Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
INNER CIRCLE: A Place of Rest Within Yourself

INNER CIRCLE: A Place of Rest Within Yourself

Last updated on: June 23, 2023 at 10:00 pm by Keith Giles

0 Comments

INNER CIRCLE: A Place of Rest Within Yourself 2023-06-23T22:00:22+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

SAYING 60: [The saw] a Samaritan carrying a lamb as he went into Judaea. He said to his disciples, “Why is this man carrying the lamb?” They said to him, “So that he might slaughter it and have it to eat. He said to them, “He will not eat it while it is alive, but rather when he has slaughtered it so it becomes a carcass.” They said, “He cannot do it [eat the lamb] otherwise.” He said to them, “You, too, seek for yourselves a place of rest within yourselves, lest you become a corpse and be devoured.”

As far as strange sayings in Thomas’s Gospel go, this is one of the strangest.

At face value, the sequence of events is fairly clear: Jesus sees a man carrying a lamb. He asks the disciples why he is carrying it. They respond by saying it’s because he intends to slaughter the lamb and eat it. Jesus affirms this and points out that the lamb cannot be eaten until it is slaughtered and becomes a carcass. They agree, of course, and say “He can’t eat the lamb until it’s slaughtered,” and then comes the lesson: Jesus says, “Seek for yourself a place of rest within, otherwise you will become a corpse – like the lamb – and be devoured.”

Thus endeth the lesson, but…what is the actual point Jesus is trying to make here? Well, one way of understanding this is to say that Jesus simply wants us to seek a place of rest [or salvation] within ourselves so that we do not become slaughtered and consumed by the World.

In other words, as long as you remain alive – awakened to the reality of your inseparable connection with the Source of Life – you cannot be killed or eaten.

The world is death and a corpse, as we’ve seen in previously in Saying 56, for example:

Jesus said, “Whoever has become acquainted with the world has found a corpse, and the world is not worthy of the one who has found the corpse.”

So, our goal is to remain focused on what is real and on what – and who – is alive forevermore: The Christ within us and the Christ outside of us.

Finding that rest within ourselves is key to staying alive and awake and it is our constant shield against being slaughtered and devoured by the illusion of separation perpetuated by the World around us.

Above all, never allow yourself to be carried along like a lamb to the slaughter, but understand the ways of this World will always seek to tie you up, and lead you to the place of death so you can be eaten and consumed.

Learn to be human as God is human. My newest book, SOLA DEUS: What If God Is All Of Us? explores the question and idea of God in new and interesting ways you may have never considered before. Available now on Amazon>

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” His latest book, SOLA MYSTERIUM: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything is available now on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

Previous Post

June 16, 2023

INNER CIRCLE: Look For The Living One

Next Post

June 27, 2023 Our Scandalous Unity With Everything

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Googled: “In psychology and everyday language, intelligence is the capacity to learn, understand, reason, think ..."

Herm

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"It's so weird to me how anyone thinks that getting basic income is in any ..."

Scott Santens

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"Sounds very much like what Pope Leo wrote in Magnifica Humanitas - a lot of ..."

ffeineandsugar

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"As it is written in the canonical Gospels:But as many as received Him, to them ..."

Herm

INNER CIRCLE: God’s Transcending Love

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How long was Israel in Egyptian bondage?

Select your answer to see how you score.

200 years 500 years 400 years 300 years

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »