I think what you're looking for is the Kingdom of Heaven, which does indeed run on the very principle of "forget what's owed, and just give whatever you can give, in confidence that you will never be left to run short (and in fact will be blessed many-fold).". It's an application of the general principle of "never mind fulfilling the needs of the law and then breathing a sigh of relief that you've achieved what's necessary; just set your heart on doing all the good you can do", which in turn is the corollary of "don't worry about the occasions where you 'screw up' and fail to meet the minimum requirement of the law, because under this new deal, all such instances are forgiven".
And we are encouraged to learn those heavenly attitudes and principles, by exercising them right here on earth. I think the point that most people miss is that we need to practice them here in the world as it is today *understanding that they very often won't work as intended here*, because the world is poisoned. But by trying out the "new deal", and seeing how it works on the odd occasion where it really *does* work, we gain confidence (akak faith) that such a world really is possible, and really is heavenly, if (and only if) *everyone* there subscribes to those principles. And we eventually (hopefully) gain enough confidence to apply the same principles in our relationship with the biggest, scariest debt-collector (if we choose to view him as such) of them all, who is also the biggest, most wonderfully loving gift-giver of them all (if we allow him to be); the one guy who we *certainly* have to be able to get along with if we want to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven, because, well, he's the king, y'see.
And that's why not everyone goes to Heaven: Because some people simply refuse to allow Heaven's *essential* operating principles into their lives.
Because, y'see, the other way of looking at things? The frantically tracking who owes who for what and how much and "is it OK to stop and take a break yet *pleeeeeeeease*...."? That's called Hell.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 08:50 am (UTC)And we are encouraged to learn those heavenly attitudes and principles, by exercising them right here on earth. I think the point that most people miss is that we need to practice them here in the world as it is today *understanding that they very often won't work as intended here*, because the world is poisoned. But by trying out the "new deal", and seeing how it works on the odd occasion where it really *does* work, we gain confidence (akak faith) that such a world really is possible, and really is heavenly, if (and only if) *everyone* there subscribes to those principles. And we eventually (hopefully) gain enough confidence to apply the same principles in our relationship with the biggest, scariest debt-collector (if we choose to view him as such) of them all, who is also the biggest, most wonderfully loving gift-giver of them all (if we allow him to be); the one guy who we *certainly* have to be able to get along with if we want to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven, because, well, he's the king, y'see.
And that's why not everyone goes to Heaven: Because some people simply refuse to allow Heaven's *essential* operating principles into their lives.
Because, y'see, the other way of looking at things? The frantically tracking who owes who for what and how much and "is it OK to stop and take a break yet *pleeeeeeeease*...."? That's called Hell.