Mystical Reflections on 3 Epiphany - The Kingdom of God.

Because of several pastoral emergencies and other duties I have fallen behind in my posts.  I didn't want to skip  3 Epiphany since it has played a pivotal role in how I understand Jesus Christ as someone who was quite steeped in the mystical tradition.  The reading describes Jesus as he begins his public ministry -"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15 NRSV)."  Something worth noting is that neither the phrase "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven" appears anywhere in the Old Testament.  If you refer back to my post on Levels of Interpretation, you'll see that the Kingdom of God can neither be understood from the simple or the allusion level.  To understand it we need to look deeper into the Midrash or Kabbalah.  According to the Midrash, Kingdom could refer to the Messianic Age, when the world would be set right and the righteous would have the opportunity to study Torah all day without interruption (Encyclopedia Britannica).  Of course looking at history we can say this hasn't happened.  This is one of the reasons for the Jewish rejection of Jesus as the Messiah - his coming didn't usher in the era hoped for.  Christians on the other hand, acknowledge that this Kingdom had its beginning in Jesus' first coming, and will come to completion when he comes again.  Personally I believe that at that moment the transformation will be so profound that everything that divides us will be moot.

On a deeper level however, The Kingdom of God can mean something more.  In the Kabbalah, the tenth and last sefirot is named Malchut, which is the Hebrew word for Kingdom.  Malchut is the receptacle for the energy of all the other Sefirot.  It's like light shining through a prism.  The prism separates the light into its spectrum so that we can examine all of the different colors, one by one.  In the bottom sefirot, Yesod and Malchut, the light is put back together and sent into our world.

Mind you the is only a tool to help understand an infinite God.  At the same time, it gives us language to describe some very deep spiritual truths.

Throughout Israel's early history, they were led by God's presence.  Whether it was in the wilderness, or in the early days of Solomon's temple, there were some very visible signs that God was there.  By the time of the first exile these experiences were long gone and people did not have the same access to the divine.  When Jesus said that the Kingdom of God, or if he were speaking Hebrew Malchut, has drawn near, it was a concealed way of saying that God's presence was very close to humanity again.  It's as if all that energy were concealed from us so much so that God seemed very far away.  Now it was returning, God was coming back and could be a tangible part of our lives.

With God being so close, we can examine other aspects of God's qualities - other sefirot to see the being who we are made in the image though.  We can examine qualities like Chesed and Gevurah - love and justice, and see how they interact and combine to form Tif'eret - compassion.  We can see how a solid foundation (Yesod) leads ultimately a creative force that validates the dignity of all creatures.  Previously this was all concealed from us, but because of Jesus we can behold it right in front of our eyes.  That's why he called us to repent - pay attention because something special is here.  The Kingdom of God (Malchut) has drawn near.

Balancing Love with Justice - Mystical Reflections for Epiphany 2

Growing up I heard a variety of stories about the Roman Catholic Church.  My entire family is Roman Catholic, yet my parents never took me very much, and hardly attended themselves.  As a result, most of my perceptions were from other's stories.  I had an uncle who would tell me about attending parochial school, how he was taught by the nuns, and whenever they would get out of line one of the sisters would throw a piece of chalk at them.  Laughing, he described how this nun could hit you between the eyes with a piece of chalk from across the room.  Years later I had a co-worker who shared stories about being an altar boy.  He and his friends would fight with each other over who would ring the bells when the priest was saying mass.  These fights often took place during the service, and this priest had a technique of kneeling down reverently so he could kick them without being seen.  He didn't kick them hard, but enough to get their attention so they would stop fighting.  I heard so many of these stories that they formed my entire perception of the Church.  As a child, teenager, and young adult, I believed that the Church was filled with scary, violent people. As I got older I was able to distinguish between the stories and my own experiences.  The actual people I interacted with in the Church were very loving and pleasant.  There was Sister Eileen who led me through baptism preparation and first communion classes.  Fr. Durr was the priest who baptized me and heard my first confessions.  Both of them were wonderful people and were always loving towards me.  The more I've had actual personal interactions with Roman Catholic minsters, the more I like them, and the old stories lose their power.

