In Yoke

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. –2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Ch. 10:v. 5 When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish.   – Huang Po Sri Easwaran approaches the topic of thought control from the perspective of taking time off and simply stopping the thought process. He elaborates: “When meditation deepens, and the thinking process slows down, we will find that we don’t have to think all the time. It sounds simple, even scary, but it is a mighty achievement that yields unimaginable peace. Thoughts are no longer compulsive.“ Paul comes at it in subjecting our thinking to the “mind of Christ”. These two perspectives are similar and lend credence to one other. In my understanding, they are quite the same—in that one must allow the Spirit within to control the thoughts that we “employ”. It is the ...

As an entrepreneur, and a former banker, I have dealt with the element of risk continually. I was interested to read the chapter on risk in Erwin Raphael McManus’ book, “Chasing Daylight”. These thoughts come from chapter 5, “Risk”, pp. 132-142. I felt it exigent to express these ideas in “In Yoke”. My comments are in bold font, his words are in italics. References to scripture are in blue font. I Samuel 14: 1-11- McManus alludes to the story of Jonathan risking his life against the Philistines while Saul sat under a pomegranate tree with his 600 soldiers all around him. Jonathan chose not to approach the Philistines by stealth, which is to try to become invisible, but to make himself visible. This involved tremendous risk. This seems foolhardy in the ways of battle, especially guerrilla warfare. Seems that Jonathan was more concerned with doing what seemed right because of his trust in the power of the God of Israel. Many of us live our lives making sure we are not seen. We choose...

Are you familiar with “wandering Jews”? No, not the Diaspora kind, the backyard plant kind. As the hellish summer of 2011 brought so many of our backyard plants to an end, due to the heat, these Jews simply thrive in all kinds of soil, with little or no water for long periods. Unlike other plants in the beds, and in the pots surrounding our backyard, I have not killed them! Here’s what a web resource for House Plants described them as-- Common Name: Wandering Jew, Chain Plant, Purple Heart Plant; Genus:   Tradescantia Family:   Commelinaceae; Plant Type: Perennial; Origin: South America These plants have proliferated all over our backyard. The origin of this planting is my mother-in-law, Fran Porter, who was enthusiastic about these miracle plants( Fran was enthusiastic about many things, mostly encouraging others to live up to their potential!) and gave us a few sprigs back before she got ill, sometime before 2005. Now I see these plants growing freely and exhibiti...

I found this blurb in an article on the Baylor University website. http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=100503 Very interesting, and I can personally attest to its findings. American Entrepreneurs Pray More.   Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. Days, months and years may be spent toiling in financial uncertainty and meeting the demands of running a business, leaving little time for other endeavors, including religious involvement. But the survey found that religion does not impede starting a new business. The Baylor Religion Survey found that entrepreneurs are as likely as non-entrepreneurs to believe in God, to participate in a congregation and to read Scripture. Where American entrepreneurs do stand out is that they pray and meditate more than non-entrepreneurs. A third pray several times a day or meditate, in contrast to a quarter or less of non-entrepreneurs. "The differences are modest but meaningful," said Kevin D. D...

Acquire a firm will and the utmost patience.   – Anandamayi Ma “We begin our journey towards the supreme goal of life from where we stand. Just as it is good to be patient with others, it is equally necessary to be patient with ourselves. After all, when the desire to live for others comes to us, we can be haunted by our past mistakes, by the amount of time we have wasted in selfish pursuits. But we must accept ourselves with all our strengths and weaknesses.“ “There are many obstacles on the spiritual path which can strengthen us, and these cannot be overcome unless we have infinite patience with ourselves. If we are patient with others, shouldn’t we be patient with ourselves as well? Each of us is individual, with our own special qualities. We start now, where we are, with our partial love for money, partial love for pleasure, partial love for prestige, and a little love for God. We will progress at our own pace. It is not good to compare one person’s progress with another’s....

As I have perused many treatises regarding the Christ, it is obvious to me that Jesus teaching was centered on three core principles. As I have digested His message, I come back to the three pillars of Jesus' teaching. They are: Kenosis - (letting go, non-clinging) Abundance - ( “I have come that they might have life abundant”) Singleness - (oneness of heart) From Mark 12:28-31: “One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?" Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these." Love the Lord your God with all your passion & prayer, inte...

Where are you searching for me, friend? Look! Here am I right within you. Not in temple, nor in mosque, Not in Kaaba, nor Kailas, But here right within you am I. – Kabir Many have begun the spiritual search while still suffering from severe personal problems. Saint Augustine was deeply enmeshed in the life of the world, and pulled himself free only after great anguish of mind. Others suffered physically. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux endured the constant pain of tuberculosis. So there is no need for any of us to feel downcast about our situation or the particular difficulties we face, provided we do everything we can to purify our mind. Meditation is essentially a discipline for slowing down the furious pace of thinking; if you can gradually bring your mind to a state so still that no movement, no thought, can arise except those you yourself approve, your mind will have become pure. We have no need to teach pure motives to the mind. All that is necessary to make the mind...