6. The Fiery End in Humble Pie Making

The Creator of the heavens and earth thought it wise to populate a second earth with immortals just like Him, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of the immortal God Himself.

When God gives birth to His children His Spirit actually dwells within their hearts. Then God baptizes His precious immortals with fire to purify their hearts like gold.

The mind of man receives and processes humble pie like the mouth receives food and chews on it. Like the stomach accepts the nourishment of food from the mouth, the heart accepts what the mind sends to it. Raw humble pie is so bitter that it is typically spit out by the mind and not sent to the fires of the heart to be baked.

The heart of an immortal is a busy place because two persons live there, the Person of the Holy Spirit of truth and love and the aspiring immortal, the child of God.

Imagine such a heart to be a tiny dorm room where two students must live in harmony in extremely close quarters. A key to the success of good dorm mates is the attitude that personal comfort is less important than consideration for the comfort of the other. For example, anger forces the Holy roommate out because He is peace of soul and can’t abide with anger.

The baptism of fire that the aspiring immortal must endure is used to bake the humble pie. Fire hurts. But, without fire there is no baking. The fire of humble pie making takes the form of listening to insults, contempt and rebuke and all manner of mortification. A hard working and obedient aspiring-immortal if left for any length of time without being censured or reproached loses that meekness. Good, fruitful and fertile land if left without the water of dishonor can revert to being a forest that can produce thorns of vanity, cowardice, and arrogance. Gold is purified in fire and humble pie cooks in the slow burn of disrespect and rudeness of others. God has arranged it that no one can see his own faults as clearly as his neighbor does. That’s why we should be so grateful to those who criticize us and to God, not to ourselves for our healing. Look for punishment for the sake of humility knowing that angels fall and rise and devils only fall. (Climacus gems)

Of course, fire can also take the form of illness, poverty, disappointment and other maladies that diminish the ego. 

To be humble and small is to give more space to the heart’s Holy roommate. It is to be small enough to pass through the narrow gate to the new world and it is to be like God who shrunk Himself to come to earth. Humble pie helps us to turn the other cheek, let thieves have what they took and tells us to take the last seat at a banquet.

So, my friend and fellow aspiring immortal bake your pie slowly and with patience, endure the flames that will shrink you. Once your humble pie is fully baked you may eat it with pure relish, for after it is baked the humble pie loses some of its bitterness. Wash it down with the milk of human kindness. After eating your meals of humble pie, your every cell will receive the holy nutrients to make your body immortal. Yes, I said your body, the very one that will meet Jesus in the sky to begin the journey to our new purely-life saturated world without end.

Now to write about the dangers of oxygen to an immortal.