Admittedly the stories I heard about violent discipline were probably accurate.  And my own experiences of loving interactions are equally accurate.  And of course each took place in different times.  Perhaps there were some changes in the Church's culture between the 60's and the mid 80's.  In these cultures, you can see pretty clearly two aspects of God - justice and love.  The nuns who threw chalk and rapped knuckles with rulers  were enforcing discipline, and trying to teach the students how to be self-controlled and how to behave.  Today it feels like we've moved away from that mentality because of its excesses, and the Church is expressing more love than it has in the past.

But love without discipline has it drawbacks as well.  Consider the person who hijacks a meeting, or berates others, or severely disrupts the community.  I have seen plenty of this within my ministry.  What's always interesting to watch is the community's response.  Often I have seen people try to accommodate such a person.  "Perhaps more dialogue is what we need.  Maybe if we love them more they'll settle down.  Often people act out when they feel like they're not being heard."  I've watched this happen many times, and more often than not, extra doses of love have not solved the problem.  Sometimes good-old fashioned discipline is required.  There is nothing unloving about saying to another person, "What you're doing right now is not okay.  Do not talk to me like this."

In mystical thought the qualities of love and justice are not seen as opposing factors, but two qualities that are designed to combine.  If you look at any diagrams of the ten sefirot, Love (Hessed), combines with Discipline (Gevurah), to form Compassion (Tif'eret).  Any parent instinctively knows this to be true.  It's so easy to love a child - they are adorable, they're affectionate, and often they appreciate you.  But children can also misbehave.  They get into things they're not supposed to.  They get frustrated and hit other people.  They have trouble expressing themselves so they throw temper-tantrums.  Any parent knows that to allow these behaviors to continue is a disservice to the child, since once they're out of the home others may not be so accommodating.

The lessons we hear this coming Sunday outline God applying discipline.  In the lesson from 1 Samuel God gives a prophecy against the high priest Eli, and his household.  "On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever (1 Samuel 3:12-14)."  Notice the charge God brings against Eli.  Eli's son's were blaspheming God, and Eli did not restrain them.  Eli himself didn't do anything wrong, but he failed to exercise discipline along with his love.  Eli's sons behaved in manors unfit for priests, caused scandals, and even extorted the people.  Because Eli didn't exercise the necessary discipline, God intervened and exercised it for him.  By that point it had gone much farther than it needed to, and the resulting discipline was necessarily much more severe.

In the Hebrew Book of Legends, there is a story about God creating humans.  The mystics described it as if there was a beautiful, delicate crystal glass that God was going to pour water into.  But if the water was too hot, the glass would shatter.  On the other hand, if the water was too cold, the glass would equally shatter.  So God mixed the two together, pouring warm water into the glass.  It's the same with mixing love and discipline.  Too much of one causes immediate damage.  Too much of the other creates prolonged damage.  But when you combine the two - love with discipline - they work together in perfect harmony, allowing you to live a beautiful, balanced life.

Heaven on Earth - The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

This week we hear the story of Jesus' baptism.  According to the text, some curious things happened which deserve our attention.
1 - The heavens opened up (Mark 1:10)
2 - The Spirit descended on Jesus in a form that looked like a dove (Mark 1:10)
3 - A voice from Heaven said to Jesus, "You are my Son, with you I am well pleased (Mark 1:11)"

What we see in this story is the coming together of Heaven and Earth - the Spiritual and the Material fuse as one.  Classical Christianity has always, since the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., stated that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human.  In Him we see this perfect fusion of Spirit and Matter.  Sometimes it may seem like that's easy for Him, since He is God incarnate, but what if that was the goal of spirituality for everyone - joining and integrating the spiritual and the material.  Or even more challenging, what if the purpose of human beings is to be like Christ in this regard, integrating the material and spiritual.

