Don’t Do What You Hate… GoT Logion 6
breathe in + breathe out
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logion 6
His students asked him,
Do you want us to fast?
How shall we pray?
Should we give offerings?
From what foods must we abstain?
Yeshua answered,
Stop lying.
Do not do what you hate,
because everything here
lies open before heaven.
Nothing hidden will remain secret,
for the veil will be stripped away
from all that lies concealed behind it.
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Reflection: In this logion, the students learning from and following Yeshua ask about what religious duties they are supposed to observe. Their Jewish tradition is one rooted in practices. During their time, there was a religious movement that was heavily concerned with “right practice” and “correct observance.”
If you were one of the good ones, holy ones, true ones… these are the words you say. These are the places you go. These are the ones you associate with. These are the colors you wear…
What’s your religion? What tradition are you immersed in?
If you are for social justice, here are the correct words for you to use, and these are the people and businesses you must cancel.
If you are for this party, here are your talking points and the candidates and causes you must pledge allegiance to.
If you are for success, acceptance and comfort, here is the catalog you can order from, and this is the promotion you’ve got to win…
STOP LYING!
DON’T DO WHAT YOU HATE!
What a simultaneously refreshing and challenging invitation.
What happens when we allow ourselves and one another to be honest?
What happens when we start moving out of a place of growing integrity and authenticity?
The invitation of the spiritual journey is to discover what is present deep within each of us, and then transforming the outside (how we show up in the world) to be a reflection or expression of the true self inside.
This isn’t an invitation to disregard practice. In fact, it’s an invitation to engage an even more difficult practice — that of discerning and moving from the shape and intricacies of our own heart.
Here are two practices for you to engage this week.
1. Tell someone what you really think and feel — not the clean or polished exterior words of the party line, but the messy beautiful doubts wonders frustrations eccentricities inconsistencies and hopes that lie within your heart.
2. Do something you love, and do it in service of another. Pay attention to how you experience this. Maybe even journal about it.
Give these a try. Not because someone said so, but for the sake of stripping away the veil.
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Intertwine is going inward. We are beginning a season — as cooler weather moves in and quarantine persists — of developing our inner life. To aid us on the journey, we’re engaging the wisdom contained in the Gospel of Thomas, an ancient mystical Christian text. Lynn Bauman’s translation and commentary are the primary source for these reflections. Those of you who want to dig in even deeper, consider purchasing his books: Find Lynn’s basic GoT translation (in The Luminous Gospels) and his exceptional commentary (In Trouble and In Wonder) here.
