One way to discern the heart of the matter: what do you really treasure?
Where is a person’s treasure? What do they prize most. Then you can find their real questions more easily. And the way into their answers. When i meet people, i ask, what do they value most? That’s most often where the true dialogue is-the one which God is already having with them. I try to work from there. “Where a person’s treasure is, there their heart will be also.” True that.

Thinking about teaching this week:

I love studying how different cultures learn and teach. I’ve read lots of zen master books on how they teach within their tradition. Not so much their worldview, as how they impart things from teacher to student interest me. Much more embodied and intuitive…using the medium for personal transformation..in their case. The more eastern approach to learning versus Greek. Lots of good books on the Greek versus Hebrew ways of knowing. I like both ways.

The zen teachers were never just learning archery or pottery, they were learning how to learn to live through their mediums.

Yesterday, we were working with a dog trainer, who happened to also be a good teacher. She kept telling us why we were doing this technique in the big picture. If you do this now, then later it will be easier to do this etc. I like learning from teachers who have this built in why of things!

Then you don’t just catch a fish, but learn to fish. Jesus was into that business of empowering them to fish for themselves after He left them. He didn’t just catch the fish for them, though after his resurrection he did once catch and cook the fish for them. He was a great teacher. In His case, his subject and medium was Himself and The Father. Pretty noble subject.

In Zen, to become the bow, the master said, so you yourself are being shot out towards the target. I like that about their way of teaching and learning in that tradition. Still feels true, when the technique gets into your knower and body, you no longer are thinking about your medium, you are thinking through it. And becoming through it.

I feel that way with union with Christ, which is basic Christian spirituality-union with a formation by His Nature and Life- and reading scriptures, eventually they become your internal categories of being and seeing, how you perceive and act in life. You become living words, being written in The Word.

Jesus used all sorts of methodologies to teach, and impart His Way and Life. Sometimes mystical, sometimes didactic. But He was always guiding people towards their real questions, and the Reality of the answers inside His Father. I like studying teaching itself-there’s so much to learn. That joy of imparting why to others, and building solid foundations—working with intermediates and beginners, all unique pleasures in teaching. Fun study this week, on methods of teaching across cultures! Teaching is cool.

What words carry…

In addition to The Word, I’ve always just liked words themselves. Since I was a kid I’ve collected books about the stories of words-i liked etymology more than grammar, but collected both. Word stories are worlds to me.

I remember writing words on my walls as a child, though i got in trouble, i just liked to see them there—believe, beautiful were two I wrote boldly. I remember the joy of all the vowels touching, conjoining into meaning. The word beautiful for instance, felt like I had solved a puzzle, when i finally figured out how to sound it out and spell it well. Abide was another mysterious word world for me—to stay inside of something constantly…

Each word seemed and seems to unlock new realities to me. They carry a whole narrative within themselves. They contour Reality in a uniquely shaped way.

I like language, but even more how a single word can hold a whole world of possibilities. Like the word ponder, even, so simple, but takes us out hovering in all directions. Word, sound, color and image all go together for me, but I often look through the keyhole of a word to find the others.

Interesting that even God Himself called Himself, The Word—the full thought symbol of God with nuanced en-toned. He chose to express Himself in the metaphor of language. The word contained the way, the principle, and the very being. Language still has that glory weight to me. I love words, i hope i’m becoming one as I write. Words still matter and carry densities of meaning, and stories. Each word is some type of gold.

Just as I was finishing reading the book of James today, several birds landed on our porch trying to get some cat food we had out. I shooed off the grackles but let the bluebird remain. Why did you do that?

When i read scriptures, i like to use my spiritual imagination to imagine the writers in the room with me having a conversation about what they wrote. I’ve gotten to meet most of the writers of the New Testament this way, and several prophets from the Old. I like to think of the writers as actual people, who are still talking about their spiritual passions.

I heard James say, why shun the crow and keep the beautiful blue bird? I had to be honest, the blue bird was simply more beautiful. So you judged the birds from outer appearance. This is what i was talking about when speaking of how we treat the rich and poor. How often we treat things and people by outer appearances, rather than judging by the heart. And living by what James called “the royal law”! And Jesus, my brother, always judged by the inner state to understand the outer actions of man. He judged by the heart. After feeling exposed for my real motives, I became once again amazed at His Ways. This is always the fruit of true conviction.

Once again the way of Jesus is an inversion—the unimpressive are the impressive; the poor are the rich. His subversive spirituality, which looks at the inner state to judge the outer.

