TWELVE
Rhyme and Reason
All of us know the term. If we had a puzzle in which not a single piece fit together with another, we would suspect something is not right. Life is a puzzle of sorts. We use our sense of continuity to navigate. We prefer to sail the calmer sea; we steer clear of rock and reef. All of us have the ability to reason, but how, and to what degree we employ our abilities is never the same between individuals. In fact, some biases are so predominant that they might almost be called different types of reasoning. Perhaps you’ve heard the anecdote of the man taking the Rorschach test in which every card the Doctor held up reminded him of a woman. Just because an individual has the equipment is no guarantee it will be used correctly.
I will group reasoning between the worldly and the spiritual. I will assert that worldly reasoning is reasoning under self-imposed limitations. I will further assert that those of us who employ spiritual reasoning are just now breaking free of our shackles; that we are climbing up to ever higher vantage points - not that we wish to dissociate ourselves from the valley below, but that we may know it more completely.
To speak of spiritual reasoning places us between the worldly reasoners and those who rely more on faith than any form of reason. That is to say: we are between a rock and a hard place. The one can be as blind as the other, for in the case of faith, it is more often than not seen to be just another brand of self-imposed limitation. I tell you the truth: agnostics and atheists have faith as much as Christians. The Christian will say, “The Bible says it is so, and that’s good enough for me.” The worldly will say, “This or that man said it, that’s good enough for me,” or, “If the scientists agree, it must be so,” or, “He’s rich, he ought to know what he’s talking about,” or even, “I heard it on the news.”
You and I, in our quest for truth, must set ourselves on a higher level. If the worldly reasoner is like a butcher, we wish not to be found like them - minus fingers or thumbs. Spiritual reasoning can be a very sharp blade; it behooves us, then, to ‘rightly divide’. We do not have to rely on blind faith. Even doubting Thomas, though reprimanded, was given evidence for his reasoning mind. He wanted to believe, but he wanted to see for himself. He was given the proof his mind required. Does that make him less than the other apostles?
Christ first came to the others; He showed them His wounds, just as He showed Thomas a week later. Thomas is the only one recorded as saying, “My Lord and My God.” There is nothing wrong with reason if one uses it correctly. Did not God say, “Come, let us reason together.”? Remember the mirror? We do not reason alone. When we reason, we are “together” with God, and by that we may define worldly reasoning, for worldly reasoning is such that has turned away from the mirror. All the essential mechanics and equipment of reason are present, but one vital element is missing.
I cannot conceive of a river without the ‘head of the river’. I cannot conceive of rain without rain clouds. The glove could never move except for the hand inside it. Without the unseen skeleton, the body could not stand. Every down has an up, and every out has an in. Worldly reasoning is a maimed and halting creature, having cut its own legs out from under itself. So, we say that worldly men judge by what they see only. They see a poor, dirty man; they do not see his soul. They walk around him and continue on their way. To navigate through life, judgment is needful, but worldly judgment is Godless.
Christ contrasted worldly reasoning with spiritual reasoning this way, John 8:15-16, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, My judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me.”
If man will not live by bread (corporeality) alone, he must see the spiritual as well. Christ said that He did not judge, did not reason alone, but God was ever present.
The duality of reason, and the duality of all things. In this section, I lift up proper reason as spiritual. Men of the world have an understanding. It is functional, but it is neither whole nor complete. What is an eye without light, but blind? That a man with eyes must grope in the dark seems senseless - but we have all stumbled through the dark. If grope we must, let us grope for the light switch. We will practice reason. We will give ourselves ample opportunity to see the light.
Ephesians 1:18, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.”
Reasoning has layers, just as grade school has grades. We may understand a thing perfectly, and then wonder why the other guy has trouble with the concept. Layered reasoning - that is the mountain we climb seeking higher vantage points. We strive to enter that small, select group that is in the know.
Mark 4:11 says, “And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without (on the outside), all these things are done in parables.”
This verse seems to suggest an inner circle or those in the know. The whole thing is just given to them. That is not the case for the people in the outer circle. They have been given a story of buried treasure. The story directs them to the beach, even shows them the big ‘X’, but they have not been given shovels. The shovels are spiritual, and the worldly view just doesn’t allow for that. They suspect that there is no worldly treasure in the treasure chest, that is: if they have taken the story seriously enough to consider it more than a tale.
