Category: Principles

The Promenade: Pianos Will Not Fly By Themselves

It sits there, having not been used for years, and yet it is one of the few things I will not get rid of….

My upright piano.

Gotten as a gift for Chanukah a few years back, from my late wife, the Zoologist.

And yet, as it reclines there, it waits to be played, and I will spend a year learning to figure it out so that I might play it.

It is currently an unused gift. I believe this season, while I am still single and do not have a chick to annoy (the way I annoy Wendy Hibbard with the word “chick”) yet, I will do something with it.

Unused Gifts And Thresholds

And that working with unused gifts, or underused gifts, is also a threshold to consider.

A threshold being a place over which we cross from an old season to a new season. In this case, season of not playing piano, to season of learning to play (transitional season to be managed), to season of being able to play.

One gift, however, which I have not underused nearly as much, though it is not wholly unpacked, is my skill with the written word. It is part of the reason I maintain TPH. The site is a constant reminder I have an audience and people who derive some life from the things I write, not like ticks on a dog bleeding life off for survival, but more like friends out for a jaunt, enjoying the eternal adventure of sonship.

I recently discovered an aspect of my design as a writer, that, as yet, is not wholly unpacked, through the recommendation of a fellow Mercy’s blog.

If you have not discovered her blog, and are not intimidated by materialized whimsy in footnote form (I was delightfully entertained by such), Robyn McKinley’s Flying Piano sports some skillfully-wielded verbal craftsmanship in the Mercy tribe’s key of music. It reminds me of another variant of Megan Caldecourt’s Beyond The Horizon blog, itself under the cleverly-redemptive Amethyst-noted URL handle RimOfTheWorld7. And though Robyn’s and Megan’s content are a world apart, the whimsy and attention to ecosystem present themselves variously.

A friend of mine who also is connected to The Man From California, recommended her writings, and the first pair of postings hit me in that sweet linguist’s spot that evoked the sort of laughter that only my brother can evoke when we are watching Danger Mouse, or when I partake of such works as the aptly-monikered Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by Lynne Truss (her usage of the Oxford Comma notwithstanding, her work on punctuation possesses a singular wit.)

So, without adieu, gang, here is the link:

https://robinmckinleysblog.com

The Great Earth Gates of Kiev: Missed Opportunities and Unused Feasts of Christian and Believing Jewish Movements

For those not famliar, Mussgorsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition is a favorite piece of mine, and the first and third heads of this post are tied to movements of that work. “The Promenade” was the introduction to the piece and “The Great Gate of Kiev” is part of the body of that work. And given I have done some work in describing and teaching on spiritual structures like portals and earth gates….well, perhaps you will get the point.

Chanukah…

An unused feast…

Yes, in the canon of biblical text, it is only mentioned once, and then, it seems, a passing reference.

However, in our family, because of a series of events 10 years ago, the King highlighted its purpose for me and my family, and here I communicate it to y’all.

December 7, 2012, I had done something I never thought I would do ever: File for divorce. During that season from March 13 to December 7, I had completely lost my capacity for humor and laughter.

December 8, 2012, something happened though. Through the prayers of a friend from Missouri, the King had sparked a light.

And that was the first rekindling of hope in my spirit.

My laughter had returned….something really important to me…the laughter that many of y’all enjoy when we converse about any number of things.

I daresay when Hope goes missing from those who are prophetic, the effect of melancholy and despair become like unto arsenic; each new dose doubles the effect, and rushes the victim toward a most heinous end. And the joy that is needed to overcome such despair must be beyond speech, recongnition, or understanding.

That was the first night of Chanukah that year, and since then, every year, the King has given me a theme and two lynchpins for the celebration of the Feast of Dedication.

“But David, we have Sukkot. And Chanukah wasn’t commanded by the King.”

The first was John 10:22-30. To other than a “details” eye, this is a passing reference. But with the Mercy John, I would contend there is nothing passing. We Mercies, in a general place of emotional health, have a penchant, and an affection for, the understated.

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

John 10:22-30 ESV

What was the King doing in Jerusalem in winter walking in the Temple complex during the Feast commemorating the dedication of the temple?

I surmise he went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the recovery of the Temple Mount, and so He could point the masses to himself.

There was a dedication of the King to his Father’s purposes, and him preparing us for the dedication of our temples when we invite him in and he teaches us cause-and-effect relationships (principles), and in this season, Father gives a pair of items that color the year going forward.

Light and Truth

Justice and Mercy as the Two Facets of Love

Filter and Flow

And Sowing and Reaping

For the whimsical Exhorter G-d/Man who IS fully G-d and fully Man right now, this is a season of illumination of He himself. It’s a season of light given us by the Father of Lights.

Further, when you consider that Sukkot was when we celebrated the birth of the King (late September to early October), dial that timeframe back roughly 40 weeks and where does that place the season of His conception?

Yeah….illumination…..the spark lights the fire….thank you to the Mercy Bob Jones, for speaking to that dynamic.