Isn’t our true spirituality worked out in these daily actions of which birds we shun and why? Glad to be convicted today, that I was giving preference for the wrong reasons. In the end, i waved them all away, so my cats could eat. But it’s the little lessons in life, which incarnate our faith. We have to watch our inner motive when shooing off the crows, but honoring the blue bird.

In life, i tend to lean towards the homeless or overtly poor people, but I’ve learned some are poor and others are like the rich in James’ theology. So we still must discern by the heart regardless of finances, and outer appearances. Where is a person’s treasure? There’s where their heart will be. What do you treasure most in life? That will always reveal your heart regardless of externals. What we treasure reveals our real questions!

Prayer is to choose to daily be spiritual astronauts-ironic participants in the dramas of the day! But, with two feet still on earth, as St James would add- in his faith into action theology. This in but not of the world stance and position, which ushers in heaven through prayer, as we see at Pentecost again was the orientation which birthed the church. We pray, God comes.

Balancing potatoes and balloons is essential in any true spirituality. For the apostles to be great, they needed to be praying. And again, later when they sent, they needed to be in that priestly orientation to get vision of who to send and where. To send without sight is deadly.

For the Spirit to come, they needed to be internally low. Living on earth, while drawing our life from heaven is the point. Prayer is our methodology of ushering in the Kingdom above us and within us.

Christianity is a spirituality of progressive union or unity with what St Peter calls Divine Nature in Christ to empower people to live more fully as humans. Apart from Him we do nothing meaningful, and the way to get “in Him” is to pray. The active part of wearing glory properly is prayer.

It’s a spirituality of humility. That’s where it starts, and that’s how it ushers in it’s best version. And prayer is her practice to do so.

On prayer: culling some thoughts on prayer today, as I pray!
Knowledge of holiness: it is an orientation to often turn towards our need of Him in everything. Over and over. It is not always that we get better, we just turn more often. This is why holy people pray lots. Prayer is recognizing our need, that we are dependent on God. Then God can give to us freely. Pray until you feel that loving embrace, then you hear His Voice. Prayer lets God in. Puts us in the receiving position. There is a higher who is my source. I pray. Everything real starts in prayer, in the kneel. Prayer brings in encouragement as well. It’s refreshing to spend time with God in prayer, takes us outside all the pressures for a while. It’s like conversational meditation. Pauses in the days, to recognize your dependence. Practice it hourly. Jesus did, and does.
Prayer also brings spiritual growth! It both motivates and supplies the power for it.
Prayer and supplications—our request, known to God—this is for our sake, so we become aware of what our real questions are! Prayer clarifies our frustrations and questions. Experienced this today.
Pray brings in Peace and centeredness so you can serve others more with and from His Center. So prayer is part of practicing peace. Stopping and recognizing him hourly is a great practice, and you will spiritually grow more quickly and thoroughly if you pray often.
Accelerated spiritual growth comes through prayer. Pray often.
It allows God into the hours. So it consecrates time. It makes more of the day a tabernacle. This is why we should pray often. Prayer accelerates spiritual growth because it recognizes and ushers in His Actual Presence.
It also offers Him room to interpret your problems, so you stay free. Freedom has lots to do with the right interpretation. And those interpretations come in prayer, because you can receive more of his Mind in prayer. Prayer is transformational.
Prayer also leads to true fellowship—it places us in the right orientation towards one another as we turn to God together! It builds unity in this way. If all the denominations would come together in prayer, they would get along better. It’s just as at Pentecost, it allows the spirit to come and control the conversation.
Prayer is also the place his encouragements and solutions can get into us. It’s as much for us as Him.
It’s transformative for us to pray. He’s able to do more, when we turn to Him—more for us that is.

John Wesley described. “I find,” he said, “that the chief purpose of prayer in seeking God’s will is that prayer gets my will into an unbiased state. Once my will is unprejudiced about the matter, I find God suggests reasons to my mind why I should or should not pursue a course.”

The chief purpose of prayer, then, is to get our wills unbiased! The purpose is not to give us an ethereal sense of comfort. Thus, we pray to God about His will in some area, knowing (usually) that we are already leaning in a certain direction. We implore Him first to help our wills to move back to the center — that is, willing to do whatever is His will. Once we arrive there (and it may take some time), He shows us through our minds why one alternative is better than another and therefore is His will for us.

“We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love.”
― R.A. Torrey

When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.

All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and as God can do everything, prayer is omnipotent.”
― R.A. Torrey

Prayer for others is about getting His Mind and Heart for them and being blown away again by how kind he is. We usually come praying for ourselves, He listens, but immediately offers us a larger context!