There may be some who say, “Hey, a treasure is a treasure!” Therein lies the spade - that any should have such an inclination. We are so inclined. However, the worldly just don’t dig. Their understanding is divorced from the secret spiritual things, and they will never admit that the spiritual hand moves within the corporeal glove.
See Luke 8:10 & 17, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.”
Layered reasoning. What layer are you on? Are you looking right at it but failing to see it? Have you had it explained to you but you still fail to understand? Try a different layer. Climb up at least to the level where you don’t sleepily take everything at face value. Understand that there are messages behind messages, words below the print, and truths above truths.
Again, Matthew 10:26, “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.”
Ultimately, all secrets will come out. Is there something you don’t know? Are there secrets withheld
from you? Is there a secret about you that other people are unaware of?
Are you seeking the chest of secret treasures? Well, you were told where the beach is; you were even shown the big ‘X’ that marks the spot. Are you telling me that you just might be giving credence to the spiritual? If there is about you some secret, say, a thought or an intent - it is in God’s domain. It is not separate from your corporeal being, but very connected.
See Matthew 6:3-4, “When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.”
We exercise reason. Shadowy thoughts become clear. We realize that our unseen part lies within the realm of God, who knows all secrets. That is to say, our secrets really exist on the other side of the mirror. Our moments, both kind and cruel, are there with Him. How will He deal with them? How will His actions there affect our lives here? Do such new musings on spiritual issues (secrets) help us to understand our God any better?
We have allowed the strength of practiced reason to bring us to this present point in our progress. Now, use your stronger reasoning skill on this, Deuteronomy 27:15, “Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.”
Can you feel your shovel heating up? What if you were able to drop all your cruel thoughts and intents, like rocks, on this side of the mirror, so that there was no possibility of bad things happening to you? Even on this corporeal plane, men may see what is building, and thus know what to expect. Rising storm clouds mean stormy weather. What if we were smart enough to leave our worldliness on this side and not grieve God? God does not want what belongs to the world; He wants what is His, and we should know by now that God is a spirit. He is interested in spiritual things. The good things hidden in our hearts belong to Him.
Luke 20:25, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.”
I have asserted that mentality is spiritual. Therefore, all of our invisible and secret thoughts; our hopes, intents, and whatever lies within our hearts is spiritual tribute. Reason, too, is spiritual. Those things that may only be understood spiritually are accessible through the exercise of reason.
The stronger the eye becomes through exercise, the longer it may remain open to the light. So let us
exercise reason. Let us do the reps until we are past the ‘burn’. Let us bench press the truth, working
toward a greater capacity for truth.
Judges 9:8-15 is a good place to work out. (This is my paraphrased version).
“The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them.
They said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
They said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
They said to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
They said to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
The olive tree said, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
The fig tree said, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
The vine said, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
The bramble said, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”
Here is my take on it, and I’ll not say overmuch for I wish others also to think. Each potential
candidate for king, in this parable, was closer to the earth than the trees; the bramble was closest of
all. The cedars, mentioned in the final sentence, were famed for their greatness. Their heads were
in the heavens and it might be said that Heaven was their crown. How low, then, would they have
to stoop to place their trust in the shadow of the bramble?
The first three candidates; olive, fig, and vine, knew their place and were not ashamed of it. There are two notes of interest here. One is the thought of the bramble as a ‘burning bush’. Two is the order of wording in the first three candidates for king over the trees. That wording is this: “God and man,” “sweetness,” “God and man.”
Trees, as I have noted previously, may be seen as representative of the interfacial relationship. There are the two sides. There is the ‘here’ and the ‘over there’. There is, as the next scripture indicates, the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’.
John 10:9, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Which side is which depends on one’s point of view. If we begin on the outside an ‘enter in’, we will return to the outside. If we begin inside and ‘enter in’, we will return inside. On which side of the door is the pasture? Whether our side is the inside or the outside is a matter for later debate. Two points in John 10:9 are worthy of retention. One is that Jesus claims to be the interface. Two is that there seems to be unrestricted travel in both directions. The door swings both ways. I suppose a door can be viewed as a narrow path and a straight way.
