Everything Is Symbolic part 7 Levular

Concession stand

Almost an oxymoron. They say “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. Like most blanket statements and platitudes, they apply across a thin swath of life experience. And then when you factor in the Holy Spirit and realize that God indeed does have something very specific in mind for each and every situation you encounter (was it any different for Jesus?), you’ll see this homily freeze and shatter. The point I’m getting at is, perhaps there are things–blatant wrongs–that God would have you observe and do nothing about. Granted, there’s all sorts of latitude in this, numerous falsifiying instances in which “not saying something” would end in disaster. Jettison those and think about this with me for a moment.

“I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22b)

But first, I must confess that levular is a made-up word. Er, I mean, “a word”. Just because nobody else has used it (to my knowledge) and I’ve never heard it before doesn’t make it any less a word. And so whether you’re a prescriptive linguist (one who seeks to preserve the language at large) or a descriptive (one who merely observes and reports from the field), you can’t tell me (me) that levular doesn’t work. Sure, I could use “levelled” but for my point, “levelled” would necessarily be adjectival when normally it’s used as a verb. Like, “I levelled my gaze at him, silencing the argument”. Okay.

“And the rest will I set in order when I come.” (1 Corinthians 11:34b)

See, symbols, beyond a certain point are arbitrary. Extrapolate this out at large and you realize that God speaks to different people in different ways. Prophets, with their long hair and loud voice, throwing it out there to whoever “has ears to hear” are a very different medium than the dream. God speaks through one and the other and neither cancel each other out. As God is at once above His creation and also within down to the particle, every way He speaks carries weight and truth and love.

One night I dreamed I saw the hospital where my mom worked. It took place in the neonatal unit but it also looked like the inside of a local department store. You know how dreams are. Furthering the weirdness, the location also bore resemblance to an imagined intersection with the nurses’ desks a strange cross between that and a streetcorner mixed with fitting rooms and the like. I suppose it all means something but the dream continues. In the middle of all this, I enter an elevator that descends into the earth. I remember going down through many levels of rock with each age of the earth represented by panoramic, almost still life depictions of the period. It all felt odd but the take away message was that life is a mix of levels. Everyone is at a certain level. You, me, everyone. It isn’t about comparison, it’s about understanding that what means something to you doesn’t mean the same to me. And yet you can hear God just as clearly as I.

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

Level this at the Body of Christ, knowing first that He loves us all the same, and you see, maybe a little, how God would have you only say nothing and pray when once you perceive something about your brother or sister that even they don’t. Or that they would die of fright if they knew you did. At our deepest level is our Heavenly Father. He loves us there. But–and this is just the way it is–even we don’t see down at that level. We are multi-levelled–levular, as it were–and as He loves us at our depth and even speaks to us there, other levels need some Spring cleaning. We attain to them as life goes on. It isn’t about charting this territory so much as it’s about pleasing God and loving ourselves and others with the love He’s shown us.

Sacred Oceans

“They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses.” (Psalm 107:27-28)

Aimless and nameless

I’ve found in the relatively few number of days in which the Lord has allowed me to encounter my share of confusion and estrangement, the summation in a word. Whether that word came as a literal word or as a string of words in a legible sentence, it came. It came just the same. Be it a turn of phrase in a song’s lyric or a verse that came back to my mind via the Holy Spirit. God is faithful to distill the days and also the lesson inherent to the season in a sound bite.

“Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then they are glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them to their desired haven.” (107:29-30)

Plaintiff and claimant

Even if it’s only the other side of the ocean you’re crossing. Whatever it is you want from God through your season of trial, He’ll do it. When Jesus told the disciples “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name” (John 16:24), it’s almost as if He’s letting them know that the time had come to call in favors. Not that God owes us anything He hasn’t already promised (think about it), but maybe you get the idea. The payment for remaining true to Elijah was twice as much anointing to affect God’s will. All Elisha had to do was literally keep his eyes on his mentor as ridiculously distracting events sought to tear them away (see 2 Kings 2).

“That the Lord may continue His word which He spake concerning me…” (1 Kings 2:3a)

I like words. I love words. I scour my dictionaries when I have time and any I don’t know (there are lots), I try and remember. One will occasionally stand out even as it fills a crucial piece in my soul. Like, this is something meant for me to know and use. Words like ebullient and aubergine and ekphrasis. All point to untouched depths to my being. Watery places from which God–prior to my finding them–hadn’t called forth dry land. These words swam around in my mind and heart and solidified (thixotropy–its opposite). And now I don’t feel those voids.

