Dear Family, Wish you were here!

Dear Bev, Cap, Chris, Dave, Emily, Gerry, Jeremy, Laura, Marcia, Mary Rachel, Mohamed, Rosemary, Steve, Sue, et al...,

I don't have any stamps and remain without reliable email access. I've wanted to write you but I have no means (thank God! "The Golden Rule is to steadfastly refuse to have what millions cannot have," Gandhi, the only means of avoiding divorce from our brothers.)

But, I have been writing you and will continue to do so when I have access to the blogs. You can see them all by clicking my complete profile at left. Each post is with you in mind.

I love you and will always. You are my family and always will be in my heart.

Wish you were here! Why? Man, this is Living! No kidding! Imagine the most wonderful vacation you can. [These are just some of the ones I've taken: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I...]This is better! Perfect? No. There are still distractions and limitations from making the greatest possible contribution to the health of our death-bed human body. But I am freer of obstacles than ever before!

For the first several weeks of January it was 23hrs per day in front of the White House. Was falsely arrested for "camping" (I was not) and that court date is mid March. I face weeks or months in prison if convicted. No matter. However I can best serve. Time will tell.
Thrown in were two 3 day stints with Catholic Workers, risking arrest 3 times and getting arrested twice - one at the Pentagon exposing the workers to the faces of Iraq children, and one at the Federal Court House in DC standing in for Abdel Galib Amed Hakim, 27 of Ta'iz Yemen who has been kept at Guantanimo in illegal detention by the US Goverment that I have been funding. That court date is mid April.

Since Jan 19th, the day of my Pentagon court date (dismissed without prejudice) I have been contributing to two of today's living saints, Thomas and Connie and Ellen. They are renovating the basement of their base of operations so the Washington Peace Center can operate there, and so that there is in-floor heating for the main floor. By donating my time to the construction I thought I might contribute to their Spirit, and I think I have done so. The project has continued long past what I anticipated. Now my guess is that by week's end I will take my leave and return to the Darfur Vigil at the White House. Here I have had unexpected access to the internet and have created this blog - my most important ever. [and ESPECIALLY THIS POST >>>CLICK HERE!!!!]. I pray it is of help to you. It can be your transportation, in part, to this wonderful spot I've found!

Life does not get much better than this. Well, ok, it does. When one learns much more than I have about courage, giving, compassion, humanity... than I have, yes, it IS better. But I'm learning and making a way. The way? :-)

There is a whole world of room here if you ever know anyone that wants to come and visit or stay for a while, or even move in!

I miss you all dearly, but only because I love you so.

Wishing you great Joy and loving you forever, brother jay

Man must discover fire for the second time.

“The day will come when after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."
This is a quote of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The notion of "fire" as an element of our Christian quest haunts me, in a very positive way. It will not leave me.

The Christian (always when I say this I mean in Jesus' eyes) may best understand her/himself as a flame, a Sacred bit of fire.
The Christian is charged with:
* Maintaining the flame - protecting it at the cost of one's life if necessary.
* Growing the flame as though the fate of the entire planet depends upon it, which it does.
* Spreading the flame to the soul of others with every bit of speed possible, at every conceivable opportunity, spending every second on this task as the only hope for humankind, which it is.

Spirit is Fire is Spirit is Fire....

Oh, there is much work to be done. Let's get on with it.

Our beloved Wiseguy left his body today

He was diagnosed yesterday with cancer. It was estimated he had one or two weeks to live.

He is a miraculous (sacred?) dog. Wiseguy was not in any pain, but he knew he was sick; for about a week now. A massive tumor in the stomach. You could almost literally see it grow in size.

I'm so sad. I'm so sad for Thomas; and Connie; and Ellen.

I've never seen such a one-person, totally committed and dedicated animal. Wiseguy is totally devoted to Thomas. He mourns when Thomas is out of his sight. Mourns! At the park when it is cold, and Thomas naps, Wiseguy lays down close to keep Thomas warm. For hours.

The tears. The sadness.

We've been so blessed by Wiseguy.

We all tried to make his last days with us a Joy.

