Bonus Study One: Earth

I have been blogging the chapters of my book, "The Great Reflection" one chapter per week. That ended with chapter sixteen. The original book contained three bonus studies which I include here in the same order. The first of those was a topical study of the four elements as referenced in scripture. Here, then, is study one beginning at earth.

Study One

Earth

The theme of this Bible study: ‘Elements’. My search for references of the elements garnered twenty-one printed pages. God willing, and with the help of the Holy Ghost, I think this study will afford a more complete view of the circuit of life: from the dust of creation to the fire of destruction. It is not a study I had planned; rather, it came about when I read one of those verses (in Acts, I think) about being baptized with ‘water’ and ‘the spirit’. What occurred to me on that reading was the comparison, that Christ had earlier made for Nicodemus, between the ‘born of the spirit’ & the ‘wind’. I saw, then, a partial glimpse of the four basic elements: earth, water, wind, & fire.

Mention was made in a single scripture reference, John 3:5 through 8, of the elements of water and wind. Now I, like most others, am used to hearing the ‘born of water and spirit’, verses presented as if water is the beginning (the birth of physical man), and wind is the end result (or, the second birth). I had to ask: what then of the other two elements? To place the order of elements as earth, water, wind, and fire, to me, seemed at once to make more sense, and to be more complete.

It is ‘earth’ that I believe to be the first birth; it may be that all the elements are representative of a level of birth. Since the beginning, since Adam, man has been associated with the dust of creation, or clay, or earth. Our lowest estate is dust and ashes, in fact, many funeral services include the words ‘dust to dust’ and ‘ashes to ashes’.

The preacher, in Ecclesiastes 3:19-20, tells us: “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.”

A long time before the preacher lived, the writer of the book of Genesis quoted God thus (vs. 3:19), “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Did the writers of the Bible, when inspired to write about the physical nature of man, intend for the rest of us to understand the word ‘dust’ to mean the same thing as ‘earth’ or ‘clay’?

Job 38:38 says, “When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?”

Job 4:19 refers to the human body in this manner, “How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?”

Abraham said, in Genesis 18:27, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.”

Jumping ahead historically, we see the Psalmist write this, in Psalms 103:14, “For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”

We should all remember the account of Adam. Genesis 2:7 puts it this way: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

There is a connection here between the element of earth and the element of wind (the breath of life). I will address this and other connections as this study progresses, and I will record what the spirit teaches, but for now, I wish to bring up an association to the element of earth that should be kept in mind. That association comes from the name Adam, which translates as ‘red’. That word was the generic name given to man; it was Babylonian in origin but had the same meaning in the Hebrew language. ‘Red’ is also the color of blood, and that is the association to be mindful of. Man was taken from dust, mixed with water, quickened by the spirit, and called red.

Blood is the first association to the element of ‘earth’ which points to a connection to the element of ‘water’: it represents the half-way mark between earth and water. The channels of blood that course through the human body, in their most fundamental symbolism, are like rivers of watery earth. Allusions to the Nile being turned to blood should not be passed over. Men in those early days made an instant connection between earth, water, and wind. The blood of the body, equally with the breath in the nostrils, was considered the life of the body. The association was unmistakable when a man-child came forth in a shower of blood and water.

Job 14:1 says, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”

Job also says, in 15:14 and in 25:4, “What is man, that he should be clean? And he which is born of woman, that he should be righteous? How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of woman?”

The association here is through blood back to the element of earth. Jesus spoke of a man that was born of woman, in Matthew 11:11, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.”

But Christ, Himself, apart from being born of the spirit, was also a man born of a woman. For that reason, the writers of the scriptures were compelled to say of Jesus, in 1 John 5:6, that His relationship to man could not simply be based in a spiritual awakening, as in His baptism by water. While that is a necessary step, it could have no validity apart from Christ’s physical birth.

The verse says, “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.”