Take heart. Whatever you need God to do for you, He’ll do it. Even if you don’t understand why you do or don’t do the things you should or need, take heart. And take God at His word.

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Yes I Ken (All Around the Word part 4)

“That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

I have not wrapped my mind around God

My mind isn’t broad enough. Einstein said “I want to know His thoughts”. Well, so do I, I must admit. But I’d rather know His heart. Him. And my mind? It’s more like a color, say yellow. And that has been infused with red–bled in, as it were. To where it’s now orange. No, one doesn’t wrap their mind around God. He wraps you in His heart.

As you may know and realize, the word ken means “your understanding”, your “ken”. While the name Ken (Kenneth) means “handsome”–and that really doesn’t mean anything–your inner ken, is where it’s at. Scripturally speaking, it’s along the lines of when Jesus says “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15) He’s broadcasting a deep line of understanding and wisdom leading back to Himself that, if you got the guts, you can take hold of back to Him. It’s not beyond your ken, you just may not know that yet.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:29)

The thing (one of them, anyway) about Revelation is that it’s broadcasted as this impossible-without-a-PhD-to-understand book of high symbolism and abstruse, if arcane, meaning. And this is true. But why would Jesus take hold of John and then speak these things in his presence–telling him to write them down no less. Loose the book on the world and then discourage and demur one from diving into it for understanding? And just like I don’t have concrete, black-and-white answers for each and every one of my questions, I am confident that the Lord will broaden my understanding as my life progresses. One day, one thought at a time.

“I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:32)

Ooh! One quick thing. The more questions you get answered, the more your mind fills with whatever color with which God reveals Himself, the more you’ll be expected to walk in that truth. Don’t worry. As a child of God, He takes great pains to ensure you’re strong enough to bear the added responsibility befitting the crown with which you’ve been fitted, if that makes sense. And this is why we will cast whatever crowns we’ve accrued at the throne of the King. I think it says that somewhere in Revelation.

Everything Is Symbolic part 3 Stochasm

The word refers (obviously) to that one thing that seemed to point to whatever God was doing in your life. That which you felt was only for you and maybe showed up in a dream. A little detail that when boiled down to its elements, meant something symbolic and stood out in your mind upon reflection. Does anything come to mind?

“In all Thy ways, acknowledge Him…” (Proverbs 3:6)

In reality, the word stochastic actually exists. Statistically speaking, it refers to a set of parts, lots of them, that look for all intents and purposes, like a bunch of randomness doing its thing. A stochastic exposition on the randomness you’ve observed can only be done in retrospect, I should add. Extrapolate this notion out to the whole of life and that is indeed what a lot of it (life) outside our’s looks to be: random. Cars driving down the road, making their way to and from God knows where (if you think about it, pray for the drivers). Zoom in. That red car driving by. You don’t recognize the driver but while stopped at a light, you noticed the plate bore some number that corresponded with the scripture God had on your heart today. This means something, but what? Nothing? It doesn’t mean anything. You turn your collar up and keep walking. What’s that you say? You had a dream about the same? When…? Last night? Because if you dreamed about such odd details after the fact, I could see how some meaning might emerge. Some meaning to you and no one else. Heh. Think what you’d do if you ever met the driver. You could run up to them as they got out of their car and spill this whole story to them. And they’d walk away thinking you’re crazy. But you’re not crazy. You feel God is speaking to you. It’s like a language that utilizes everything as opposed to mere letter and sound.

“Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.” (Psalm 141:4)

And here’s the stochasm. Falling into these minor details that–while truly random–will get your eyes off God and off that which He wants you to focus on. Namely, Him. I must admit, I am very perceptive. I notice things and also I think everyone else sees the same stuff I do. This is wrong. While I believe in God and along with that, believe He indeed does see everything, I can’t tell you what others are paying attention to. This would mean I would need another person’s opinion as to what I see and feel. And if I’m pressed in to God, I don’t.

