One Walk

Dear Lord God, O Breathing Life! Father-Mother of the Cosmos/ you create all that moves in light. Focus your light within us–make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way. Create your reign of unity now–through our firey hearts and  willing hands. Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms. Grant what we need each day in bread and insight: subsistence for the call of growing life. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others’ guilt. Don’t let us enter forgetfulness But free us from unripeness From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews. Truly–power to these statements–may they be the source from which all  my actions grow. Sealed in trust & faith. Amen.

An unclean soul is synonymous with a heart full of frivolity. Humility and purity of conduct are the wings which raise us up to God and in a manner deify us. Remember this: The sinner who is ashamed to do evil is closer to God than the upright man who is ashamed to do good.

— Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30

18 since many boast of worldly things, I too will boast. 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever any one dares to boast of — I am speaking as a fool — I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one — I am talking like a madman — with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Bible Study: [11:16-12:10] Paul now accepts the challenge of his opponents and indulges in boasting similar to theirs, but with differences that he has already signaled in 2 Cor 10:12-18 and that become clearer as he proceeds. He defines the nature of his project and unmistakably labels it as folly at the beginning and the end (2 Cor 11:16-23; 12:11). Yet his boast does not spring from ignorance (2 Cor 11:21; 12:6) nor is it concerned merely with human distinctions (2 Cor 11:18). Paul boasts "in moderation" (2 Cor 10:13, 15) and "in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17). [16-29] The first part of Paul’s boast focuses on labors and afflictions, in which authentic service of Christ consists. [16-21] These verses recapitulate remarks already made about the foolishness of boasting and the excessive toleration of the Corinthians. They form a prelude to the boast proper. [20] Paul describes the activities of the "others" in terms that fill out the picture drawn in vv 11:3-4, 13-15. Much of the vocabulary suggests fleshly or even satanic activity. Enslaves: cf Gal 2:4. Devours: cf 1 Peter 5:8. Gets the better: the verb lambano means "to take," but is used in a variety of senses; here it may imply financial advantage, as in the English colloquialism "to take someone." It is similarly used at 2 Cor 12:16 and is there connected with cunning and deceit. Puts on airs: the same verb is rendered "raise oneself" (2 Cor 10:5) and "be too elated" (2 Cor 12:7). [21] Paul ironically concedes the charge of personal weakness from 2 Cor 10:1-18 but will refute the other charge there mentioned, that of lack of boldness, accepting the challenge to demonstrate it by his boast. [22] The opponents apparently pride themselves on their "Jewishness." Paul, too, can claim to be a Jew by race, religion, and promise. Descendants of Abraham: elsewhere Paul distinguishes authentic from inauthentic heirs of Abraham and the promise (Romans 4:13-18; 9:7-13; 11:1; Gal 3:9, 27-29; cf John 8:33-47). Here he grants his opponents this title in order to concentrate on the principal claim that follows. [23b-29] Service of the humiliated and crucified Christ is demonstrated by trials endured for him. This rhetorically impressive catalogue enumerates many of the labors and perils Paul encountered on his missionary journeys. [23a] Ministers of Christ . . . I am still more: the central point of the boast (cf the note on 2 Cor 11:5). Like an insane person: the climax of his folly. [11:30-12:10] The second part of Paul’s boast, marked by a change of style and a shift in focus. After recalling the project in which he is engaged, he states a new topic: his weaknesses as matter for boasting. Everything in this section, even the discussion of privileges and distinctions, will be integrated into this perspective.

Psalm 34:2-7

2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Bible Study: [Psalm 34] Of David – A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Psalm 34:5, 7), can teach the "poor," those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Psalm 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Psalm 34:5-11) and give them protection (Psalm 34:12-22). [1] Abimelech: a scribal error for Achish. In 1 Sam 21:13-16, David feigned madness before Achish, not Abimelech. [11] The powerful: literally, "lions." Fierce animals were sometimes metaphors for influential people. [12] Children: the customary term for students in Wisdom literature.

Matthew 6:19-23

19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Bible Study: [19-34] The remaining material of this chapter is taken almost entirely from Q. It deals principally with worldly possessions, and the controlling thought is summed up in Matthew 6:24, the disciple can serve only one master and must choose between God and wealth (mammon). See further the note on Luke 16:9. [22-23] In this context the parable probably points to the need for the disciple to be enlightened by Jesus’ teaching on the transitory nature of earthly riches. [24] Mammon: an Aramaic word meaning wealth or property.

Dear Lord God, thank you for all Your blessings, grace and mercy; continue Your work within me helping me to be an example, a light on the mountain to heaven. Today I ask for Your wisdom and knowledge, help me remain balanced with eyes of faith, keeping a healthy balance with You, my family, my body and my spirit. Show me Your will, direct my purpose helping my not to forget my promises as You have never forgotten Yours’. In Jesus Holy name I ask and pray, Amen.

There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.