1 John 5:8 continues, “There are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

That verse seems to show a ‘forward progression’ by counting back from the Truth in sets: spirit/water, water/blood, blood/earth - the former being the affecting catalyst upon the latter to bring each forward. Not only the Hebrews, but all early cultures had religious ceremonial rites, believing in a real connection between physical objects, physical actions, spoken words, and spiritual ends. The Hebrews had regular rituals that reflected their beliefs concerning the earth and blood. They believed that the life of the body (which was made from dust) was in the blood. They had a ceremonial restriction against eating blood.

See Deut. 12:16, “Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water”

In effect, they were returning life to the dust from which all came. Notice the symbolic admixture of earth and water.

In Exodus 4:9, God tells Moses, “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

And blood speaks to God from the earth, as when Abel’s blood cried out.

There was a difference between blood in the ground, and blood left exposed on an altar. Note Ezekiel 24:7 and 8, “For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; that it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.”

Man continues in his relationship to dust. It is man’s humble beginning, his low estate. In all of mankind’s striving to be lifted up from the shame of dirt, it still clings to him and is reflected in his thinking.

Isaiah 29:4, “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and as one that hath a familiar spirit, thy voice shall be out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”

The earth, in regard to man’s inability to escape his return to it, has connotations of shame and reproach. The early Hebrew, in his daily sacrificing of animals, pouring their life back into the earth, had an inbred belief against man’s blood being poured out in similar fashion – thus the absolute horror of murder, thus God’s response to Abel’s blood and to the suffering of His people in Egypt.

We note man’s belief that the life of men moved onward and upward after death, while the life of animals went back into the earth by reading the next scripture reference: Ecclesiastes 3:20 & 21. “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”

Since physical man cannot know spiritual matters, this verse is doubtless based on man’s assumptions. If, as man believes, God breathed life into every living creature, then the spirit of the animal is no less of God than the spirit of man. The same writer also states, in Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

There is no denying that man seeks to be better than the animal but that is only because man sees the animal in his own nature. In both of the verses just cited, a clear connection can be seen between the element of earth and the element of air, which symbolically points to the breath of life, the spirit given by God.

In the writings of early man, there is a clear connection between the dust of man’s creation, the dust of death, and man’s low estate before a Holy God. Psalms 22:15 associates the element of earth with the grave thusly, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”

Note, in the reference to the dust of the Psalmist’s demise, the drying up of his moisture, or, a loss of water. The connection in early thinking between water and earth is irrepressible.

Also, take a look at Psalms 44:25, “For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly (heart, or, inner man) cleaveth unto the earth.” We have always felt helpless in the face of death; quite frankly, we are helpless. Life and death are simply beyond our jurisdiction. They belong to God. And we lament, as in Psalms 30:9, “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?”

Even though, as in Psalms 22:29, we evince an adequate understanding: “All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him: and none (but neither) can keep alive his own soul.”

Now, perhaps we can get a better grasp on that whole deal about lamenting, or fasting in sackcloth and ashes. It was a representation of a people’s low estate and humility before the God that brought them from and sent them back to the dust. It was a ceremonial act that connected their physical state to their spiritual desires.

Joshua 7:6, “And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the Lord until the eventide, (a watery reference to a new beginning, as the Jewish day ran from the evening to the morning) he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.”

The element of earth, or dust, is used as a symbol of man’s low estate in the writing of 1 Samuel 2:8, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust . . . to make them inherit the throne of glory.”

Also, read 1Kings 16:2, “Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel.”

When man was convinced of his low estate, he would repent in dust and ashes; witness Job 42:5 & 6, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Could it have been an attempt to bury one’s base nature, or sins; did they think that was possible? Read Job 20:11, “His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which lie down with him in the dust.”

All words and deeds have a progressive direction. They are not static. We need to keep in mind that a

man can fling his body into the dust and catapult his spirit into heaven.

Job 2:12, “And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.”

Just as ‘earth’ has a connection to ‘water’ through ‘blood’, so too does ‘water’ have a connection to ‘wind’ through ‘vapor’, or ‘cloud’, and by allusion, the dust can be compared to the cloud.

Nahum 1:3 speaks of the lower end of higher levels when the writer states that “The clouds are the dust of His (God’s) feet.”

