in Christ ..

praise God
   who blesses us
      in Christ
    with every spiritual blessing available in Heaven

from the very beginning the Father decided that humanity
   would be included in Christ
      as an expression of the Christ
His own
pure before His face
His love

He accomplished this intention through His predisposition of
   adoption into His family as children
and this gave Him very much pleasure

and the sheer graciousness of this giving through His Beloved
   speaks powerfully to the praise of His glory

it is through Christ that our release is secured
   and our fallings forgiven
through His abundant grace poured out in the human blood of him

God has let us know of this mystery
   concerning His delightful desire for us -
that it would be through Christ that His intention for us
   would be fulfilled in the fulness of time
that everything in the created universe
   would be consolidated in Christ
      in whom we also have been made a heritage
         his inheritance
      predisposed in accord with the unravelling of God's intention

.. .
that is a restatement of the opening verses of Paul's writing to the Ephesian church

              

Christ is the instrumentality and the instantiation of our spiritual flourishing 

it is because of Christ, and through Christ, that we are able to thrive in this fallen world system, which falls under the influence of the Archon of the ethereal authority (2:2), to be overcomers (Romans 8:37)

all that we are is by Christ - our very existence and the original environment we occupy are all a product of the Expression/Word of God, the Christ, who brought it all into being .. and beautifully done too ..

this Expression of God as Son - Son of God, Son of Human - is the Person of the Godhead tasked with the Human Expression, the loving sharing of Godself with a being designed to be like God - as they imaged God, being images of God - and who, in Person, expressed the likeness of God in the human form

it is to this One we owe everything, not only our existence (in his image to boot), but also our continued existence, even after our breach of trust, the denial of our Creator 

he takes upon himself Redemption, the Rescue from the wicked and perverse powers that wage war against humanity and it's God (6:12) ..
further, this one is our Hope, for in him we witness the fulfillment of the original intent of Creator God for the created human

the Christ has gone before us, as us, having participated in the depths of us, and arrived in eternity as the matured, complete, full human expression of the GodImage .. so that when we look at Christ Jesus we see us in wholeness, fully formed, accomplished according to the blueprint of God in creation - that blueprint is the GodWord, Creator himself

this was God's intent all along – that we be consummated in the Christ ..
the Christ is our imaged intention, our divine pattern, the human standard, and the measure according to which our humanity is fulfilled (4:13) .. 
humanity perfected

everything that i am and strive for is wrapped in the person of Jesus, and as the Christ, he has included me .. me
how do i unfold that ?
how is there a place for me in the space inhabited by Christ ?
does God not care who i am ?
does God not know who i am ?
surely ..

and so i am left with what exactly ?

i am left with the virtually unbelievable thought that God does indeed love me
and has accorded me standing through Christ
and not just standing, but affiliation as child
   as if i was His own flesh and blood ..

..

that, my friend, is a God i can serve wholeheartedly

sanitized insanity .. .

 how you doing ?

    'nother day in paradise
        (aaaaaaghhhhh.. .)

    i'm fine ..
        (rrrrghhhh..)

    good
        (. .. . .... .)

    (aaaaahhhhh!!!!)

..

walking 
    confusion
conversing
    hurt
working
    turmoil
eating
    lostness
        misty
        wet
        cloudy
        muddy
        blustery
            lostness ..
    headbanging migraining loudness
    catapulting my soul
        into that wall
            again and again

hi

    hi
        (aaaaaghhhh !)

    blah blah blah
    mumble mumble
        hum hum
            ho hum
                hum drum
                    hoho
    mumble bumble jumble
        jumble

hi

    .. .
    ..
        (arghhh!! ..)

how're you ?

    .. i'm     good
        ( .. )
    ..
        .. .
            ..
                i'm good ..

majesty ..

O sovereign Lord
   my Lord
Your majesty floods the Earth
   up to the heavens !

         ~ selah

children, the little ones
   sing out your praise
Your foes hear
   and stumble into silence

         ~ selah

i look up
   the moon      the stars
and i wonder ..

   what is human .. ?
   we are but mortal
      and yet
         You look out for us
         You care

         ~ selah

we are set below the Elohim
      and yet
         You surround us with glory
             honouring us
         You give us authority - we Your hands to rule
          all things set under our feet - the creatures that run,
             the flyers, those that swim ..

         ~ selah

O the majesty of You
   Lord YaHWeH ..

               O the majesty of You

                                   psalm 8

chasing glory ? ..

 It's been said, often, that the point of God's creative activity is that God gets glory

("In general, Scripture teaches that God created the world and all that is in it for His own glory.." Bible.org, first response on internet search.)

Unless we reform the meaning of the word 'glory', a common understanding of that would be that God created so that creation would worship, honor, obey, etc. In other words, God was looking for exaltation. 

But does God really need to be gloried? Does God need creation to be bowing and scraping before him? Is this the Biblical God, chasing glory? ..

..

Perhaps Elohim God looked to extend Godlove. 
Perhaps Elohim God wanted to share God's inherent beauty and unified community with other beings inclusively, invitingly, welcomingly, embracingly, not out of a desire for personal gratification, but because love is inherently an overflowing, a touching other.

Obviously they would not be God-equals, since created, but they would mirror God, receive and radiate the love of God into the cosmos, be transceivers of God's goodness, filling the cosmos with light, and goodness, and beauty, and truth grounded in Divine integrity, one massive organism, unified in being, understanding and purpose, all telling the Telling of this magnanimous Creator and sharing the love so obviously present ..
   and there, right there, God gets the glory
   not by dictating glory, but as a natural
      consequence of the magnificence of
      the God Who Is There.