In the Old Testament lesson for Sunday, we hear the first few verses from the Bible - the creation of the heavens and the earth.  Ancient commentaries on these stories highlight the uniqueness of human beings when they are created.  In the Sefer Ha-Aggadah, Legends from the Midrash and Talmud, Rabbi Simeon ben Halafta describes how up until the creation of humans, God had the heavens and the earth in perfect balance.  On the first day Genesis mentions that God created the heavens and the earth - one and one.  From that point on, God alternated between one and the other, right up until day six.  On day 2, He created the sky.  Day 3 brought fourth the dry land.  On day 4 God created lights in the sky.  And on day 5 all kinds of living things came about on the earth.  So on day 6 God couldn't create one or the other without upsetting the balance - especially since the sabbath rest was coming on day 7.  So in creating human beings, God created us out of both heaven and earth.  In the story of the Garden of Eden, it states that God created the first human out of the dust (earth, the material world), and breathed into him the breath of life (heaven, the spiritual world) (Genesis 2:7) (Sefer Ha-Aggadah, pg 15, section 65).

In the same work, other rabbis commented that humans were created both like angels and animals (page 16, section 66).  Angels are made in the image and likeness of God, but do not reproduce, while animals reproduce, but are not in the image and likeness of God.  Humans are unique in that we have both qualities.  We are in the image and likeness of God and we can reproduce.

Another rabbi remarked that if humans were created solely out of the upper, spiritual worlds, we would live and never die, but if we were created solely out of the lower, material worlds, we would die but never really live.  Therefore humans were made out of both elements, such that we die because of sin, but also have life in the world to come.

Coming back to Jesus' baptism - when the voice from Heaven said to him, "You are my Son, with you I am well pleased," He was referring to the fact that in Jesus, the Spiritual and the Material were perfectly integrated, just as human beings were originally intended.  The problem with Adam's original sin was that it dis-integrated the spiritual and material.  As you can see in Genesis Chapter 3, Adam and Eve both perceived that they were naked, so they hid from God (Genesis 3:8), decreasing the spiritual, and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves (3:7), increasing the material.  How often do we do the same thing in our lives?  When we have a problem we're faced with, how easy is it to go straight for a material solution, when in many cases the root of the problem is spiritual.  Some problems call us to reevaluate priorities, some call us to love others more, while others call us to improve our sense of justice and do something about it.  In Jesus we see the Spiritual and the Material integrated and aligned, and there is light.  Without this alignment, there is only darkness, and the world is wild and waste - confusing and chaotic (Genesis 1:2).  However in both cases the Spirit of God is present - sometimes over the darkness of the chaotic waters, and sometimes floating in the form of a dove over the baptismal waters.  By reflecting on the nature of God revealed through Jesus Christ you can get a better idea of how to integrate the spiritual and the material in your own life.  Strive for both, for such is what you were created for.  Do so and listen for God's voice saying that you are his beloved child, and in you He is well pleased.

A Mystical Christmas - Dignity for the Masses

There are always two options for readings on Christmas - The Nativity Story from Luke, and the more esoteric poetry from John.  Each tells the story from a different perspective, and both work together to help us understand the significance of Christ's birth.

The main message that both Jesus, and John the Baptist preached was that the Kingdom of God had come near.  The Hebrew word translated as Kingdom is Malchut, which is also the name of the tenth sefirot in Kabbalah.  The significance of Malchut is that it is the receptical of all the other aspects.  Will, Wisdom, Understanding, Justice, Mercy, Compassion, Endurance, Splendor, and Foundation are all poured into Malchut.  On it's very surface, Malchut is about sovereignty, kingship, or on a very basic level - dignity.  The Gospel story is good news because it raises up ordinary people to the level of dignity that a king would have.

In the story from Luke angels appeared to shepherds who were tending to their sheep out in the fields.  Take a moment and think about how bizarre this must have seemed.  Why wouldn't the angels appear in the temple - to the priests who dedicated their lives to God's service?  Why not appear to an esteemed rabbi?  Certainly there were many in Israel during that time.  The strangest part of this story is that a major revelation came to virtual nobodies.  We don't even know the shepherds names, and yet these were the ones that God sent this special message to - why?