Man’s highest reach: the sky, with all its billowing fleets of clouds, is still beneath God, is where we begin to get a glimpse (order-of-element-wise). The earth is God’s footstool; clouds would be where His lowest aspect touches our highest, where spiritual touches physical. Or is it just so much poetry? Let us read some dust of the feet verses with this in mind.

In Matthew 10:14, Jesus, the only begotten son of God, said to His disciples, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.”

Why shake off the dust? Mark 6:11 puts it this way: “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony.”

What is a testimony in this case but an attestation, or indictment, and who would that be against?

Read Luke 9:5, “And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.”

Is that like saying, ‘since you love your low estate so much, keep it’?

Luke 10:11 seems to say just that, “Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”

The elements show an equal division in the purpose of God, and in the instruments of His fulfillment. Earth and water are the first half; air and fire are the second half, with the ‘cross-over’ set being water and air.

The number of the triune is evident in a progressions chart: (1) earth/water; (2) water/air; and (3) air/fire. The half-way mark is water (the end of the old), and air (the beginning of the new). John the Baptist, in this regard, is representative of mankind, who progressed from their beginning in the earth, to their preparatory cleansing or spiritual washing in water.

Book Four Chapter Sixteen: The Spiritual Archetype

The spiritual archetype:

Finding new treasures in the word of God does not negate the old treasures. Man never had to wait for the final realization to be of service to God. The early ministers of God were like prototypes of the archetype. They were one with God. They rose above the institutions of their times and proved the God-mind within. Those prototypes usually worked beyond the established borders of religious jurisdiction, often at odds with institutional authority. Not only was a work being worked within them by God, but the whole matter was something those individuals actively sought and practiced. It was a matter of the mind.

See 1 Corinthians 14:32, “The spirits (minds) of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

When the mind of man is fully compatible with the God-mind, man will peak spiritually. Man will have no more doubts; he will walk in absolute confidence. He will no longer be divided between the two identities: there will be only the God-mind. Man will have reached a spiritual archetype. Therefore, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that is: the Holy Mind, ordinary men have taught, and performed miracles. They did not have to wait for the realization to be complete. These individuals of faith had a connection through obedience. They followed instructions. This went on while the realization took place in such people as Peter, who denied Jesus three times; in Paul, who formerly had been a zealot for the persecution of the church. The individuals had their ups and downs, without a doubt - for even Judas was among those who went out two by two to cast out demons and heal the sick.

See Matthew 10:1, “When He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits (minds), to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

But, upon the people as a whole, an end result was in the offing.

Compare yourself to Peter and Paul in 1 Timothy 1:5, “Now the end of the commandment is charity (magnanimity) out of a pure (absolute) heart (mind), and of a good conscience (praiseworthy compunction), and of faith unfeigned (genuine confidence).”

Can you say as much about yourself?

The first chapter of Hebrews speaks of God’s communications to man through the agency of prophets, angels, and even Christ Himself. It is said of the angels in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits (minds), sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

The same communication, however, came through the prophets, that is: through men. The mind of

God and the work of God are clearly seen in man and angel equally. Could it be that angels are men

who have reached the level of archetype? Can we see both as indivisible?

Christ shines forth as the communication of the mind and will and power of God for a single reason: Christ is our example of a just man made perfect. Christ is both corporeal and spiritual; He is God in man; He is man and angel. And we, the heirs of what Christ offers, may also minister in like fashion as the prophets and angels.

We are speaking, here, of a common denominator that may, at the very least, be guessed by even the most outside of outsiders. Here is the test: if a person who worships statues and idols of many arbitrary gods can look at someone and determine that the individual has the appearance of the Son of God, then the wall between mortal and angelic becomes less insurmountable.

See Daniel 3:25, “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

The communicated mind of God comes to man through man no less than through angel, and Christ is said to be much better than angels, for He is the premier example of a man preaching and teaching the mind of God. Man, in his spiritual evolution, is an apprentice angel, and communicates the mind of God in like fashion as Christ and the angels.

See the God-mind communicated in Leviticus 24:12, “And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them.”

See also Numbers 16:28, “And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.”

