No. 55 Keep the Commandments

If you wish to enter life, keep the commandments. If you love Me, keep my commandments. Matthew 19:17, Luke 18:20, John 14:15, 21, 23

You must therefore be careful to do as the Lord commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. You must follow exactly the path that the Lord God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess. Deuteronomy 5:32, 33

O Merciful Master, ...fill us with the fear of Thy Blessed Commandments, that we, trampling down our fleshly desires, may seek a heavenly citizenship, and may do, and consider those things that are well pleasing to Thee... Excerpt from The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

The Mark is not only a small target waiting to receive your focused heart and mind. It is the well-spring of life; it is a beam of light shot out into a dark and perverted world where evil frequently triumphs.

Evil seeks to extinguish light so its dirty deeds will not be seen. Evil hopes in vain that persons made in the image of God will be corrupted and annihilated one by one until all of mankind is deemed God’s failure. Humankind is the enemy of evil even as God is the enemy of evil.

Evil seeks to destroy us and too often it wins. Sometimes we put up a fight, and sometimes we yield to it with no resistance at all. Evil wins when we are either driven to despair or made to join-in the works of darkness. Evil wins when we neglect the commandments of God. Only through strict obedience to the commandments can we ever defeat evil.

Aspiring immortals beware: Pride is the enemy-in-disguise that fools us into thinking we are righteous, when in fact we are dead wrong.

This is why we must be ever vigilant to keep each and every command every day, not most of them most of the time. We must aim to be like our Pure and Perfect God. Eve only took one bite of the fruit to initiate death. The bar is high; let’s practice jumping.

Awareness of our failures is key.

No. 56 Murder Kills Me

You shall not murder.  Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you call brother or sister a fool or an idiot, you will be liable to the hell of fire. Matthew 5:22

God made life. God made bio-life, spirit-life, and eternal life.

Bio-life is a massive network of connections, cells, electrons, fields of all kinds. Spirit-life is connecting to God and to the spirit of others. Love is healthy spirit-life. Each person is part of a network of being. We are connected to each other, whether or not we love the other, whether or not we even know the others.

Murder destroys the victim’s body but also harms the victim’s friends and relatives. Kill one person, you harm their network, you harm society. That is a spiritual tragedy. Killing also destroys the soul of the murderer.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace because these are life (God) affirming.

Anger is a type of murder because like murder anger hurts the delicate connections between people. Anger harms the connection between a person’s own soul and body. Anger causes illness.

Hatred with its hubris is near to suicide of the soul. One reason we are to turn the other cheek, and forgive, why we should never retaliate is so we don’t unintentionally commit suicide of our souls which could lead to sickness, suffering, death, and damnation.

Don’t lead others to hate, for in doing so you are committing mass carnage.

Jesus takes it farther, for the same reason he called lust adultery. The seeds of murder and adultery are just as evil as what they become.

If you have to fight. Fight anger in yourself. The Marks all help you win.

No. 57 The Royal Loyal

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24.

You shall not commit adultery. Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20

Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. Mark 10:11,12;

If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. Leviticus 20:10

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27

Why is God so strict about this?

“Love is patient, kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It is not self-seeking; easily angered or resentful; it does keep record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes, and preseveres. Love never fails.” I Corinthians 13:4-7

As good a glue as love can be, it can wear away under gale force conditions that the average human life presents.

In a brilliant moment, of which God has many, He decided to command wedded loyalty.

The King of kings, the Royal I Am, commanded His subjects not only to claim to be loyal to Him, but to prove loyalty to-God can be achieved, a couple had to first be loyal to each other. This stroke of genius allows God to see who is a qualified component of the Bride of Christ. This is the rule of the Royal Loyal.

Stay faithful to each other. The Mark of loyalty is crucial.

Love gets better and better, the more shared experiences a couple has.

No. 58 The Mark and the Thief

You shall not steal. Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Commandment #8

In an ideal world everyone is able to buy all that they need and want, and no one is tempted to steal from a store, a hotel, a restaurant, or from another person, or from work.

Yet, some people steal because of greed, revenge, and even for thrills.

