Scott Ott wrote:
>Saul of Tarsus, as Don astutely points out, was a
>zealous persecutor and an accessory to the murder of Christians (not
>really a serial killer as such).
OK, Moses or David then.
> But "Did God see Paul in Saul?" Don asks. The answer is "yes", but
>not in the sense that I see potential in my children to someday be great
>singers, ball players, or social workers.
The teaching that impacted me on this subject was pastor and TV preacher
Myles Monroe. He says that God is a God of potential, not facts. He is
omni-potentent. He only sees the potential in his creation before we were
in our mother's womb, not the facts. He referred to Saul as a serial
killer to make it more culturally relevant, because of the fact that Saul
was a know murderer (or the hiring party) of Christians. In other words he
sees deep into the hearts of man, beyond the illusion of the facts. I'm
not referring to performance appraisal within time based on current facts
or predictions.
When I see my children sleeping...time stands still. In those peak
belonging moments, I'm selfless, all I see is a wonderful creation of God
regardless of grades, sin, religious interpretation, or performance. In
other words, I see purity, compassion, and sense of beauty when my
knowledge of the facts or scriptural interpretation says otherwise. [Which
is why I find no help in performance appraisals, grades, punishment,
rewards and see simply love and potential] I as a leader at home or at
work treat Jew or Greek, Christian or Buddist, Theist or Atheists exactly
the same. As Senge writes when speaking of Jesus in the Fifth Discipline
(can't recall the chapter) truth -- that which was, is, and will be --
delivers. That which was, is, and will be inside of you.
> Paul himself answered Don's question by saying that basically he had
>"nothing good " (Romans 7:18) within himself.
Exactly. That is Paul's answer and how he sees himself based on the chaff
of his knowledge of good and evil. Metanoia, or shift of mind, is
awakening shared intuition or direct knowing of God within through the
Way, Truth, and Life we awaken to the Holy Spirit-the omni-present breath
of God breathed into us before the creation of the world. When this
discontinuous awakening happened to me I moved away from my conditioned
ego thought system based on the illusion of knowledge of good and evil to
the latent unconditioned thinking-shared intuition. Jesus burned the
chaff off the seed, with unquenchable fire. I came as a child and
instantaneously entered the kingdom of God. Those who are not yet
awakened, are not set free. Still living under the law. They set aside
grace for human effort and then attempt to measure performance.
> I empathize with Don, in that I would like to "go back to the garden"
>to an age of innocence before the rebellion of humans against God.
Choose it. You will see the garden in the desert. A desert rose. A tree
of Life. A sense of compassion and beauty for the world around you. Did
Christ die for nothing?
>However, we live between the fall and the resurrection.
For me, I recall the resurrection came after three days? Every time
someone receives the Way-Truth-Life and their shared intuition is
awakened...they are resurrected to an eternal garden. Which is why no one
can predict when Christ will come.
> Jesus did not call out "good" people to be his followers. Nor did
>Jesus call out the good in people.
Right. He hung out with people who were considered sinners based on
knowledge of good and evil. What did he see? Rather, what did he see
beyond?
> Another LO friend e-mailed this morning to repeat the age-old attacks
>against Christianity --- all the evil done by men in the name of God, &
>etc.; and to rebuke me for discussing "theology" on the LO. He expressed
>pity for me that I saw everyone as " evil" and was therefore "surrounded
>by all those demons every day."
Maybe the prevailing paradigm in Christianity or at least it's marketing
department, needs some LO facilitation? Maybe I do? I don't know. That's
the point.
>Jesus Christ tore down the barrier between God and humans...
>Amen to that!
> Following Jesus means seeing people through the
>compassionate eyes of a creator God who longs to restore communion with
>humanity.
Yes! He did tear down the barrier.
>... not because of something good inside the humans, but because of God's
>mercy, grace and love.
I agree. It is not because of something good or evil inside humans. That
is irrelevant. Mercy triumphs over judgement!
> This is not just theology, it is essential to our understanding of
>people and therefore to the development of learning organizations.
>
>Scott Ott
Thank you Scott. Grace & Peace received. Essential it is. In essentials
unity, in non-essentials freedom, in all things charity. Love is
essential.
Have a Great Adventure!
Don Kerr
--"Kerr, Donald A" <Donald.A.Kerr@USAHQ.UnitedSpaceAlliance.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>