God makes His angels ministers of men, who will inherit salvation. But, God also makes His prophets ministers of men for the same purpose, and the connection of such prophets to the greater example of Christ cannot be denied.

See 1 Samuel 2:35, “And I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in Mine heart (mind) and in My mind (heart): and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever.”

Man lives enclosed in a high wall. God would have us tear down the wall so that we may see who, exactly, is on the other side. And, just who is on the other side? Is it man or angel? Or both?

See Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him (the angel). And he said unto me, See

thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony (proof) of Jesus, worship God: for the testimony (proof) of Jesus is the spirit (mind) of prophecy (that which is to come).”

The dividing wall will come down, then, all walls will follow suit. In the upcoming verse, we can read about a division between fathers and children. That wall may be seen as more than a single, two-dimensional reference. We add a new dimension when we view the verse in a historical frame. The minds of our forefathers are turned toward us, here and now, by the communication of the God-mind. Our minds are turned to our forefathers, their zealous faith, devotion, and virtue (which must necessarily develop in us as well) by the communication of the God-mind.

See the communicated God-mind in your trans-generational fathers in Malachi 4:6, “And he shall turn the heart (mind) of the fathers to the children, and the heart (mind) of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

We are becoming angelic; the wall between us and our forefathers is breaking down, and that exposes us to the power of their faith and convictions. Through their communications to us, we become like them, like prophets, like ministers, like angels. Moreover, we are becoming more and more like Christ, who is our greatest example of God in man. Christ taught His disciples to use what He had to do what He did. He imparted virtue; He communicated His very nature and power.

These days people like to call it a ‘life force’, but formerly it was known as virtue. People, these days, have a poor impression of virtue. They think of it as, perhaps, a sweet nature. They likely see it as a propensity to follow the golden rule or to be law-abiding. The one view of virtue that is lacking is the view of virtue as power. Real power. A known quality, and a controlled quantity.

See Mark 5:30-34, “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him,

turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes? And His disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

Now, let us take a close look at what is said about virtue in Strong's Ref. # 1411: Romanized dunamis (more shall be given and he shall have abundance) Pronounced doo'-nam-is from GSN1410; force (literally or figuratively); especially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself): KJV--ability, abundance, meaning, might(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.

(He knew that faith was at work).

The disciples were taught to use virtue when they healed, but obviously, it is a thing that is not sensed by all. One must be especially attuned to it. And yet, it is at work even though we are not aware of how it feels to pass through us. Everything that peaks does so by practice and exercise. Everything that is of a higher limit is there through a series of steps or accomplishments, each adding to the last. As for the exercise, or practice, of virtue by Christ, we see that He quite regularly healed the sick; He quite often cast out evil spirits.

See Him ‘pumping virtue’ in Matthew 8:16, “When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits (evil minds) with His word (the exercise of spiritual communication), and healed all that were sick.”

How may we compare our spiritual evolution to the desired goal of Christlikeness? We are not the arrived; we are the sojourners. We look at where we are, and we know where we will be. Each step in the right direction is an addition toward our goal. We may view each step as a twofold practice of virtue. Each step adds virtue to virtue, adds spirit to spirit, but at the same time, each step is a reduction of distance between our present state and our expected goal. Each item of accomplished righteousness within our lives removes an item of non-rightness. The progress of the God-mind is the usurpation of the corporeal mind. All along the way, the learning and the final exam are one and the same.

Jeremiah 11:20, “O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest (tests) the reins (conscience) and the heart (mind).”

We hope to be like Jesus. We view being like Jesus as a successful state. We realize that the success of many believers will result in a body of Christlike individuals: we will have traits in common; we will share virtue; we will be like each other in our Christ-ness. As I have indicated all along, communication is key. The road we travel is from mind to mind. We have seen in this study that the great issue is our ‘changed’ mind. The arena in which we so vigorously exercise is the spiritual arena of thought. The communication and exercise of the God-mind is the conquest and banishment of the world-mind. We want to be, and we will be like Jesus. Walking on water and raising the dead are not key to the issue of the communicated mind of Christ. To seek the physical aspect of the matter is to seek the world. One must seek and find the spiritual first, then all the issues of our surrounding reality will fall into their rightful places. We will be like Jesus in the inner man.