Wiseguy made his exit while in Thomas's sleeping arms today. It was Divine. Wiseguy would follow Thomas EVERYWERE/ANYWHERE. But when Thomas invited him upstairs at about noon to nap with him, Wiseguy couldn't make it past the 3rd step. None of us could imagine he would go so quickly. So Thomas returned with him to the livingroom floor and took his nap with his arm wrapped around Wiseguy. I could see that Wiseguy didn't sleep. But he was completely at peace in his brother's arms, sharing with his partner Thomas some of the love he had so lavished on him every day. Seeing that everything was as it should be, and that there was no more for him to do to help us, Wiseguy quietly made his exit.

There is much for us to learn from Wiseguy and others of his higher species. They are higher than humans because they never learned not to care about the "other." They never learned to care more about themselves than about the other. They never suffered the "Fall." If we want to we can learn from them how to Love, how to Live.

Wiseguy exited his body but he can't exit this world. He has entered too many of our hearts/spirits/souls for that to happen. So actually, Wiseguy continues at his post showing us how to Live, how to Love. May we learn from Wiseguy. May we follow his lead. In time.

Thank you Wiseguy. Thank you.

Thank you. It has been an honor to know you.

Christian? Soldier. YOU take away the sins of the world.

Mop-up operations. Not in the usual military sense. But I can't escape the aptness of the term - MOP-UP OPERATIONS.

Jesus took away the sins of the world. "Love as I have loved." CHRISTIANS are to take away the sins of the world. We are to mop-up the sins with our bodies. Isn't that what Jesus did? He used his body to make visible, attract and absorb the sins of the world.

"The real food for the Spirit is the Flesh," said Jesus (Tolstoy translation of the Gospel.)

Jesus did it to spare us? Bull shit. Jesus MODELED it for us - HE SHOWED US WHAT TO DO, HOW TO LIVE AND LOVE IN A WORLD OF SUFFERING.
Christian? Soldier. YOU take away the sins of the world.

:-)

see also John Koffee in The Green Mile; Steve Beko in Cry Freedom....

Christian? Leader.

If you are Christian (in Jesus eyes) then you are a leader, by definition, by function. Christian and Leader are inseparable.

You cannot be Christian (in Jesus eyes) and NOT be a leader - actually and consciously. Like everything that matters - this is not a "rule," it is how things work.

"Give us [all] this day our daily bread." This is an exhortation from Jesus to each of us to leadership. The "daily bread" is our clear understanding, individually, today, this instant of what our Father's will is for each of us individually. "Give us [all] this day..." is a clear exhortation to each individual Christian to lead "us all" (her/his brothers) to see our daily bread. Gandhi - "you must be the change you wish to see."

Tolstoy's translation of Jesus (Gospel in Brief), "...the fulfillment of the Father's will depends on each man's effort and striving to make people see that life is given, not for oneself personally, but for the fulfillment of the Father's will, which alone saves from death and gives life." Leadership. Leadership is how we make people see.

For my entire adult life I have felt called to leadership. I'm just now, with today's insight, with this post, I am understanding why this call has been so deep and so urgent for me, for all these decades.

No, unfortunately the models that abound in this world of "leader" are absolutely not what Jesus calls us to. Francis of Asisi said, "We must preach the Gospel all day long, and occasionally use words to do so." This kind of leadership. BE Good. DO Good. THAT is the kind of Leadership Jesus calls for. Life service, not Lip service. "They will know you by how you love one another." "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you." Living these commandments is the leadership, the ONLY leadership.

Wow. We've got a lot of work to do.

If you are not being crucified...

... by the world, you are not following Jesus.

Yes, the point is NOT to go seek crucifixion. No! It doesn't work like that!

But, I can't think of any exceptions in my life - if I am on or near the path I am being crucified:
* Isolation
* Disdain
* Solitude
* Hunger
* Poverty
* Imprisonment
* divorce by/separation from people I love and need
* Derision
* Slander
* etc
* etc
* etc

Did Jesus exist?

Did Jesus exist? Does it matter? Does it matter if he is a fiction? Does it matter if he lived? Does it matter if he was the son of God? Does it matter if there is a God in fact? WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT IS LEFT US DIRECTLY AS HIS. What matters is if we use it.