That light which rains hope upon those of us which despair in this season, is the gift of His Presence to us, in us, and through us.

And for us, it is not so important that Judas Maccabaeus led a raid to retake the temple and the light stretched from one day to eight.

Rather it is a celebration of Him Who Is Light, and the One Who Reveals Reality in its Kaleidoscopic Fullness in this period, so that we can embrace our destiny and recalibrate this season to deeply redemptive purpose.

G-d was here first.

And I don’t celebrate it because unbelieving Jews reclaimed the temple. I celebrate because the Son of G-d did, and the Ben-Adonai and the Ben-Adahm used this season to tell us plainly who He was and rejected the inquiries of the religious leaders He baited with His Presence By being His Light In His Temple, which was His body, as during this season, He was REVEALING what He was doing: TENDERLY gathering His sheep who were so illuminated they could hear His voice and follow Him.

He was sowing His speech as the Word, the λόγος, and reaping the benefit of His exaltation of El Padre De Luces Del Cíelo, quien no tiene el desviación o sombro cambiante.

¡Gloria a Dios!

This is a season where the King gives our family a theme, and then He meets us as I teach on a grouping of passages during the nights of the feast.

And from year to year it varies.

As it will this year. And we will cover Galatians 6:7-9, and Psalm 95 paired with Genesis 2 and Hebrews 3 and 4, and segments of James 1, and 1 John 1, a couple of other passages where sowing and reaping are described, including Josiah and Manasseh. For what season would be complete without me showing the good thing Manasseh did while also highlighting the rebellion of Josiah.

Sowing and reaping, gang.

And the presence of His emotions can make even pianos to fly and destinies to come alive as we are reconciled to our birthrights.

So, consider deeply what He may say to you in this season, gang.

And receive His joy which will provide you strength for your destiny and journey.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of G-d descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13–17, ESV

I want to break a “reality” that is religiously-set and irrelevantly calcified about this text.

This text is not merely about obedience alone. Too many dang pastors and believers have made this thing we call water baptism simply about obedience, and then they treat baptism as “must be treated a certain way”.

Baptize people backwards once: irrespective of whether or not they or their spirits have been exposed to water trauma. NO RENUNICATIONS! NO DELIVERANCE! No concern for their vulnerability. No considerations for the nuances of the Father’s heart for the person who is in grave need of a tender embrace. Just straight-as-a-board [censored] obedience to His commandments, as if that was the only thing there was in existence, at the expense of the fullness of what was in this text. One interpretation, slavery to a Master’s will, with zero creative, principled expressions.

I have seen too many of these baptisms where people are lectured on obedience with zero concern for sonship or the creativity that should mark the kingdom. and that galls me.

Too many people are too interested in seeing obedience at the expense of sonship.

And I am done with the preaching of obedience at the expense of the Father’s tender heart, as a father myself, with a tender heart I regained from the King as of August 18th, a heart I had not seen since October of 1984.

Please allow that years of war and prison may change a man.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Hopefully, as a man or a woman endures years of war or prison or heartache or hardship, they grow in something unshakeable.

In my case, there were hard times that drew questions and bred offense. My first wife cheating on me. My father abandoning me. My twin sister not making it. My second wife dying of cancer. And the prayers of some dear brothers and sisters as well that softened me.

And to that point, we see some of the things that Father may want to deal with in water baptism. As my mother once wrote to me in 1991 in the yellow letter that no longer exists.

Ask Him to soften the heart of a mean person. He works wonders…

G-d may use water baptism to work a miracle or a set of miracles, and we really need to open up the laver of cleansing to the idea that G-d may want to do more than what we are in baptism.

Jesus came to the Jordan because there was a larger picture than mere obedience. There was a fulfillment Jesus was picturing for each of us. Baptism was and is a path to something more, and there is way damn more in water baptism than we appropriate.

Baptism is designed for deliverance. And we just dunk people and send them along without considering the spiritual encounter that the King wishes to give those who seek baptism in the waters.

And we rarely consider the King might want to not only have them buried in obedience, but we also rarely consider the dynamics of what it means to, literally and with the fullness of our spirits, be “raised to walk in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4). And beyond that, too frequently in water baptism we rarely think, ponder, ask, or allow for the possibility that the King might want to tenderly and affectionately show up; manifest His presence, and endue those being baptized…

…with whatever graces and gifts He wishes to clothe them and us.

Yeshua said this curious phrase:

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Meaning, there were two dynamics the L-rd wants to impart to us.

