🔊 @IntuitiveSacred • All Wondrous Sacred • Intuitive Public Radio • IPR •••

Susan Raffo wrote,

' I was recently listening to someone explain that what we call stress is actually fear, but western thought sees fear as a weakness and so has shapeshifted the experience of fear - which is internal - to the narrative of stress - which is more about how the outside environment impacts our sense of self. It’s a kind of subtle collective override. And so I want to name my sped up heartbeat as fear: the fear of being visible to a stranger and uncertain about what might happen in our encounter. The fear of being alone when the weather turns intense. The fear of not knowing where I am going to sleep at night. The fear of giving up and disappointing people. The fear of dissociating and somehow wasting this experience. The fear of the semi trucks hurtling by a few feet from where I am walking. The fear of not having enough water, food or warmth.

The word “fear” is an old German word which first meant “danger.” It’s older root means to try, to risk. In the 1400s, the word fear started to mean a feeling of dread and reverence for God and I have no idea what to do with that. Everything about what I just wrote is a poem, a story, an arc of memories. The word terror means “great fear, dread, alarm, panic” and the word “horror” comes from an old word meaning “to bristle” and refers to the gooseflesh and hair raising that happens when we are truly frightened. And finally, the word “scare” is an old Norse word and means “timid, shy, to shrink from, to avert.” '

https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?e=8a64fccf9a&u=8dd95bae4cdbed8f0d3bb6f17&id=5c584b1d1b

t.me/RealityWalking/228

(...con't)

' “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” - Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew

Well, like that unwanted mustard seed (it’s a weed, tellingly) who sprouts into a glorious resting place for birds, every act of Christ has the possibility of calling our minds and hearts in to fertilize his actions, then watch what blooms. In other words, I think he knew what he was doing, not just saying.

However, I'll be damned, because I originally came here not to sermonize but to share what I think is a rare chunk of Gospel text that, despite its commonness, truly does soar to literary heights (and has the added benefit of summarizing, for me, everything I need to know about how to live). I like to picture Jesus here smiling through these words, maybe even a bit facetiously...

""And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them."" - Jesus, the Gospel of Luke '

facebook.com/share/p/9vwmVVj2y8hNUCiz

t.me/JewishAncestor/1201
t.me/JewishAncestor/1202