Did Einstein exist? Does it matter? Does it matter if he is a fiction? Does it matter if he lived? Does it matter if he was the son of God? Does it matter if there is a God in fact? WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT IS LEFT US DIRECTLY AS HIS.

Did Newton exist? Does it matter? Does it matter if he is a fiction? Does it matter if he lived? Does it matter if he was the son of God? Does it matter if there is a God in fact? WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT IS LEFT US DIRECTLY AS HIS.

Did Lister exist? Does it matter? Does it matter if he is a fiction? Does it matter if he lived? Does it matter if he was the son of God? Does it matter if there is a God in fact? WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT IS LEFT US DIRECTLY AS HIS.

Did Columbus exist? Does it matter? Does it matter if he is a fiction? Does it matter if he lived? Does it matter if he was the son of God? Does it matter if there is a God in fact? WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT IS LEFT US DIRECTLY AS HIS.

"This has to stop...." Rachel Corrie; Christian Soldier

"This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore." Rachel Corrie

What makes a Marine? I think it is debatable, but for me the answer is heart. It is a certain type of heart that make a Marine. Some are born with it. Some strive with their entire being to achieve it. But striving, wanting, imagining, wishing, praying, talking... do not make a Marine. Achieving/having the HEART of a Marine makes a Marine.

It is a certain type of heart/spirit/Soul that makes one a disciple of Jesus. Off hand I don't think of anything that better captures that heart/Spirit/Soul than Rachel's words above. I don't think one is Christian if / when their heart is anything less than that.; not in this world of almost total misery and death. Were not those same words everpresent in Jesus breast? "There is no greater love than to lay down your life...." "Love as I have loved...." "The Good Shepherd (Christian) lays down his life for his sheep...."

We are not Living (we are not a Disciple) if we spend minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years/decades living divorceded/self-anesthetizeded/AMPUTATED from the agony of this world - Darfur, Manhattan, Congo, New Orleans, Hatai.... And if we are not amputated from, WE ARE SERVING THE NEED, "the least of these my family...."

Living = Christian. One body. ONE body, no amputation, no anesthesia.

Following Jesus: Judging is the hardest, most important part

No! Contrary to popular teaching by today's Scribes and Pharasese - the "Church" - Judging is not forbidden, it is Jesus greatest requirement of us if we are to follow him:
* "Love as I have loved."
* "Do unto others all that you would have them do unto you."
* "They will know you by how you love one another."
These are NOTHING if not exhortations to scrupulously judge/evaluate ourselves and others.

YES, WE MUST NEVER "JUDGE" IN THE WAY OF PLACING OURSELVES OR OTHERS ABOVE OR BELOW OURSELVES OR OTHERS! But as the MD (Dr.) must "diagnose/judge" the condition of the patient, the disciple of Jesus must judge matters of the Spirit/Soul as a absolute requisite to service. Come on now, let's stop the idiotic, heretical disparagement of all "judging."

The hardest thing I do as a would-be disciple of Jesus is my attempts to adhere to this requirement - this necessary task of Judging. It would have been so much easier in so many ways to avoid judging my own life and how best I could serve and to:
* Stay in my half million dollar house.
* Keep my 20 year career.
* Be a "normal" father.
* Be a "normal" person.
* Stay with my wonderful adopted family in West Chester.
* Keep my comfortable management job.
* Stay with my new Washington DC adopted community....

"If you do not hate family... you cannot love me."

The "good" is the enemy of the "great."

There is no success on my journey of discipleship that has come without my adherence to this requirement to JUDGE. It is way hard. It is indispensable. Want to be "Christian?" JUDGE yourself and others with TOUGH LOVE.

LIP SERVICE, Jesus taught, is the UNFORGIVABLE SIN

No? I just got this! I've hated lip service throughout my adult life, but just within the last 24 hours clarity has come to me that Jesus hated lip service the most! Why? Because when we engage in lip service we are the very least likely to get on the "path!" Why? Because with lip service we release the tension that conscience/good/Father/God exert within us, the TENSION that would otherwise save us!

Think about what He said about:
* The two sons. One said "I'll do it!" and DID NOT. LIP SERVICE. The other son said, "NO WAY!" and DID IT.
* The Unforgivable Sin is to deny the Spirit. LIP SERVICE! Yes, lip service acknowledges the Spirit, but TALK IS CHEAP. ACTION IS DEAR. LIP SERVICE, NON-ACTION IS TO DENY THE SPIRIT!
* Who did Jesus rail against?!??! THE HYPOCRITS! LIP SERVICE.