See Luke 9:47, “And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart (mind).”

Communication is key: that is, the communicated mind of God, the communicated mind of Christ - communicated to the mind of man through Christ, through angels, and through prophets: that is, through other men. The mind of God and the mind of Christ come to us through preachers and teachers of spirituality: that is, mentality. That word of sublime communication reverberates within us - it strikes a chord, and we are not led blindly, but with eyes wide open: testing each issue for ourselves so that we may truly know. If our teachers teach worldly emotionalism, we will find them out. If our preachers preach socialistic mammon, we will put them away from us and seek those filled with the Holy Mind. That Holy Word must be communicated and received equally, for it is the Holy Nature of God, in all truth, that is passed from one to the other. If we receive the word, the word is in us; the word is part of who we are.

See Romans 10:8, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart (mind).”

That is the spiritual archetype. The spiritual archetype is like a free beach comer. We are free. We have always wandered but we have ever been on the right beach. We have filled our lungs with a fresh wind. First, we were amazed at the shells we found, then we were amazed at the starfish. The treasures we found grew larger and larger until they were larger than life. Now we find that having traveled so long upon this right beach is also a treasure. As archetypes go, have we arrived? Will we end our journey and begin to prove ourselves to the unbelieving with miracles and explanations of miracles? I think not! In our long journey, we have at last reached that distant stand of swaying palms at the bend of the horizon. We are moving around and beyond, and what do our eyes behold but a whole new vista of virgin sand. Each shell and starfish, small in themselves, are the exercise of the great treasure of the word. We practice that word within ourselves; that word is Jesus.

See Hebrews 4:12, “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit (spiritual identity and mind), and of the joints and marrow (strength and life of the body), and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (mind).”

Our lungs are filled with a fresh, new wind. We practice Jesus to become Jesus. We will walk and talk like Christ. We will look into the Great Reflection and each face will be the face of Christ, and our eyes will look into the eyes of Christ - as John said, “We shall see Him as He is.” Of course, He is not now revealed, but we live in hope, believing the word that is in us. When the spiritual archetype looks into the mirror, Christ will appear. We work toward that day. We seek, having faith that the object of our desire will be given to us. Our daily acceptance and practice of the God-mind is a plea for Christlikeness. Someday we will knock on the door to the inner man and Christ will open to us. In the meanwhile, even the spiritual archetype must work and walk – and practice.

See 1 Peter 1:13, “Wherefore gird up (encircle, surround, support, sustain, maintain) the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Now, this study must conclude. We end it on a high note. The Great Reflection is a shared reflection. We know that when Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him. If we can rejoice in Christ, we can rejoice in the Christ that is to be revealed in our brothers and sisters. Are you a seeker? You will find what is already there, for even now, as 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “We have the mind of Christ.”

Book Four Chapter Sixteen: The Mindful Type

The mindful type:

The mindful type is one whose mind has been filled, one whose eyes have been opened, and whose senses have been alerted. We might call it the ‘interested’ type, for such individuals now actively seek the answers that, previously, were only hinted at. This type has arrived. While they understand that there is nothing new under the sun, they burn with the newness of a changed spiritual identity. Still firmly rooted in their corporeal reality, they are keenly aware of the reality their eyes cannot see.

Job 4:15, “Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.”

There is power and force and energy in the invisible. God is invisible. God’s thoughts are invisible. Few will deny the power of God; few will deny His energy. The force of His will is evident throughout the ages.

See Psalms 33:11, “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart (mind) to all generations.”

As seekers, we feel quite at home with such a concept. Having practiced spiritual vision, we see the strength of God in His thoughts toward us. We are comfortably aware that God is strong in ways that man is not.

Consider Job 38:31, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”

In all honesty, we must admit that we can no more gather the best of Pleiades into a bundle than we can undo whatever holds Orion in place.

