Riffin' On John 3:3

“Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again."- John 3:3

Translations… sometimes they can make all of the difference. The original word in Greek from which “again” was derived for this passage can also be translated to mean “from above”. “Born again” is something that has entered the Western vernacular and is used in regards to devotional practice, usually being associated with Christian traditions or being emphasized moreso within these traditions relative to other religions, and I bet if we did an exhaustive deep dive on the “born again” phenomena, and what it means to be born again, whether that be in terms of Christ or the Church with which you practice, we’d find that to be “born again” is to be “born from above”.

The classic spiritual maxim reflected there is the notion of so above, so below. In regards to “the kingdom of God” alluded to in John 3:3, you need to recognize that you were formed in God’s very image before you can reliably see it while in your conscious states here in the world.

You must wash away all of the self-conceptions you’ve had along the way that see you identifying, at the level of thought, with anything other than the very God you revere. You must wash away all actions which see you acting in a fashion that the Ideal wouldn’t advocate… (w.w.J.d.?).

As you strive to do as much, the kingdom will reveal itself to you. But other perspectives could clearly see it as your devotional practice begging Messianic intervention in the world. Prayer…mass on Sundays…lighting a candle in remembrance…these are miraculous acts each and every one of us has been performing…we would be shocked at the real returns that have emerged as a result of them.

(Here you can really see it: Civilization itself is a machine…and the machine serves God. It brings people to Him… it forces dependence…and it forces salvation; I do not mean to discredit contrarian conceptions of Civilization, they serve a purpose, refining the civilization itself, but usually they aren’t rooted in the absolute truth of the situation and I’d like to posit that at any given moment either our hands really are clean, or we are veryyy close to being unfathomably successful as a collective in regards to the leaps and bounds we make daily).

Equanimity is the state of the cosmic hierarchy. We are all equal, we are utterly equal even with the Supreme. The only way this is possible is through communion with the Supreme- in that sense, within the scope of God’s will it’s impossible to differentiate whether it’s you or God acting. This could be something as seemingly benign as tying your shoes.

It’s also the most reliable yoga for inspiring people to seek miracles with the work of their very hands.

To “see” the “kingdom of Heaven”… is to see God as Supreme. We live in a world where suffering is super possible. Everything meaningful we know keeps this suffering at bay. To “see” the “kingdom of Heaven” is to see a world in which love is triumphant and can and most assuredly will…walk us all home…it’s to see God as all-loving and all-powerful. The only way to get there (no, seriously God will pull a Frenchman on you circa Monty Python and the Holy Grail and simply will not open his castle gates to a decent life for you until you do as much) is to realize that righteousness in its most base sense, effective living even, is being a conduit for universal sensibility…for God…in ways mostly insignificant, but at times significant.

Meaning, in a perfect world, even though there are many creatures with distinct and everlasting identities (we all live forever)… there is also essentially only one person doing anything at all (we’re all One, bro), and it’s God. That’s a weird take on the notion of Utopia, but nonetheless…

It was Jesus’ take.

And it sorta reflects the heart of the priesthood. It seems extreme to us lay people, but this is what the clergy does (with Buddhism and Hinduism, it’s simply a fact that the lay people go this far with it too) They turn themselves into conduits…they hand their entire lives over. But it wasn’t meant to be simply for them, and it can easily be done in 2022 quickly in your off-time for free on Youtube, especially in a country where so many of our people are going to college…

Do not renounce the society. Affirm it. Reside and work within it. Love the life you liveeee; but do not perpetuate this debilitating notion that Nietzsche drew attention to... "God is dead". Not here, not now, beyond the veil of social pragmatism.

"Thomas, we don't use that word around here," said the Analyst character played by a beloved and talented actor who also happens to be homosexual, shortly after Florida passed the don't say gay legislation irl...