(Yeshua's way)
... simply entrusting himself to the one
who judges justly, then he went on
to do all the good that he could as the son
of creative love - who's already begun.
He looked up…
Yeshua's way - to walk through life, & to follow: Acts 10:38-43; 1Pet 2:12,15,19-25; Ps 121; Ps 123; Mk6:41; Mk 7:34; Jn 14:8-14; Jn 5:16-17,19-20 (https://www.openbible.info/topics/doing_good_deeds)
The two times in Acts where Jesus' ambassador to the non-Jewish nations, Paul, was talking to a non-Jewish audience, he comes out with different, though similar beautiful explanations of the new conditions of interchange between these dimensions of reality: Heaven & Earth.
We’ve come to bring the Message of a new
agreement here between you people and
the maker of this world, a father to
each human whom he sees as in command
of this world, and maybe this Universe,
and since he gave us his own motive force,
we will not try to make you (that's perverse)
- unless you claim that as your way, of course.
But if we can persuade you, help you see
the sense in trusting, with wonder & awe,
the living God … embrace this God so we
can learn the reason we've been put here for.
The Ecosystem God; who made all this—
these spaces to exist, and live and be,
the heavens and the earth, sky, sea, all which
would live and move, & ultimately breathe
the breath, the wind, the spirit of all life,
that's worth the living, in the mind of God
and every thing within these places rife
with vast existence, and with care that's odd.
“In generations long before us, God
let all the different nations go their ways.
But even then he didn’t leave each bod
with no clue -for he made what good displays
within creation, poured down rain and gave
the bumper crops that come, to tide the bad.
And with your bellies full, the way was paved
for grateful happy hearts, to see and add,
and be conduits themselves to others too.
And sure they might need help to do it well;
but help was right at hand, to help us do
what's needed, so to make this less like hell.
From scratch, he made the human race itself,
and made the earth hospitable, with hope
& heaps of time and space to live in health
we could seek after God, and not just grope
around within the dark, but really find
this God (who’s not remote at all) per chance,
he’s near as air we breathe, before, behind.
We live, and move in him, who made up dance.
God overlooked our ignorance in past
times, knowing that folk knew no better then
but I'm so glad to say that needn't last.
The spotlight's shone on New Adarm - that's when
he conquered death, and scarcity, and fear!
He's calling you to live in his own realm,
and in his way; to know that God is near.
He calls this change of life. He's at the helm.
"..we’re here to bring you the Message, to persuade you to … embrace God himself, the living God. We don’t make God; he makes us, and all of this—sky, earth, sea, and everything in them. “In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then he didn’t leave them without a clue, for he made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops. When your bellies were full and your hearts happy, there was evidence of good beyond your doing.” Acts 14:14-18 MSG
The other time Paul was talking to a non-Jewish audience he comes out with similar beautiful turns of phrase…
" Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! … … “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. Acts 17:24-31 MSG
I want to grow in wisely expressing this God's amazing grace and thoughtful love. If you have any suggestions, as to ways forward for me, I'll (try to) listen carefully
Chris sits there and smiles a cheesy grin,
and wonders if this life is but a whim,
though he won't write no poetry or sing…
he'd rather have a pie with cinnamon.
And Paul is "pushy" as he often is,
it's hard to grapple with a constant fizz
of fireworks exploding near your self,
he seems to be a life of constant health.
There's things that both of us have gotta do,
and that is prob'ly just the same for you,
but sometimes just the chance to share the view
with ways to spend the time with thoughts more true,
brings courage and clear thinking to the heart.
I've found it helps to look back to the start,
then check to see you're looking at your part.
And move on with or without map and chart.
Paul Walker & Christian Uys, Mon 13 June 2022CE, pm.
The most creative being t'ever "be",
the most high god, who's over and around,
and made all that we call reality
(if we allow that "agency" abounds).
And being one of those who are an a-
gent - of most high author, author-ity,
- the highest role to act within this pa-
gent/ play we're acting in to act like the
creative love that dreamed this whole place up,
continues dreaming in a effort to,
enable us to have have some space, enough
to live in, with some choice good things to do.
And as a playwright could, within their play,
make space to introduce themselves within
the play to meet the characters one day,
and interact, and "learn from", "see" what's been
going down, within the play itself,
and could also be acting that same part,
it seems to me you came and acted well
for us, as tradesman living here, to start,
and growing in a family, in a place
that's occupied by foreign troops that "won",
with culture wars occuring in that "space",
& Empire Ways acclaiming they've begun,
& brought an end to other ways to be.