Prayer puts us into an position to receive His counsel and Heart simultaneously. It is for our own good to pray.

What is prayer? I think it is about us approaching the Divine in a way which allows a deeper union. It’s usually mainly about us in this sense, but it is also how Jesus modeled intimacy with His Father. He often just stopped everything to pray. And at all the key moments of His life, we see Him praying.
The churched was birthed from prayer. They were in that orientation when Pentecost happened. It is our basic orientation towards God. It puts is in a position of trust, so we can here His reason, bigger picture interpretation and counsel for us and others.
It is also a way of knowing Him.

Do you treat the blue bird better than the crow just based on outer appearances? James, Jesus brother, asked me today. Do you shoo off the grackle while welcoming the blue bird, just based on outer beauty? Do you do the same with those who look rich versus those who look poor? Both rich and poor are to be judged by the heart.

Jesus picked unimpressive workers for the most part, and He himself did not look impressive (aside from on the mount of transfiguration when they could see His fuller identity!). So we still tend to judge by outer appearances in order to love? St James the younger brother of Jesus, warns us against this repeatedly. I like talking with the writers, getting a hold of their personal spiritualities, and what God had shown them, thus far.

I love how James is almost like wisdom literature in the OT, have you considered where wisdom dwells, how the animals reflect it; it’s a bit courtly this letter. The Greek is refined. And, he knew animals and animal training well. Often using them as an analogy for spiritual growth. Nice little letter from the brother of Jesus, I’m reading today. People usually just focus on faith plus works, or faith into action, which is a theme, but lots of other gems inside this letter as well. Like how to not judge by externals.

James really does get how animal training is like spiritual growth. So far, James is the only writer in the NT who references animal training as an participatory analogy for spiritual growth. Nice.

He also keeps referencing the sermon on the mount, as if that sermon went deeply in him. Keeps telling us that those who look poor with earthly eyes, are rich in the spirit and will inherit the kingdom etc. Very Jewish letter this one, and very practical help.

Faith leads to action in line with faith is his main thrust, that we should incarnate our faith in actions like how we treat others, in following the “royal law” as he calls it.
Also talks lots about prayer as a way! How to really pray, and know like Elijah. To pray with the right motives.

Reading James and thinking of the rich and poor…with James, Jesus’ younger brother we are talking about those who appear rich and poor from earth’s eyes rather than heavens.
Just as I was finishing reading the book of James today, several birds landed on our porch trying to get some cat food we had out. I shewed off the grackles but let the bluebird remain. Why did you do that? I heard James say? I had to be honest, the blue bird was simply more beautiful. So you judged the birds from outer appearance. This is what i was talking about when speaking of how we treat the rich and poor. How often we treat things and people by outer appearances, rather than judging by the heart. And living by what James called “the royal law”!
Once again the way of Jesus is an inversion—the unimpressive are the impressive; the poor are the rich. Isn’t our true spirituality worked out in these daily actions of which birds we shun and why? Glad to be convicted today, that I was giving preference for the wrong reasons. In the end, i waved them all away, so my cats could eat. But it’s the little lessons in life, which incarnate our faith.
How often do i shun the crow but welcome the beautiful blue bird for her beauty alone? How often do i judge others before seeing into their hearts!

In life, i tend to lean towards the homeless or overtly poor people, but I’ve learned some are poor and others are like the rich in James’ theology. So we still must discern by the heart regardless of finances, and outer appearances. Where is a person’s treasure? There’s where their heart will be. What do you treasure most in life? That will always reveal your heart regardless of externals. What we treasure reveals our real questions!

“Prayer is the intersection between heaven and earth, where we learn to live in both realms at once already!” To be spiritual astronauts! But, with two feet still on earth, as St James would add-his faith into action theology. This in but not of, which ushers in heaven through prayer, as we see at Pentecost again. Balancing potatoes and balloons is essential in true spirituality. Living on earth, while drawing our life from heaven. Vertical into lateral living is facilitated by prayer! Prayer is that space just in between the two where they interface. Prayer puts is in the position to receive The Presence. It’s the orientation everything is transformed through. Prayer is where we plug into the Divine Nature, which St Peter taught us allows us to live godly meaningful lives in the spiritual continuum of a living hope!. Prayer plugs us in the Power Source. It was Jesus primary spiritual practice while on earth, which is enough reason to pray. We always overhear Him praying especially before major moments–sometimes all night!

To know the I-am space of Father God, the labor of love daily space of The Son, and the power anything is possible space of the Holy Spirit; we are meant to baptize ourselves and others into all three names! The journey is into relationship with all Three!