME, but if I am approaching that from a human perspective then that wil always be Me mixed with all the outside influences that we encounter daily. For true originality, you must recognize your individualization of the infinite!
As an artist, I have on my wall within view at all times, and I re-read it before I start working, during and at times in between sessions, the following quote from S&H: “From the infinite elements of the one Mind emanate all form, color, quality, and quantity, and these are mental, both primarily and secondarily.” (p. 512)
This is a humble reminder that I am not the creator, and has gotten me time and again out of the sand trap of seemingly lost inspiration or talent. These cannot be lost, since they spring from the inexhaustible source of Soul.
VERY cool. I haven’t thought about it that way. Thanks for the great perspective Michelle!
Justin referred to one of my favorite statements of Mary Baker Eddy. The full quote is, “To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science.” (First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, Eddy, 159)
When it comes to quotes, my faves are often the ones I have struggled the most to get my head around. And that is certainly the case here. Initially Eddy’s statement made me mad. I often struggled with roller-coaster inspiration and I couldn’t figure out how I would ever be able to keep human consciousness in line with spirituality for a sustained period of time, let alone constantly.
Then I was inspired to turn the statement around, like in a math equation. I reasoned that Christian Science involves individualizing infinite power – that is, understanding God as the infinite and only power and that I reflect that power as God’s image and likeness. The result of this individualizing – or seeing my relation to God and not leaving my sense of God or of my spiritual self to remain abstract – I would find my human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal.
It works, guys. It isn’t even that hard.
Here’s how I do it. I make sure I individualize the power of pretty much every clear thought I have about God. With every “fact” I read or “truth” I know about God, I try to see how it applies to me as reflection. It’s simple. The way “to live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science.” Individualizing the power, not leaving myself out of the inspiration equation, is the key.
Cool, huh?
Justin, thank you so much for sharing all these ideas! I have been working on the very notion of making decisions, and whether they are “right” or “wrong”. Your words are EXACTLY what I’ve been finding out in prayer. I love how you put it, “allow Life to take care of Life.” I’ve been realizing that God, as Life itself, is the decision maker, not me. I am merely reflecting, witnessing, God’s action and doing, not trying to figure out what to do myself. This seems to me a Pharisaical notion that attempts to strip power from God – to bind infinite Spirit in the limited and material.
My biggest challenge has been patience :). I have never thought of myself as a patient person, so I’ve been learning to wait on God to see the “right” choice, His choice, and rejecting the temptation to make it about me. One thought that has been helpful is that patience itself is not something I have to manufacture, but something God gives. He not only makes the decisions but gives me the tools to wait on His right timing! Any other thoughts on how to achieve the kind of patience this requires?
On a different note…
I’ve also been working on what you called “staying in the sacred present”, and realizing that the very notion we can NOT be in this sacred present is Pharisaical. Regardless of how we FEEL about a situation, our connection to God is intact because God is infinite, and hence here and now. There is literally nothing we can do to sever this connection. Our feelings don’t change the facts of life, and nother does our thinking. We don’t have to work hard or feel guilty about not working hard enough. We can challenge the Parisaical suggestion that we could ever not do enough, with the understanding that God is the doer, and we can’t help but reflect Him because that is the very definition of what we are. You are God’s perfect reflection right now… and so I am. Could we ever wish to be more than that?
So thanks again for your thoughts, they’ve really given me the inspiration I need for this morning. I’m ready to go practice not worrying about whether or not I’m living in the sacred present, and challenge the false theology that says I could ever fall out of God’s ever-presense.
Great question claire!
Now, I think, everyone has their own individual way of following God’s will or direction and believe me when I say I know the struggle of separating your own thoughts from what is actually inspired by the infinite. For me it is simple though, it is having the patience and trust to allow things to unfold naturally without getting in the way. I literally do NOT make a decision on what to do until it no longer feels like a choice I need to make but the obvious and natural progression of things.
An example of this would be my decision on going to grad school. I had gotten accepted and was very pleased with the school and the faculty that I would be attending. It all seemed quite perfect until I received news that I would not be getting the fellowship I had applied for and therefore would be going into debt. All of a sudden I was very unsure of my decision and thought perhaps there would be another, more inspired idea that would come my way. I though that maybe i should take a year off and travel and reapply again in the hopes of getting the fellowship. Basically, I was completely torn on what step I should take next. So what did I do? Nothing. I trusted that if I was willing to be patient and understand that life is a constant unfoldment of experience that is meant to benefit us and bring us closer to oneness, then the right decision, at some point would be made clear to me. Believe me, this dragged on for much longer than I would have thought but I just kept knowing that it would become clear. Sure enough, one morning I woke up and I just knew. Grad school was the right decision and I felt completely led to take the steps necessary at securing a loan and such.