The Gospel story from John gives us the answer.  John 1:12-13 states "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God (NRSV)."  In this passage scripture teaches that belief in Jesus Christ makes you a child of God.  What could generate a greater sense of dignity?  It's as if a prince left his palace dressed as a commoner.  The prince was an only child and so he went amongst the people to find brothers and sisters for himself.  As he grew to know people, he revealed who he truly was and described his mission.  He then invited them to live in the palace with him and share the same rights that he had as royalty.  Some thought he was lying, some thought he was insane, and some believed him.  The ones that believed him received what he promised, and followed him back to the palace.  From that point on they were accepted as the king's children, and lived lives fitting for royalty.

Today people spend millions of dollars on therapists, self-help books, motivational seminars, and the like.  When it comes down to it, they're searching for Malchut, for a sense of dignity.  It's often frustrating and liberating at the same time when they learn that the solution is a lot closer than they think.  The power of your mental map, what you believe about yourself deep down makes all the difference in your sense of dignity

Christianity has always been a religion that turns paupers into princes.  It doesn't do this through wealth, status, or other fragile, earthly things, but by instilling people with an incredible sense of dignity.  This dignity is given by God through Jesus Christ, and cannot be taken away.  Merry Christmas.

Mystical Reflections - Advent 4: Discipline with Love

Advent 4
In a previous post I wrote about a Kabbalahistic look at Jesus being the Son of God and how his birth was a direct emanation from the Infinite.  This week we read the story of when the angel Gabriel revealed to the Virgin Mary that she was to bear this Son of God.  As you learn more about Kabbalah you'll see that there are illusions to it throughout the New Testament.  This passage is no exception.

Gabriel is mentioned four times in the Bible.  Twice in the Book of Daniel, Chapters 8 and 9, and twice in the Gospel of Luke, both in Chapter 1.  Each time he is bringing a message from God, or helping someone interpret a vision.  In every case, the message from God is both good and bad news - it contains both love and judgement.

Gabriel's name has the same root as the Sefirah Gevurah.  Gevurah is the sefirah of judgement or discipline.  In the Tree of Life it is portrayed as being opposite of Chesed or love.  When they work together in harmony they create the next sefirah Tif'eret or Compassion.  This is because love must always exist within discipline.  And discipline must always be tempered with love.  Imagine a parent who loves their child without any restraint.  Such a parent would allow the child to do whatever he or she wanted - dangerous or not.  The child might go a very long time without ever hearing the word 'no.'  This child will have problems when he or she begins socializing with others since he or she is only one voice amongst many, and this will be the first time the people around him may not do what he wants the moment he wants it.  The end result is curious, as the parent's over abundance of love without judgement results in the child having an over abundance of judgement without love.  But when love is exercised with judgement or discipline it is a good thing, since it encourages one to consider the needs of others, and grow in a spirit of compassion.

At first glance you may not see this element of discipline in the passage but take a close look at what Gabriel promised to Mary.  He will be great.  He will have the throne of His ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  Of his Kingdom there will be no end.  To be in this position Jesus needs to exercise judgement.  The illusions here are for an earthly king, and no king, no leader for that matter can exercise his or her office without making judgement calls - distinguishing right from wrong, deciding on one course of action over another course of action.  This kind of judgement always needs to happen.

When one reflects on the Kabbalah it becomes obvious that this judgement can always exist perfectly balanced with love, or Chesed.  When this happens, judgement is exercised for the good of others.  Decisions are made in order to benefit everyone, not just the one making the decision.  When judgements are made to benefit one's self, this is Gevurah out of balance, and tyranny is the result.  But when judgements are made from a place of love, compassion is the result.

