Your Butterfly Awaits

Forty lashes minus one

When Jesus declared the mysteries of the kingdom he was flogged with "forty minus one lashes."

When Paul declared the mysteries of the kingdom he was "flogged five times with forty minus one lashes."

What happens when we begin to declare the mysteries of the kingdom most specifically equality with God? When we declare "If you have seen me you have seen the Father"…?

Or when we declare that Christ is not a noun or a last name for Jesus, a title reserved for one man but rather it is a verb and is a reality attainable by ALL men?

Or when we begin to question the concept of hell, that we are told to love and to forgive our enemies while our loving father tortures his enemies for all of eternity?

Or when we question the idea that there is a heaven "up there somewhere" when Jesus himself said the kingdom was within?

Or when we begin to see the Holy Bible as a book of mysteries not to be taken literally but mystically?

When we understand that a book is NOT THE word of God?

Or that people of other religions might be "saved" too?

Or when we begin to question the very concept of being "saved"?

When we understand that the "only way to the father" is not the recital of a prayer or "accepting Jesus into your heart" but rather to emulate the behavior of the pattern and that being the unconditional love and non-judgment of Christ?

What happens when we begin to declare these and other mysteries?

That's right. This is when the forty lashes minus one begins. You are lied about, rumors are spread, your integrity and loyalty are questioned and you are ultimately abandoned even by those closest to you. Sound familiar?

Yes. These are your forty minus one lashes and it is a path that the Christ must endure. Jesus said, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also."

This is a mystery. The master is the Christ in you and the servant is your humanity.

You will receive your forty minus one lash if you are to become Christ to the world. Christ means that you have merged your humanity with divinity and you are ONE.

Everything about you will break down (body, mind and spirit) just as the caterpillar becomes a rich nutrient soup as it decomposes within the cocoon - you will do the same.

Christ is an identity that emerges when we receive in our humanity, the lashes that it takes to ultimately die willingly to the egocentric self so that the Christ nature may resurrect.

P.S. Your butterfly awaits.