Petty thieves should keep in mind that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He is our zillionaire Father who wants to be trusted to provide for us.

Stealing is evidence that the thief doesn’t trust God to provide, or that the (s)he wants more than God knows (s)he should have for a good reason.

Stealing isn’t just a character flaw; it is also a spiritual disease.

Don’t even try to be as valiant as Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It was fiction. You won’t find Robin in heaven.

Ask and you will receive.

If you don’t, learn patience and abstinence. Be light enough to hit the Mark and enter through the narrow gate.

No. 59 Uncreating the Universe

Don’t Bear False Witness. Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20

God doesn’t command us not to lie because He owns the IRS, or because He wants to see us get in trouble, or because He doesn’t want us to sell that house. It is because He is personally offended by lies, lying and liars.

God is the author of Reality. When we lie, we erase a piece of Reality and replace it with a plastic fabricated thing that distorts His purpose and sometimes wreaks havoc.

There is nothing better than Reality, nothing smarter or truer than Truth.

Aspiring immortals that study and aim daily for the Mark should have nothing to hide or to uncreate.

Sometimes the truth forces us to be brave. When this happens we are being formed by God into the immortals He wants us to become.

Be kind, but be honest to show God that you like Reality as much as He does.

He will hug you for that.

No. 60 Unshop

Then someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”…

If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; then come and follow me. Matthew 19:21, Mark, 10:21, Luke 12:33, Luke 18:22

I suppose the two things I love about God the most are His sense of humor and His timing.
At Christmastime we shop till we drop so we can give birthday presents to baby Jesus who lives in the hearts of our friends and family.

The first issue of The Mark was home-made books I made as Christmas gifts. I listed each command in disciplined sequence to write about.
When the book became a blog, during the biggest shopping week of the year I had to tell my readers that if they wanted to succeed they should sell everything. I suppose that included Christmas presents. That was a funny coincidence!

But maybe, just maybe, this is the Christmastime command after-all.

When Jesus Christ left the throne room of God to become a naked baby, He divested himself of all he had in order to gain the treasure of our souls.

As God divested Himself of His majesty, let’s divest ourselves of not only of wealth, but of the false self that wealth gives us, i.e. pride and ego.

This is the spirit behind the Mark. Ready, aim, shoot.

No. 61 The Happy Slave

Whoever wishes to be first among you must be last of all (a slave); just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:25-28, Mark, 9:35, Mark 10:43 – 44; Luke 22:26.

The frenzy of Christmas gift-buying and gift-making, charity-giving, and parties; houses to decorate, baking and cooking, and dishes to wash over and over again, and cards to send, force us to pry-open the spigots of our hearts from which we pour out service to others in a steady flow. It is unlike any other time of year because of the intensity of it all.

Although Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the truth of the matter is that the Christmas frenzy is much more than that.

When we succumb to the slavery of Christmas merry-making we receive a glimpse of the kind of relentless servitude, Jesus Christ endured during His earthly mission, up to His ultimate sacrificial end.

When Christmastime comes again, with its surge of giving of ourselves, let’s be reminded that the purpose is more about the glory of slavery, of serving others whether it makes us happy or not, because Jesus did that for all of us and much more.

Happiness is service to others with a constantly open faucet of a happy slave’s humble heart.

Sparkle.

No. 62 Pure Love’s Ways

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (and with all your strength).  Matthew 22:37, Mark, 12:30, Luke 10:27

How do I love Thee my Lord?

I love Thee when I turn my back to bitterness,

forgiving spite and might

To caress and bless

the broken-hearted walking dead.

I love Thee as I abandon sleepy beddy-bye

to don metallic bangles and belts-tight

and face windy rain along the way to Your flock fed.

When perusing saintly words and Holy Word,

for but a glimpse of Your light-filled desire to be heard

speaking to the nucleus of my art.

I adore Thee with parched mouth and growling stomach tamed.

Waiting as an adoring puppy You named,

for an hour, day or week, to prove my yielding heart.

I worship Thee in awe of love's blazing light.