Lip service is the unforgivable sin, because it is the sin we are least likely to escape. Lip service will KEEP US OFF THE PATH.

THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENSIONS.
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH LIP SERVICE.

Jesus/God/Good DO NOT PUNISH US. EVER!

...They simply WARN US where the PUNISHING CONSEQUENCES OF ERROR ARE! Just like a loving human parent frantically warns a child that a finger in the flame will result in great pain!

Being on the "path" is to be pain free psychologically and in "Heaven" (full joy, peace, love, Life!), although physically crucified/persecuted. Think of the mother bleeding, broken and bruised from a car wreck, running with her injured child in her arms. Is she in pain? Physically, yes. Psychologically? NO!

Come on in!!!!! or don't :-(

In my youth I craved skiing. I almost always did so alone. With very little time on the slopes (I grew up in NJ!) I became very, very good. It was as though my entire being merged, or was trying to merge with the skis-boots-trails-mountains. It was day-long orgasm after day-long orgasm.... No, it was not specifically sexual in that sense, but it WAS that intense/overwhelming/awesome/excruciating/sacred. Pretty much.

Why did I ski alone? Hmmm. Well, it was not because I told others - GO AWAY! Oh, many moments/seconds I yearned so deeply for others to want to be with me in the experience.

Why did I ski alone? Because no one wanted to/could join me. Almost everyone else wanted to be with someone on the mountain. What I wanted was the reverse - I wanted to be with the mountain and have others experience that with me. No one else could imagine what I was experiencing - they couldn't see it for themselves; they couldn't see it in me. There were brief times when I was lonely, sometimes intensely lonely. But the loneliness never blurred the choice - or obscured the Pearl. No contest. Merging at the cellular level with the mountain - that always won out. Heavenly. Was God/Our Father/Humanity what I was merging with?

I wonder sometimes, idly, amusedly if anyone will be at my funeral (if there is one - CREMATION please, no plot!), whenever that happens in the next 50 years or so. My guess is, probably not. :-) Within any given week for this last month or so this realization comes to me - probably not. People don't stay with me, although they would say/perceive the reverse.

What I want to share this morning is - as absurd and contrary to how others would see it - I feel like my whole life I've been trying to be on or as close the "path" as I can. I've always been closer to the "path" than most. I really experience being ON the "path" now. Yes I am walking it ineptly. But I am walking it. IT IS HEAVEN.

What I want to share this morning is - COME ON IN, THE WATER IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But if you don't, I'm not coming out to be with you. The invitation will ALWAYS STAND, ALWAYS. I WILL ALWAYS MISS YOU, YEARN FOR YOU. But, if you won't come, I'm ok with that. Now, what I'll do is work as hard as I can to ENJOY the "path," THAT OTHERS MIGHT SEE. But if you don't choose to join, that is up to you. YES I CARE! I ACHE FOR YOU TO BE ON IT, AND WITH ME. But, if you don't, or, until you do, I'm staying in/on. This is a new sense of comfort for me. A new idea. I feel that everyway I can I've been an "invitation" and have spent great time and energy extending the invitation. I don't regret that, but I'm tired of doing it, and maybe it has been a disservice to you.

The Father of the prodigal son never left his estate. He stayed on the estate, building it, keeping it strong, maintianing the access roads so it would be ready! In God's time the son chose to return, and the Father was overjoyed!

The Cost of Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer -

"Through the call of God, men become individuals… Every man is called separately, and must follow alone. But men are frightened of solitude, and try to protect themselves from it by merging themselves in the society of their fellow-men and in their material environment. They become suddenly aware of their responsibilities and duties, and are loath to part with them. But all this is only a cloak to protect them from having to make a decision. They are unwilling to stand alone before Jesus and to be compelled to decide with their eyes fixed on Him alone…. It is Christ’s will that he should be thus isolated, and that he should fix his eyes solely upon him."

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the Cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods.

"Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.

“It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.”

