Tolkien’s Bad Mythology

Posted on November 25, 2017 by ehurst

As a younger man, I was captivated by The Lord of the Rings and the fantasy world of Tolkien. The author began his work prior to WW1, but the bulk of it was published around the time I was born (which was 1956). It’s the kind of legendary stuff that remains popular even today, though it’s now less about the books and more about the movies and epic computer games.

To be honest, I now find the whole thing overly wrought, with too much detail and lacking coherence. There’s simply too much free form magic with no rules, no way to predict how a fresh branch of the tale will go. There are too many holes in the canon, and it’s too easy to sprout discontinuity when people try to add fresh material. I’m not fond of storytelling that invites the storyteller to be an arrogant smart-ass, throwing out curve-balls that no one can predict. You can’t be a nit-picking purist with Tolkien’s world. Thus, nobody notices much when the movies and games depart from the original story line.

But at least we can trace to some degree the underlying mythology. It’s obvious Tolkien was heavily influenced by European Medieval History and mythology, but wanted something not too far from English Christianity. Having lived through the horrors of WW1, he found industrial technology repulsive. Fair enough, since that first world war was a horrifying mismatch between primitive tactics and modern weapons. Troops were required to play by the rules and die in massive numbers. When smart people tried to introduce better tactics, they were treated worse than the enemies. So if the generals were determined to conduct war by their bogus fantasies, why should we not entertain ourselves with more human fantasies?

I’m not sure how conscious on intentional it was, but Tolkien’s work does a marvelous job of supporting the doctrine of the Fall. Despite the whole thing being a thinly disguised representation of Anglo-Saxon Christianity, he does get one thing right: No matter how hard and heroically you try, the Devil (AKA Sauron) will always come back again and again.

Oddly enough, the character of Sauron does a great job of warning us about the evils of scientism as a religion. The myth is that Sauron loved order and was rather patient about imposing his particular brand of order. He was exceedingly intelligent about what it would take to bring others under his control. It was all about the efficiency and effectiveness of things, and he could not imagine a better world than one that adhered to his sense of order and stability. This depicts quite nicely the world of globalist and imperialist dreams, ruled by a technocratic regime. But in Tolkien’s world, it just happens to include a certain amount of magic in place of technology.

So, on the one hand, you are supposed to absorb the virtue of heroism. On the other hand, it won’t make that much difference in the long-term outcomes. I suppose if you are really smart, you’ll see that it promotes moral virtue as an end in itself, simply because it is a part of goodness to oppose what is clearly evil. You’ll notice how it seems every manifestation of magical power carries a huge risk of evil, so that power is to be shunned by most. It’s almost a Luddite view of magic. It’s not a bad thing if a precious few specialists with immense moral strength can keep track of this knowledge, if for no other reason than to resist outbreaks of evil, but it’s best if we keep a lid on such knowledge. So Tolkien seems to pine for the days when math and technology were the domain of a very few wizards and priests and seldom used. The world is better and safer with only the power of heroism.

But if we break away from the Anglo-centric outlook, then it changes everything. Anglo-Saxon Christianity is a radical departure from the Bible. Scripture says the only real heroism is internal. That is, while you might spend some time swinging that sword against literal enemies, real heroes are much more concerned with fighting the enemies, Orcs and dragons inside their own souls. The one thing Tolkien gets right is identifying the temptation to compromise for the sake of some practical advantage. It’s better to die doing the right thing than to survive and bring evil to power. But then the Tolkien mythology stops there and doesn’t carry the image to its conclusion.

The Wraith Realm is not the sum total of what’s beyond death. This is the fatal flaw in European mythology: There is no sweet Heaven. There is no God directly active in His Creation from His bright courts above. There is no real motive for trying to be a good guy aside from a certain pride in leaving your name as a legend. Everything beyond death is dark and gloomy; the Other Realm is spooky and unpredictable.

The Bible says this realm is the big lie. It’s bathed in deception; it’s not ultimate reality at all. The whole point in digging into the moral powers of goodness is to catch glimpses of that sweet ultimate reality our God created in the first place. It helps us to tear away the veil of deception and see Eden. We must die to get there, but we get to sample it’s joys if we strive to defeat the deception within ourselves. And it’s altogether predictable, because the whole lore of moral power here is derived directly from moral power in Eden. Thus, our daily effort of life is peeling back the lies so we can discern the real truth of things. The mighty miracles here are simply the rather mundane reality in Eden.

Posted in teaching | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Tolkien’s Bad Mythology

Bits and Pieces 28

Posted on November 24, 2017 by ehurst

The latest nasty tactic from websites is called session replay, wherein the website has one or more JScripts that record every keystroke and mouse movement. Granted, this has been possible for a long time; it’s the kind of data website UI designers use to figure out how to improve page layout. It answers the question of where people spend the most time with their eyes, and what they seem to be looking for. However, this has taken a somewhat more sinister turn lately, with major websites allowing third parties access to this info. Worst of all, the stream of mouse movements and keyboard typing can be sniffed in transit because it’s apparently unsecured. The presence of the script alone is enough to expose login passwords.

This is what I see with Links2.

This is why I love browsers that either control JScript or simply doesn’t use it at all. Granted, it makes some sites look funny, but it also reduces snooping. I spend most of my time surfing with Links2 in graphics mode. It doesn’t use JScript at all. This browser does require just a bit of savvy for set-up, but it’s quire rewarding.

I’ve adjusted my workout schedule a bit to accommodate what I imagine will best fit future needs. I now do my heavy workout in the park on Monday, followed by a long ride on Tuesday. Wednesday I do calisthenics with a moderate tension workout for my heart, then a longish fast-walk. Thursday is another long ride, followed by a repeat Friday of Wednesday, except I do high tension exercises for my muscles and a shorter but faster race-walk. Saturday I ride based on pure whim, just whatever appeals to me at the time. On top of this, each morning closely following wake-up I’ll do some kind of brief workout just to get the metabolism perking. That means doing just enough to break into a sweat.

I still wear a heavy brace for longer walks, even shopping, because it keeps me from needing to ice the knee afterward. The heavy brace presses directly around the patella in a sort of horseshoe shape on the bottom side, which is where the swelling shows up. I wear the light neoprene brace only for the Monday workouts, so that I can jump and run a little without the restriction of movement I get with the heavy brace.

We’ve been in this apartment for two years and it’s the first time I can recall being quite satisfied with a rental arrangement. We’ve had difficult neighbors along with the nice ones and the mix has been tolerable for the most part. The management has been among the most reasonable we’ve dealt with for a long time. Not perfect, mind you, but good enough for what we pay. We are thankful God led us here.

Posted in personal | Tagged , | Comments Off on Bits and Pieces 28

Thanksgiving 2017

Posted on November 23, 2017 by ehurst

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. (Romans 14:5-6 NKJV)

I’m of the latter type. To me, it seems if you fail to sincerely celebrate the Lord on ordinary days, your special holiday celebrations are an abomination. As I noted yesterday, my prophetic engine is running 24/7, so it’s hard for me to see any day as special, except in terms of ritual. We are commanded to celebrate certain days, and I know they are all connected to the cycles in Creation, so I have no complaint with such things. But I get really tired of hearing prissy nonsense about how your morals are supposed to be different on holidays. It’s a highly objectionable feature of culturally middle-class American holiday celebrations.

On top of that, I know American History all too well to buy into the crap about Pilgrims and Indians, because 1621 was not the real first Thanksgiving. The first formal festal meal took place in the summer two years later. When I taught history in public school, I often ruffled a lot of feathers.

That said, I have no complaints on celebrating the ritual in my own way. We are hosting my son and his family this year, and my beloved literally enjoys the labor of cooking this feast. It’s something for which she is truly gifted and it blesses everyone who eats her food, because she honestly does it heart-led. The only draw-back is that I don’t get to take a long ride, which is what normally happens on Thursdays. I’ll get over it.

So they’ve just come in the door and it’s time to push away from this computer and do something familial.

Posted in personal | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Thanksgiving 2017

The Law of Networking

Posted on November 22, 2017 by ehurst

This is just a prophetic warning to folks who assuredly aren’t listening to God in the first place.

First, a basic principle: The virtual world is not the same as the real world. What works in the latter doesn’t necessarily transfer to the former. This isn’t just a matter of practicality; God is backing this up. If you try to force your meat-space ways into virtual space, it won’t just fail, it will incur God’s wrath. The virtual world isn’t special or holy in any sense, but it most certainly is different.

This has nothing to do with my underlying dislike for how the so-far necessary hardware to access the virtual world is harmful to our human welfare. I use the Internet and spend an awful lot of time messing with networking and computers, but I will be the first to tell you this thing will bring a whole new kind of suffering and sorrow. That’s just part of our fallen existence; I have to use what God provides. That’s another issue entirely. My point is that it is different and you should not imagine that God and His Biblical Law has nothing to say about it. The principles are different simply because of what is and is not possible.

What isn’t possible is dragging all the legacy functions and systems of government into the Networked Age. I’ve been keeping track of legislation and technology, and I assure you that whatever passes for regulation and law enforcement in meat space is not going to work on the Net. It hasn’t worked so far, but you’ll notice that has not deterred the evil of broken humans truculently trying to force it.

Blunt warning: The virtual world will destroy the current government of the United States (and eventually most other currently existing governments). Funny how the US government created the Internet and it’s going to come back and devour the system that gave it birth. The Internet has a life of its own; it now exists independently of any meat-space efforts to control it. Further, those who actually run the Internet in terms of breathing life into it (technology developers) will become increasingly dismissive of attempts to hijack and reign in this thing they love and in effect worship.

So when US law enforcement agencies insist on dragging their (largely incompetent) meat space tactics and strategies into the networked world, they are fighting God. What this will require is a whole new kind of agency that starts off with all the different assumptions necessary to function on the Net. And that, in turn, will require a wholly different kind of government system. It’s funny how the US government is so friendly to the growth of technology companies and so utterly incompetent in using their products. When the current system collapses, you will see the rise of a new technocracy that ignores a whole swathe of inapplicable assumptions from the old ways. This is coming, so look for it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Law of Networking

God’s Reckoning and Support

Posted on November 22, 2017 by ehurst

You need two calendars.

Did you know we just passed through a New Moon? It was on the 18th. Most of us who passed through Western Christianity struggle with the lunar calendar. Yet it’s quite clear the Old Testament put quite a lot of emphasis on the lunar cycle. There were ritual observations of it. But it’s not a question of lunar versus solar calendars; both were tracked. A critical element of this was the provision of God:

And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night. And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. (Genesis 1:14-15 MKJV)

In other words, it’s so you’ll know what to expect. So it’s on you to pay attention; otherwise you are the one who suffers. Your testimony of shalom depends on this.

On the one hand, you could reduce it down to established science and know that there are complex-yet-subtle effects on human existence. You already know about ocean tides, I’m sure. Mariners pay a lot of attention to the lunar cycle for that reason; it’s a matter of gravity. They also pay attention to the slight variation in the moon’s distance from the earth as it travels in an elliptic orbit. Gravity pulling from two directions will affect the tides and it will most certainly affect your body. Again, it can be quite subtle, but quite real.

For example, if women paid attention to it, they would find God blesses them in various ways regarding their menstrual cycles. And while it’s more subtle for men, our bodies do respond to the lunar cycle with variations in different kinds of energy and rest.

On the other hand, the Bible offers substantial warnings not to turn this into another religion, as if the sun, moon and stars were deities. Don’t worship the creature, but the Creator. And I note in passing that while the stellar cycles do signal something to us, it’s not because the stars have much of a direct effect like the sun and moon. Pay attention to the messengers, but don’t bow down to them.

I’ll be honest: I’m not really good with this stuff. I have a hard time paying attention to what time of day it is, much less all the other stuff going on. There’s a good reason for that — I have a very prominent internal prophetic regime — but it doesn’t change what God has done and what He demands of us. I wish we had a trustworthy source on this, because no one of us can do it all.

So this raises another major problem we have to face here in our virtual parish. In a real physical parish, we would have different folks with different divine callings who would contribute their gifts and blessings to the common welfare of the parish. It’s not as if we would issue swords of any kind with powers of enforcement, but that each member would contribute something useful, and others could take what they needed. We can emulate that to some degree in our virtual parish, but it’s not the same.

Still, if someone in our circle of members felt led to keep track of the lunar cycles and such with a respect to Biblical traditions, it would sure make life better for all of us. There is no good widget for this that I can install to the blog interface, and I don’t want to entangle this blog with someone else’s tracker schemes. But the point here is that if you have a specialty site or blog that can contribute to the common welfare of our parish, I’d love to know about it. That covers the whole range of things we need to pursue Biblical Law and shalom.

Final note: We aren’t slaves to what came before. The Old Testament is not directly binding in the sense of ritual law, but is indicative in the sense of parable. We need to discover the blessings and promises as they apply in our context with all the crap that belongs to our age. There is a lot of silly nonsense, and some quite legalistic, offered out there on the Net about this very issue of lunar calendaring. Learn, but follow your own heart.

Posted in eldercraft | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on God’s Reckoning and Support

God’s Law Is Different 6

Posted on November 21, 2017 by ehurst

Throughout this series, I haven’t delved into the full details of anything. Instead, I’ve sought to mark out paths for your exploration. As always, I have full confidence that God can speak to your heart and guide your life where He wants you. Discussing His Law means nothing if it isn’t your own.

In this final part, I wanted to invoke a sense of vision. Can you see with your heart? Does it not show you that God intends to build a whole new community of faith? On the one hand, I am confident that what we have here is the fulfillment of what the word “church” is supposed to mean. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that if we use that term too much, outsiders will get the wrong idea. That’s why I use the term “virtual parish” for this blog. We will likely have to call it something other than “church,” maybe a lot of different terms in different places in the world. What matters is not branding like a franchise, but a genuine heart-led kind of faith.

The New Testament arose from little covenant families in their extended family households. The ideal is an extended household of blood-kinship, but it may take a generation or two to start seeing that. However, Biblical Law includes the provision that heart-led adoption of family is actually more binding than blood kinship. Still, we should hope to see a new generation of couples marrying in the heart-led way and raising families that way.

Have you ever tried to activate your heart sense around children? Especially with infants, it’s quite rare they don’t respond in some noticeable fashion. While the ideal is that we eventually develop an instinct for always being in the heart, for most of us Americans it means quite some years of trying to get used to that. But there are moments when it just comes over you, and other moments when you simply stop and take the time to give full conscious attention to it. Do that with children, anyone’s children. Learn to see the miracle of how they respond before their environment dampens what is entirely natural for us.

By now you should have already been doing that with the natural environment outside, so keep trying it with people close to you. Like everything in this life, the mightiest miracles take time. We are restoring Eden in our souls with this, so it’s what we are designed for, and shedding the false conditioning takes time. But it takes time for us and for others, as well. So make it a habit to turn inside yourself to the heart-led awareness with the people around you. While the initial reaction will be almost entirely inside yourself — the impulse to do for and with them things you might not have considered otherwise — it will surely change them, whether you get to see it or not. What matters is the miracle of how it will release things into your own soul.

Sooner or later, you can’t avoid building a community around this. That’s how God works. Like it or not, you will be the first elder. And as this community grows, it definitely needs an elder who knows the Law consciously, and is prepared to see God’s hand as He says it will work. That’s why we teach it in terms of law covenant: so you’ll consciously recognize it when you see it. The mind is designed to handle it on those terms. Biblical Law is a covenant of miracles.

Posted in eldercraft | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on God’s Law Is Different 6

Technology and Future-proofing

Posted on November 21, 2017 by ehurst

Someone asked me to explain my prayer request for that expensive laptop. First, a link to the machine in question. Primary advantage: Nobody has to worry about whether Linux can be installed and run on this thing; it comes with Ubuntu. I will never use Windows again, that’s for sure.

Dell does offer other machines with Linux, some cheaper. This one is future-proof, in that it has some of the most advanced technology available. Even better, this model has a long history of working exceptionally well, highly reliable as testified by numerous Linux users. It’s about as light as they come, and the 13″ size is the perfect trade-off between portability and big enough to get things done. (My little 10″ netbook didn’t have enough screen real estate to be very useful, so it’s death didn’t make me cry.) This thing can run future versions of Linux for quite some years to come.

Look, I’m not trying to collect new and fancy toys. I was content with what I had and praying that the aging tower and my current laptop would keep working. But as I was praying also about how to keep this blog running another nine years, as Jay has enthused, the Lord said to me, “Ask Me for new hardware.” You don’t have to participate in this blessing, but I’m convinced God has some plans here. I took a look at Chromebooks, but they aren’t tuned to writers. So after rejecting that, I cast about for something that would fit my needs better, and the XPS 13 is what caught my eye. I’ll be funneling toward it all the donations I receive from my computer tech support ministry.

