It's been fun spending time considering each of these five phrases in Jesus's gospel to Jewish people (according to Mk1:15):
TIME IS FULFILLED*!
THE KINGDOM/REIGN OF GOD('s ..
..help)..IS NEAR.
GIVE UP (YOUR OWN AGENDAS), &..
..GIVE YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (thus, who sent it, & is deliv'ring it).
This reflection is about the second last, the fourth, phrase* (which is part of a pair):
give up (your own agendas)!*
The hardest thing of all's to let go or
to drop a goal that's once determined on,
a course of action, plan, or purpose for
displaying in this world some thought now gone,
but still to be embodied here by choice
of human. [One human likeness (child) of love
& creativity could hear their voice-
-es true & kind, on breath from up above.]
Our destiny appears to be "like God";
but either fakely, "undead", or "in truth".
The "undead" will concern themselves with what
their own de-si-res are. That is their roof.
Or more, I say, their limit, glass ceiling.
But children of creative love "in truth",
are disciplined and coached and their willing
will supercede desire. They're raised unroofed.
Still sheltered by their Dad, he is their coach,
who's glorious, adventurous, & bold.
For glory, honour, praise, comes his reproach.
And all who're raised above, can do as told.
But not just by society at large,
they're "picky" 'bout the spirit of the thing.
And how & why they do things. They don't barge
in. Timing is important, and they sing!
And yet somehow, it feels to be a death,
miscarriage before birth of what's conceived,
when humans must submit what they give breath
to, to another god (they've not received).
And thus this leader of humanity,
outlines that good responses must include
a shameful death, a giving up what we
already worked out on our own, "The Dude",..
.. or "Dude-ess", or some other kind of "Thing" -
the very point is "self determ'ning's not
our starting point" - too small & limiting.
It comes before the end; & thus has got
a place, but that's determined by crea-
-tive love itself (which never is alone).
It turns out that "a human" has a place
as cell in bigger "body", in the zone
of white cell (macrophage) in human's blood.
The fake is just amoeba in the soil.
To be the first, we must give up the flood
of our agendas that are "on the boil".
But that can prob'ly only be achieved
when it's done (as a scissor blade works well)
along with coach^ who's trusted, and believed
in, with the creds, not just red-tape from hell.
* Mark uses the Greek word μετανοεῖτε (metanoeite). This is a verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural of an original word μετανοέω (Greek = about turn, change of heart/ mind/ view). The concept of turning leaves open the questions: What in fact is being turned from, & what to? That has to be worked out from the context. In Jesus' story & the story of Israel, the answer might be seen as Genesis chapters 1-6, where the route to human maturity is seen as a turning from choosing on the basis of their own desires, and to choosing on the basis of the will of God communicated through word. Jesus himself is portrayed as a human who took this narrow way, and therefore has the creds to train us in taking it too.
Various pictures employed by scripture of the way forward for us now, might be:
letting God wash away our old culture, (the flood) or
perhaps taking off your old clothes, and washing, before putting on clean fresh clothes. Or
maybe coming out the birth canal, cutting the old way of getting life (the umbilical chord), being washed, and starting to live life from the beginning again, in a whole fresh way. Not "doing away" with Mum now, just receiving her help (& Dad's), in a fresh way.
Jesus made no secret of the fact that this change, or birth, or cutting might be painful. In fact, according to him, it might best be likened to a crucifiction. In fact that might well have been why he had to go through his own batism(s), his "washing away", "cleaning up", his "shameful death on a cross", not because HE needed it personally, but because WE did, and he was serious when he said "follow me". He would lead us through whatever WE needed to go through. He clarified this for his disciples, some of whom at that time could not see crucifiction (a shameful death) ahead (for him, or them):
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:22-26
And, look at Mark's fuller, rawer, rendition of this same instance:
Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke openly about this. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? What can a person give in exchange for his life? For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:31-38 NET
^ Some new theories of the left & right brain hemispheres and the way they can work together well, paint a picture that is for me a great analogy of how humans are meant to function with and under God: e.g. Ian McGilchrist's book: The Master and His Emmissary, which proposes a picture (derived with the benefit of many studies) of the Right Brain Hemisphere being partly specialized for attention to & understanding of the world we live in, and our place within it, it is paired with its Left Brain Hemisphere which is partly specialized to make language, categorize, and break complex tasks down to chunks that are achieveable. Both are needed to affect the world well, and need to communicate through the part that joins the two hemispheres (the corpus callosum). Without the RHS, the LHS is myopic and constrained, more like technology without the ability to consider what is best from an overall perspective (I climbed the ladder, but it was on the wrong wall).. Without the LHS the views of the world and new potentialities which the RHS perceives, are not achieved, and made reality. Some of the ways the brain hemispheres work together are by transmitters that hinder activity in other parts of the brain, and especially in a similar part on the other side. The way the Right Hemisphere inhibits some of the mechanics of the Left Hemisphere is what is being addressed in this concept of "give up your own agendas".
But, too, recall the proverb: all analogies limp.
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