Question: What is the greatest gift we can ge given?
Answer: A relationship with Our Father/God - our "Daily Bread" - His "Will" for us.

Question: How many people, adults, have this gift available to them, really?
Answer: In my experience - very few; they/we just don't hear, are not aware of hearing even a murmer from Him.

Question: What is the greatest tragedy that could befall someone, and befall their loved ones?
Answer: That a person blessed with the ability to hear His Will, even very faintly at first, turn away instead. "But men are frightened of solitude, and try to protect themselves from it by merging themselves in the society of their fellow-men and in their material environment." Thereby they deprive themselves of Life, and deprive their loved ones of the greatest possible hope - Life. A candle goes out.

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)

[Yes, this one I wrote specifically with you in mind. :-) Love, Brother jay]

Action Springs from Readiness for Responsibility

“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”

“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.”

“It is the nature, and the advantage, of strong people that they can bring out the crucial questions and form a clear opinion about them. The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own.”

“One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Father's Will" is a way of Life: Physical properties

Hmmm. This is a working piece for me - as I try to understand what I am learning through this recent walk / adventure.

Living "Our Father's Will"=God's Will=Goodness=Humanity (what through prayer/contemplation/meditation I IMAGINE it to be) has predictable properties / outcomes.

What do I mean? A few examples.
* David Dellinger is in Mid 1960's Fla talking at a church in a positive way about the Cuban revolution. Cubans hating the revolution swarm in threatening violence. One smashes Dellinger in the back of the head. He responds by turning to face the attacker and extending his hand in friendship. Instead of a fight, dialog ensues.
* jay 30 days ago left the US culture of competition, greed, stuff, addiction; left with what he had left after paying his last debts - nothing but bus fare and some clothes. Making not one request for help of anyone he has received:
- a donation of $200 beyond the price of a laptop he was selling [thought I didn't notice? :-) ]
- personally donated food all but two of those days
- Warm clothes and a sleeping bag
- A new warm jacket
- Offers of lodging on cold nights
- Encouragement from some of the Park Police and Secret service....

What is going on here? Our Father's Will/God/Goodness is predictably (there is NO CERTAINTY in ANYTHING in life) called forth in the face of extreme Humanity/Brotherhood. EXTREME Humanity/Brotherhood.

When we Heroically, Extremely exercise our own Humanity/Good/God/Brotherhood the odds increase from near zero that others will begin to exercise theirs.

Our religion in this society is to place as much insulation between us and God/Good as possible! WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD/GOOD/OUR FATHER'S WILL. We do not trust in Good/God/OUR FATHER. "I'll take care of myself, of my own!" Thereby we kill Good/God/OUR FATHER through atrophy in ourselves and starve it in others.

Peace Pilgrim

Peace Pilgrim: "This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." ....Peace Pilgrim

“To attain inner peace you must actually give your life, not just your possessions. When you at last give your life - bringing into alignment your beliefs and the way you live then, and only then, can you begin to find inner peace.”

“We are all cells in the same body of humanity.”

“Many people profess Christianity. Very few live it-almost none. And when you live it people may think you're crazy. It has been truthfully said that the world is equally shocked by one who repudiates Christianity as by one who practices it.”

“Most of us fall short much more by omission than by commission. While the world perishes we go our way: purposeless, passionless, day after day.”

“No one can find inner peace except by working, not in a self- centered way, but for the whole human family.”

“Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights.”

"I've met a few people who had to change their jobs in order to change their lives, but I've met many more people who merely had to change their motive to service in order to change their lives.”

“Make food a very incidental part of your life by filling your life so full of meaningful things that you'll hardly have time to think about food.”

"people have found inner peace by losing themselves in a cause larger than themselves, like the cause of world peace, because finding inner peace means coming from the self-centered life into the life centered in the good of the whole."

More Peace Pilgrim Quotes!!!!!

1. "Our Father in Heaven" [And Our Mother Earth; and/or, Our Master Jesus....!]

99% of the value of this Sacred, all sufficient prayer is in these 4 words. Everything else can come with these four. In fact, 98% of the value is in the first TWO words.

The degree to which we Imagine, and Live in every respect out of the Idea / Truth / Wisdom / Humanity / Totality that there is One Father of us All - Heaven will happen.