So once again: This is not a fund-raiser, just a prayer request. We have all the time in the world, but this speaks of things to come and how God will be at work in my life and on this blog.

Posted in meta | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Technology and Future-proofing

Happy Blog Birthday 9

Posted on November 20, 2017 by ehurst

FYI: Today marks nine years on this blog. Had enough, yet?

Posted in meta | Tagged | Comments Off on Happy Blog Birthday 9

God’s Law Is Different 5

Posted on November 20, 2017 by ehurst

There is a difference between leadership and shepherding.

Leadership is a talent, a gift and calling from God. Most of us can do a little of it, but people who excel at it are somewhat rare. It may manifest with a lust for control, but that’s actually quite rare among leaders. Good leaders give a group shape and structure that matches the mission, always with their own personal imprint in how they do it. Too many institutions assume mission or subject matter expertise is all that’s needed, and most institutions are poorly led. You’ll notice that we haven’t had a really good president in the US in very long time, never mind any particular partisan interests.

Shepherding is the character of our Savior. If you know Jesus, you are a shepherd. Further, the heart-led way is best understood as shepherding. We are designed by God to shepherd Creation on His behalf, so no one is exempt. It’s not the same as leadership; it’s something rooted in the human existence. We are designed to live by love and compassion, and when we stand in a strong position, we cannot avoid operating in compassion. By default, we can all be mommies and daddies, and that’s the root of shepherding in the human soul. You aren’t complete as a human if you can’t parent.

In the Bible, the basic social structure of all Creation is feudal, and that means familial. Everything is personal and connected. While there are plenty of things you may be ill-equipped to handle expertly, but we have no excuse for withholding compassion. We are all experts at caring in one way or another. Thus, it is our duty to God to discern what we should care about.

Furthermore, Creation is distinctly binary in the sense of gender. You are either male or female. We can debate what that should mean in any given social context, but the Bible is relentless about embracing and appreciating what sex God made you to be. There is a distinct moral mandate attached to it, a non-optional role to play — shepherd or shepherdess. Both are essential to the proper balance of things.

And it is inevitable that we should find ourselves in conflict with society on this issue. A world that rejects Biblical Law cannot get this right. The Bible assumes that the world will always bear an element of rejecting both the clear division between roles, as well as what the roles demand. I’ve already published a couple of books about this, so we won’t rehash the details here.

What I do need to cover is something that isn’t so obvious in the context of this series. Biblical Law presumes the heart-led way, and the heart-led way presumes that you are in touch with your whole self as part of being in touch with Creation. It’s not a question of health and fitness as our broken society imagines it, but a matter of being fully connected to your calling and purpose so that you know your divine duty. Physical fitness is all about having your body fit your calling.

We are all obliged to have an interest and some knowledge about this. It’s mandatory; you cannot exercise the full power of the heart-mind if you pay no attention to what your body has to say about itself. It’s all one organism and we distinguish the various aspects and parts only for academic discussion. The heart puts mind, body, soul, emotions, and everything in their proper place as one united entity serving God’s purpose. Everyone has to be aware of how to talk about such things.

In particular, the question is not fixing things, but learning how God intends you to live in this fallen world. That’s what Biblical Law is all about. There are some health issues you can improve and some you just have to live with, and no one person can tell you where the balance point is. You are required by God to examine the issues and know His will for you. And that extends to His will for your shepherding of others.

How can a man shepherd his household if he is ignorant his wife’s health issues? This is implied as part of that passage where God says men should rule their households well (1 Timothy 3). I note in passing that the offices of deacon and deaconess are the goal for everyone in the congregation, not just the called leaders.

Further, it is a potential, and perhaps an eventuality, that every man and woman be ready to stand as elder. The surviving competent head of household among both sexes is how elders are chosen. Someone has to make certain decisions, and men in particular have to provide the moral covering of God. How can a man cover what he has not bothered to understand? Men, if you are or expect to be married, you cannot let this slide — two shall become one flesh. Her flesh is your own body, so pay attention and nurture. No one says you have to be a general expert, but if you aren’t paying attention and reaching for what you can grasp, you have already failed.

You should assume this works both ways, ladies, but I note from experience that women seem to grasp this instinctively despite American culture. That same culture promotes by presumption that men would be ignorant of their spouse’s and children’s health issues. Their welfare is your welfare. Men, you can’t shepherd if you don’t watch the health of your flock. This is not a specialty, but a generality. Sit down with your family; tell them about the power of the heart. Then, from time to time consciously reach out to them with your heart-mind and simply sense where their souls are, and pray for their well being. This works even better if they are within the physical proximity for heart wave entanglement (20-30 feet; 6-9 meters).

This is a critical part of our testimony, an undeniable element in our shalom.

Posted in eldercraft | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on God’s Law Is Different 5

God’s Law Is Different 4

Posted on November 19, 2017 by ehurst

The nature of God’s Law presumes more than a covenant, but a covenant community.

Right away we are up against a problem: For Americans in particular, it is exceedingly difficult to find human fellowship in the heart-led way. We have countless millions of cerebral and emotional believers around us, but most of us are very fortunate to find a single fellow believer in our geographic vicinity who grasps the heart-led way. The churches where we should be welcomed are only interested in tearing this away from us. I’m not the only heart-led follower of Christ who was pushed out the door.

God will change that; He will awaken others, but it will take awhile. A critical element in this coming time of tribulation is to shatter the smug self-assurance of those convinced they have it all figured out. That includes a large measure of church-going folks. They don’t see this coming; they are thoroughly unprepared to recognize how God is working. This is no time for resentment at how they have made us feel unwelcome. They will be scattered like lost sheep and we cannot help usher in a new age of heart-led awareness unless we stand ready to welcome everyone, even those who haven’t been nice to us.

So we have a burden to establish a better system, a community of faith that accounts for the coming turmoil. We need to sharpen our discernment through Biblical Law and ensure none of this difficulty catches us off guard. It starts with a firm reliance on what the Word teaches us about human nature in the context of Creation alive with God’s moral character. We may not have much of a human community now, but if we don’t prepare our lives for it in advance, we will be scrambling with the same level of confusion as those we seek to welcome. The path leads through community with the rest of Creation, the non-human part.

Learn how to keep an eye on what actually matters. The turmoil we already see is just the beginning of sorrows. Our Creator expects us to learn how to take it in stride. That requires a thorough frame of reference based on Biblical Law. It requires that we are already on the ground doing what His truth teaches us, consistent with the nature of reality. The coming storms of tribulation are just a part of that reality. Our testimony will present a banner of safety and security, a lifestyle of shalom that people can’t ignore.

Our Lord currently has precious few people to spread His heart-led truth. Following Jesus means that we are all shepherds in one way or another, never mind what the flock looks like. Some of you will become elders and pastors, and some of you will need to recognize when those called leaders show up, driven by the storm. That kind of discernment is built into the heart-led way. It’s a solid expectation that the natural biblical feudalism will take over when we give the Spirit room to work. Prepare the ground of your life for that kind of growth to sprout and take root. Even if everything in your context seems to militate against that, recognize that the resistance to feudalism is a lie and keep acting as if Biblical Law is very real and authoritative. The conflicts will eventually shift into your favor.

There will be a time of struggle initially. Even desperate refugees will come dragging their bad habits with them. As much as possible, you should prepare yourself to do things the right way, and be able to talk about it. All this blather here at Kiln of the Soul is aimed at providing at least a sample of how to talk about these things. If you know God can bring floundering souls to your anchorage of faith, you should know He’s going to tell you how to make it work. Don’t be hidebound, of course, but have a clear image of what He requires of you, and a strong idea of where you have to draw the boundaries. Don’t panic if a few folks start to gather around you only to have their old follies hijack things. Draw those boundaries in plain sight and don’t support things that belong to the old dead system that failed them once already. Don’t be shocked if it seems you are getting kicked out again; make your position clear from the beginning.

But by all means, if you are going to teach it, you need to live it. That means however much community you have now, whether as part of a family household or simply as an individual with a circle of friends, you are walking in the gentle truth of Biblical Law. You cannot drag someone into this beyond the natural moral dominion you have over them. And we’ve already explored dealing with authority that drags you into a lie; learn to discern your authority to act in every context — your heart knows. There is a very great power in simply keeping that internal communion with Creation whether folks around you sense it or not. Ensure that communion is working before you look for ways to express that joy in how you act.

If you build a strong communion in your heart with Creation first, it naturally follows that creatures will be drawn to you. Sooner or later, that means human creatures, as well

Posted in eldercraft | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on God’s Law Is Different 4