John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”
So if we ‘enter in’ and are saved, and ‘the way’ brings us “unto the Father,” is the spiritual the inside? Is the corporeal that good “pasture” we are to find? Sheep might like to be inside - but aren’t pastures usually on hillsides; out in the rain, wind, and lightning; out among wolves and lions? We, as His sheep, must similarly brave our individual problems (and no doubt many will cry, “why me?”), but as a whole, it is in those troubling elements that we find our sustenance and our strength.
In looking at a mirror and considering the two sides, we must be careful not to divide them in our thinking. As long as there is a connection between the two, they are not separate, but they are one in truth. Consider the Gulf of Mexico: on one ‘side’ there is Florida, and on the opposing ‘side’ there is Texas. But, they are not wholly separate, for we may follow the coast, crossing arbitrary state lines, realizing that the landmass is one.
Can we view the word ‘gulf’ as a symbol of complete separation? Even if the coast is a road less traveled, and we have no boat to sail across on, the geography still presents us with a very real ‘oneness’. I say this in regard to the next scripture, for it speaks of two sides within the context of wholeness.
Luke 16:26, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
Still, if the highway between Texas and Florida was to suddenly disappear, people would stand around saying, “I can’t get there.” If Jesus is the door, and there is traffic in two directions, then could Jesus be the missing element that makes for separation. But, I think that in speaking of hell, we should more correctly think of a spiritual place rather than a corporeal place.
I might automatically think of all spiritual geography as an amorphous singularity, hell included. How can one part of it be separate from the rest, I ask? Jesus is the key, or rather, Jesus has the keys. He has the keys to death and hell. He alone can close off that area within Himself (for everything consists of Him).
Still, we speak of two sides. We can think of existence as two-sided; we are aware of the spiritual geography that connects them. Being among those that seek such, we are not unmindful that the interface, while allowing two-way traffic, is a door that can be closed and locked. My higher vantage point affords a greater view of the whole. After all, beneath the icing on the cake, there are only layers.
We are still in the layers. Does the duality of existence find expression inside of us? If you said it was all in my head, I would answer that the brain has two sides. Something in our being; something in our nature is the reflection of God: we are His image and glory. So I come to the question if we fight against God are we only punching out our own lights?
In the sense of pointing inward, Acts 5:39 has this to say, “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
This scripture shows me that the ‘two sides’ of the interface may be viewed as two points of focus, just as nature shows me that the single force of magnetism, having two polarities, may seem to be self-opposing.
For some reason, we see duality everywhere we look. There is light and dark; there is up and down. There is in and out, left and right, right and wrong. The bodies we inhabit have two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, two nostrils, and two rows of teeth: upper and lower. Our brains are duality engines. We have two types of consciousness: waking and dreaming. We have two lungs for the single task of breathing. Comparison, or thinking by contrast, is a process of duality: holding the one up against the other. In our emotions, the default is that love is the opposite of hate. In our relationships, opposites attract. And for those who think that spiritual beings are androgynous, beings that could well be our counterparts, God created us ‘man’ and ‘woman’.
Now, what I wish to forward at this point is the concept of ‘type duality’. By type, I mean a character trait that identifies the individual, or the individual’s alignment or propensity. Is there a God-type? Is
there, for that matter, a ‘non-God-type’? This might simply fall under comparative thinking. We know the one as opposed to the other. There is a type comparison in the following scripture verse.
2 Peter 2:9, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”
Two types are set in contrast to one another. My question is this: if you define ‘godly’ as being like God, how do you define the contrasting term of ‘unjust’?
There is yet another way to view the two sides of the interface. We’ve already noted the in and out; the here and there. Now I submit that, of the two sides, there is a ‘higher’ level and a ‘lower’ level. We are all familiar with the term ‘on high’, but who has paused long enough to see that “on high” means a ‘higher’ level?
Luke 1:78-79 uses these words, “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high (higher level) hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way (the way = Jesus) of peace (as in a peace treaty).”
I look in corners and find small things that others overlook. A thing not missed in the above verse is the keyword “Dayspring.” It is a reference to our Lord, but lest we simply sit around and say, “Jesus is the dayspring; how wonderful!”, the smaller implications need to be examined. See here.
I pulled from a reference work: Strong's Ref. # 395 Romanized Anatole Pronounced an-at-ol-ay from GSN0393; a rising of light, i.e. dawn (figuratively); by implication, the east (also in plural): KJV--dayspring, east, rising.
