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: Look For The Living One

INNER CIRCLE: Look For The Living One

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 2:39 pm by Keith Giles

0 Comments

INNER CIRCLE: Look For The Living One 2023-06-16T14:39:56+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.

Image: Pexels

SAYING 59: “Jesus said, “Look for the Living One while you are alive to His loving presence, lest you die to this awareness and seek to see Him and are unable to do so.”

This version of the saying, taken from William G. Duffy’s alternate reading, is closer to how I believe this statement should be understood.

Although it appears to be framed as a warning against losing a window of opportunity to see Christ before we die and lose the chance to do so ever again, I think it’s more likely that the intention is to emphasize the urgency of awakening to the reality of our Oneness with Christ as soon as possible.

So, rather than take this saying as a threat – as if it were even possible to lose our chance to become aware of our interconnectedness with the Divine – it probably is merely phrased this way to help us understand the importance of awakening to the truth.

This would be similar to some of the other sayings from Jesus that appear as Apocalyptic Hyperbole and are not to be taken literally but metaphorically. For example, when Jesus says, “What good is it to gain the whole world but lose your soul?” the point is not that anyone could actually lose their own soul, but that your soul is worth infinitely more than anything this world could possibly offer you in exchange.

Based on everything we’ve read so far in the Gospel of Thomas, the idea that anyone could ever be unable to see reality and experience their innate Oneness with Christ is nonsensical. So, it’s unlikely that this is what Jesus intends to emphasize here. Instead, the point is that remaining blind to this reality of Oneness isn’t wise.

Let’s examine the saying again and pay attention to the language used:

Jesus said, “Look for the Living One while you are alive to His loving presence, lest you die to this awareness and seek to see Him and are unable to do so.”

Notice that Jesus begins by saying that we should “look for the Living One while [we] are alive to His loving presence.” This simply urges us to seek and to enjoy our connection with Christ “while we are alive to [this] loving presence.” If anything, this appears to be a statement to those who are already aware of this presence within.

So, the first part of the saying is made to those of us who are already awakened to this beautiful reality of Oneness with the Living Presence of Christ within. Jesus merely wants us to continue to “look for” and to remain “alive to His loving presence” which has already begun to enter our imagination.

The second half is not about physical death. He doesn’t say “lest you die” but “lest you die to this awareness” which, again, is a warning about losing the initial revelation of your Oneness with Christ.

In other words, once we become aware of the Loving Presence of Christ within, we must continue to seek out and to remain alive to this reality, or else we may slowly slip back down into that place of dreamlike slumber where the illusion of separation returns to cover our eyes.

The danger is not that we might physical die and then become unable to see Christ within, but that we might see the reality of Christ’s loving presence and then somehow die to that awareness and find ourselves wandering the wastelands of separation once more.

The warning for us is not to lose sight of the reality of Christ’s abiding presence and to intentionally strengthen our ability to see and to remain alive to our Oneness with Christ so that we never run the risk of falling back to sleep and forgetting who we are in Christ.

Image: Keith Giles

Be Human As God Is Human
If God is the One in whom we all live and move and have our being, then perhaps we are the ones in whom God lives and moves and has being too. If so, where does God end and where do we begin?

In this new book, Sola Deus: What If God Is All Of Us? by author Keith Giles, we’re asked to reconsider our common assumptions about God and ourselves in ways we’ve never imagined before.

Available now on Amazon in Print and Kindle. Order Today>

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 new Sola Trilogy includes Sola Mysterium: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything and Sola Deus: What If God Is All Of Us?, both from Quoir Publishing.

Previous Post

June 10, 2023

INNER CIRCLE: Blessed Is The One Who Labors And Finds Life

Next Post

June 23, 2023 INNER CIRCLE: A Place of Rest Within Yourself

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

Who saw a vision of a valley of dry bones?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jeremiah Isaiah Daniel Ezekiel

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »