In Yoke

“A relationship is not a something . You can’t see it or touch it. It is a BETWEEN- between you and me- a space that enables us to I-You each other, just as God I-You’s us by His Spirit. Living by the Spirit is an entry into mystery, into something beyond our control, into something we can’t contain, into something we can only receive. Although we can treat God like an idea to be discussed, an experience to be savored, and a power to be used, these are all I-It relations, distorted relations. The Spirit is constantly drawing us back into I-You relating with God and with each other.” After all, it seems that Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom can be simply explained as his message about Relationship. He had a vibrant relationship with the Lord, and is sharing that it can be a relationship in which you can participate, as well. from “I-Thou”by Martin Buber, as translated by Eugene Peterson, in ‘Practice Resurrection’.

Romans 8:25-30 (ESV) - But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. My devotional life really does dynamically move into deep contemplation as I read and reread the words of Richard Rohr* , one of my favorite authors. “The contemplative or non-dual mind, which for me is the essential self, is a tree of life , and brings about continual fruitfulness for the soul. Rohr reminds me of this in the discussion of how we usually make judgments based on our binary, or “either/or” false self/or/ego”. “A binary system of either/or choices is good and necessary in the lofty worlds of logic, mechanics, math and science…and in the everyday worlds of getting from po...

"You are what you believe." -Anton Chekhov You are what the deep faith of your heart is. If you believe that money is going to make you happy, then you will go after money. If you believe that pleasure will make you happy, you will go after pleasure. Because, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," not as he thinketh  in his head.  There is a vast distance from the head to the heart.  In the Greek and Russian Orthodox traditions, they say that whatever  spiritual knowledge you have in your head must be brought down into your heart.  This takes many, many years. ~ Easwaran Do you know this? For such a long time, from the age of say 14 to the age of 48, I placed my true faith in money to give me joy...to cause me to be happy. I am just now spiritually knowing this fact. When I decided on a career, at age 17, I set a goal to become a banker. My heart was focused on that goal. Nothing else took precedence. I was a Christian, sure, because that is what my surround...