OrEd-T-20.7-Temple of the Holy Spirit.2

OrEd-T-20.7-Temple of the Holy Spirit.251. Idolaters will always be afraid of love, for nothing so severely threatens them as love's approach. Let love draw near them, overlooking the body, as it will surely do, and they retreat in fear, feeling the seeming firm foundation of their temple begin to shake and loosen. Brothers, we tremble with them. Yet what we fear is only the herald of escape. This place of darkness is not our home. Our temple is not threatened. We are no longer idolaters. The Holy Spirit's purpose lies safe in our relationship, not our bodies. We have escaped the body. Where we are the body cannot enter, for the Holy Spirit has set His temple there. 52. There is no order in relationships. They either are or not. An unholy relationship is no relationship. It is a state of isolation which seems to be what it is not. No more than that. When the mad idea of making my relationship with God unholy seemed to be possible, all my relationships were made meaningless. In that unholy instant, time was born, and bodies were made to house the mad idea, and give it the illusion of reality. And so the mad idea seemed to have a home that held together for a little while in time, and then it vanished. 53. Idols must disappear. They leave no trace behind their going. The unholy instant is as frail as a snowflake in its seeming power. Is my preference the malevolence of the unholy relationship, seemingly powerful, bitterly misunderstood, and invested in false attraction? Instead, I want the holy instant, which offers me peace, understanding, and the eternal blessing of its unlimited beneficence. So, I lay aside the body and quietly transcend it, rising to the welcome of what I really want. And from the Holy Spirit's holy temple, I will not look back. For idols cannot attract the minds that have transcended illusions, and left them far behind. 54. The holy relationship reflects the true relationship the Son of God has with his Father, in reality. The Holy Spirit rests within it, certain the holy relationship will endure forever. Its firm foundation is eternally upheld by truth. And love shines on it with the gentle smile and tender blessing it offers to its own. Here the unholy instant is exchanged in gladness for the holy instant of safe return. The way to true relationships is gently held open, and we walk through together. Love's arms are open to receive us and give us peace forever. We leave the body thankfully behind, and rest in the Everlasting Arms. 55. The body is the ego's idol, the belief in sin made flesh, and then projected outward. This produces what seems to be a wall of flesh around the mind, keeping the mind prisoner in a tiny spot of space and time. The prisoner is given only an instant in which to sigh, grieve and die in honor of its master. This unholy instant seems to be life, an instant of despair, a tiny island of dry sand, bereft of water and set uncertainly upon oblivion. Here the Son of God stops briefly, to offer his devotion to the idols of death, and then pass on, more dead than living. However, it is here that he again makes the choice between idolatry and love. 56. Here it is given him to choose to spend this instant paying tribute to the body, or let himself be given freedom from the body. Here he can accept the holy instant, offered to him to replace the unholy one he chose before. And here he can learn relationships are his salvation and not his doom. We who are learning this may still be fearful, but we are not immobilized. The holy instant is now of greater value to us than its unholy seeming counterpart. We have learned what we really want. There is no time for sadness. Maybe there is confusion, but not discouragement.57. We have a real relationship, and it has meaning. It is as like our real relationship with God as equal things are like to each other. Idolatry is past and meaningless. Perhaps we still fear each other a little, and a shadow of the fear of God remains with us. Yet, that is easily overcome by us, who have been given one true relationship beyond the body. We cannot be held back from looking on the face of Christ. We cannot withhold from ourselves the memory of our relationship with the Father. And, we cannot keep out of our awareness the remembrance of God's love. OrEd-T-20.7-Temple of the Holy Spirit.251. Idolaters will always be afraid of love, for nothing so severely threatens them as love's approach. Let love draw near them, overlooking the body, as it will surely do, and they retreat in fear, feeling the seeming firm foundation of their temple begin to shake and loosen. Brothers, we tremble with them. Yet what we fear is only the herald of escape. This place of darkness is not our home. Our temple is not threatened. We are no longer idolaters. The Holy Spirit's purpose lies safe in our relationship, not our bodies. We have escaped the body. Where we are the body cannot enter, for the Holy Spirit has set His temple there. 52. There is no order in relationships. They either are or not. An unholy relationship is no relationship. It is a state of isolation which seems to be what it is not. No more than that. When the mad idea of making my relationship with God unholy seemed to be possible, all my relationships were made meaningless. In that unholy instant, time was born, and bodies were made to house the mad idea, and give it the illusion of reality. And so the mad idea seemed to have a home that held together for a little while in time, and then it vanished. 53. Idols must disappear. They leave no trace behind their going. The unholy instant is as frail as a snowflake in its seeming power. Is my preference the malevolence of the unholy relationship, seemingly powerful, bitterly misunderstood, and invested in false attraction? Instead, I want the holy instant, which offers me peace, understanding, and the eternal blessing of its unlimited beneficence. So, I lay aside the body and quietly transcend it, rising to the welcome of what I really want. And from the Holy Spirit's holy temple, I will not look back. For idols cannot attract the minds that have transcended illusions, and left them far behind. 54. The holy relationship reflects the true relationship the Son of God has with his Father, in reality. The Holy Spirit rests within it, certain the holy relationship will endure forever. Its firm foundation is eternally upheld by truth. And love shines on it with the gentle smile and tender blessing it offers to its own. Here the unholy instant is exchanged in gladness for the holy instant of safe return. The way to true relationships is gently held open, and we walk through together. Love's arms are open to receive us and give us peace forever. We leave the body thankfully behind, and rest in the Everlasting Arms. 55. The body is the ego's idol, the belief in sin made flesh, and then projected outward. This produces what seems to be a wall of flesh around the mind, keeping the mind prisoner in a tiny spot of space and time. The prisoner is given only an instant in which to sigh, grieve and die in honor of its master. This unholy instant seems to be life, an instant of despair, a tiny island of dry sand, bereft of water and set uncertainly upon oblivion. Here the Son of God stops briefly, to offer his devotion to the idols of death, and then pass on, more dead than living. However, it is here that he again makes the choice between idolatry and love. 56. Here it is given him to choose to spend this instant paying tribute to the body, or let himself be given freedom from the body. Here he can accept the holy instant, offered to him to replace the unholy one he chose before. And here he can learn relationships are his salvation and not his doom. We who are learning this may still be fearful, but we are not immobilized. The holy instant is now of greater value to us than its unholy seeming counterpart. We have learned what we really want. There is no time for sadness. Maybe there is confusion, but not discouragement.57. We have a real relationship, and it has meaning. It is as like our real relationship with God as equal things are like to each other. Idolatry is past and meaningless. Perhaps we still fear each other a little, and a shadow of the fear of God remains with us. Yet, that is easily overcome by us, who have been given one true relationship beyond the body. We cannot be held back from looking on the face of Christ. We cannot withhold from ourselves the memory of our relationship with the Father. And, we cannot keep out of our awareness the remembrance of God's love.