Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Something occurred to me as I was on my walk this morning. I'm beginning to think that it's appropriate, and also necessary, to believe that these words describe not only Jesus, but us as well. Until we do this, Jesus will continue to appear to be a stranger to us and to others. Appropriating the words of Jesus to our own being would be nothing more and nothing less than the practice of the Real Presence.
A great shift in thinking and awakening would occur if we ceased to view Jesus as "other than". We are supposed to see Jesus in other people as commanded by our Lord in Matthew 25, but can we see Jesus in ourselves? I would go so far as to say that the latter must precede the former. Until we see ourselves as the way and the truth and the life, and demonstrate to others that they participate in this with us, no one will come to the Father at all.
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Douglas Hoag
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About this blog
Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Lenox, Illinois.
I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
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I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
Doug Hoag's Profile
Create Your Badge
1 comment:
it has been coming up in my meditations lately that people will swallow almost all of Jesus' teachings, but that one of the main hang-ups lies in the forgiveness aspect.
our humanity likes to categorize and compartmentalize everything, therefore, if i am right, you are wrong... if i have to DO x,y,z, to gain forgiveness then you do too.
we can secretly accept God's forgiveness, but a barb grabs us when we are asked to forgive others or even accept that they are forgiven too (just like us).
if certain behavior is unacceptable to me -- for instance: murder, adultery, and theivery -- it must be unacceptable to God too. but if other behavior is not so bad -- i.e. coveting -- then it must not be so bad to God either. this is the core of moral relativism.
that it is offensiveness to ME that is real, and offensiveness to GOD is not. a true breach -- or fall -- lies generally, then, with the so called golden rule.
'seek ye first the kingdom of God' is, in my opinion, the true golden rule.
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