Just recently I was doing some stewardship research for my parish.  We're located in Virginia Beach, where according to city-data the median household income level is $59,000 per year.  When I look at my own budget, the cost of living, owning a home, etc. I really wonder how people can function at that level.  As a result, It's very easy for me to drive through some pretty run down sections of town, housing projects, and ghettos in between my house and my Church.  To contrast this statistic, at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where I used to work, the pay for the top executives ranges from $172,000 to over $5 million.  Obviously people are making decisions here - they are executing judgement calls.  But what would happen if they executed those judgements balanced with love.  What if each of the executives took a lower salary and used the funds to create more jobs?  What if the jobs were structured in such a way that each person working them was immensely satisfied and motivated by the job they were doing?  What would it look like if this happened on a global scale?

I preached a sermon along these lines once and was accused afterwards of being a socialist.  Of course I am anything but a socialist.  I believe that socialism is just another example of Gevurah being out of balance.  It can never come from a place of love because at it's very core is a philosophy of, "If people aren't going to benefit their fellow person we're going to damn well make them!"  While I agree with the intention of correcting imbalances in society I believe the only way it can happen is by changing hearts and minds.  Only true spirituality can bring love and judgement into balance, and the end result will achieve what socialism always intended to, but can never deliver.

This is just one example of what can happen when you balance love with judgement.  Applying this concept  to other aspects of your life and yield some stunning results.  In the Kabbalah we examine and study the sefirot because they allow us to see and observe God's qualities.  Since we are created in the image of God we have these same qualities.  But because of the fall they've become distorted and out of balance.  Through faith in Jesus Christ, through prayers and meditation and time in God's Word, we're able to see these qualities for what they were always intended to be, and bring our own lives back into balance.

For more on balancing your life with the Sefirot see Rabbi Jacobson's A Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer or Towards a Meaningful Life.

Mystical Reflections - Advent 3: Light, The Son of God, and Cheating Death

I initially thought this would be part two of Advent 2, but looking at the Gospel for Advent 3 I find that they're very similar.  One tells the story from the point of view of Mark, the other from John.

The story from John begins by talking about John the Baptist, being a witness to the light - he himself wasn't the light, but he witnessed to it (John 1:6).  If we back up a few verses, we read that the light is life (1:4) and that it shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not recognize it (1:5).

In the Kabbalah, light was often used as a metaphor for God's very essence.  We also learn that God created the Heavens and the Earth through a process of concealment, or in Hebrew, Tzimzum.  According to Rabbi Isaac Luria, the infinite, all powerful God withdrew himself in order to create a space where finite creation can exist - otherwise creation would be overwhelmed by the intensity of God's existence.  The light would have been too intense, so to speak.  Then, God proceeded in acts of creation by emanating God's very nature into the space, yet concealing it at the same time.  Rabbi Jacobson at The Meaningful Life Center describes this phenomenon as something similar to a transformer on your power lines.  The electricity out doors, straight from the power plant has a voltage much too intense for common household appliances.  A transformer is then installed in order to bring the voltage down to something that your toaster-oven can handle.  As God's energy goes through this process of concealment, it creates the Four Spiritual Worlds, ending in ours.  As a result, God is both intensely immanent and transcendent in creation.  It then becomes our job to pierce through this concealment, observing the spiritual in every aspect of our lives, and integrating it accordingly.

The issue with human beings is that we've lost this connection  to the light.  It shines in the darkness, but we don't recognize it.  When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they no longer could pierce through the concealment - they were cut off from the Divine.  This is symbolized in the story by the Cherub guarding the entrance to Eden with an ever turning flaming sword (Genesis 3:24).  Sadly today there are many humans who either are completely unaware, or choose to ignore their divine origin and source.

So what would this mean for Jesus Christ, the Son of God?  Classic Christian Theology describes God as a Trinity - One God existing in Three Persons.  In essence, within the unity of God there is also diversity and community.  Theologians throughout the centuries have described Jesus as the second person of the Trinity: God the Son, becoming incarnate as a human being, born of a young virgin named Mary.  From the Kabbalah we can get another picture - not one that contradicts, replaces, or supersedes the classic definition, but examines this phenomenon from a different angle.