The seeker has arrived. Seekers do not cringe at the bigger picture of God. Truth does not trouble us; we have an appetite for it. Truth is a sandwich for the hungering seeker. Not only do we find it filling, but we ingest reality with each new bite. We take a bite, relish the savor of it, look along each plane for exactly where we next wish to sink our teeth. While we chew, we turn the sandwich over in our hands and see the other side. Like the sandwich, our reality has two sides.

Both of those sides are here and now. We reject that the spiritual is in an inaccessible plane, far away. We reject that the spiritual side of our reality may be realized only in some vague and far-flung future. The spiritual half of us, the mind of God, is being realized here and now. The seeker stipulates that the spirit is meant for the flesh, as the flesh is meant for the spirit.

See Joshua 5:15, “And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”

Consider that the place, so invested with spiritual reality as to be ‘Holy’, would have been insignificant without the real, flesh and blood foot of a faithful seeker standing upon it.

Now, please take note of who it was that spoke to Joshua. It was a high-ranking angel, a spokesman for God. When Moses received the same message, it was, again, a messenger of God speaking for God. In noting how angels, and other messengers of God, speak to man in the scriptures, I find the similarity in their manner striking.

They speak with the authority of God.

That gives us the impression that one of two things is at work. One: the messenger believes he is God, and so speaks with authority. Two: God actually speaks through the messenger, and the messenger, in fact, is only reciting what he hears verbatim. As to the latter, what exactly is the angel picking up on, his inner angel? Does he hear a voice transmitted over distances, from realms inconceivable? Or, does the messenger simply recite the words that ‘come to mind’, words that both originate in and are received by the God-mind in the messenger?

The seeker accepts that a man may be not only a prophet (messenger) but also an angel (messenger). The seeker seeks the God-mind and respects the God-mind in others.

See Colossians 3:22, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart (singlemindedly), fearing (respecting) God (the God-mind in others).”

The seeker sees the angel in his fellow man, an ongoing process that will make man more and more attuned to the growing God-mind within.

See Colossians 3:23, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily (conscientiously), as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

When man is not inclined to reach above himself, when he is just not up to the challenge, he reaches around for something familiar, something already done, something he knows he can do again. Perhaps that is why God gave the Israelites a definite time restriction (one day) in which they were not permitted to reach around for the familiar and easy things to do. It was His way of insisting that the challenge be met.

As for the modern day, I must admit we are a terribly backslidden lot. We give God only an hour a week instead of a day. Seems a few of us are not up to the challenge. We do the hour, then we reach back to things familiar and comforting (corporeally). We go shopping, eat out, or work around the house; we listen to music, watch TV, or engage in a host of other small distractions and busy work. If God is a God of knowledge who inhabits our heads, and if God is life, then isn’t anything that detracts from or limits the exercise of the God-mind a form of death?

Isn’t the occupation of our minds by the God of knowledge also the occupation of life?

See the purpose of such occupation in Psalms 102:20, “To loose those that are appointed to death.”

The prevalent concept of God as some white-bearded distant sky daddy will cause many to struggle with the thought that God could actually be in their heads - right here, right now. Our language is a barren rocky field strewn with signposts pointing down roads that lead nowhere.

Consider where the expression “God above” leads. Even the seeker may find it difficult, when in prayer, not to look toward the sky. God is right here and right now; He is realizing Himself within us. And listen up, we have it on good authority that God (where He actually lives) does not live there alone.

Hear God, Himself, describe His neighbors in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit (mind), to revive the spirit (mind) of the humble, and to revive the heart (mind) of the contrite ones.”

He dwells in the high and holy place . . . with us.

Now, the seeker realizes that ‘the challenge’ is not the same as those comfortable and familiar things we reach for. No one ever honestly said it would be easy. We know from history, even from our own personal life experiences, that the path of progress is rife with pain and danger and sorrows galore. The realization of the God-mind may leave a few rope burns.

See God at work in us in Mark 3:27, “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”

And you never saw Him coming. You heard no footfall to warn you. But you found yourself bound hand and foot; you struggled; you complained. You never saw your captor, but, what you did see were the events in your life that said to you ‘thus far and no further’. You saw the results of your decisions to try this or that path. You never suspected you were being led.