Now I know this seems like perhaps not as serious or as urgent a situation that one may find themselves in, but the truth remains the same. Fear and the inner pharisees will always try to convince you that there is reason to panic, that there is very bad things coming your way if you do not make a decision soon. Stories spring up in your head about how horrible things will be and often it makes the most sense to look at all the material facts that are presented to you and making a choice off these facts, but this is simply going to get you no where.
So to sum it all up, a few things I always remember when making a decision or trying to figure out what to do next are these: when it is a truly inspired idea you will feel 100 percent at peace with it and not have any questions to if it is the right idea (if there is any doubt then it is simply not time yet). Secondly, and perhaps the most comforting thought, is that no matter how many supposed uninspired decisions you make, the situation and scenario you have found yourself in can be corrected immediately and without any lasting consequences if you just allow yourself to fall back in line with God. The truth is, like what was said earlier, our natural state of being is one with god and it takes work to (which can be manifested as stress, or fear, or a sense of urgency) to get in the way of that. Simply allow Life to take care of Life and experience the beautiful experiences that stem from that.
Last but not least always remember that no matter what predicament or confusion you find yourself in, it is okay. I fully believe that all experiences we encounter are meant to continue our progression toward our communion with God. There is no need to ever feel we are faced with a situation we cannot handle or a situation that is not in some ways (even if it is in our most deepest and quietest parts) benefitting us. Just trust that progress is the law of existence and we can never separate from it.
hope this helps:)
I like the idea in your last paragraph, Jason, that ” no matter what predicament or confusion you find yourself in, it is okay. I fully believe that all experiences we encounter are meant to continue our progression toward our communion with God.” This is in line with Mrs. Eddy’s statement: “Love thine enemies” is identical with “Thou hast no enemies.” (Mis 9:9). In spiritual reality, we have no enemies, and we have no predicament, no matter how serious it may seem to sense, that can not bring us closer to understanding our relationships with our Father/Mother.
Thank you so much to everyone for all your thoughts on this subject! This is definitely something I’ve been trying to express more in my life recently, though I haven’t necessarily thought about it in these terms specifically, so all these varied perspectives have been so helpful.
I recently graduated from college and for the first time in my life, I don’t know what I’ll be doing next–a daunting idea, when you consider it from that perspective. I want everything I do to be inspired and God directed, but I’m having a difficult time separating my own thoughts/ presumptions / desires about what I should be doing–pharisees–from God’s messages and direction. Sometimes it feels like I need to work everything out on my own, right now, but that, I know, is one of those pharisees I need to exterminate. Any ideas, anyone? I loved the idea shared earlier that we don’t have to think about how to reflect or follow God, because that is just our natural state of being. It certainly lifts a false weight of responsibility from our shoulders.
Justin and all, I love your focus on that awful ‘inner Pharisee’ we each face periodically. Thanks for the humility to ‘out it’.
For those challenging the ‘outer Pharisee’ behavior we see too often, Tabea Mangelsdorf has an amazing song on this subject on this site–about the courage of Tibetan Buddhist monks who are peacefully giving their lives to liberate their country. http://time4thinkers.com/tabea-mangelsdorf-let-the-rains-fall/
Such conviction terrifies the oppressor - in this case, China, in Jesus’ time, the Romans. The hatred of good that we hear about in Tibet, this bullying that would snuff out anything unlike itself, this is exactly what Jesus met and faced down.
Reading the Gospel of Mark straight through, one of the surprises is the utter hatred for Jesus that seeps through from the very start of his ministry. The Pharisees felt the heat of his authenticity and healing work, and wanted to stop it before it became a freight train of power — which is exactly what happened. What else could overturn the mighty Roman Empire in a mere three centuries? Not weapons, but love.
After the healing of a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath, “the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” Mark 6:6 The effort to completely destroy Jesus is such a theme in Mark that the author uses five more verses like that to end different episodes.
What does Jesus do? He keeps going, knowing that the Kingdom of God was right here on earth, and would eventually overpower evil. That’s what the resurrection is all about to me, and those monks model the courage needed to face Phariseeism, or evil that tries to crush what resists it.