Often, usually, when I say this prayer, I don't make it past these first two words. I can get stuck in Imagining the implications for me of One Father of us all, making us all one family - for many, many productive minutes. And, for those times I make it no further than these first two words I'm ok.

These first two words put me close to, or in His Will. And that's all there is. The entire reason that Jesus lived and died for us was to knit us together as One Family with One Father. Heaven for the individual and the collective is inescapable in exact proportion to the degree to which this exists at any moment - for the individual, for the collective.

Father, what do you want me to do? Where in your family are you looking? What do you want me, with my strenghts, weaknesses and other particular circumstances to DO? NOW? This is the whole deal.

However, words 3 & 4 are enormously productive as well. "in Heaven" takes me to the world of spirit, and to the fact that in Truth, as I experience it in my moments of Wisdom, I/we are spirit beings - not Flesh beings. Who cannot imagine themselves transplanted into a robot entity and still being themself? Who can imagine their brain being removed, their Flesh kept alive, and still being themself?

Jesus invites us to NOT make this "world" our home, but to travel with Him, to follow Him to our Father's Kingdom in Heaven - NOW.

2. "Hallowed be your name"

Hmmm. This has been the least important of the phrases for me. Up until recently. Recently this phrase has helped me reflect on why His name is hallowed. This phrase helps me connect with my experience thus far of our Father:
* In my biological father's total, otherish commitment to the wellbeing of others.
* To the unconditional kindness shown by KC, a foodwagon-for-the-homeless worker I met the the other day; a young man that showers unconditional kindness/love/friendliness on everyone.
* Gandhi.
* Thomas.
* Bev.
* Etc.
* Etc.
* Etc.
* Etc.

This Goodness is God, the Father. There is nothing else. We need nothing else.

NOW I find this component of the prayer enormously fruitful in the growth of my capability to be displaced by all but, and filled completely with His Spirit / Will (my consicience / still small voice / empathy / compassion / humanity.)

3. "Your Kingdom come[s]"

How does this strike you? It always strikes me as deliberately meaning not one, but TWO things:
A. Your Kingdom come ... for me to get there, for me to come there!
B. Your Kingdom come HERE... for Your Kingdom to come materially to this earth NOW!

The value and richness of this Life giving phrase is two fold:
1. This phrase lets us see that the answer to A & B above IS THE SAME: Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!
2. This phrase challenges us to every time imagine what His Kingdom is like. This will be a lifelong pursuite for me. But I think I have the all important essence of it: It is Spirit, not Flesh; It is Free of Fleshly/Lust concerns; It is entirely, 100% about His concern for The Least of These - everyone in Heaven is 100% focussed and committed to the Least of These; it is absent personal concern because attention is totally elsewhere; it is Heaven....

4. "[As] Your will [is] done on earth as it is in Heaven."

For years now this is just about my only prayer, The Lord's Prayer, and I just don't envision ever needing any other. This astonishes me, but that is how I experience the prayer. I don't prefer it this way, it is just how it is. Having said that, I only in these last 5 years have begun to understand the prayer. Before the understanding I am trying to share here, at best it was a series of meaningless words (mumbo jumbo); and at worst it served to lead me very much astray.

THE BOTTOM LINE - this phrase above is the bottom line. Obviously in Heaven we are Perfect - Spirit! Therefore, how is His will done in Heaven? WITHOUT any, ANY of the pull of the Flesh/Lust. ZERO. Well, Jesus with this prayer calls us to follow Him in displacing everything within ourselves now, today, all the time that does NOT consist of Our Father's Spirit/Will. Based on my practice at discipleship so far I can only describe this as eminently feasible. To the 100% level? Who cares. 98% level? Certainly. Not interested? Not Christian. This is the whole thing.

How was Jesus perfect? Only in this regard, and that is everything. Jesus discerned what WAS and WAS NOT Our Father's will; he displaced what was not, and empowered and encouraged that which was.

WHY? What is the benefit? Well, for Jesus and for us what He promised is what I find - more Joy, Life, Love, Peace and Persecution than one could ever hope for - Heaven, a Heaven of personal experience - EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY - no matter what Persecution may be suffered. For me so far it hasn't yet been that tough - just homelessness, subzero temperatures, incarceration, disrespect, the discomforts of sleeping upright every night, extreme isolation.... But still, as mild as these Persecutions are they suggest that Jesus was absolutely correct - We can be in Heaven with our Father IN THIS LIFE REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS OUR CHOICE.