“And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” (1 Kings 18:44)

Another definition of stochastic is as follows: “the random variable”. That one part out of the whole that was the focal or turning point for the equation. Here’s the thing about God. If you’re waiting for deep and powerful things from Him–the answers of which involve more than just you and yours–you must look out for these signs. Assuming your heart and motives are right, God will show you things, signs and symbols in the natural, that herald the answers to your prayer and waiting. But it doesn’t necessarily have to directly correlate to your blessing as a “little cloud…like a man’s hand” does to “rain”. You follow me?

For Lack of a Better Word

“For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand, Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.” (Ezekiel 3:5-6)

Non-word

I should start by saying that the word “themself”, while it may indeed look like an actual word, won’t score you any points with a well-informed (if slightly elitist) reading populace. In other words, it’s got the squiggly red line underneath. The idea though is a fascinating one. Here you have this compound word, the first syllable of which is the objective pronoun referring in gender-neutrality to anyone or anything. A catch-all of sorts. The second syllable of course refers to an individual. Your self. The Indo-European root (gotta have it) for self–according to my one source (other than the Internet), the American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots–is “s(w)a”. It gives rise to all sorts of self-ish words. Words like “seclude” and “secure” and “segregate”. Others too, like, “sullen”, “seduction” and “solipsism”. And “suicide”. Now put both syllables together and you get a non-word that starts in duality, moves toward unification and, whoops. You can’t even use it. Dear God.

“Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to fear Thy name.” (Psalm 86:11)

“I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:32)

Nonce words

Y’know, you can bend language to your will and your whims. Aside from all the dusty tomes lining the shelves of libraries the world over coupled with all the established information floating through the ether as well as scores upon scores of generations who tend to use words, uh, correctly, language is yours to do with what you will. No one is telling you–telling you–that you have to use words and syntax and grammar (can’t forget punctuation) intelligibly. Oh, they may have done that in school and rightfully so. About all school is good for nowadays, however, is learning to get along with one’s peers, maybe. And if you start stringing sentence and syntax subjectively, not only will you not ameliorate the hearers (seriously), you could very well alienate yourself. Think of it this way. When you were a kid (unless you were weird), you probably didn’t take too kindly to brushing your teeth every night. You may even have gone so far as to run your toothbrush under the water and call it good. To which your parent(s) might have responded with censure. Okay. I find that anyone (myself included) who didn’t see the “benefit” of brushing their teeth swore they’d swear it off when once they attained adulthood and escaped the parental-dental auspices of their youth. It’s like this with language. Now, rewinding down from this admittedly odd analogy, you can make language do what you want. The second part of the previous sentence is true. It is just excruciatingly hard to adopt and enact and exact. This idea comes into play when you coin a word for a situation for which a word applies just-so and wouldn’t’ve arisen any other way. Also known as a nonce word. Think about the ways we play around with the words we use. We form compound words or mishear snippets of conversation and things trigger in our brains and minds and we’re off and running. Life is a breeding ground for nonce words. This is what is so cool about this toy called “our brain”. Use it enough and get really good at whatever it is God has put on your heart to perform for Him–and you will be outstanding in your field. Ah. I’m reminded of this:

“My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget Thy law.” (Psalm 119:109)

Here’s the catch if ever there was one. The information (for lack of a better word) from God’s heart that defines who we are in Him is found in His word. It runs counter to philosophies and thought-structures the world over that would encourage you to become all you can be without Him. For instance, even with “themself”, should you stir your, uh, self to the point of laser focus on whatever vocation or discipline to the neglect of the one who put those gifts inside you (if I may), God will not be able to use you like He could. You may well attain worldwide attention and notoriety and, dare I say it, fame, for your gifts. And then your teeth will rot. Don’t forget about Jesus.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profitted, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26)

Here. All I have is this one word.

All Around the Word

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19, emphasis mine)

Warping ones mind around

So that word in the Greek is katalambano. A loose translation would be “wrap one’s mind around”. To so know Jesus that we feel some aspect of His presence at all times. I would say that the ways in which we seek the Lord are both central to our walk (that’s what it is, for God’s sake) but also eminently unique to us. My opinions and observations regarding another’s fellowship with Christ better be backed with love and non-judgment. And so, I would say that in whatever way we encounter Christ, we are indeed seeing and/or sensing an aspect of love. Wrap your mind around that. But before one is able to do such a thing, one must necessarily wander a bit.

