I love this:
//He is being put “over there”…They can neither claim him nor let him go…
he no longer fits…
●Preaching has more to do with convincing folk of something so that they change their minds and embrace it
…
●teaching assumes a solid body of knowledge that is “out there,” a reservoir of information and insight that can be taught and learned…
what happens when the ones we are watching and learning from are filled with erroneous thoughts, feelings covering vast amounts of rage and narcissism…
behaviors designed to escape the truth
they do not want to face the truth\
spirits pass from generation to generation.\
undermine our ability to be in touch with ourselves,\
block and distort our closeness to God, and many times\
make us ill…
When we change who we follow from the hidden model buried deep in our minds and hearts/
to the revealed model who stands before us offering life in all its fullness,/
[ the disciples conduct themselves in a material way so as to]
elicit(s) no envy.
They are totally dependent and in the lowest position…
they will live trusting in people and in God so that they can cast out unclean spirits—those spirits generated when trust is broken or people fall into rivalry with one another.[the disciples are instructed to]
Be fully present to that place and those people. No seeking for higher class accommodations. Doing that would plant unclean spirits.
Your “witness against them” is non-violent and does no harm to either you or them..
Just one thing a story:
“Roland-young, gifted in business, rich-had tried every “cure” for alcoholism available at the time. All his attempts failed. In despair, he traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, and placed himself under the care of Dr. Jung for nearly a year.
Jung was blunt. He told Roland that any further medical treatment was pointless.
Stunned, Roland asked if there was any other hope.
Jung held out only one- — that Roland experience a “genuine conversion,” a spiritual transformation. According to Jung, such experiences were rare among alcoholics. But alcoholics who had them stopped drinking.”
https://silkworth.net/pages/aahistory/general/carljung_billw013061.php
And the song:
And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind
And you think you maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with her mind
~Leonard Cohen
https://youtu.be/CC5nMqNTNW8
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
It seems to me the message of Jesus gets polluted when people have too much material reasons to be distracted from the fact of his patience, tolerance and love for us. I reckon freedom and Liberation from him comes from having Nothing Left to Lose.