1. A measure of righteousness.
2. Fulfillment

The Presence of the Righteous One: Sonship

Every time in the New Testament the word δικαιοσύνην (righteousness), it parallels the Hebrew word צִדְקָתֽוֹ

There are 10 compound names of Adonai. In order, they are:

1. Adonai Eccad: The L-rd Who is One: Parallels The Father
2. Adonai Tseva’ot: The L-rd of Hosts: Parallels the Son, Who Leads the Armies of Heaven
3. Adonai Makkadesh: The Lord Who Makes You Holy: Parallels the Holy Spirit, Who Transforms Our Nature
4. Adonai Yireh: The L-rd Who Provides In Response To Sheer Faith: Parallels the Redemptive Gift of Prophet, who must execute the mandates of the King via Galatians 6:5: Faith that works through love.
5. Adonai Rapha: The L-rd Who Heals Us Deeply and Cleanses Us: Parallels the Redemptive Gift of Servant
6. Adonai Nissi: The L-rd Who Raises the Banner Of The Word Made Flesh, Himself, Over Us, Through Deep Encounter, Parallels the Redemptive Gift of Teacher, who cannot live in fullness apart from an encounter with the Incarnated Truth.
7. Adonai Shalom, The L-rd our Peace, who makes us whole through a series of revelations of His loving nature, which parallels the Redemptive Gift of Exhorter, who MUST embrace not only the positive words and revelations, but the hard stuff that causes the Exhorter to embrace a hell of a lot of pain.
8. Adonai Ra’ah: The L-rd Who Is Shepherd: He Provides all we need through leading us in a path that requires we lean on more than just our own understanding. Parallels the stubbornly independent, Redemptive Gift of Giver.
9. Adonai Tsidkenu: The L-rd our Righteousness: Parallels the Redemptive Gift of RJD (Rulder/Judge/Deliverer), who, if they walk in righteousness the King provides, and not merely their idea of righteousness, with the three Treasures of the Ark of the Covenant present in their spirits, make the ultimate fathers among the gifts. Manna for the RJD’s provision, The Torah for the RJD’s Moral Authority, and the Staff that Budded for the RJD’s Divine Appointment to Adonai’s Task rather than Self-Appointment to a task of their own choosing
10. Adonai Shammah: The L-rd Who is There. Parallels the Redemptive Gift of Mercy, and their Presence and Essence-Based Design.

Yeshua in His baptism, was seeking to execute righteousness, a callback to the RJD, and the dynamic of sonship. What we do with baptism, is not a damned matter of one-side-fits-all, lay back and expose yourself in vulnerability to the command of the L-rd who expects you to just leave yourself feeling unprotected, and there is no mention of the spirit realm.

Rather, the L-rd works with our trust level, and encourages us to seek as much Freedom as can be found. Baptism was designed to be deliverance and healing and exorcism all rolled into one. And an encounter with the Righteous Father. We were made to be creative with water baptism from person-to-person as each has need.

And, the L-rd is willing to work with us, and He is willing to develop trust with us so that we can be increasingly made whole in Him. If we are not comfortable, He will not force us, and those who father us and lead us into the Kingdom, should be completely sensitive to whatever set of needs we have, and be willing to work with us.

Father is not a tyrant in water baptism. He is so creative, and tender, and loving, and His heart is so incredibly full of desire, and His Father’s heart is rich in affection toward us as his sons. Baptism is meant to be tailor-made to each person’s walk, past, present, future, spirit, soul, body, birthright, and offices. In this, the fullest expressions of liberating and affectionate righteousness are made known.

Fulfillment

Water Baptism is more than a blasted ritual of roteness that takes five minutes, and is celebrated by something silly like “and in obedience to his commandments”. Not that obedience is not important, but it takes a backseat to reconciliation and fulfillment and deepening intimacy and affection between the One Who Ordains Water Baptism, and the one being baptized.

We were made to take the season of baptism and move with Father, seeking Him for what He wants in our own particular case for the Baptism. There is a cleansing He wants to work in water baptism that is the opposite spirit of futility.

So, if we have some broken places in our past, He actually can use the baptism as a moment where he manifests to us and in us to heal or to make right something that was made wrong years before. Such as the time when a man was being water baptized and wanted to be rid of his tattoos, and as he went under the water, and then came up, he went under tattooed and then emerged from the waters with the tattoo ink having disappeared from his skin.

Or my friend Amy Dudley who wrote a renunciation and reminded the kingdom of darkness who she was and whose she was. And she dealt with a number of spiritual attacks and asked the L-rd in the baptism, which was a forward-facing triune immersion, to remove those attacks and junk from her life, and in response, the baptism became a time of healing and deliverance and impartation.

Baptism is meant to be more than obedience, gang. Way more. I would even go so far as to emphasize that baptism is not about obedience. Rather it is the first step full of potential toward us becoming imbued with the flow of sonship.

Indeed, the Father of Heavenly Lights, did not express His desire, or ours, by saying, “yay, you obeyed.”. No!

He did not celebrate the Son by saying, “this is my servant who was good and faithful and dotted every I and crossed every T in perfect obedience (though he did obey)”. Perish that thought.

Rather He responded to Yeshua’s water baptism by saying, “this is MY BELOVED….”

“this is MY SON”

“I take immense PLEASURE IN WHAT HE HAS DONE”

Love, affection, and pleasure marked the baptism.

Desire and fulfillment, and the expression of sonship which is the major expression of righteousness.

Just some thoughts, gang.