Three in one: Humans

Genesis 2:7:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

So there existed this man named Nee To-sheng, which in English is Watchman Nee. He lived in the twentieth century, and he died in prison on account of his faith in what Kurt Haley refers to as "that love."

Br'er Watchman taught (probably in some book like The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit, but I'll need to check) that from this verse, which he thought pivotal to understanding some other passages in the Bible, we receive a trinitarian notion of what humans are. So the dust of the ground is Adam's body, his physical form, what John Sewell calls his earth suit. And the very breath of God is Adam's life-breath, his motive force, that marvelous synergy that distinguishes corpses from babies and belles and beaus. And the life of the man is in the relation of body and spirit, the "living being" of the passage above.

Pentecost

The liturgical color of the Church is red, m-th-rf---r.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy God's Spirit Day!

Abbey

I want to found a missional, multigenerational, covenantal, family abbey.

Abbey
Place of refuge, quiet, work, prayer:
Community Life (Life with one another.)


Missional
We have a shared hope of the Best;
we hold out the words of life to the world that is dying.
We honor the image of God in every human, and enjoy the creation of God in everything--we remember the Incarnation.
We embrace sorrow and suffering as crosses--they remind us of the Passion of the Cross.
We not only permit parting but encourage multiplication--we return to "unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it will bear no fruit." We pass through death to find Resurrection.
We edify one another, in one accord with God's Holy Spirit, forming His Church, gathering in Jesus' Name.


Covenantal
3 vows:

Obedience with Charity; Charity in Authority (Love)
A Few Disciplines Among Many-Secret Giving, Swift Compliance, Bearing With One Another

Faith and Faithfulness (Faith)
A Few Disciplines Among Many-Chastity, Prayer, Recalling the Truth of One Another

Simplicity and Purity (Hope)
A Few Disciplines Among Many-Keeping Short Accounts, Giving Time, Believing the Best of One Another


Family
We want households, pairing, the issue of children, the increase of man's promised dominion over the earth; we want travel, hospitality, help, adoption; we want art, craft, intellect, passion, expression; all redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We desire nature in all its fullness to be penetrated and enfolded by supernature in all its emptiness.

Site that support's Julie's Well

I have in mind to start a site to collect money, maybe sell T shirts for Julie's project in collaboration with Mission: Water for Life.

Blog => Wiki, v.v.

I want a wiki to blog in.

He Knows Your Name

Each grain of sand is a beautiful work of art.

And not a sparrow falls, ...

This gives a certain amount of texture to God's covenant with Abraham to make the number of his descendants like the grains of sand on the seashore, like the stars in the sky.

Power vs Grace

Power is transferrable.

Power to kill, power to heal, power to organize, power to communicate. Any of these might be used for evil, or could be used for good.

Grace is personal.

Grace is transgressive. Grace is a bigger word than mercy, and orthogonal to power in several ways--I must think a while to enumerate.

Thought brought to mind while watching Iron Man, particularly the "Oh my goodness, I've been enabling betrayal and the death of my countrymen scene." It wasn't that I thought that plot arc was terribly well executed--I had no sense of truth in Stark's realization: it seemed superficial, like watching Jim Carrey in his first few non-comedic roles.

Feast of the Ascension

I learned a new word today.

Giaour. It is word of Turkish origin that Muslims use to refer to infidels, or Christians, or Greeks. It is old. Lord Byron wrote a poem titled Giaour.

I learnt it from Lepanto. If ever I own or have access to a camera regularly, I'll record it for you on the 'tube. (In no sense do I understand conversational Deustch; I just like how it sounds, and am amazed by what one can learn without understanding the narrator.)

So it wasn't the wasted day I labored to make it after ten.

My point in bringing all this up is that I had no idea, none, that Chesterton wrote verse. It's like suddenly discovering that in your friend's attic are the scores of really good portraits she's done for the last twenty years which she never mentioned. Also: Cervantes reference!

And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye, 45
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.
...
And death is in the phial and the end of noble work, 100
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John's hunting, and his hounds have bayed—
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid.
...
Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain, 140
Up which a lean and foolish knight for ever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)