ALSO, from the perspective of a lifetime (35 years) as an adult trying to improve the world using every material means imaginable, what is called for in the above phrase IS THE ONLY HOPE OF BRINGING A MATERIAL HEAVEN TO EARTH. Of course it can be done. And Heaven ON EARTH MATERIALLY WILL HAPPEN exactly in proportion to how many of us, how much of the time are purely hosts of His will. Currently Greed/mammon, NOT His Will reigns. We see the results (among the mountains of evidence in the 3rd world: Mining for Bling in the Congo; Congo's Tin Soldiers; Life & Debt, etc, etc, etc. Among the mountains of evidence around you - how much Joy is in your life and that of those around you? Of the seconds in your day how many are Heavenly/Good? How about for your biological children present or future?) Until this is reversed we may move Hell around a bit, but Heaven will be no closer. NOT ONE INCH CLOSER.

LET'S GET ON WITH IT: For ourselves, for our immediate family, for our children, for our neighbors, for the plant, for the future, for God's sake!

5. "Give us [all] this day our daily bread."

Hugely important.

"Bread!" What bread?!?!?!? Oh this is so crucial - a dreadful slippery slope! Improperly understood it leads to enormous error and suffering.
WORST CASE understanding it leads us to pray - "give me stuff!"
BAD CASE it leads us to pray - "feed ME."
Bad Case it leads us to think Jesus / God / Good / Father is all about giving us stuff to eat, or material stuff. (If this were the case I guess Jesus wouldn't have been crucified. Or, maybe He forgot to pray that day. :-) )
CORRECT CASE - Please give us the food for our soul, and that "food" is the Understanding of What you want us to do today - YOUR WILL for us today, this day, right this moment.

[all] - The whole brilliance of Jesus teaching is to "save" us from the lie that we are separate from one another. We are all one body. I find it necessary (a correction of the translation?) to insert [all] in my prayer as an aid in seeing this. My need is for all of us, my entire "body," to find our daily "bread," our vision of what our Father needs from each of us today. Remembering this aids me in imagining more precisely what our Father wants me to do today, right now.

"Bread" is such an appropriate choice of words. Just as the hungry body cannot get enough of "bread," the healthy, engaged Soul cannot get enough of doing its Father's will! Imagine, your dearest loved one is in extreme pain and you can help them. Can you get enough of helping them? Of course not. As one becomes "Christian" one's nervous system re-merges with that of all people - their pain is yours, their joy yours. You can't get enough of eliminating the pain. The urge to do so displaces, preempts everything else, including the desire for the "bread" that the body eats - except as necessary to serve the will of the Father. Heaven! We thereby merge with the Father - Spirit, and are freed from the concerns of the body - concerns such as physical "bread."

6. "Forgive us our [errors]," 7. "As we forgive the [errors of others]"

This pair is of huge value and importance. It can bring us to the nature of the problem - "error" ("Sin" being the original Greek word for "error.")

"Forgive us our trespasses" must cause us to reflect on what errors I personally made. The importance is not so much in the errors themselves. The importance is that they must show us that we/I fail.

AND IF I FAIL, OF COURSE I CAN EMPATHIZE WITH ANOTHER PERSON FAILING. We must learn to have this happen in our hearts, this domino effect of - 'if I failed, oh yes of course, the other fails.' Almost invariably I find myself smiling at myself as I go through this sequence.

This empathy, this Understanding, is utterly crucial if we are to join Jesus in his quest - to be his Disciple. Why? Because otherwise we will not see and be able to treat the "disease" that He is all about treating - Error - missing the Path, the Narrow way. After all, who would "choose" to miss the Path that is Heaven? IT IS SO EASY TO MISS IT!

