One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. And the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”
Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:20-30
Good and evil cannot coexist within us in our deeper levels. Neither can malicious distortion and beneficent truth. The Lord can bring into our deeper levels what is good, and the truth that comes from it, when evil and its distortions are discarded by us (otherwise, we would simply keep acting from that evil and falsity). While, a lot of truth can be understood and stored in our memory before we actually love it or do it, coming to accept and will it require we first stop acting from evil and speaking falsity. When we continue to be run by evil and falsity, we will use the truth selfishly and maliciously. This spiritual process is thus designed so that we gain inner access to the truths that wisdom discloses and the good that love reveals only when it becomes beneficial to our whole lives and relationships. Swedenborg, paraphrase of Divine Providence §233
You know that according to the teaching of this Work, Humanity has two distinct sides – the side of knowledge and the side of being: and that in order to change or evolve a person must nowadays receive first of all new knowledge and then apply it to their own being through self-observation. Nicoll, Commentary V, pg. 1747
Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky, Vincent Stuart, London, 1957
CREDITS
Dr. Sue Johnson, “Love Sense” https://www.youtube.com/@DrSueJohnson
Emanuel Swedenborg, www.swedenborg.com
John Clark Echols, www.clarkechols.com
Solomon Keal “Affection for Truth” www.solomonkeal.net
Podcast Host: John Clark Echols
Music Credit: Solomon Keal
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I invite you to continue to listen to the next episode. Be well.