See Ecclesiastes 9:1, “For all this I considered in my heart (mind) even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.”

Our thoughts are the workbench of God. He sits tinkering with wheels and cogs; they are strewn upon the workbench in no particular order, but they make perfect sense to Him. With nimble fingers, deft and practiced, He puts them together like the large pieces of an easy puzzle. Then He takes them apart and puts them together another way. Our thoughts, our will, our motives, and feelings are but cogs that may become a pocket watch or a grandfather clock. God is not limited in what He may do with the parts. Inhabiting flesh, making the mind, turning us as if by bit and rein – well, that’s just what He does. That's his field of expertise.

See Psalms 44:21, “Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart (mind).”

Even for those of us that know, it still feels like we are thinking our own thoughts, making our own decisions. If I have told you to ‘repent’ or to ‘get your act together’, is my concern for the improved spiritual state of one solitary individual, or for the improved spiritual state that exists and grows in both of us?

I am, as Isaiah 59:13 says, “Conceiving and uttering from the heart (mind) words.”

But, the expert is building something better within. It cannot help but be communicated. And, you may complain that I am a pest, and doing nothing more than offering my own subjective take on the matter. But, you have only subdued certain cogs within yourself. You only tick differently. Fact is, all of your wheels and cogs are interchangeable with mine. That is why the communication is so inevitable. God is building both of us together. The very fact that you are exposed to the communication, that you are open to the cause, speaks confidently of the effect. My wheel spins, your wheel turns. Until each of your cogs snap firmly in place, you may find yourself under pressure.

Jeremiah 17:10, “I the Lord search the heart (mind), I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

The free flow, between individuals, of thoughts and ideas, is not a footprint of the 21st century only but has marched openly through the ages. It has ever been a platform upon which societies have come together, upon which universities have been founded, upon which sciences have developed. And, while men of the modern day exalt science over the religious beliefs of early cultures, there is no evidence that the primitive religious societies were nonscientific. Science shares in common with religion the free flow of thoughts and ideas. One caveman in a vacuum does not a wheel make. One man with fire is not easily hidden from the rest of the tribe. Even if begrudgingly, modern man must admit to the science of primitive people.

We must admit the science involved in the construction of pyramids by ancient religious people. We must admit the science involved in the formulation of ancient calendars and predictions of future events postulated on the basis of past events. The ancient peoples were both scientific and religious. The one thing clear to all of us is this: from the beginning of recorded history, and even before, mind has communicated with mind.

Is it anything more than raw willfulness that some people wish to separate science from faith? Is it anything less than evident that some people reject the prophets of religion only to accept the prophets of science? Should we put away the disciplines that do not deal with empirical evidence? There is no Moses or Samuel of science who can prove empirically that anything at all turns over in their heads. But all of us, in fact, accept the reality of invisible thought. We accept that in communication between two separate corporeal individuals something clicks; something connects; something passes from the one to the other. In the communication between the communicator and the communicated, there is a sameness and a similarity that speaks, in the very least, of a square hole in readiness for a square peg. It is not empirical, but how could communication work otherwise?

A wall is built with brick and mortar. The mortar fits between and binds brick to brick no less than

bricks fit around the mortar and hold it in articulate definition. The mortar has familiar knowledge of the brick, and the brick cannot deny the mortar.

Jeremiah 20:12, “O Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart (mind).”

North is intangible, yet every map marks it; every compass includes it. Purpose is invisible, but, we accept that it has direction. Purpose moves from what has been to what will be. We may call purpose, indeed, we may call direction by yet another name. That name is of another intangible. It is an intangible that works in both the corporeal and spiritual, and being invisible, still finds wide acceptance among the scientifically inclined. That name is evolution.

Physical beings have evolved. Societies and languages have evolved. Spirituality and mentality, also, have evolved. When I speak of the spiritual, or mental evolution across societies, I am reminded of the development within an egg. Some parts develop while certain neighboring parts do not. Then, in their time, they develop while developed areas around them take a break. However, on the level of the whole, the whole egg moves in one direction and sees a single purpose.