While all this time you're dreaming, so our lives
feel like they're lived within reality,
you keep on serving, being who provides.
One of Yeshua's Ambassadors in the First Century CE gave this as part of the introduction to his announcement in Athens:
Σταθεὶς ⸀δὲ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου ἔφη· Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ· διερχόμενος γὰρ καὶ ἀναθεωρῶν τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν εὗρον καὶ βωμὸν ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο· Ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ. ⸀ὃ οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, ⸀τοῦτο ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν. ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ⸂ὑπάρχων κύριος⸃ οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ⸀ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸς διδοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν ⸂καὶ τὰ⸃ πάντα· ἐποίησέν τε ἐξ ⸀ἑνὸς πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ ⸂παντὸς προσώπου⸃ τῆς γῆς, ὁρίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν, ζητεῖν τὸν ⸀θεὸν εἰ ἄρα γε ψηλαφήσειαν αὐτὸν καὶ εὕροιεν, καί γε οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντα. ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν· Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν. γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ, χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου, τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον. τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ θεὸς τὰ νῦν ⸀παραγγέλλει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ⸀πάντας πανταχοῦ μετανοεῖν, ⸀καθότι ἔστησεν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ μέλλει κρίνειν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν, πίστιν παρασχὼν πᾶσιν ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν. ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ 17:22-31 SBLG
I've paraphrased it thus:
I've walked around and through, and up and down,
since God set things up so I could see, and
observe and understand the truest ground
and highest hopes that you now understand;
and saw this… , read your writing on the wall… ,
and in your prophet-poets writings too… ,
and bring the next stage on, this herald "small",
has been sent to announce this thing to you!
“The God who made the world and everything
with-in it, yes this Master of the sky
(the mythic heavens that recede and sing
of bigger, farther ways of being high),
this Master of the land (which is our home)
is not contained in special man-made shrines,
nor needs the human race to run or moan
for him, as if he couldn’t "toe a line".
God makes the creatures; creatures don’t make him.
And too, from scratch, he made all of our race,
and made the earth hospitable, his whim
for living in, with heaps of time and space,
so we could seek ourselves after our ground
of being, want to know it, and be known,
and not just grope around until we found
a hand-held somthing, that we could be "shown".
This Being planned, like parent with their tod-
dler, to be found by child in "Hide & Seek".
He’s not removed, remote, this might seem odd:
because we can't discern, he isn't weak!
God’s near. We live and move in God, we're hung,
we can’t get out! - beacouse we're in God's womb.
One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re sprung
from God.’ Well, if we are God-sprung, a tomb,
a piece of dead rock won't make much good sense
to think of as an icon for pure life.
We have to have a living one to cleanse
and bring some higher, stronger aid in strife."
He's like a Father of a small child though,
and ignorance is what he just expects,
until the time comes, and he makes things known,
we're more responsible then, with respect
to what we've known and how we hold it too,
and whether we will mock and laugh at change
in thinking and in action we must do
to take into account this new arrange-
ment here now, as we're growing in this wait-
world, where a brother born to bigger life
has been seen for a bit, to demonstrate,
he's God's appointed leader in this strife!
One of Yeshua's Ambassadors in the First Century CE gave his Announcement in Athens:
So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with."
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-sprung.’ Well, if we are the God-sprung, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?"
“30God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. 31He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” …" Acts 17:22-31
At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split:
Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes;
others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” (But that was it for the day, and Paul left).
There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
O personal creative love you are,
the God of me, but not like other gods.
The deal for you is not just more pow-er,
but love and suffering against the odds.
And that is what I long for, long for you.
My whole being de-si-res you, and your
approach to life, and all the things you do,
the way you live, and give, and will do more.
So, like a dry, worn-out, and cracked, parched land,
my soul is thirsty for you, and you way.
Let me see you where it is you'd stand,
in sanctuaries where you are displayed.
I start to understand that your weakness
is stronger than the greatest strength of gods
who try for strength & power, but you bless
who basks in your hesed, with better odds
as far as might, & glory, life itself.
So I will praise you, long as I can thank,
as I can look for good, and honour wealth
that's not just fake, like dollars in some bank.
I'll praise with human words what should get air-
play, in and with our conversations here.
I dedicate all action, word and stare
to you who loves, and made me to appear.
My soul is feasting, satisfied in you,
and I will gladly sing of all you do.
I lie in bed, recall and think of who
has been my help, and kept me safe, renewed!
