Letting Parables Live

Read this. I don't know anything about Walter Wink, but this little essay is very mythic.

Mythic Autobiography

I was thirsty, so I took my bucket to the well, but it was dry. "What now, Lord?" I asked. He said, "Hold your bucket up to me." And it began to rain.

It grew dark, so I tried to light a torch, but it was wet from the rain. "What now, Lord?" I asked. He said, "Come, sit and talk with me a while." And while we talked, the dawn broke.

The sun grew hot, and I rose to break my fast, but there was nothing to eat. "What now, Lord?" I asked. He said, "Bring your bucket and come with me." And together we walked to the fields.

The full bucket was too heavy, so I set it down. "What now, Lord?" I asked. "Tip it over. You have too much." So I tipped the bucket, and it watered the fields.

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I was thirsty, so I held my bucket up to the Lord.

I Am Free

Simple message in this song, and that's what makes it so powerful:

I Am Free
(Newsboys)

Through you the blind will see
Through you the mute will sing
Through you the dead will rise
Through you our hearts will praise
Through you the darkness flees
Through you my heart screams I am free
I am free

I am free to run
I am free to dance
I am free to live for you
I am free
Yes, I am free

Being free-d gives us the chance to join Him in helping the blind to see, the mute to sing, the dead to rise.

Welcome to the Kingdom of King Jesus.

Wow.

Left Brain and Right Brain

Before you roll your eyes, thinking, "Oh, no, another personality test," read this little list:

Preferences of the Two Sides of the Brain

Description of the Left-Hemisphere Functions
—Constantly monitors our sequential, ongoing behavior
—Responsible for awareness of time, sequence, details, and order
—Responsible for auditory receptive and verbal expressive strengths
—Specializes in words, logic, analytical thinking, reading, and writing
—Responsible for boundaries and knowing right from wrong
—Knows and respects rules and deadlines

Description of the Right-Hemisphere Functions
—Alerts us to novelty; tells us when someone is lying or making a joke
—Specializes in understanding the whole picture
—Specializes in music, art, visual-spatial and/or visual-motor activities
—Helps us form mental images when we read and/or converse
—Responsible for intuitive and emotional responses
—Helps us to form and maintain relationships

Well, it would seem the right brainers have an advantage in the world of mythic reality. Google the terms "right brain" and spirituality and you'll find that spiritists of all makes try to get people in touch with their right brains.

But is this a legitimate way to describe a hidden reality? Does this kind of analysis offer insight into spirituality? Is a left/right brain quiz a window into a person's very soul? Is the soul a function of the brain synapses? Should left brainers seek to stimulate their right hemispheres more often? Would they hear the voice of God then? Could they be caught up in the mythic reality of their lives if they did?

So many questions, so many threads...

I'll say this much about the matter. I believe that there is endless havoc wreaked in the kingdom by people trying to get others to be like them. "Think like me! Act like me! Believe like me!" God is a god of VARIETY. And the very act of trying to get someone to think or act a certain way is akin to "setting an image before him." It's very much like idolatry. How can I say that?

Imagine setting an image (a suggestion, a view, a perspective, a suggestion) before someone and expecting them to pay it respect, to pay homage, to follow it.

Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of the Kingdom will be the END, once and for all, of all the convincing, cajoling, arguing, explaining that goes on in this embarrassing age of reason in the name of "right and wrong." Egads.

So, a situation comes along. Those who lean toward the left respond. Those who lean toward the right respond. And that collective response is good. Each one being his very self in the matter.

Left brain, right brain. BE WHAT YOU ARE. Ah, my friends. God is a genius, and He has offered you to the Kingdom exactly as you are. Dabble in it. Explore it. Know it. Offer it.

Heh. I gotta write some kind of story about this. Then I'll see it better.

Conclusions, Decisions

The longer I walk in this story, the more I come to see just how I operate inside.

The last few months, I've been noticing a lot of times when my heart 'knows' before my head figures it out. This happens especially when there's a decision to be made or a conclusion to be reached about something. I'll grapple with something for weeks and weeks in my head, doing the whole "pros and cons" thing, calculating, estimating, weighing--and at the end, after I make a decision and take an action, I'll remember moments when my heart was saying, "this is never going to happen" or "that isn't really you now, is it?" or "this is what you want."

I have to admit that the normal pattern is for my brain to do an end-around on my heart. It's kinda like some idiot mamager who has a brilliant employee, and the employee comes in and presents a plan to the manager. Then at the next department meeting, the manager presents the plan as if it was his all along and doesn't mention the guy who actually dreamed it up. That's what my brain does to my heart all the time.

It's hard to leave it at "because that's what I feel we should do". I like to offer reasons for the things I do, explain why I chose this or that. But I gotta ask, for a man of God who's "living from the heart", where is the need for a "decision"? When would I ever need to "come to a conclusion"? Are decisions and conclusions even necessary?

(I realize that for a lot of the mechanical stuff in life you have to compare or evaluate and make boring decisions. But I'm talking about the stories of life--where to spend our energy, who to engage with, which direction to go, stuff like that.)

I'm at a point where the more clearly I can see when it's my heart and when it's my head, the safer place I am in, even if it's a completely dangerous or irrational one.

That's the idiot manager speaking, I know.

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore

www.jakecolsen.com

This book is a MUST READ for anyone trying to understand life in the mythic reality. Please read it, and if you want, post your thoughts here.

You won't regret it.

Anthimeria

Remember learning what a gerund was in fifth grade? It's the noun-form of a verb. Generally, it's formed by adding -ing to a verb. So you have the verb run, and the gerund running. You might say, "I run (verb) all the time. I love running (noun)."

The action becomes the thing.

I learned a new word today. It's anthimeria: the substitution of one part of speech for another; typically a noun used as a verb--also known as (and for example) "verbing a noun". Another word for the same practice is verbification.

Here are some examples:

I just "googled" the word anthimeria.
Please "FTP" me the file.
"The thunder would not peace at my bidding." (Shakespeare, King Lear, IV, vi)

It seems to me that in the mythic world, nouns can as easily become verbs. Things can become their action. The essence of a thing (its noun-ness) becomes its activity (its verb-ness).

The viper snaked its way through the grass.
Go and soldier for the Kingdom.
Father me, God.

The design of a thing naturally becomes its outworking, especially those things that have life in them.

I believe its God's way.

May we life so simply today.