“For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them.” (Pslam 44:2)

Anymore, with property taxes and eminent domain and the discouraging lengths of red tape the world over, the acquisition of physical property is reserved only for those who really, really want it. But within, where all the space you could ever want–is yours for the asking, the idea of “staking out one’s territory” is absolutely doable. With God’s help, of course. From the above verse, the Israelites did indeed use steel to accomplish their territorial ambitions. But when the psalmist(s) describes the victory (as history is written by the victors), they rightfully place both God’s strength as well as His “favour” as the top reasons the land was gained. God seems to have flung the territories out as trinkets for anyone who wanted. The internal space of heart and mind is God’s to grant as well, make no mistake. We will never attain unto our right mind unless we meet and then get to know God. He holds the deed(s). But there is one thing we can do.

“Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord our God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as He hath said unto you. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse.” (Deuteronomy 11:24-26)

Choosing God means sitting at the feet of Christ. It means doing one thing. And that is whatever He says. It’s different for everyone and it means that there will be seasons of dryness while God aligns us with His will for our life within and without.

A little give and take

“I have shewed you all things,” says Paul, “how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

In closing, did you know that whatever space inside you devote to God and to knowing Christ, He will give that space back to you? I feel there is this lie at large that would have us believe all God wants to do is shackle us to the outworkings of religion (the Indo-European root for “religion” means “to bind”) to the neglect of our heart and passions and imagination. God is nowhere near any preconceived notion that is not based in peace and joy and love. And when it says “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God”, it’s understood that God won’t give you Himself, or, more of Himself, unless we truly want it.

Living the Dreams

“Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:6-7)

Oneiric/Laconic

Words, vows, dreams. Vanities. The previous verse says “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” God takes the stuff of our life, i.e. the means of expressing what’s on our heart and mind (and subconscious) very seriously. God tells Job:

“Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” (Job 38:2-3)

When we endeavor to bring out what is on our heart but do so in a frivolous or idle manner and don’t take seriously that we are speaking in the presence of the God of the universe, we are, as the previouser verse says, acting the “fool”.

“For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it: pay that which thou hast vowed.” (Ecclesiastes 5:3-4)

Iconic/Moronic

Dreams are symbolic representations of events–either forthcoming or that which you’re already treading–distilled into easily digestible images and sound-bites. This doesn’t mean that we automatically understand everything going on therein. Nor does it mean everything coming across our screen is from God. I would say that some dreams are a mix of both influences. And then there are those dreams that don’t mean anything and best not to bank on what’s contained within. In much the same way as a dream, an icon is (supposedly) a symbolic representation of the qualities inherent to the person depicted and represented. For instance, you would have the patron saint of such-and-such and their icon represents those qualities. Does it really? Does any one person or institution have the power to imbue through magic or some other artifice this idea that a physical object is something greater than the sum of its parts? An icon is that which I’ve described. Aniconism, however, is the opposite. It’s a framework of worship and belief and practice that eschews the physical representation of intangible, if spiritual qualities. And iconoclasm is the bridge between the two, just so you know. But what does all this have to do with dreams? Because, as Solomon says, “in the multitude of dreams, there are many words.” The opposite of laconic, I should add. When we opt for, not the lucid detailed and utterly overwhelming exposition of that which we experience, but the “fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7), then we’ll get somewhere with God. I believe He wants to explain and detail everything that raises a question in our mind and heart. I believe He delights in doing so. But He’s also wise beyond imagining. He knows that we won’t be able to handle all this knowledge if we’re not “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17).

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him. But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

I find that information can be wound tighter and tighter until we have no idea what’s going on. After God demands of Job an answer, He goes on to describe the knowledge and wisdom with which He used to create the world and all therein. Job answers much later on with “I will lay mine hand on my mouth.” (40:4b) I can tell you from personal experience that if you seek to both explain away yourself and also everything going on in your head, you will soon lose track of both your thought process and also the line out of which you sought to peer inside your own mind. We have “the mind of Christ” but sometimes, all God asks is that we trust Him. His peace and the knowledge that He has our best interests at heart and also His love are all we have to guide us through the oneiric (dreams), the conscious and the subconscious. I suppose it’s a comfort that I can’t explain myself away a-hundred percent. That would make me God and only He is. And He owns me and understands me backwards and forwards.