Too powerful for demons of the night,

Truth stunning evil's vain attempts to mutate life.

I love Thee with my heart's most rhythmic breath,

Empowered to speak and pray in blessed health.

Singing beyond sound, listening for silence, shunning strife.

I worship Thee in awe of Your Patience and Your Speed.

The reason of Humility, vigilant to human needs

for protection, purpose, and providence. 

I love Thee when tiptoeing blindfolded through

winding treacherous hallways too

numerous in this dangerous world of mottled life, and decadence.

I love Thee while hammering a single sentence of beloved Saints

through this twenty-first century crust of brain

to hug Your universality and merge with precocious precious ones.

If you give me burdens too heavy to carry,

let me rejoice at chances to love Thee without wary

loving Thee daily with strength anew.

Let there be nothing left of me

after all attempts to show how deeply and broadly I love Thee.

And may nothing erase what I do for love of You.

My Lord, my King, my God.

Amen.

No. 63. The Tale of Me-me and the Mark.

Be Humble. (Have a modest opinion of yourself.) 

Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:8-11, 18:14, 22:26; John 13:16.

The man who took the last place at the table and was asked to move up hit this Mark; the one who took the first place and was asked to move down, missed.

The Tale

Once upon a time in the mind of Evangeline there was an ego that always stood straight to appear tall even though she was short and stocky. Its name, of course, was Me-me. Me-me thought that by standing straight and always trying to look its best, people would like it. Me-me especially wanted to befriend the Mark because the Mark was so regal and important.

Me-me was in a very sad predicament though because no one wanted to be friends with it no matter how straight it stood or how nicely it combed its hair. Me-me would dance and sing, and sometimes, just to be noticed, Me-me would sit on the Bishop’s throne and smile the biggest and toothiest smile possible. “After-all,” thought Me-me, “I am as handsome as the Bishop. Here, I will be noticed and people will come to me and kiss my hand.”

Yet, deep in its vacuous heart, the well-dressed ego knew that the Mark was its secret enemy. Neither Me-me nor the Mark could understand what made the other tick. Me-me wasn’t even sure why her ego wanted its enemy to like it, except for the conquest of it all.

The Mark didn’t care who liked it and did nothing to get attention. The Mark was a confident sort who quietly went about its business of being bright and pure. Ironically, some people tried hard to be like the Mark, who didn’t care, and no one tried to be exactly like Me-me who cared a lot. This made Me-me mad because it meant that the Mark got attention it didn’t even want, whereas Me-me yearned for a glimmer of worship.

Now, do you want to laugh? This tale has no ending; it just keeps chasing itself.

Me-me always tries to take the Mark’s honor, and never grabs it, and the Mark never changes.

If you find yourself chasing this tale today, please stop and pet poor Me-me.

No. 64. Hypocrisy and the Inside Out

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.  Matthew 23:25-28

If someone comes up to you today and asks if you are a hypocrite because (s)he wants to give you a big hug from Evangeline (ref. blog ‘Hypocrites and Why to Love Them’ 5/16/08), the answer is ’I don’t know’, I hope not, but hug me just in case.

Sure, there are some truly evil people masquerading as goody two-shoes. I suppose they don’t even believe that Judgment Day will happen to them. But most hypocrites are not actors; most hypocrites don’t know that they are hypocrites, no matter how obvious it is to others. It could be you; it could be me!

When Jesus Christ was sitting at Salvador Dali’s big Last Supper table pointing to God with the sun setting behind Him and He announced that someone at that table was going to betray Him, each of His best friends said, “Is it me?”

That’s pretty funny. Wouldn’t a guy, even after a few glasses of wine, know if he was about to stab his friend in the back? Actually, those men realized how easy it is to be deluded. Such a long time will go by before we find out for sure if we were. Worse yet, when we find out, it will be too late! Now, if that isn’t scarier than Matrix!.

Humble pie prevents hypocrisy like eating broccoli prevents cancer.

The more I am willing to eat it and the more I see signs that I am aiming for the ground instead of the Mark.

No. 65 Ready or Not

Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest (or fearful with the responsibility of) very little is dishonest also in much. 