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. Let me see you in the sanctuary; let me see how mighty and glorious you are. Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you. I will give you thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to you in prayer. My soul will feast and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to you. As I lie in bed, I remember you; all night long I think of you, because you have always been my help. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. I cling to you, and your hand keeps me safe. Those who are trying to kill me will go down into the world of the dead. They will be killed in battle, and their bodies eaten by wolves. Because God gives him victory, the king will rejoice. Those who make promises in God's name will praise him, but the mouths of liars will be shut. Psalm 63:1-11 GNTD
"Wives (who have heard the word of Jesus, and now follow him) , in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
(One of Jesus' Ambassadors for his new Kingdom, writing to some other followers of "The Way" in the First Century B.C.E. - 1 Pet 3:1-2 (bracketed italics added by me, to explain context))
Well how on earth can meaning be transferred
from one being to others with no word?
This really is a silly question, but
once language has been learned, with some effort,
we tend to concentrate upon what we
just put our work into. Then we don't see
what's patently around on ev'ry side.
That seems to be the way that humans ride!
And if we stay within our culture group,
then ou-r language learned, will mainly scoop
the meaning from around us. We'll forget
the meaning passed without a word. And yet,
there wouldn't be a day goes by, without
much meaning, messages, passed all about,
around us, and within our very selves.
No body that's alive can live but else-
wise messaging about it's food and drink,
it's temperature, and pressure.. Can you think
of any plant, or animal, or bird,
a fish, or insect which will use the word
to so communicate, and yet they do
quite often with their species, and those who
would care to draw some meaning if they can.
And then within a body that's hu-man
We find it is the same. So how d'y'do?
And then recall someone who smiled at you.
Or kissed to welcome, or just shook your hand.
Or saw a need and helped. You'll understand.
"Actions speak, louder than words" (old English proverb)
"Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”... If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” [Jesus, as recorded by one of his Ambassadors for his new and coming Kingdom, where he speaks of the Creator God as a loving Father: (but note the chief conduit he declares for transferring his message from this Father to these people around him, not his words, but his works.) Jn 10:32, 37-38 NRSV-CI]
I note that the Appostle Paul
preludes with a clear connection to their present lives, and practices, and conceptual thinking.
tells their past HiStorY (clear and to the point part of the big story of God and humans),
tells the NEW present day part of HiStorY,
links this to their own prophet insights,
gives them a present imperative, (here, & now)
which involves changing their allegiance to this new King, and thus
trusting this new King [who has been presently christened (but not yet appointed) by God on Earth] and learning to do his will.
Also I note that he addresses
The Authority of the Author of everything.
The oneness of humanity
The way to view God that is pre-eminently as our Father, that has nearness, and hope of relationship implicit within it.
The concept of "through-ness" or agency, vice regency (God ruling through this man)
mercy or love shown in appointing a human (that we can see) as our ruler and judge, who will be fair, and impartial.
PRELUDE:
Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, “I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious. For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, ‘To an Unknown God’. That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. Acts 17:22-23 GNBDK
"God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one human being he created all races on earth and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt about for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us; as someone has said, ‘In him we live and move and exist.’ It is as some of your poets have said, ‘We too are his children.’ Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill. God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways. For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!” Acts 17:24-31 GNBDK
"I'm representing here and now to you:
the God, who made the world and everything
with-in it, is the Lord and Boss of who
is in this holy place, each hoof and wing,
as well as rock and tree, and gas and space,
"the heavens and the earth", in short. So he
does not depend on us, the human race.
And can't be captured in a place that we
have made with our own hands. Nor does he need
some thing we could supply by working for
him, since it's he himself who gives and breathes
our lives and all things else to all, and more;
so from one human being he create-
-ed all the races on earth and made them
to live throughout the whole earth. He has made
and fixed beforehand places, where & when
they'd get to live. He did this so that they
would look for him, and so perhaps would find
him as they felt about for him. They say
he's not that far from anyone. We find
that some have said, ‘In him we live and move
and are - exist.’ It's as your poets said,
‘We too are all his children.’ This would prove
that we should not suppose his nature dead,
or anything that's imaged here of gold
or silver, stone, or shaped by art and skill.
So God has overlooked the times of old
when people did not know him, or his will.
But now he has commanded all of us
that's everywhere, to turn away from sole-
-ly selfish ways. He's made a pretty fuss
& fixed a day in which he'll judge the whole
world justly by means of a chosen man.
He's given proof of this, a way to test,
by raising him from death - as just he can!
- not just to more of this life, but the next”
Acts 17:16-31 (Greek and various English translations)
