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The Way of the Way
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Children are a lot like everyone else, except that they have not fully learned how to act like everyone else. Therefore there is much to learn from them.
There is nothing like a child seeing that you are hurt, and coming up and giving you a hug. There is nothing like a child making a gift to give to someone.
There is also nothing like a child being loud, rude, and inconsiderate, ripping a toy away from someone smaller because he wants it and he is strong enough to take it. There is nothing like a child staring into your eyes with eyes of ice and saying, "I hate you."
Children embody good things that others have forgotten. A child knows how to imagine, how to look at how pretty a flower is, and they have not yet learned that it's not OK to say that you're hurting and need help. Children also embody pure and unmasked vice; it is very easy to see a child lie, manipulate, tear apart the one who doesn't fit in, and fight anyone who dare stand in the way of his selfishness.
Confucius said, "When I see a virtuous man, I try to be like him. When I see an evil man, I reflect on my own behavior."
Become as a little child, but do not become childish.
Become loving, and yet become firm.
Become strong, and yet become gentle.
Become wise, and yet do not rely on your own wisdom.
Become great, and yet become humble.
Become filled with imagination and dreams, and yet do not forget the world.
Become as a skillful warrior, and yet become peaceful.
Become ancient, and yet do not lose your childhood.
Become timeless, and yet use time wisely.
When people are unwilling to draw near to God and neighbor, they become religious.
When people shun worship, they create ceremonies.
When people are afraid to pray, they babble endless words.
When people abandon the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they try to create order by rules and regulations.
When people refuse to let themselves be drawn into holiness, they ordain priests.
When people flee from confronting the evil that lies within, they become self righteous and holier-than-thou.
When people do not accept the glory of the reality and substance that is found in Christ, they flee to familiar comforts and embrace mere shadows.
Once a father gave each of his three sons a penny, as a test; he would bestow his inheritance on the son who could go into the marketplace and, in a day, buy something to fill the room.
The eldest son came, with his pouch filled with sand. He took the sand and threw it, scattering it through the room. It covered a little of the floor, but not all of it.
The second son came, with his arms full of straw. He spread the straw on the floor, scattering it through the room. It covered all of the floor, but it did not fill the room.
The youngest son came, and, opening his hand, held out a tiny candle. He lit it,
and filled the room with light.
It is possible for an answer to a question to be wrong.
"Is murder good or evil?"
"Good."
Yet it does not take an answer for there to be a mistake.
"How many times must I forgive my brother before I may bear a grudge against him?"
If you are asking such a question, you are already mistaken. Here are some, to avoid:
"What is the rational justification for faith?"
"What must I do to make myself good and make myself righteous before God?"
"Where should I seek out suffering in order to take up my cross?"
"How may I learn humility?"
"How do I decide for myself what is good and what is evil?"
"How much force is necessary to bring order to this situation?"
"How do I choose the lesser of two evils?"
"What words constitute a true prayer?"
"What is the necessary, time, place, and form for true worship?"
"Where do you draw the line between proper use of food and drink, and gluttony and drunkenness?"
"How much money do I need in order to be able to do something good?"
"What kind of rules should I use to infuse life to my spirituality?"
"What denomination should I join?"
"Who is my neighbor?"
In many ways, the Way a is balance. The temptation is not infrequent to try to avoid one error by embracing its opposite.
Good speech and writing does not contain words for the sake of words. Neither is it cut short for the sake of being concise.
Order is not gained by adding rules to what God has given, nor freedom by acting as if sin were not evil.
Wisdom is not gained by deifying the mind as something supreme which God must bow down and worship, nor humility by rejecting it as a piece of filth which God did not create.
In moderation and balance are work, play, rest, exercise, thought, meditation, words, music, silence, food, drink, and refrain, all good things.
Do you wish to see twistedness and depravity beyond belief?
Look within.
If a man were offered five dollars to not think of a glowing pink bear, he would not be able to claim the prize. Yet he would have been doing it perfectly until he tried.
Likewise, people act inconspicuous until they try to act inconspicuous.
That is easy; they are matters where something is done automatically until they are tried.
Were a plank of wood a foot wide laid across the floor, anybody could walk across it without falling.
Yet, were it crossing a yawning and abysmal chasm, firmly secured so that it would not shake, many people would try to walk across it without falling, because they would, seeing the possibility of falling, cease to walk perfectly across the plank and instead try to walk perfectly across it.
The prayer of faith is like this; he who offers a prayer of faith succeeds, and he who tries to offer a prayer of faith fails.
That is more valuable and more difficult; it is a matter where it is not done automatically, nor something that is done by trying, but something that can be done only by doing. It is easy; children do this with great power until they grow up and learn to try.
There is something greater yet, which is most valuable and impossible.
Man is fallen, and sin and evil have pervaded his whole being. Sin must be escaped to enter into life, for its wages are absolute death.
But what is the way for man to escape from sin? Automatic doing or trying or doing or not-doing? Wisdom or stupidity or knowledge or ignorance or tantrism or willpower or doing nothing?
That is like asking what brand of gasoline to use to extinguish a fire.
Such proceed from man and are inescapably tainted by evil. At their worst, they are straw. At their best, they are straw. They cannot save.
God emptied himself of divine power and majesty to become a man, and then emptied himself of even human power and majesty to die on a cross.
He who was without sin became anathema, bearing the curse for sins.
Now, to those who have earned in full the full measure of God's wrath, he offers this: that they accept the gift of God taking the curse upon himself, so that they will not have to bear it themselves.
The impossible is freely given to whoever believes, praying, "Jesus, please forgive my sins and come into my heart."
This is the message of the Cross. It is foolish and weak. There is no way around it, no escape.
You cannot stoop to such useless nonsense? There is some question which remains unresolved, which must be answered before you can accept it?
Then go, and extinguish your fire with gasoline.
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The Way of the Way
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