NOW, the above has nothing to do with being lenient, permissive, avoiding or such. IT HAS TO DO WITH DIAGNOSIS! It may or may not lead to very tough treatment of the "other!" But in any case it must be the treatment of the MD. Is a good MD angry, pissed off, vengeful... when she/he sees disease in another? She/he will be fully mobilized, but not in any way hostile; rather mobilized to serve, even if that serving requires personal sacrifice or unavoidable pain for the "patient." OR, the diagnosis my be such that the "MD" rightly responds - "I cannot help this patient at this time," I'm not equipped to do so. In which case the responsible action is to move on and find a "patient" that they maybe able to help.

8. "Lead us [all] not into temptation," 9. "But deliver us [all] from evil."

Clearly we don't really expect our Father to do our work for us, so who is supposed to? You, and Me. These are tremendous exhortations to us for leadership and care:

* Care to not be or create temptation (guys don't flash the cash, girls be profoundly modest at all time even with your husbands, don't indulge in or carelessly promote suff - superiority - or systems / institutions like we all do now all of the time!)

* Leadership away from evil by becoming Apostles, Saints, 100% experts at Loving / Brotherhood / Otherishness.

These are an urgent warning about environment. We can no more survive healthy in the current cultural environment of the world than we can survive healthy in a toxic waste dump.

I've seen glimpses of just a few relatively non-toxic environments in my life, the clearest being some of the Catholic Worker houses. Otherwise, spiritually and psychologically the US culture is the most toxic, unhealthy, sinful, sin-inducing, disease producing, death producing culture devised by man. It leaves Sodom and Gomorah and the Roman Empire in the dust.

God save the child that are brought into this cesspool. God forgive the parents that do so. God dedicate us to CREATING AN ALTERNATIVE CULTURE/ENVIRONMENT/COMMUNITY/SYSTEM, becoming the fire that illuminates, cleans the putrification, displaces it, and provides an alternative - a lifeboat, and ark.

How does "Saved" happen

Jesus showed us, and my life's study and experiments bear him out:
* Sacrifice (sacrifice the "Good Life" for the "Great Life," Self Service for Other Service of the Least of These.)
* Be the Light/Good - Be ENTIRELY of the Service of our Father's Will (as best, honestly and completely as we can imagine it.)

Yup. That is it. Be the "light" that others can ignite from. One candle can ignite the world. Two candles makes it twice as likely, etc.

Repeat.

Yes, there is no certainty, except as to the way. See above.

Just can't get enough...!!!!

Have you ever had that feeling? Of course you have!

Just can't get enough of:
* My friend.
* That music group.
* This delicious meal.
* Alcohol.
* Safety.
* Acceptance.
* Power.
* Etc.
* Etc.
* Etc.

Well, Jesus found, and died to show us that there is something that trumps ALL of this.

Doing our Father's will - serving his family from our hearts, because they have become our family, trumps all of this. That, and that alone is where comes from Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Franics of Asisi, ML King. Period. For such people and those exactly like them, the ONLY CLINICALLY HEALTHY PEOPLE, their "Food" is to do the will of that imaginary "Father."

Our "Father"

The "Father" of us all - an imaginary figure that we can choose to imagine. An INDESPENSIBLE imaginary construct to Save Us from "The Fall."

The "Our Father" seems a Perfect Prayer to recover from the fall, properly understood. Tolstoy's "Gospel in Brief" showed me, Gandhi and maybe King what this prayer means. At some time soon I hope to share with you what I've learned.

99% of the value, the Saving Grace of that prayer is in simply imagining "Our Father" at the first two words. Everything else is possible from there:
* Imagining that we all have one Father,
* Certainly He has no ego problem,
* He wants total Joy for us,
* FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE, WHAT DOES HE WANT ME TO DO FOR HIS / MY FAMILY RIGHT NOW! Bingo! Salvation!!!!!

"The Fall"

Whose heart lives for itself? A dead persons heart.

What skin cell lives for itself? A cancerous skin cell.

What cat lives for itself? A cat with no or dead children.

And so it goes.

"The Fall?" When man imagined the lie that our life is for our own personal use, for our own personal enjoyment.

Who is "Saved?"

Precisely and only that person that is converted from the mistaken view of "The Fall;" that our life is given for ourselves.

Darfur: Our life is entirely to address such needs

Darfur: Our life is entirely to address such needs

2001 house

The half million dollar house that jay built, 120 Cloverly Lane, West Chester, PA