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The Way of the Way
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Fallenness is subtle, and appears in many ways.
People do reverence to nothings, and disturb the order.
What should be used is loved, and what should be loved is used.
People consider ends which are good themselves, to be merely means to other ends, ends which are trivia. It is like seeking to heal a man deaf and dumb, so that he can tell you what time it is.
People try to achieve the right ends through the wrong means.
People take the right action for the wrong reason.
People try to do good by themselves instead of relying on the Spirit.
As well to give a thirsty man a canteen, without first allowing it to be filled with water.
Man alone can not escape sin. Only in God is that power found.
Peace is not the absence of violent conflict between men.
Peace is first of all a peace between God and man, and then virtue inside a man.
Peace is not an absence of anything, but the presence of love.
The manifest presence of love does not leave room for people to try to kill each other, but it is far more than an absence.
In that way, peace is like many good things. Right action does not lie, steal, or commit adultery, but its essence is not what it does not do, but what it does do: in the Spirit, act according to love and compassion. Virtue does not contain vice, but it is a positive thing, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, moderation, courage, justice, wisdom, honor, purity, timelessness, balance, obedience, submission, honesty, chastity, simplicity, penitence, faith, hope, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, humility.
Violence can not create peace. Only love can.
Nothing can atone for the insult of a gift, except for the love of the person who gives it.
Nothing can allow the power to do good, except letting go of grasping power as the means to do good.
Nothing can sanctify any activity, possession, or skill, except offering it up completely to God.
Nothing can bless any activity of man reaching up to God, except for the activity of God reaching down to man.
Too much information; not enough wisdom.
Too many subtleties of interpretation; not enough understanding of the plain and simple.
Too much amusement; not enough leisure.
Too many activities; not enough true accomplishment.
Too much on the surface; not enough in the core.
Too much acceptance; not enough love.
Too much filled-by-man; not enough filled-by-God.
Sometimes, more is less.
The Kingdom of Heaven knows madness in which there is infinite method. The kingdom of this world knows method in which there is infinite madness.
It is a kingdom in which walking is a luxury, and driving a car is a necessity.
It is a kingdom in which lifelong marriage is less cherished than the isolated pleasure of sex.
It is a kingdom in which peace is pursued through intimidation and violence.
It is a kingdom in which men pursue freedom and joy by doing what they were never meant to.
It is a kingdom in which labor-saving devices destroy leisure.
It is a kingdom in which an unexpected moment of rest at a busy time, is considered an annoyance.
It is a kingdom in which certainty is pursued through doubt.
It is a kingdom in which men try to elevate and build up, by separating from foundations.
It is a kingdom which ignores, ridicules, or kills the prophets God sends it.
It is a kingdom which manages to be so terribly practical that it loses what practicality is meant to achieve.
It is a kingdom in which holding power is more esteemed than being loved.
Which kingdom is really the upside-down kingdom?
He is the Way.
He is Truth.
He is Tao.
He is Light.
He is Life.
He is Love.
He is the Word.
He is Mystery.
He is Beyond.
He is the Origin.
He is Energy.
HE IS.
It is in him that we walk, and live, and breathe.
It is by knowing him that we know ourselves.
It is by being united with him that we become ourselves.
When people forsake the Spirit, they embrace rigid asceticism.
Asceticism gives birth to libertinism, and libertinism gives birth to death.
When people forsake wisdom, they embrace rationalism.
Rationalism gives birth to anti-intellectualism, and anti-intellectualism gives
birth to chaos.
When people forsake faith in God, they embrace faith in man.
Faith in man gives birth to faith in nothing, and faith in nothing gives birth
to nothing.
There are ten thousand improvements on the Way. Do you know where they lead?
In Eden, there were no temples.
There was no place where men did not come to meet God.
In Eden, there were no priests.
There was no one who did not know God intimately.
In Eden, there were no oaths.
There was no falsehood.
The words, "At that time, men began to call on the name of Yahweh," do not tell of heights to which man had risen. They tell of the depths to which man had sunk.
The Kingdom of Heaven does not know a great many things.
Rather, it knows what was unspoiled in Eden, and something yet greater.
Its members are gentle, humble, and pure.
They carry a sense of timelessness about them, and they make peace.
They repay evil with good, and rejoice when persecuted.
They walk in the Spirit.
They have overcome the world.
Eden saw the image of God.
The New Jerusalem will see sinners redeemed, who are not only God's image, but
share in the divine nature.
In Eden, men saw by lights God had made.
In the New Jerusalem, there will never be a lamp, for God himself will be their
light.
Like is because. Love is despite.
If you begin to understand all of the reasons man has given God not to love him, you will begin to understand the nature of God's love.
Love is not desire, nor is it want, nor is it even duty.
Love is love.
When does love prove that it is love?
When you look into a man, see some virtue, something beautiful, something great he has done for you, and love him more?
No. When you look into a man, see some vice, something ugly, some great wrong he has committed against you, and love him more.
It is perhaps those who are called unloveable who are easiest to love, for love for them will truly be love.
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The Way of the Way
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