Wherever we see the efforts of evil to crush, undermine, overwhelm, we can stand up — however we’re led — and take a lesson from Jesus: knowing that God, Love, has our back more than we can ever imagine.
what a great poem! I love it. it raises an interesting question to me, how can we ever NOT feel connected to God? It is our natural state and then, not only do we sometimes feel not connected to the infinite, but we convince ourselves that we need to spend our lives in search of this connection, we need to spend our lives grasping for it. Why do you think this is the case?
That poem is so so so awesome!!! I wonder if shadows long to just for once feel the sun!
I love what poetry is, and how it teaches us to FEEL and feel more. This particular poem seems to be a lot about longing, and I think this is a clue on the path to growing out of pharisaical thinking – LONGING to be real, to FEEL and not just be right and follow the rules, but to feel and know life, not through the safety of following rules, but through the experience of having seen and felt God. :)
Living every moment in the sacred present. You are right Justin. I even find I might experience this “dry spell” and it is really hard to experience because we want to be endlessly inspired all the time. How do we recorrect when we feel we are not living by the Spirit but want to be? Here is such an amazing poem that I love!!! The heart of the poem is to ask a series of questions about the natural state of things and whether or not those things question their natural state-rocks being self conscious of their weight and mountains of their strength-The last line of the poem says “efforts gives way to existence.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z6lYyP2vOk
I love how constant this is too. Those boring Pharisiacal thoughts are coming pretty frequently, so as ItsAboutGood pointed out above, there are opportunities to lift ourselves up all the time. To see more clearly, listen better, and be more flexible. Yeah!
Wow – brother Justin! Powerful thoughts here! I have been striving for this same understanding that will allow me to commune with the divine consistently and naturally. But I find the struggle against the “inner-Pharisee” always leads me to new heights. Something I’ve identified in myself that frees me from Pharaseeism is unselfish listening. This is different then some listening techniques you might learn in an acting class or workplace training. It is constantly listening to divine Mind rather than the human mind or what seems to be coming out of another person’s lips. It’s not listening for what I want to hear, but what I know God is saying. Whatever God says has to be good – so if I hear anything in my own head or from someone that isn’t good I have got to “challenge” that pharisee and mentally reverse it.
This seems overwhelming, but it isn’t. It’s our natural state of spiritual hearing and is what Jesus was encouraging his disciples to practice when he said, “Having ears, hear ye not?” Mark 8:18.
For example, I was at a dinner party recently with a bunch of conversations happening around me. I silently asked God to lead me to a conversation where I could be a blessing. Soon I found myself talking with someone who was asking me about how to be a better disciple of Christ. I started talking about practices that have helped me, but soon realized I was going on for way too long. My practices weren’t hers! I also realized that for as long as I was talking I wasn’t really listening! So I stopped myself and asked her how she was growing in her understanding of Jesus’ command for his disciples to heal the sick. As she explained to me a situation that had happened to her, I repeated again and again mentally “You are a Christian healer! You are a child of God!” This worked to keep any self-righteousness out of my thought as I listened,
I connected with her again the next day in a crowd of over a thousand people and was able to pull her aside and this time, aloud, tell her, “You are a great healer! You can do everything God needs you to do!” The challenging the Pharisee happened the night before when I fought off my selfish thoughts and speech and prayed to bless. The result were the healing words God gave me to share today.
Your posts here are showing me how all of these radical acts are tied together. Since I challenged Pharisees one night, I was able to encourage another to heal the sick the next. Beautiful.
Thank you all for the comments thus far, keep them coming!
Also, Shelley, feel free to share more about your situation if you are moved to. This is the perfect place for a discussion that can really be beneficial to us and those who read it, so please feel free to share more.
For me an interesting issue has arisen in the past couple days and it is weighing on me very heavily. It is interesting how easily we can be pulled out of the “sacred present” and thrown back into our stories. What I am struggling with and interested in is how it seems that unless we consciously work to stay in that pure connection with God, we tend to fall into the trap of mortal mind, of our stories and our sadnesses. This confuses me because I believe that connection is our natural state of being, so how come it takes work to shed ourselves of our stories and return to it?
I think this is where forgiveness comes in. But not forgiveness in the human sense of the word. That is not true forgiveness. Ture forgiveness is forgiving yourself immediately for holding onto your story, forgiving yourself for the perception. The “sacred present” is always there and coursing through every moment and all we need to do to feel it is forgive and let go of all the bonds holding us back. However, I believe it is even a step further than that for that seems to much of a conscious effort to me still. Forgiveness needs to become something we dont consciously “think” of doing and “try” to do, it needs to be our natural response to all things.