How I wish I could distill these passages into a tidy Mark like I reduced a big pot of chicken broth into a hearty soup today. I want it to be simple: don’t kill or don’t lie. But this is the Mark of the men who received the talents, two who grew them and one who from fear hid his. This is the Mark also of the servant who was about to be fired and collected a fraction of his master’s debt. This Mark tells us to be diligent, entrepreneurial, brave and perhaps even ambitious...for God.

This Mark forces us, not just to emulate Christ’s character, but also His industry. This is a busy conscientious Mark that will not sit still long enough to have its portrait painted.

The talents each of us is given are to be used to serve God and others. Even a little ability must be used for the glory of God and His kingdom. No one is given a pass, not even the poor or the slave. This Mark instructs us to take good care of the things we rent and borrow.

Jesus tells His followers to be hyper vigilant because no one knows when this world will give way to the new one where we will either live happily ever after, or not.

Get busy, parlay your talents, even if you only have one.

No. 66 The Hungry God

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink... Matthew 25:35

This command of Jesus, this precious high and holy Mark shines shines with the brilliance of God’s mind. A lesser deity would have been more direct. He would have said, “I command you to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.” He didn’t even say, “Feed me because I am hungry.”

Instead He compliments His disciples for having already done the right thing, and inserts His mighty powerful divine self into the most impoverished of human conditions, the inability to satisfy hunger and thirst.

To hit the eye of this Mark, practice intensely. Try to become so hungry and thirsty that receiving food and drink are like grabbing a hand to be pulled out of hell. Try it on a Friday; try it during Lent. Don’t eat or drink until someone else notices and gives you a crust of bread.

See yourself with renewed crystal clear eyes shrink so much that, like God, you make yourself vulnerable to better help others.
Now, you are ready to be the giver of food and drink to the hungry and thirsty. It is no longer the prince bestowing a morsel of his wealth on the pauper; the roles are reversed. You are the pauper who has a golden opportunity to be of service to God.

Jesus Christ hungers and thirsts for us to become as compassionate, and most of all, as humble as He is.

Food for target practice.

No. 67. Teatime for The Golden One

I was a stranger and you welcomed me... Matthew 25:35

Our world is a busy place. It teems with all sorts of activity; waves incessantly lapping on the shore, bugs crawling and flying; lions roaring, cars rolling, electrons connecting, viruses multiplying; angels hovering; demons manipulating.

Networks of human beings form a web that clothe the planet with children of God, and children of men.

To welcome a stranger is to link yourself to one of many possibilities. That stranger could become friend or foe. (S)He could be an angel, or a demon in disguise.

Jesus says to start by assuming the stranger is He. One of the more curious Gospel passages took place after the Resurrection when Jesus appeared as a different looking person. His disciples recognized Him by His Spirit... eventually.

Because of this trick, and because Jesus’ ascension paved the way for the Holy Spirit to reside in humans, no one knows whether or not the stranger you welcome is a fractal of God.

Imagine the honor of hosting God. Imagine the awe. Imagine Jesus sleeping in your guest room. Imagine what you will serve Him for breakfast. Imagine having the opportunity to reciprocate for a fraction of what He has done for you.

Welcome Home Lord.

No. 68. Naked and Afraid

I was naked and you clothed me Matthew 25:35

There is a river wider than the Red Sea that separates precious newborn Adam from the man he became. The very first feeling he experienced on the other side was the shame of nakedness so he hid in the trees. God called him out and said to him, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Poor Adam, his folly made him hyper-aware of himself, his naked body popped out of his consciousness instead of his criminal distrust. Suddenly he was afraid of God, so he blamed his nakedness, and his wife. The fig leaves didn’t help.

Before you start cleaning out your closet, ask yourself if cloth is all Jesus meant? After all, no one has nothing at all to cover private parts? One would have to search far and wide for a naked person to dress. On the other hand, self-conscious people who are hiding from God are everywhere!

Jesus wants us to clothe people who are afraid of God and hiding from Him. It is walking them backward, as close to the Garden as possible these days, to live in obedience and trust of our Father as in the beginning.

