Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.You know, I wouldn't think this is the kind of picture Christians would want of their God -- he's openly whining! He's having a tizzy fit because his selfish desires aren't being met.
~ King James version ~
It is more important
To see the simplicity,
To realize one's true nature,
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire.
~ from Verse 19 of the Tao Te Ching ~
As Lao Tzu illustrates again and again, Tao is desireless. When desire is lacking, there is no way to experience disappointment.
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
I can't wait for you to get beyond Isaiah and his peculiar covenant community messages, but how do you cast off your selfishness and temper your desires?
ReplyDeleteSeriously. How?
Unfortunately, one person can't tell another how to do it. It's one of those things that has to be experienced.
ReplyDeleteYes, that sounds like a supreme cop out, but there is no one checklist or procedure to follow.
The other point I shall make is that, if a person believes in God and even God can't figure this out, then I suppose we're doomed!!
That was a rhetorical question, really, but it is interesting to know how other people have done this. Isn't that part of this ongoing dialogue we're having?
ReplyDelete