From ‘dayspring’ we get the sense of a thing that occurs at a particular time, and from that, by extension, a thing that happens at the right time. In the evolution of symbolic thought and abstract application, the shift up to ‘dawn of a new day’ was a small easy step. It was something that happened at a particular, and dependable, time. To take a step further in that evolution would bring us to the term ‘dawn of a new age’ - a thing that, for all intents and purposes, happens at the ‘right time’. The rising of light may point to an internalized process, whereby ingesting light, we become more and more like Christ.
The plurality of ‘east’ is a bit confusing, even for those of us well versed in duality. I am reminded, however, that an old prophecy calls for the three brothers to reunite. They are Israel, Egypt, and one other Eastern people.
I gave this section the title, Rhyme and Reason for a reason. I have sought to find the sense in the odd verse. Some may ask what trees and brambles have to do with anything, or, how does a dawn figure into the theme of an interface between flesh and spirit. I submit that to understand anything on this side is to attain some further knowledge of the other side.
We understand the spiritual in the same fashion that primitive man understood: by way of comparison to the corporeal. But, no coin has only one side. I assume, therefore, that to understand a spiritual issue is to gain a greater understanding of the corporeal. The Old Testament, for example, helps me understand the New Testament. It is also the case that the New Testament helps me understand the Old Testament. It is after all, at least to me, a single book.
Jesus was both spirit and man, and while to some these seem self-opposing, the combination of the two became one Lord, one Christ. If it was but a rare and happy alignment that Jesus the man was so suffused with spirit, then, definitely, a higher level was attained. Since we have thought of ourselves as rising through the levels (receiving light into ourselves to become light), let us take a moment to see Jesus as rising through the levels.
It doesn’t matter if we came from a well-to-do family, if we start on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, we are the newbie. However, when we get a pay raise or a promotion, we are not only on that higher level, we are better equipped to reach for the next level.
Hebrews 1:3, may be seen as the ultimate pay raise and final promotion, “Who being the brightness of His glory (the top rung on the spiritual ladder), and the express image of His person (the glove that best fit the hand of God), and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
There are levels on a ladder; there are levels in a process. There are also levels in a chain of command. In all, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end: or, a ‘from, through, and to’. It is the same with the interface, or door, if we go through, we are moving from our side, level, or focus to the other. We should not be alarmed to think of salvation as a process of ascendancy. A gain in our spiritual understanding may not place us on high, per se, but we can at least say that we are ‘on higher’ than we used to be.
Becoming is the work, but ascendancy, as with all other processes, requires prerequisite steps. ‘From, through, and to’ is expressed in 1 Peter 1:2, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
This speaks of a baptism on a level higher than baptism by water. The prerequisite process of sanctification of things spiritual is a must. Obedience cannot be reached otherwise. This obedience is not an obedience to the flesh, else the flesh should be sanctified. It is not an obedience to the world, else the world should be sanctified. What is sanctification, anyway? It is, simply stated, to set something up on a pedestal; to set something aside as special. To sanctify something is to give it honor and approval.
Since we are at present looking into the process of ‘becoming’, it may be of interest to note that the word sanctify is a ‘transitive’ verb. Now, on top of sanctifying the spirit, one must realize that the vessel it is housed in cannot go unaffected, for both sides of the equation must be equal.
See 1 Thessalonians 4:4, “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.”
I said that I wanted to make sense of the odd verse. In winding down, I will bring forth the ‘loaded’ verse or two. Be warned: I may put forth some fanciful speculation on things I have no way of knowing in this lifetime, and you may be startled into asking, “what’s up with this?”, but bear with me.
There was a time in science when those in the know rejected the notion of rocks falling from the sky. In the process of becoming believers, they had to be bombarded with the impossible, and Jules Verne wrote of impossible ships that sailed underwater, but we are not afraid of the impossible becoming possible.
Case in point: just who was that extra man at Jesus’ arrest; the one that ran away naked? When you stop and give it any thought at all, it gets really strange. Of course, Gethsemane was a popular place. We would expect others to retreat there overnight. He was not one of the disciples, but he was close enough to the action that the guards took hold of him. And why did they try to apprehend this one unnamed man and not the disciples?
