To: Jane Hafker who wrote (282 ) 12/18/1997 6:40:00 PM From: Harmattan Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Jane, i'm a big believer in red flags. always follow the instructions of red flags. the fly in the ointment is that most people are colorblind. what looks red was often painted red by manmade labels. scratch the paint a bit and surprise yourself. "rules of order", the ones that make any sense that is, are prohibitions to reign in the insincere heart. the rest of the rules are hogwash promulgated by social power structures that tend to entrench themselves. the pure heart is led by itself, with is love which is God. to "flame the soul" seems like a form of adultery? your labels, your blinkers, not mine. i would consider it an honor if one soul was kindled to flame as a result of these squiggles on the page. there is altogether to much dead wood in us already. if the "Godly " realm, whatever that is, gives you "utter and complete contentment" then you should ask yourself what are you doing here or anywhere? i figure God created everything including this world, my body, my heart and my brain. it would be more than a little hypocritical and a bit like mocking God not to explore it all. we are specifically and repeatedly told that "judgement" is of the "intent of the heart". as the saying goes "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". those good intentions (so called rules) almost always result in deformation of the heart. of course we call it something else with a fine sounding spiritual name. but look at the neurotic result. equally look at the nuerotic result of the permissive opposite you might say. i agree. both and all ways and ideas are doomed when the heart is a priori bent out of shape. insincerity passes for sincereity both inside and outside religion. a pure heart is not the final result of spirituality or religious faith, it is preparatory or intermediate. it is the threshhold to the true wonder. talk of rules of austerity and dogma is for those with an already purified heart. i hear all this talk eveywhere that God said this to me, or the Holy Spirit impressed such and such on me, or the Lord told me...but i see the words issuing from crooked, slightly shriveled hearts. the words are baloney, Christian or not. they have no resonance or force to the discerning eye. virtue and virtues are not "thing(s)" we acquire. virtue is the absence of vice. the purified heart will tend naturally to release vice without the violence of "law". and as we are known by our fruit, its easy as eating pie to spot the fake. how many truly pure hearts do you know? think about it. really think about it. the ego is slain by the heart. the ego crusts over, hardens and become more real when it defensively bumps up against the "rules". my background as i've stated it is totally factual. the music i refered to was Bach's Goldberg Variations. no riddles in this post but a few double meanings maybe.