In fact, everything Christ did was to undo The Great Fall, with all of its deadly consequences and curses.

If you spot someone hiding from God today, pull him out of the shadows and clothe him with love and Christ’s path home. It is as good as a three piece suit.

No. 69. Demons and Friends

I was sick and you took care of me. Matthew 25:36

What evil demon enters to disrupt and destroy this perfect human body, more complex than mathematics, more intricate than fine lace, more rhythmic than sun, moon, and earth making time, more harmonious than symphonies? How dare corruption cause such pain and suffering of us gods? Why does this temple corrode? What purpose illness; whose fault disease; or could this affliction be meaningless and void? Impossible!

This shouldn’t be, this mustn’t be. Where is the medicine more powerful than malevolence come to rescue me? What baptism will restore? What exorcism will purge these demons?

Who will annihilate this violator of human dignity and remove the carcass of it from our midst, and finally ...when? When will a friend bring me candlelight to dispel this darkness? Who will come to restore this holy temple of mine? I crave help. Healing is never a solitary affair. From where doth my Pentecost come?

Look! Do I see a light-bearing brother drawing neigh? Succor has arrived! Rejoice my soul, the body will be comforted, rejoice my soul, the body will be healed! She grabs my outstretched hand and walks with me slowly down this rocky path back to perfection.

Let us be forever more, healer and healed, comforter and comforted united in the victory of eternal health in the kingdom of God and until then, in the medicine of compassion!

“Then the king will say to comforters and healers, ‘Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” You made it!

No. 70 Jesus in Jail?

I was in prison and you visited me. Matthew 25:36

 Prison life is a miserable life. People who could not control themselves to conform to the law are controlled by others with rules far more objectionable than the rules they violated.

Instead of not stealing a car, a prisoner cannot drive anywhere. Instead of controlling the impulse to strike an enemy, a prisoner is shackled. Instead of refusing to connive for illicit gain, a penniless prisoner loses precious freedom. Prison is where convicted criminals live in a sorry state of punishment. Without laws, the ensuing chaos demonstrates how vile and wicked human beings can be to each other.

There is no confinement as infinite, hopeless, and bleak as the prison of the self-damned. Christ offers free release, yet hardened hearts refuse to reach out to receive it from Him. In the words of John Ciardi, “Like addicts, the damned both hate and love their self-destruction.”

In Matthew, the king damns those who did not visit prisoners with compassion. To visit a prisoner is to see a sacrificial lamb carry your sins. Prisoners, from desperation, or passion, or greed, violated man’s law, while for the same reasons, we repeatedly violate God’s commands.

Console the prisoner, and awaken to the consequence of choosing darkness over light.

But when you go to prison, remember that unlike Hell, there is hope of release, and repentance, even small surprising blessings, and worship.

There but for the grace of God go I.

No. 71, Lost in Temptation

Stay awake and pray that you don't fall into temptation (time of testing); the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:46

Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane praying in anguish to prepare Himself for His crucifixion; He wants support from His friends. He needs it.

Sometimes commands are dictum, sometimes they are warnings. This one is a cry and a warning. There are times in each man’s life when it is very easy to be alive, to love God and to be at peace with the world. And there are times when we are holding on to life by twine over a deep canyon, and our hands are screaming in pain.

This is a somber Mark, a teetering Mark. To fall into its heart is to see ourselves at the mercy of a terrifying situation. This Mark tells us that we must (once again) pass a test that determines whether or not we trust God.
Testing times roll in like thick morning fog: temporary, but blinding. Lord help us to see without eyes.

To stay awake is to be hyper aware of the presence of God and His holy angels and the equally real presence of evil spirits hell-bent on damning us. To stay awake is to stand instead of caving to psychological death.

Jesus knew what was coming and He sweat drops of blood thinking about it and preparing Himself. It was His spirit that was willing and His flesh that was weak. He was smart enough to know the difference. Jesus knew that He had to stand through the terror of anticipation. This was the first worst moment of His powerful life.