Read Mark 14:51 and 52. This man was not Peter; Peter followed afar off. In some versions, the
disciples flee, in one, Jesus convinces the multitude to focus on Him alone. But who was this young
man? More often than not, when men slept out that way, they had coats to wrap in or to use for
pillows. But here is the weird part, the young man was naked; he had no clothing. It was as if a linen
cloth (a sheet) was all he could find to wrap himself in.
Now for the fanciful speculation: could this man have been a time traveler? I am reminded of movies where the time traveler can go back in time but has to go naked; has to find something to wear when he gets there. Of course, it could have been some young man engaged in intercourse, who wanted to see what all the noise was about. It could have been the young rich man, who decided to give away all his goods and follow Jesus: he might have kept a fine linen cloth to sleep in. But, what of the nature of this man?
The man seems like a total wuss.
People back then were very self-conscious. To expose one’s nakedness was to expose one’s ‘shame’. Did he not share that deeply embedded Jewish concept? Was he a coward? Turns out that the incident was prophesied in Amos 2:16, “And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.”
Okay, tell me that chapter of Amos concerns something else, and I will point to Amos 2:6, “they sold the righteous for silver.”
What is interesting about Amos 2:16 is the character reference. Did the man simply drop his expensive linen cloth and run whimpering into the night? The man was described pretty specifically as “courageous among the mighty.” Could he have been a Roman soldier who had cast off his armor; who could not afford to be identified? There’s a best seller in that somewhere. But, to move on to another ‘loaded’ scripture, let’s turn to the New Testament; to the book of John, to be exact.
The verse ahead presents us with a sort of ‘mini-smorgasbord’ for our refined palette. Did New Testament people hear the voice of God like those who followed Moses in the Old Testament?
Does this verse point an accusing finger at the more scientifically inclined? Does this verse present
a picture of Jesus as an individual who has risen above the limitations of linear time? What does this
verse bring up about the nature of the title ‘son of man’, and indeed, about the nature of spiritual
childhood?
Here is the verse. John 12:28 through 31 and 34 through 36 “Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spake to Him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The people answered Him, We have heard out of the law (the Old Testament) that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”
It seems to be implied that some, at least, heard a voice speak actual words. It is recorded that some of those who were actually there thought they heard thunder, and others that they heard an angel. Does the inclusion of that variant opinion indicate that a storm raged at that particular time?
Actually, Jesus was out in the open, riding a donkey to Jerusalem from Bethany. Those who had
witnessed the raising of Lazarus were going ahead of Him broadcasting what they had witnessed.
Because of that, many came out to meet Him. The religious leaders were also present. There were
even Greek Jews who had come up for the feast; Jews who had only heard (shows how news travels
when something big happens), and they wanted to meet the man. They asked Philip, who went to
Andrew. They brought the matter to Jesus, likely with the Greeks in tow. Then Jesus spoke, and the
voice came from heaven.
Nothing was mentioned about rain. Still, some insisted it was thunder, which smacks of scientific denial. Then Jesus spoke of the Prince of this world being cast down, using the word “now.” He had earlier told His disciples, in Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Historically, that joker fell either before mankind or in the garden when he was cursed. Unless . . . linear time has no bearing on the issue. More later on that.
And finally, it seems that the common people had a little understanding in regard to Christ’s appellation ‘Son of man’. More on that, and childhood (adoption), later too.
Man’s godhood is not a new concept, but Psalms 82:6-7 presents us with something more to chew on; “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”
We are grouped with the fallen. But, more specifically, “one of the princes” is the key illustration.
Now, I may be as simple as the next man, but the only ‘prince’ that I have read about, who falls, is Satan. He was just ‘one’ of the princes. Dying like men is bad enough. Perhaps falling like a prince is that proverbial ‘fate worse than death’.
I think that if we embrace our ‘godhood’, we must do so with humility. We must realize the real connection between spiritual and corporeal. We can ill-afford to continue placing God at a distance, thinking that somehow we are not a part of the bigger picture. The ‘stand alone’ mentality is simply prideful resistance. We are a level, a ‘power’ in the cosmic order created by Christ; a link in His chain of command.
If ruling princes may be cast down, how much more we? We will be so much better equipped for our quest, as Daniel 4:26 says, “After that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”
We will never clearly see our Great reflection until, as Daniel 4:25 instructs us, we realize “that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.”