— St. Theresa of Avila

2 Corinthians 11:1-11

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. 5 I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. 7 Did I commit a sin in abasing myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel without cost to you? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in want, I did not burden any one, for my needs were supplied by the brethren who came from Macedo’nia. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Acha’ia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

Bible Study: [1-11] The opening follows the usual Pauline form, except that the thanksgiving takes the form of a doxology or glorification of God (2 Cor 1:3). This introduces a meditation on the experience of suffering and encouragement shared by Paul and the Corinthians (2 Cor 1:4-7), drawn, at least in part, from Paul’s reflections on a recent affliction (2 Cor 1:8-10). The section ends with a modified and delayed allusion to thanksgiving (2 Cor 1:11). [3] God of all encouragement: Paul expands a standard Jewish blessing so as to state the theme of the paragraph. The theme of "encouragement" or "consolation" (paraklesis) occurs ten times in this opening, against a background formed by multiple references to "affliction" and "suffering." [5] Through Christ: the Father of compassion is the Father of our Lord Jesus (2 Cor 1:3); Paul’s sufferings and encouragement (or "consolation") are experienced in union with Christ. Cf Luke 2:25: the "consolation of Israel" is Jesus himself. [7] You also share in the encouragement: the eschatological reversal of affliction and encouragement that Christians expect (cf Matthew 5:4; Luke 6:24) permits some present experience of reversal in the Corinthians’ case, as in Paul’s. [8] Asia: a Roman province in western Asia Minor, the capital of which was Ephesus. [9-10] The sentence of death: it is unclear whether Paul is alluding to a physical illness or to an external threat to life. The result of the situation was to produce an attitude of faith in God alone. God who raises the dead: rescue is the constant pattern of God’s activity; his final act of encouragement is the resurrection.

Psalm 111:1-4, 7-8

1 Praise the LORD. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who have pleasure in them. 3 Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures for ever. 4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy, 8 they are established for ever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

Bible Study: [Psalm 111] A temple singer (Psalm 111:1) tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history (Psalm 111:2-10). The deeds reveal God’s very self, powerful, merciful, faithful. The poem is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Matthew 6:7-15

7 "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Bible Study: [1-18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Matthew 6:2-4), prayer (Matthew 6:5-15), and fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Matthew 6:2) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Matthew 5:12, 46; 10:41-42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apecho, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). [7-15] Matthew inserts into his basic traditional material an expansion of the material on prayer that includes the model prayer, the "Our Father." That prayer is found in Luke 11:2-4 in a different context and in a different form. [7] The example of what Christian prayer should be like contrasts it now not with the prayer of the hypocrites but with that of the pagans. Their babbling probably means their reciting a long list of divine names, hoping that one of them will force a response from the deity. [9-13] Matthew’s form of the "Our Father" follows the liturgical tradition of his church. Luke’s less developed form also represents the liturgical tradition known to him, but it is probably closer than Matthew’s to the original words of Jesus. (See below –  and book references) [9] Our Father in heaven: this invocation is found in many rabbinic prayers of the post-New Testament period. Hallowed be your name: though the "hallowing" of the divine name could be understood as reverence done to God by human praise and by obedience to his will, this is more probably a petition that God hallow his own name, i.e., that he manifest his glory by an act of power (cf Ezekiel 36:23), in this case, by the establishment of his kingdom in its fullness. [10] Your kingdom come: this petition sets the tone of the prayer, and inclines the balance toward divine rather than human action in the petitions that immediately precede and follow it. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven: a petition that the divine purpose to establish the kingdom, a purpose present now in heaven, be executed on earth. [11] Give us today our daily bread: the rare Greek word epiousios, here daily, occurs in the New Testament only here and in Luke 11:3. A single occurrence of the word outside of these texts and of literature dependent on them has been claimed, but the claim is highly doubtful. The word may mean daily or "future" (other meanings have also been proposed). The latter would conform better to the eschatological tone of the whole prayer. So understood, the petition would be for a speedy coming of the kingdom (today), which is often portrayed in both the Old Testament and the New under the image of a feast (Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 8:11; 22:1-10; Luke 13:29; 14:15-24). [12] Forgive us our debts: the word debts is used metaphorically of sins, "debts" owed to God (see Luke 11:4). The request is probably for forgiveness at the final judgment. [13] Jewish apocalyptic writings speak of a period of severe trial before the end of the age, sometimes called the "messianic woes." This petition asks that the disciples be spared that final test. [14-15] These verses reflect a set pattern called "Principles of Holy Law." Human action now will be met by a corresponding action of God at the final judgment.

The Lords Prayer in Aramic, as Jesus spoke them (www.abwoon.com):

Transliteration and original translation by Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz from the Peshitta (Syriac-Aramaic) version of Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4 reprinted from Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus (Harper Collins, 1990). © 1990 Neil Douglas-Klotz. All rights reserved, including the right to reprint in whole or in part.

Abwoon d’bwashmaya

           O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos/ you create all that moves in light.

Nethqadash shmakh

           Focus your light within us–make it useful:  as the rays of a beacon show the way.

Teytey malkuthakh

          Create your reign of unity now–through our firey hearts and  willing hands.

Nehwey sebyanach aykanna d’bwashmaya aph b’arha.

        Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms.

Habwlan lachma d’sunqanan yaomana.

        Grant what we need each day in bread and insight:

        subsistence for the call of growing life.

Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn)

        aykana daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn.

        Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,

        as we release the strands we hold of others’ guilt.

Wela tahlan l’nesyuna

        Don’t let us enter forgetfulness

Ela patzan min bisha.

        But free us from unripeness

Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l’ahlam almin.

From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do,

the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews.

Ameyn.

Truly–power to these statements–

may they be the source from which all  my actions grow. 

Sealed in trust & faith.  Amen.

Listen to it at http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/course_overview_14.shtml

Reference books regarding the Prayers of Jesus in the Aramic words He spoke (I have all available in audio):

Prayers of the Cosmos; Meditations on the Aramic words of Jesus by Neil Douglas-Klotz

The Hidden Gospel by Neil Douglas-Klotz

Unleashing the Power of the God Code by Gregg Braden 

Speaking the Lost Language of God by Gregg Braden 

The Isaiah Effect by Gregg Braden 

The Gnostic Gospels (Unabridged) by Elaine Pagels 

The Power of Now (Unabridged) by Eckhart Tolle 

Living a Life of Inner Peace by Eckhart Tolle