We are not trying to achieve something that we do not already have. our natural state is oneness with God and therefore we need not “work” to feel that for that “working” is, in essence, and admittance that we are somehow separate from God. We need to merely “be” that oneness, just let it wash over you and feel it. It need not be put into words and thought about for it becomes to conscious an effort, simply allow yourself to experience your natural state.
People struggle because they feel they need to hold on to all these things, “I need to get this and this and this done or this and this and this will happen.” People are fearful that if they let go completely and allow God and oneness to be their only experience that somehow all the things that need to get done will not and horrible things will happen. This is simply fear. Life takes care of Life, Love guides itself in the natural progression of unfolding events, and all will be good for there is nothing but good.
I once heard someone ask a lecturer “all this is perfect because?” and the lecturer responded with, “perfection does not need a because, it is simply perfect. Imperfection needs a because.”
“my life is imperfect because this and this and this is wrong.” no. your life is a constant unfoldment of love. that is all. Don’t let your stories distract you from your true identity.
Just love your challenge to the Pharisee belief, Justin. I can remember praying to heal myself of the belief of communism before seeing it dissolve in my experience.
On forgiveness, I love to think we can actually “give” up the lie [mortal sense] “for” the truth about everything we are aware of. Seeing thru’ the time and space belief, actually collapses time and opens up infinity and the divine awareness, where fetters are unknown. Man[ifestation] is God performing. It helps to know the distinction between material and physical.
Because God is “One” and “All”,
“Is anything real of which the physical senses are cognizant?
Everything is as real as you make it, and no more so. What you see, hear, feel, is a mode of consciousness, and can have no other reality than the sense you entertain of it.
It is dangerous to rest upon the evidence of the senses, for this evidence is not absolute, and therefore not real, in our sense of the word. All that is beautiful and good in your individual consciousness is permanent.” Un.8:4
“Time: Mortal measurements; limits, in which are summed up all human acts, thoughts, beliefs, opinions,knowledge; matter; error; ….. until the mortal
disappears and spiritual perfection appears.” S&H 595:17
Stories? Yes, if they are not translated by the Christ. Everything that appears in consciousness of worthy of translation, but not by mortal mind. That is when we “for” “give”. Websters: The original and proper phrase is to forgive the offense, to send it away, to reject it, that is, not to impute it, [put it to] the offender.
No persona here: Websters: Persona – a personal facade that one presents to the world.
Personal sense? Only God and His adventure – the one I or Us.
“I, or Ego. Divine Principle; Spirit; Soul; incorporeal, unerring, immortal, and eternal Mind.
There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle. All the objects of God’s creation reflect one Mind, and whatever reflects not this one Mind, is false and erroneous, even the belief that
life, substance, and intelligence are both mental and material.” S&H 588:9
“We live in an age of Love’s divine adventure to be All-in-all.” Mis.158:9
Love it!!
Justin,
You have absolutely identified the exact situation I am in. Until reading this, I wasn’t exactly sure I could identify the problem, or the answer, but you’ve helped me do both. My situation is complicated so I’m not going to go into all that here, but thank you so much for this inspiration!!
Ok Justin, here’s my story:
When I was young, my mother found that our family was becoming a product of heredity and human history-her only knowledge of how to raise her children wasn’t a great-for her own parents weren’t very loving role-models. She suddenly recognized that our sense of home was not a loving, safe, nor peaceful place. So she sat us all down and said she wanted to pray out of our stormy waters-she wanted our lives to be surrounded by good and love. So I grew up with a practitioner on call all the time, where growth was something I was always in, where God was my relationship with God didn’t flicker so much in terms of my desire (but yes, there are times I do feel like my relationship with Him isn’t totally there). My spiritual journey has since been natural for me to always be walking with God, even if I don’t feel Him walking with me.
Justin, this is awesome. I have had no clue what sort of story or living of this Radical Act you’d be starting from here – and this rocks. I have struggled with this idea of challenging pharisees, because I was approaching it from the standpoint of challenging other people…but what you are doing and sharing is casting the beam out of your own eye – and this will certainly enable cleaning the mote out of another’s, when / if that opportunity arises. I really appreciate this broader view of that teaching!
Looking forward to living this with you!
For me this applies directly to my current situation. I love this radical act and am going to consciously try to act everyday, not just from divine inspiration, but to really recognize moments when I feel like my relationship with God has “flickered off” and bring myself back into the divine present.