“And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)

Eavesdropping In Heaven

Think about this for a second. Imagine God leaning down from Heaven and tapping you on the shoulder. He tells you that he has something He’d like to say to and through you and that it just isn’t quite covered by the twenty-six letter alphabet (i.e. English) with which you daily express yourself. At least while you’re awake. “But God!” you say, “How would I even go about doing that?”
To which God responds [ ].

“Then He said unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man (or woman! “there is neither male nor female…in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28b) that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed thence.” (Matthew 13:52-53)

I’m reminded of the illustrated children’s book “Weslandia” by Paul Fleischman. A charming little story about a boy named Wesley who, fighting acute boredom one Summer (and upon finding a fantastical fruit in his backyard–the disbelief that would necessarily need to be suspended for this story to be plausible), decides to found his own civilization. One of the things that comes out of his “thought experiment”, as it were, is his spontaneous formulation of his own (new) alphabet (using dye from the aforementioned fake fruit). Awesome. Imagine if you had the power to imbue a written symbol with whatever information you chose. Now, your symbols would necessarily–as it would seem you’d be bringing out of your treasure “things new”–need to be cross-checked across the worldwide spectrum of graphic representation (don’t wanna confuse anyone: “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace”1 Corinthians 14:33a). But because information is, you could leave that part up to God. Well, here’s the deal (and forgive me if I stray into the dream-like) you do have that power. There’s all sorts of latitude inherent in thinking this way. But if God is real, and the means of information-transmission-via-graphic-representation are something–far from arising ex nihilo through a process of billions of years of evolutionary neuro-development–are what God uses to get His point across, have at it. But! Before you begin, understand that you are a “scribe…instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven”. I find the simpler the symbol, the more power it tends to have. And also more potential ambiguity. Look at the Cross. What does it mean turned upside-down? All of this stuff may be possible through dreams (and forgettable upon waking) and but a small part of the wonders of Heaven–but here and now. This is why we go through our day-to-day life worshipping and praising God in the languages with which He’s blessed us and should He choose to do what happened in the top paragraph, that’s His choice. Best to be open by the by. If you have anything resembling an “open heaven” in your head, know that the battle will be fierce and confusing and for a time, overwhelming, before you get topside.

“Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from Heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to Him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.” (John 12:28-30)

Jesus begins with honor. He glorifies His Father who in turn honors and glorifies the Son. The heart condition, however, of those standing idly by and eavesdropping heard a full spectrum of noise. Only Jesus both heard correctly and was in turn able to say why. I should add that the above passage is preceded in John’s gospel with “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”

When someone looks to tamper with influence based on the written word (or symbol, whatever), they are playing with fire. As information leads to one source or the other, we’d do well to understand that, as Jesus is “the Living Word” (see John 1:14), we can’t really say anything that doesn’t point people back to Him. The way? As in, the way we say it? Well, that’s between you and your Heavenly Father.

Talking the Walk

“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:33-34)

Speaking out

It’s easy to see this as one of Jesus’ “falsifiable” statements. A statement that is capable of being proven false. I suppose one would have to see to the heart-depth of the interlocuter in question–every time–for His declaration of “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” to be proven, every time. I struggle with this statement a lot when I think about people who profess the name of Christ yet don’t act in accordance with His heart. Understandably, people struggle. And out of all those I count as brothers and sisters in Christ, comparatively few do I ever have extended conversations with. It runs the gamut from people I encounter about town and in society, who I’d never peg for Christian–not because of appearance, but because of attitude. All the way from that to those in my church. I, too, meet people who don’t think I’m Christian. If I bring up something spiritual or Christian-sounding, they’re shocked. What can I say? I’ve been affected by what I’ve been affected by and maintaining my label (Christian) and my heart has been the struggle of my life. But this statement. The point is, just because someone “nameth the name of Christ” doesn’t mean they’re Christian, doesn’t mean they know Jesus. Yet, if I were to take His words out of context, it’s almost as if the concept of “lying” has been negated.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

Sitting out

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” (Proverbs 25:14)

A psittacism is the same as “parroting back” (the Latin root for “parrot”). A mindless repeating of something someone’s heard and, maybe, sounds good or true. Best to sound true if you’re a Christian, by the way. And there really isn’t much more to say on that topic. I find that so much of what is bandied about in the world is without any real heart-depth. Empty words, Christian or non. The motive, the why. Paul qualifies the Christian’s self-declaration with a spiritual Spring cleaning. Make sure your heart is right with God if you’re going to gab and gadabout. St. Francis says to “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” The world needs more Christlikeness in action, not in word.