The God that is there, the Living God, does not need accolade.
The Jehovah God that is Elohim only looks to share the love
   because God is love.

pray ..

part of the consequence of prayer is to remind myself ..         

life does not merely consist in what i can touch 

and see and smell 

   but includes a mysterious spiriting 

      energetic consciousness 

         that either warms to unity and love 

         or agitates violently to shatter and disengage 

yes       i am human traveling
   i am being being
and there are things i require in my travels
   some of which i am unable to furnish 
      so i ask the Divine i trust 

but   and   yes 
part of the more is   
   my presence in the travel is not merely a present-ing   
      it is a heading   
         a positioning   
         a navigating to 

prayer sees through my today   
   past lunch   
   into a future inspired by the Light by whom i see life     
it reminds me of my presence to purpose 

      ' in your light we see light '   (Ps 36:9)

disciple ing ..

sunday ..

i really wish i was assembling with family and friends 

i have been abundantly blessed in my family here 

i feel (and I'm gradually convinced) like i belong .. 

(the gradual thing is my own hesitation at believing people really care about me - i suck it up like baby on mother's milk      it gives me life      i try not to take too much notice of myself, but the affirmation is nothing short of energizing      it's just hard to believe that the church that Jesus built actually exists in such a vivid form - i thought, surely it is not found in purity today, having lost its savor through the centuries to political and powerful and private ambition of its leadership ..) .. 

we all belong, i think      we've just lost our way .. we've become deluded and disillusioned      we have outgrown our innocence, our innate identity, way too fast, and create substitutes to hide our fear at being lost      we do not know who we are, or what our purpose in this life 

i have fallen into Grace in these recent years, and am able to admit to value in me, worth, having been found in favor with GodFather      not that he recently came to that position   simply put, i recently discovered it for myself, and surely the same holds true for all humanity   we are just lost to it, as i said 

tragedy 

so then      Jesus ..      

to re-member us, remind us of our identity - icons, images and likenesses of the living God ..      

him walking with us to be seen as humanity-in-its-fullness, learning to be human, and then unfolding his arms to embrace his humanity - us 

it's okay       

we are lost      but there's this Shepherd who will search us out, even the one

maybe especially the one

and we/i, who have seen the scales fall from our eyes and been un-blinded from our lostness, have the privilege of touching the blind around us, in complete harmony with their disillusionment      for i was blind once

and the things i say      and the things i do      and the way i live in this now      and the thing i allow myself to behold with my eye and ear       all color-in a canvas for my community of Earthpeople to behold for themselves      and speak louder-than-words to the humanity i now embrace in Jesus, Son of Human 

perhaps some of that will spark re-cognition in one, or three      and they will reach out to touch, to see for themselves what is this light, this indescribable aura of integrity, of truth, of peace, of true humanity       unfiltered 

perhaps that is the flavor of 'discipleship'      

the taste of Jesus in the face of another human

the aroma of genuine humanity-to-the-bone as witnessed in the Jesus whose spirit is jealous for me      

      as for you

peace to you

my Me-room ..

sometimes
    outstepping my transformation
i lie
   mostly to      Me
..

i walk by it      because this ..
in this particular room in my Mehouse
   Lies have adorned the walls for so long ..   
      i can hardly imagine this space without them
            familiar
            comfortable
            security-Lies
               of all the colours that suit the palette of this Meroom
..
sometimes
   which is far more often than i care to admit to you
      ( or You )
i go there to escape my new Me      transformed Me
         Me In Process
to walk away from the Me that just walked around the corner
   headed in my direction
!
dash !
left !      LEFT !
close the door!   quick!
..
knock knock      knock knock knock ..
shhhhhh .. don't open it ..
..
..

i slip into something comfortable
and gaze
   out of the periphery of my gaze
at the art i'd made
   to cover these walls
      obliterate the image s
      drown the sound s
      mask the scar s
         of me ..
                            no shiny surfaces
                               darkened
                               dimmed
                                  repressed

.. and i slowly ease Me into the Easychair
lost
   at last
   just for a bit ..
      rest ..
.
 .
  .   while the i that i am
         is shut out

      .. and now the acid rises in my esophagus
            and wet hot runs lines down my face
               eyes burn
            in this dingy dim
                  of my Meroom
   ..
.
.
i hate this place ..
   ..
i hate the smell of it
i hate the taste of it
i hate the dark
   the colours
   the sketches
   the faces
   the writing on the walls
   the clammy sticky chair
      that reaches out to grab my wrists and ankles
..
i hate it ..
i hate it ..
..
the blood rises in my face
   hot
as my pulse runs ..
teeth bite down hard
neck veins engorge
muscles strain
   to loose me from this madness
      in my entangling
      imprisoning
         Meroom      where my Lies still live
                             in all their grim awful
                                Dark Dread
                             in all their fearfulling ..
i hate it !
..
.
the sweat drenches in my escape
footprints paint the cold floor
..  more art in honour of
       my Lie s
..
wet fingers can barely turn the knob         curse !
   to get out !!
..
the door slowly moves
   heavy
   resisting me ..
it's steamy sick breath vomiting at my efforts
..
hard to breathe ..
..
arghh
..
out !!      out ..
..
      ..
   .
a cooling Wind anoints
   balming
   immersing
   floating
   weightless
      calming
      into Rest
      relief
         Rescue
..
      ..
one day
   soon         soon
i'm taking Me by the hand
   into that Meroom
      with spotlights
         and a whole new palette
and we'll refurbish ..
      there'll be flowers everywhere !
         the sounds of musics
                and a cooling Wind ..

.. make it so