Journal of an Aspiring Immortal

The Mark – No.26b – Lord's Prayer 2

2012-02-10T14:46:35Z

The commands of Jesus are the Mark, the target for the perfect life. To aim for and to hit the Mark is to conform to the image and likeness of God. To ignore, neglect, or miss the Mark is to sin. The commands provide stepping stones through earthly life, upon which the child of God survives tempests and deflects the boomeranging darts of pride. Adhering to the Mark aspiring immortals gain victory.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9

Have you ever wondered why Jesus told us to say "thy kingdom come"? To me it is the most curious line in this whole little nuclear reactor of a prayer.

Why would God tell us to call forth His Kingdom, either on earth or in heaven? Is it like asking us daily to vote for God as king? Or is it more like replicating creation when God called earth into being with His words?

Who are we to do such a thing as invite His kingdom to earth?

Can a mouse move a mountain?

Can a baby build a bridge?

Can a struggling, aspiring immortal transform this chaotic world?

Jesus knows that the power of our words, when said with sincerity, can move mountains, build bridges, and spin chaos into twine. So say it with confidence. Say it with conviction. Say it as if you are saying, "Earth be!

Thy kingdom come. Here and now. Why wait?

May God be the ruler of me, my family, my community, my country, my planet Earth. May His laws be obeyed, may His taxes be fair, may His education system be successful, may His court system be just, and may His army be victorious. May His people be healthy, wealthy and industrious, every last one of them.

"Thy will be done" is a clear, clean, simple, golden declaration. This phrase is the big long arms of mommy's fur coat; the coat we want to grow into. The literal Greek translation is "the birth of Your wants."

Not my will, no never when it differs from God's wants being born. God's will is the mark. God's will is His Kingdom come. God's will, as incomprehensible as it may be, quirky, unfair, circuitous, molasses slow, harsh, joyful, mysterious, and relieving, as it may seem, whatever it is; His will be done on earth as it always is done where He art in heaven. Trust.

The Mark – No.26a – Lord's Prayer 1

2012-02-06T11:38:34Z

Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Matthew 6:9

Saying the Lord’s Prayer is like putting on your mom’s fur coat. It may not fit now, but when you grow up it will.

In the Mark number 25, we came to understand in a new way what it means to call God our Father. How wonderful! No father of the flesh can compare in wisdom and generosity to the Father by whose will and nothing else, you were born.

And yet, Christ doesn’t tell us to say My Father, but Our Father. We live as a family unit loving each other who we can see even as we love Him who we cannot see. My ability to be a good brother or sister is as important to fitting into this big fur coat as my ability to perceive as Father the Creator of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God who lead the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. He is a very specific Person. He is not just anything we want him to be.

He is in heaven because the earth cannot contain Him. He is there and we are here. He is light-years above us. He is more magnificent than the sun, and more peaceful than the stars. His home is beyond the galaxies. His paintbrush sketches the nebula.

Holy is His name because He indescribable. In the very first commandment to Moses He made it clear, “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.” The Name on your lips and in your heart is so exclusive as to abhor casual usage. Imagine this: the Name above all names that the Jews dared not say as a word, YHWH, is suddenly called our Father.

For the only begotten Son to tell us to call the Lord of all Father was the very beginning of Christ’s mission to bring the children of Adam and Eve back from distrust and banishment.

Awesome!

The Mark – 25, Pray the Mark

2012-02-01T12:06:26Z

When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask.

Matthew 6:7 (John 1:13)

Aspiring immortal friend, know this: the spirit that pulsates in between your cells is more life giving than the blood that runs through your veins. You are unlike the unbelievers because your birth is neither the effect of your parent’s lust or of their love.

You were born of no less than the will of God. You have been given the right to become a child of the most-high God, you who believe in His name. He watches over you; He knows your mind and your heart. He knows what you need, and He knows what you want.

You are 100% human and 100% divine. Your divine Father hears the prayers of your divine self. You are heard because you are His. Your common language is your being, your reflection of His image and likeness, your obedience to His commands and yielding to His desires for you.

Let your prayerful words be as purposeful and meaningful as His who said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Nothing less will do; empty words make a mockery of your relationship. Recognize for yourself the difference between genuine and fake, between gold and plastic, between powerful words and empty words. He purchased gold for you, receive it; wear it. Pray it.

Living on the Mark

2012-01-29T22:02:31Z

In honor and remembrance of the three hierarches, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory the Theologian, all great marksmen, all imitators of Christ and aspiring immortals if there ever were any, this week, let’s read, think-about, memorize, chew-on, and live up to the following message from my guest blogger, Chrysostom:

Christ left us on earth in order that we should become like beacons of light and teachers unto others;

That we might act like leaven, move among men like angels,

Be like men unto children,

And like spiritual men unto animal men, in order to win them over,

And that we may be like seed, and bear abundant fruit.

There would be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds.

There would be no pagans, if we were true Christians.

A little help from my friends: On the feast day of a Saint, it is customary to fast, and ask the Saint to help you and guide you in your quest for better marksmanship. The feastday of the Three is January 30th. Three times the help for one low price. Hope your week is holy and peaceful. Evangeline.

The Mark – No.24 The Treasury

2012-01-20T14:02:05Z

Don't store for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give you for it is on Him that God the Father has set His seal.

John 6:27

Wake up, look around. What you see with your eyes is a world highly salted with death and shadows of death. Nothing lasts here. It is even hard to hold on to goodness here because everything changes. This is the dark and dangerous world of thieves and murderers. This is the world of starving desire.

Oh lying eyes, if only you could let us see the safe place of life and light.

"But we can!" exclaims the shepherd boy. “Where you put your treasure becomes more and more real to you. It becomes your room where lay your most precious possessions! In the place of many mansions someday you will find your room all furnished and packed with your souvenirs from this old world, with riches transformed and unimaginable!”

“But what shall I put there? What lasts?”

“That’s easy!” added shepherd boy “Fill your room with acts of love, with friends and family you have helped and prayed for. Fill your room with miraculous moments of hearing God speak. Let your food be the Word of God, and counsel from holy ones, and Holy Communion. My Son and Lord wants you to be aware that your mortal body is only the vehicle for your heart. Your work and your treasures, even your food can be as enduring as He is. Become conscious with every decision you make of what to do and how to spend your money of whether it will land in your “living” room or whether it will dissolve.”

“I think I get it!” I cheered. “What is visible here dissolves like vapor and what is invisible here, is as real as a rock in God’s country. It’s ironic!”

Shepherd boy smiled, nodded, then dissolved!

The Mark – 23, Forgive or Die

2012-01-08T18:35:50Z

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

Matthew 6:14

Imagine a ball with needles protruding all around it.

Now imagine that you are walking along a path in the woods, enjoying the crisp clean air of a snowy winter’s day when suddenly someone lobs that weapon at you. It cuts you in several places and lands in your hands. You look up to see who hurt you. How do you react?

Throw the sharp ball right back and aim for the face.
Hold onto the ball and cry very loud to get sympathy, while pointing at the offensive assailant.
Drop the ball, look up at the assailant, smile, and keep on walking.

Every time you refuse to aim for the mark, to obey the commands of Jesus, to be kind, generous, pure of heart, make peace, etcetera you are throwing that poison ball at the heavenly Father. You expect Him to drop the ball, smile at you and keep on walking.

The Mark of God-likeness requires us likewise to drop all deadly weapons that hit us and keep on walking. Don’t retaliate, don’t cry and blame, don’t look back even for a second.

To forgive means to let it go, with purpose and with great abandon. No one on the path to immortality brings weapons along. Smile and keep on walking toward the light.

The Mark – 22, The Mark of Intimacy

2012-01-03T12:15:14Z

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

These precious, pristine, prayerful moments of heart-to-heart communication with Father God form the bond that guides us through this earthly life. Without computer or smart pad, without email or texting, our thoughts and words, songs and silence like seeds in the depth of dark fertile soil grow to unite an aspiring immortal child with our Father as nothing else can.

Of course the Father who sees you in the secrecy of privacy will reward you for He is love and generosity personified. He rewards, because it is His nature to want to share His wealth and wisdom with His children. How joyous is the Father whose child regularly leaves the chaos of this world to enter their secret place. How magnificent that when you go there you may see the Creator of the universe patiently waiting for you to shut the door behind you.

Precious prayer, time to ask questions, to worship and adore Him, to pour out of your heart the joys and tears life has presented this day. How glorious to hear the voice of the wonderful counselor, mighty God, Prince of peace. How much more dynamic praying with the masses is when each of us is so connected. Thank you for the heads-up, Jesus.

Joy.

The Mark of Christmas

2011-12-20T12:55:30Z

The Mark is the target formed by the commands of Christ. They teach us how to be like God, how to become a child of God. Unlike most teachers and preachers, Jesus Christ shows by example everything He tells us to do, and more. The wisest among us study Christ's life as much as we study His teachings. Even his birth teaches.

I wonder if it was even harder to be born than it was to be crucified. We think that the pain and humiliation of the crucifixion was the ultimate act of love because we can identify with the unfair trial, or imagine people jeering at us with disdain. We can imagine the embarrassment of the public flogging and the grief and agony of leaving behind our friends and family at death.

On the other hand, we can no more imagine the human birth of God’s only begotten Son than we can remember our own.

When Christ told the man to sell all he had, give the money to the poor and follow him, was He reminded of Christmas when He shed the glory of the heavenly throne to become a helpless infant born to modest parents in a stable? Jesus Christ let go of everything He had to give us eternal life in obedience to His Father. He has indeed done everything He asks us to do.

The Mark of Christmas is to find ways to emulate this level of love, humility, and adventure!

Hark! Do you hear herald angels singing?

I pray that this Christmastime brings you the humbling awareness of the enormous sacrifice that became Christmas.

Maybe our extensive debt-making gift-buying is one way to do it! Spend all that you have on your friends and enemies and follow Him.

Peace to you,

Abundance to you,

Light in you,

Evangeline

The Mark – No. 21 Of Perfection

2011-12-14T13:08:34Z

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

I hear the crowd echo the refrain over and over again, “You are only human. Nobody is perfect.” Deeper and deeper is the message pounded into the psyche. Each time lowering centimeter by centimeter our standard, our value, our image; suppressing our potential. “Keep humanity down!” demands the demon superintendent.

Humanity turns upon its earth spiraling slowly into oblivion, unaware of the mission to illuminate the universe, unaware of the demonic determination to dominate.

One bright clear morning, the cool air spreading the aroma of fig leaves throughout the crowd, the Son of Man commanded perfection as if it is possible.

The command to be perfect simply reminds us to aim for the Mark, the bull’s eye, the target.

Without perfection there is contamination. There is no middle ground; no cozy gray corner to hide in while waiting for God’s magic wand to make us instantly perfect. That’s not reality, that’s the fairy tale. The truth is God wants us to choose either life or death with our whole being, His way or the damned highway.

We are perfectionists when it comes to wanting perfect health. A cut finger, a sore tooth, any small defect throws us off, even though it is only one malfunction out of thousands of operations that occur in the body. Physical perfection matters for us, and our Being matters for the Father.

Jesus did not tell us to try to be perfect. He told us to Be Perfect.

The Mark defines perfection. Ready. Aim. Fire! Hitting the target is possible! He told me so. He showed me so!

Perfection defies demons and annihilates evil.

Perfection opens the door to immortality.

The Mark – 20, Actors Need Not Apply

2011-12-05T12:38:48Z

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 6:1

The author of Reality is as entertained by literature and theater as you and I. But beware! We venture out into the danger-zone when we mix theater with reality, that is when we lie or when we only pretend to pray, or when we perform acts of kindness in order to be seen by others. God the Father strictly guards Reality.

The most intimate relationship each of us has is with our Father who art in heaven. He lives in our hearts and hears our every thought and word. He watches over our every move, and guides us through our conscience. Married or single, a person cannot have a more real and intimate relationship, no matter how popular (s)he may be.

Intimacy is one to one; nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, never. A crowd of people worshipping God together looks like a gaggle of balloons each connected by its own string in God’s hand. The mass or liturgy may unify our voices and minds, but as harmonious as it is, the liturgical prayer is still one to one. God created us as individuals; He loves us and cares for us …one by one.

To practice piety before others to be seen by them is pornographic. No, it’s worse; it is like abusing your lover by inviting others to watch your most intimate moments.

I wonder if some people who do this don’t realize how offensive their act is to God. I wonder if they simply do not know about the exquisite beauty of the pure relationship with God the Father. How sad.

For this command, the Mark is invisible to everyone but you.