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Which is more important: THE LETTER OF THE LAW or THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW? The apostle St. Paul tells us, THE LETTER KILLS, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE. (2Cor. 3:8) ~ There is a beautiful story of Jesus dramatizing how a man will pull an animal out of the pit ~ even on the Sabbath ~ to which, Jesus, himself had no objection, despite the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as to the "letter" of the law to do no work on the Sabbath.
So when we look at holy men ~ such as FRANCIS OF ASSISI ~ we must ever keep in mind that ~ it is not the FORM he used to get to his high state of holiness that is important ~ (in his case, his utter devotion to the EUCHARIST ~ THE BLESSED SACRAMENT,) but the essence that can be derived by all men from that FORM, so others may be inspired to true holiness ~ THROUGH THEIR OWN "FORMS" until ~ NO FORMS ARE NECESSARY!!!
Now whenever we rightly adhere to a FORM of a religion, such as receiving the EUCHARIST (the body of Christ) via a sacrament of THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, for instance, we have set up what I frame as a "trapping of the essence within the form." Yet ~ there are millions upon billions of peoples throughout the world that neither could nor would accept this specific teaching of what has become to be known as the mystery of TRANSSUBSTANTIATION which is a changing of one FORM into another, as in the changing of bread into the body of Christ, believed also as an act of faith by the faithful of Roman Catholicism & the Eastern Orthodox Church.
St. Francis, fervently believed that this was true. He was, in fact, honoring a FORM of his church AS A MEANS to arrive at the essence of CHRISTIANITY.
Let's look at some of the important words that the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH used as part of their support which led to the execution of the mystery of TRANSSUBSTANTIATION:
Jesus then said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
They said therefore to him, "Lord, give us always this bread."
But Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I have told you that you have seen me and you do not believe. All that the Father gives to me shall come to me, and him who comes to me I will not cast out." (John, Chapter 6:vs.32-37)
Now this 'bread of life' that was dispensed through Jesus (AS CAME FROM THE FATHER AS THE TRUE BREAD) can also be viewed as the KNOWLEDGE necessary to ascend back to this same Father THROUGH His son!
Even if you are not a ROMAN CATHOLIC ~ and do not believe in its "forms" ~ all men & women of good will, should be able to get back to the Father, by adhering to this ESSENCE of THE BREAD OF LIFE = knowledge of the Father = the 'gnosis' of the gnostic thinkers as to the knowledge necessary for that same ascension from our present 3rd dimensional density to the freedom of the Light realms....
AS AN EXAMPLE:
When you learn to ride a bicycle, the training wheels (THE FORM) may be necessary so that one feels some assurance of 'NOT FALLING' while one is trying to master the technique of riding a bike; however, once one has mastered this technique, the FORM of the training wheels IS no longer necessary!!!
[[WHY CAN'T ALL MEN LIVING ON THIS PLANET 'PERCEIVE' THAT THIS SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO RELIGIOUS "FORMS" VS. THE HIGHER ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY (FREEDOM FROM FORMS!) [?] ]]
If all men (and women) could read chapter 6 of THE GOSPEL OF JOHN as the essence of their destiny ~ i.e. to learn about THE BREAD that came from above, and actually incorporate the words of knowledge of the man from Galilee into their very hearts so it becomes part of their very being, REGARDLESS OF WHAT FORM (such as THE EUCHARIST) that this heavenly knowledge of the Father takes ~ who ironically is described by the gnostics as one who is "FORMLESS" ~ then, I believe, that men & women of good will will have gained the ESSENCE of this knowledge (regardless of their faith) and these same men & women will be FREE OF ALL FORM AND SO INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!!
Even though Francis of Assisi lived within a FORM ~ he did so in a way that honored ALL MEN & WOMEN as well as NATURE ITSELF as his BROTHERS & SISTERS! In the source book mentioned above, there is a beautiful sentiment of Francis which he himself composed, that reflects this sacred bond amongst ALL OF US: "The Canticle of the Creatures" ~ which, in part says:
"Praise be You, my Lord, with all your creatures ~
especially Sir Brother Sun...
through Sister Moon...
through Brother Wind...
through Sister Water...
through Brother Fire...
through our Sister Mother Earth who sustains & governs us!
[[cf. the beautiful movie, "BROTHER SUN ~ SISTER MOON" for a visual presentation of this canticle....]]
Armstrong quotes G.K. Chesterton as saying that this above canticle "is a supremely characteristic work & much of St. Francis could be reconstructed from that work alone."
THE MARROW OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI? It is very simple in a nutshell: WHATEVER 'FORM' YOU BRING TO PRAISE THE LORD ~ SERVE HIM WITH GREAT HUMILITY, SINCE EVERYTHING COMES FROM GOD. It is we, as human beings, that {{through sin = "loving the evil"}} WE HAVE BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSING OUR PLACE WITH THE CHORUS OF THE OTHER CREATURES.
Once we learn & live the words of the one who knew God (Jesus) ~~ WE 'INGEST' THE REAL BREAD OF LIFE ~ regardless of our religious perswasion...and then our own ESSENCE becomes PURE, and at that blessed time, GOD WILL COME AND MAKE HIS ABODE WITH YOU!!! |