Jesus continues, “a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (12:35-37)

It would seem Jesus is now referring to the words spoken (to Him) on “the day of judgment”. A time when one is unable to say anything but that which is at the depth of one’s heart. A hard word to be sure. All the more reason to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” (1 Peter 3:15), in mine. If the mere mention of Jesus, in many circles, is seen with skepticism and derision, is it the Christians’ fault by and large? Not completely as “it (the world) hated me (Jesus) before it hated you”. (John 15:18) But I find that a negative and loveless representation of our Lord makes for a wrong image of Christ.

Searching out

John says this: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” (1 John 3:18-21)

Here’s the thing. If you believe in Jesus, you can trust your heart. Because your heart is the same as His. As yet, we may not be able to trust our minds. Because it’s our life’s work to reorient our mind in light of His. If you find conviction in the areas of truly living out your faith, know that God is greater than that feeling and He’s calling you higher. He’ll help you see things in His light. And the more your heart is in line with His, the more your words will carry the weight they’re supposed to.

Our Constituents

Parts of speech

“Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.” -Zhuangzi

Also known as Zhuang Zhou. He was a Chinese philosopher form the fourth century B.C.

From that, to (two hundred years later) this: “Rem tene: verba sequentur”

That was Cato the Elder speaking. It’s Latin for “Stick with the subject and the words will follow.” Two statements from the annals of History that either contradict or complement one another, depending on where you’re at with either “meaning”, or “words”. Or both.

And then two hundred more years go by and Jesus says this: “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63)

What are the words that God speaks to you? Are you listening? Yes, He uses your native tongue. When I was a kid, I figured the only way I’d be able to hear God speak to me was by hearing a voice, akin to my own thoughts, sounding in my head. And yes, He can do that–when once you’ve so saturated your mind with what He said in His word that a mentally audible voice won’t disturb the tranquility and natural order of what He’s already established for your mental capacity. As such, I don’t often hear Him speak to me in English. That idea–that God had to speak to me one way only–came to me over twenty years ago and it’s taken all that time and more to realize this: God is always speaking in every way. I heard that from my dad and while he used different words to express the idea, I didn’t really know what he was talking about at the time. He would tell me that God was always speaking, that I could be having a conversation with the Lord throughout my day and while I wanted to feel that tether, that umbilical, I really didn’t know how to go about making it happen. He would add on the caveat “And God is always speaking through His Word”. That’s where I’d have a hard time, a disconnect as it were. Because I really had no desire to study my Bible. I’d much rather have played Nintendo or with my Legos or draw. I had a New King James version (still do somewhere) and while I memorized easily the things contained therein, because I didn’t interact with the Lord much, they never began to glow with the life inherent. This tome entitled “The Holy Bible” rests on your coffee table or as an app in your smartphone and within its leaves or lines of code lay the very essence of God’s person as communicated through whatever language makes sense to you. And while the mere words made sense to me, the meaning didn’t come across. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Seeing this quote in light of God’s word, the meaning is Him. And as we can never fully “get” Him, we must always come back down to meditating upon and ruminating on the Word of God. But not to the neglect of Him as a person.

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.” (John 5:39-41)

What are the words that “do it for you”? Please understand, language is subjective. This is why we have such things as synonyms and finer definitions and elucidation. And what about vernacular? Patois. Parlance. Pidgin. All the way from that–to other languages. Your native tongue. It’s all communicative and it all carries weight. But the words of God? It’s when we use these systems–for lack of a better term–to make real to us what God is saying to us, do we really begin to glimpse the heart of God. And it begins growing in us like a pilot light and as we pour on more fuel and stoke it with loving and worshipful interaction throughout our day, the flame will grow higher. His meaning, His presence and Person will manifest through those words. All the words contained in the Bible are meant to “testify” to Jesus. He was speaking in the above passage to the Pharisees who, He says, “have not the love of God in [them].” That’s what it boils down to.

“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6)

Look at the quote from Zhuangzi again: “Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.” Now look at anyone you love. Do you “get” them? Is that why you love them? I suppose it’s different for everyone and as everyone is literally a world unto themselves, it takes a lifetime to truly know them. This might sound silly but if you take Zhuangzi’s quote too literally as applied to that person whom you love, and as the best word to describe them is their name, you cannot very well forget the words (i.e. their name) when once you’ve gotten them and their meaning–why would you want to? It might be out of context when applied across an inter-relational human spectrum but with reference to God and His Word? You cannot forget Jesus. Everything He is, is behind His name. All the words in the world mean nothing if they’re not pointing you to Him.

