Aside:
A Place
where Three Roads Meet
Like so many, I was thoroughly indoctrinated by
religion as a child. The particular
brand doesn't much matter; for whatever beliefs are involved, religions are capitalizations of
faith. The function of religion is preservation and promulgation of core values
and beliefs while affording secular governance
room to accommodate
the material interests of the state. Generally speaking, the subtleties of
doctrines are the business of initiates, while a majority of adherents are
satisfied with surface meanings that hold keys to deeper understandings.
The just walk by faith, not by
the doctrines of society's
belief systems. The paths of true believers and of simplistic practitioners cross
in the minds of those called to make a choice of what direction their
lives should take: the right-hand path or that of the left. While most stumble
in indecision, the chosen are those who find the hidden path of the middle
way, the way to perfection.
Like the rich young ruler of the gospel parable, I had become spiritually bankrupt
as a young adult.
My mind had become cluttered with suppositions
and expectations that arose from doctrines that had been hammered into me
from my youth. My concept of faith was that I was obligated to conform my life
not to any spiritual reality, but to a set of expectations based on rules. I tried my
best to live as I imagined faith required, failing so many times. It was embarrassing.
Like the young man who came to master
Y'shua, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life,
my mind was cluttered with religious suppositions-- with righteous mammon, the
teachings I had stored away in my heart and mind. Years after I had disassociated myself from any organized religion,
however, it
was given to me to take
a first step along the
transcendental path of the Spirit. God calls whom he will, when he will; and,
having been surreptitiously "called" without much thought about what was going on,
there came a day when I found myself , quite literally, walking out of my city apartment and away from all
and everyone I knew.
I had only a vague sense of what I was doing (a
subconscious awareness of the influence of the religious training I had rejected), but
the grace of God was sufficient for each
day on the homeless road. Wandering about, here and there, I had much plans. The
story of the journey that led to the Crown Diamond revelation is written
here. Simultaneously with the revelation, I was led
to the companionship of two spiritual men with their own visions, and the three
of us spurred each other along our separate paths.
On the threshold of a new understanding of scripture and the ways of
hy, I was led by the
Inward Breath into a close relationship with Michael Murphy, a student of both Jewish and Christian kabbalah, or "cabala," as it is sometimes rendered into English.
Understood as "tradition," kabbalah is the study of the oral, apocryphal, and
pseudo-Epigraphic traditions of the remnant, from the time of Moses to the
present; and most Kabbalistic works evidence a great reverence for the accepted,
written canons, and for all teachings in which they perceive faces of Truth.
Shortly after meeting Michael and his family, I
was led to friendship with Shmuel Wahli, a gifted student of messianic
Judaism. A shaliach--one sent for a specific spiritual purpose, Shmuel's
work is centered on understandings derived from knowledge of Sinaitic
Hebrew. Paleo, as it is called, became a key element in my spiritual
progress, also; and much of my work is a direct result of Shmuel's
influence.
Called to interact with brothers whose perceptions and understandings
were different and beyond my own, I was like a tree whose growth was influenced
and enhanced by grafted knowledge from these two new friends. As our
relationships developed, we each kept to the work to which each had been called,
but our interactions took each of us beyond the comforts of individual thought.
Because there was no
hostility between the three of us, we found common ground to work together for a number of years.
Both Michael and Shmuel were writing, and I had been trained as an
editor; so I volunteered to help with their work, which contributed
greatly to my education. From the beginning of our time together, we found ourselves
functioning in
a place where three roads
meet: not at Kether, but at Yesod, at Foundation.
Our spiritual lives were blessed by the amplification
that builds upon
cautious enthusiasm; and as the individual works with which each of us was tasked
gained greater definition because of our work together, each of us was energized by
expanding implications. Our individual points of view were ratified and
augmented because their substances were caught up and swept
along together within the energy generated by our loose collaboration. We influenced each other, but each of us carried the burden of his own soul as we
traveled our separate paths in the service of the same Reality. The three
g of us, each in his way, served the fourth among us, the Door
d
to the
Way, Truth, and Life of Father
hy.
Sharing each other's burdens, Michael learned
how to organize material into books; and his last book is preserved at a website
maintained by his family and friends after his passing. It's online
here.
Shmuel was
considering abandoning the study of
Sinaitic Hebrew, but he
was persuaded of its importance; and I served as the unofficial editor of
Bet HaShem publications for many years without ever joining the Midrash. While
there, I designed the organizational framework for early editions of the BHM Dictionary. The
first edition is online
here.
Shmuel's works have
been quite prolific since Michael passed and I was called to other things. Although the three of us
were good friends and shared knowledge, we
didn't always agree with each other's work. Brothers are for adversity, whether
to toughen each other up or to share strength in times of trial. As
individuals, each of us was made stronger by what we were able to share. Shmuel's latest works are available at
the BHM website, which is online
here.
We stood together without conspiracy at an intersection of three roads. The
intersection was Yesod, as noted; and, as consequence, those roads were
diverging, not meeting. When we turned from each other after a number of
years, each of us was
stronger, better prepared for his individual walk in the steps of Y'shua.
The heavenly Father had particular visions for each
of us: not
fantasies we might have carved out on our own by laying field to field, thought
to thought, leaving no room for others.
Separated unto our callings and services within the
Kingdom of God, we fellowshipped in peace, one with the other, supping
together at the Master's table. The place where three roads meet has involved
separate journeys for each of us, but each of us found himself strengthened and edified by
labor shared for the coming Kingdom of Names. I'm confident that Kether will find us standing
together again, at the last day.
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