The mind has evolved. Perception has evolved. We know that our brain is capable of much more. It has evolved with the God-mind, has kept pace with the forward direction. The brain, I believe, will match the purpose of the God-mind, and will take us beyond the isolated individual.

See Jeremiah 24:7, “I will give them an heart (mind) to know Me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart (mind).”

The ever-present question in this work is: ‘what exactly is spiritual?’. This work has evolved to the point where we now examine the evolved ‘type’. We call this type the ‘mindful type’. And we have not yet reached an end. As direction and purpose go, the mind of this type is only just jumping past the bears. Once we get up and over these falls, we still have a long way to go before we reach the breeding grounds. In our present exertions, we hold that spiritual is mental is spiritual. We assert that our known, or perceived, reality is but a reflection. Our highly honed seeker senses practice perception. We look into the mirror, not to see the spiritual by corporeal standards, but to see the corporeal as part of the spiritual standard.

We are the mindful type because the mind of God has evolved within us to the point where it has taken control of the eyes and ears. The God-mind now flexes the perceptual pectorals of articulate definition. We now perceive the direction, the evolution, the purpose. We see the God-mind not only in our beginning, not only in our development but in every pattern of the great tapestry of being. We see levels; we see stages. We see the pieces of the puzzle in place, and at this point, we wonder if the puzzle is not, itself, one immense piece of yet a larger puzzle. Here, now, is a loaded verse worthy of closer scrutiny. Now that the God-mind controls perception, what great treasures will be uncovered?

See Revelation 1:4, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits (minds) which are (and which are streaming into the past and future) before His throne (seat of power).”

Now, let us look closely at this verse from the book of Revelation. God and/or Christ is described as positioned in His seat of power and authority. From that seat, God and/or Christ rules absolutely: it is therefore called a throne. That throne is said to exist equally in the past, present, and future. A nonlinear timeline is indicated. The power and authority of the work occur cooperatively in each time frame; the work, therefore, must occur simultaneously. The throne may be viewed as at the center of time, reaching out and affecting all time at once. Lastly, the agency of that communication is found in seven spirits (or minds) that are before, or that surround the seat of power. They stream outward; they radiate from the seat of power toward everything else.

That there are seven minds or mindsets, may be viewed in many ways, but I will put forth just one for consideration. The seven minds affecting all time (nonlinear) may suggest that serial time has seven ages.

That man derives his nature from the nature of God has already been set forth. We expect to reach the divine nature, developmentally, through the disciplines of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. What we have now is also a reflection; it is something shared in common with God. It is not that we ascribe to God the anthropomorphic terms of human nature, no: exactly the reverse. If we rejoice, it is because joy is in the nature of God. The traits of God’s nature rub shoulders with the traits of human nature. There is a real connection; there is a connection between realities. The wings of a butterfly are equal: they are exactly the same – and a butterfly with one wing just cannot fly.

See God and man and the nature of their equality in Jeremiah 32:41, “Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart (mind) and with My whole soul (complete spiritual identity).”

When God asks us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, it is because that is how He loves us. Those of us that hope, do so without the full benefit of a clear understanding of the future.

We look for the good even though we have absolutely no knowledge of what that good might be.

But, hey! - cheer up. The invisible, spiritual God ( the same God who is realizing Himself inside of

us) knows all the good that He has prepared for those of us who love Him as He loves us. Now, I

should not have to say it, but I will - those of us who have the God-mind, if we don’t already share

that knowledge, we soon will.

Wrap your budding God-mind around 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart (mind) of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

Shall we not become more and more like Christ, more and more like God? The mindful type is an intermediate type, and I have said of this type that we have arrived – but, we still have places to go. What will be the next higher type? How much further may we evolve spiritually? If I may hazard a guess, I think the next type will be that of a seasoned vet: one who has practiced to the point of total confidence.

See 1 John 3:20-21, “For if our heart (mind) condemn (oppose) us, God is greater than our heart (mind), and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart (mind) condemn us not (be in full rapport), then have we confidence toward God.”