“For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:9-10)

Turn it around now, and look at the quote from Cato: “Stick with subject and the words will follow.” How did God reach you? Was it through another person (for me, it was my father)? Through a sermon? Did you pick up the Bible out of curiosity and then receive the Lord? Whatever way you came to know the Lord is between you and Him. But I find that unless we truly delve into the Word–with the Holy Spirit as our guide, I might add–we won’t know Him as He truly is. Admittedly, I may be taking Cato’s quote out of context here because He is talking about literature and writing, after all. If we dwell on a subject long enough, as he’s exhorting in his quote, the words that apply to said subject will bubble and percolate out of you. You’ll be able to form and attach them and create a mold into which the formerly amorphous understanding of the topic can in turn be poured and with which you can in turn explain it to others. But with God? With someone whose only containing apparatus in history has been Jesus Christ, and as Jesus is perfectly elucidated through the Word of God, we must turn to that even whilst we walk with a God (i.e. Jesus) of whom we’ve only received an infinitesimal glimpse.

I find then, that the two quotes go hand-in-hand. Yet Jesus’ words of “Spirit and life” trump both.

Places, please

By the way, it’s been over two-thousand years, now, since Jesus spoke in the pages of the Bible.

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” says Paul (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

Think about your life. Think about the name with which you’ve been graced. Do you know what it means? When once you’ve met the One who thought you up and spoke (for lack of a better term) you into this world, you begin to realize that God is indeed speaking all the time. He speaks through your senses and through art. Through, not just the lyrics of a song, but through its hook. Through the melody and the bridge. Through that shade of blue on the canvas and that cloud in the sky that looks like a duck (it’s called pareidolia, but it’s also a duck). Even, dare I say it, through Legos and Nintendo (!). God is and always has been talking to you, calling you closer. Calling you by name. Though it wasn’t until Jesus came and lived and died and resurrected that you could be a position to hear Him speak to you through the Holy Spirit in your heart (and mind, if He so chooses, and you so desire).

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ…” (Philippians 1:27) The King James synonymizes our Christian walk with the word “conversation”.

Syntax is a real thing, you know. The order in which our words come out and make sense to the hearer. Like language in general, syntax is subjective as well and each one has its own. A language’s syntax reflects on the thought process of the culture. Our’s (American English) is no exception. But think about what God is speaking. God spoke to Adam and Eve. To Abraham and Moses. Fast-forward to Bethlehem: “And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14a). God is speaking, but now He’s speaking through Jesus. Everything Jesus did was–how can I say this–God’s thoughts on the matter. Transmitted through His Son. He is now in conversation with us.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

And this is where syntax comes in again. As applied to us. I’m not going to go so far as calling you a verb or a noun or even a particular word. I am going to say that God wants to speak to the world through you, just as He did Jesus. He wants to speak through His entire body the same way. And as we “walk in the light” (1 John 1:6), God is going to get His message across to this world. That’s what this is all about. God dwells in Heaven and because of sin, the two worlds were separated. God bridged the two through the Law and then through Jesus. And Jesus makes it possible for us to reflect the atmosphere of Heaven onto this world. God is speaking. Not just words, but meaning. This is where Zhuangzi can be quoted again though only up to a point. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Once those who’ve never seen, tasted, heard God, “get” Him–through you–they won’t forget you, but they won’t necessarily need you the same way anymore. You will have introduced them to their Author. And God will then speak to them and through them as well. It’s not called our “conversation” for nothing.

In closing, one more quote:

“Words are good, but there is something better. The best is not to be explained by words. In the end, one returns to a wordless beholding.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How does this apply? As God is always “speaking” to us in every way, we can do the same with Him. It isn’t just words from us God hears. He hears and feels everything we would send to Him in loving communication. He is not limited by language nor by distance. Because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are connected to Him. The slightest tug and you’ll feel a response. As a kid, I may not have felt the connection, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there–it was. It’s a matter of transmitting something, anything to God and building upon that relationship.

And the conversation we find ourselves in today, will continue throughout eternity.