We are lost in temptation, we miss this Mark, when we fall in and can’t climb out. This is why the Lord’s short prayer includes a plea that the Father not lead us there. Even then, sometimes the Father replies, “No, but trust Me.” We must stay awake hoping that our willing spirits can take up the slack of our weak flesh. With luck, friends may help, but don’t count on it.

No. 72, The Great Profession

Go therefore and make disciples (literal Greek translation is students) of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember that I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19,20.

Imagine that this one little Mark did not exist among all the commands of Jesus. Instead He said, “Tell no one the good news. Keep it to yourself. Keep it in Jerusalem. Baptize no foreigners. Ignore the gentiles. Separate yourselves and obey all the other commands which I have commanded you, My chosen people.”

Imagine the freedom from responsibility to God and to humankind. Imagine the void, imagine the darkness. Imagine the cessation Christ’s ministry as a second expulsion from Eden. Imagine that Christ never offered you immortal life because no Christian ever came to America. No child of God went to Rome; no Jew went to Greece.

Now open your eyes and see how this Mark turned twelve disciples into twelve trillion children who make up the Bride-of-Christ Church, militant, and triumphant.

How crucial for aspiring immortals to teach about God. I must still recruit students of God, baptizing and teaching them to obey Christ’s commands. God is knowledge. Ignorance is deadly. Teaching and learning is the fountain of Life.

Is anyone else who reads these Marks as amazed as I am at how powerful so many of them are? Like stars come to Earth; like Christ being with us always, to the end of the age.

Learn and Live.

No. 73, The Dynamic Desegregation of Israel

Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15, Luke 9:60

Once upon a time God chose Abraham through which He could make a ‘nation’ of His own to re-introduce Himself to umankind and through which He would produce a Savior. This nation was to be separated.

When Jesus told His disciples to proclaim the good news, He was telling them to de-segregate. Nevermore would the Jews be the only Chosen People. Imagine millions of people appropriating your tribe or family; imagine billions of foreigners calling your God, Father. This was a colossal paradigm shift and the point of His incarnation. Why?
After the Fall, God posted cherubim and a sword flaming and turning around the Tree of Life to keep people from regaining immortality. The flaming sword was the crucifixion. Jesus had to die on the cross to reverse the curse. By voluntarily going to the cross, Jesus demonstrated full trust and obedience, something Adam and Eve did not do.

Through His resurrection Jesus resurrected all of mankind, just as Adam and Eve cursed all of mankind. Now we can eat of the Tree of Life (Eucharist) and live forever.

This Mark tells us to make sure that everyone on this planet is offered eternal life. This is not confidential; this is not for an exclusive club, race or ethnicity. This good news should be broadcast far and wide, on the internet, into jungles and villages, on the bus; the subway, the beach. Don’t assume everyone knows. Don’t be shy. Tell them, and give them the choice to believe it or not. This is a command, because it is the reason God went to hell and back.

Freely give.

No. 74, Black Bubbles

There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but things that come out (of the mouth) are what defile.  Mark 7:15

Dear Diary,

I yearn to become pure, like Jesus, like His mother. I don’t know if that is even possible.

Yet, for the first time I think a Mark is wrong. I am sure that what goes into my mouth and my eyes and my ears can defile me.

If I fed myself a steady diet of nutrition-free sugars and fats, watched horror pictures and porn a lot, listened to liars who want my vote, believed them, and hated their opponents along with them, then I am sure I would be corrupted.

Say I vowed to watch no more evil entertainment or eat empty foods, chances are that I still couldn’t control what comes out of my heart and mind via my mouth.

On Judgment Day, will Jesus say, “And what about that Devil’s Food Cake?” He is more likely to condemn me for potty mouth in the heat of an argument.

I know that my actions like bickering, yelling, cursing and back-biting pollute my soul.
But I still think what goes in pollutes me too.

Wait. I think I get it. The bad things that go into me, have come from the evil that came out of my heart and mind. It’s the whirlygig of defilement, going out and coming right back in.

Oh my, Jesus is right again! Silly me.

Love,
E.