What’s up with these flesh bags? — 40+8 Day 31

breathe in | breathe out

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Question

Why are you here?

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Logion 28

Yeshua says,

I stood to my feet in the midst of the cosmos,
appearing outwardly in flesh.
I discovered that all were drunk
and none were thirsty,
and my soul ached
for the children of humanity.
For their hearts are blind
and they cannot see from within.
They have come into the cosmos empty,
and they are leaving it empty.

At the moment you are inebriated,
but free from the effects of wine,
you too may turn and stand.

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Reflection

Intertwine is slowly working through the Gospel of Thomas. It’s an ancient wisdom text from the early Christian movement with deep roots in both Jewish tradition and a larger Middle Eastern Wisdom stream. For centuries, the Gospel of Thomas, with the exception of a few shards of scroll, was thought lost to humanity, but in 1945 near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, a farmer dug up a sealed jar full of ancient scrolls including a full text of the Gospel of Thomas. These 114 wisdom sayings, attributed to Jesus, (i.e., Yeshua, in his native language), are captivating and insightful. Maybe most importantly, they have escaped all the co-opting and baggage of Imperial Christianity, coming to us at a critical time for re-membering a deeper (decolonized) Judeo-Christian spirituality.

The translation of this text was written by Lynn Bauman. He also wrote an amazing commentary, from which comes the quote below. Check out Lynn’s books at https://www.praxisofprayer.com/books.

From his commentary on Logion 28:


Why do we exist in flesh? What is our temporal and material vocation? From the perspective of Wisdom, the answer to this question is part of a great mystery that is being revealed. Far from a place of useless imprisonment, the material world is a land of possibility — a place where new forms of the divine life can come into existence and bless the creation. Each individual in his or her own uniqueness can act as a conduit of the divine energies, bringing new qualities into being that without enfleshment would never appear. We exist precisely to manifest the divine in energetic and qualitative form through matter in order to make its energies and qualities available to all.

— Lynn Bauman “In Trouble and Wonder” p 126

I.e.,
The particularity of you matters.
Struggle and rest and wonder and wrestle.
Discern that Divine spark within you.
Surround yourself with wisdom and earth and people
who will help you fan your flame.

The world is longing for
the light and warmth and magic of your fire.

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