Thinking in terms of God as light, the infinite, or ein sof - of creating through emanations and concealment, Jesus Christ is this tzimtzum in a very special way.  How could God intervene and redeem His creation without obliterating it by the intensity of the experience?  The answer is an addition emanation and concealment.  This act of creation, taking place outside the normal human experience of sexual procreation, resulted in a human being, a man fully cognizant and aware of his divine source.  The totality of God existed within him, yet was concealed so as not to damage, coerce, or otherwise harm the creation God sought to interact with and influence. This is not an Arian Heresy in that Jesus Christ was not created as a being separate from God, justifying that there was a time when the Son was not.  Instead, God was fully present in the person of Jesus Christ, but became manifest in this very special way.  There little to no distinction between Jesus and the Father, as he described, "I and the Father are one (John 10:30)."  Or as theology has described Jesus since the fourth century, He is both fully God and fully human.  Kabbalistically He's a complete human being, completely filled with the light of the infinite God, and constantly emanating and sharing that light through His ministry.

One final reflection on the end of death:  In both Christian and Kabbalah thought death is believed to be conquered.  I always had to ask why is this important?  If you think from the point of view of creation receiving light from the creator, and then passing it along and sharing it, things come into focus.  What is death then but an end to this process?  Death is that point where we no longer receive from God, and cease being what we are.  If however that connection is restored, and God is again breathing into us, if the connection is restored in such a way that we're fully aware of God's presence and His ways, if we can give no restrictions in receiving from our Father and sharing that grace with others, then there is absolutely no place for death - since death would be the opposite of this process.  Jesus' resurrection is a perfect example.  He was always one with the Father, always receiving, thus death had no power over him.

Mystical Reflections - Advent 2: Water in the Wilderness

This week the Gospel passage moves to John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness.  John was sent as a messenger, as one who would prepare the people for the coming Messiah.  From a mystical point of view, I'd like to focus on this preparation happening in the wilderness, and move from there onto why the distinction between baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit.

But first off the wilderness: We actually have two separate descriptions in our texts, depending on where you put the punctuation.  In Isaiah 40 we read one crying out, "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord."  Whereas in Mark 1, referencing this passage it tells of one crying out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord ..."  In either case the result is the same, John the Baptist was out in the wilderness preaching about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

The wilderness was often the place where intense revelations took place.  God revealed the Torah to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, in the Wilderness (Exodus 20).  After Israel refused to conquer the promised land, they were forced to spend forty years in the wilderness until the present generation died out, and a new generation rose up (Numbers 14).  The prophet Elijah fled to the wilderness after his duel with the prophets of Ba'al (1 Kings 19).  Perhaps one of the reasons why the wilderness is so special is because of its nature.  Only in the wilderness, out in nature do we see a perfect balance of receiving and giving.  Here the physical reveals the spiritual.

A line of thought in Kabbalah, developed first by Rabbi Isaac Luria and refined by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (The Ba'al HaSulam) posits that God is the ultimate giver, it's what he does.  God created us in order to receive what God has to offer.  God's nature is to give, ours is to receive.  However, human beings, because we are created in the image of God, desire to give as well.  In comes a struggle, since we cannot give to God since God is perfect, needs nothing, and has no desire to receive.  As we progress through this struggle, the only solution is to receive for the intent purpose of pleasing our Creator, since He only wants to give.  In effect, we receive with the intention of giving (Laitman, pp 49 - 55).  The Wilderness, by its very nature, exemplifies this way of receiving.  The Wilderness left alone will form a stable ecosystem that receives from the Creator.  Our Gospel story takes place in the Wilderness because a very special revelation is taking place here.

Water: John was baptizing with water, claiming that one more powerful than he would come and baptize with the Holy Spirit.  One curious Biblical fact about water is that according to the creation story in Genesis 1, God never actually created water.  Water existed at the beginning, and at first was completely chaotic.  God brought order out of chaos, and created all that we experience by separating water from water.  Water is clearly a very powerful substance.  When controlled it can quench our thirsts, clean our bodies, cool us when we're hot, even warm us up when its cold when we take a hot shower.  But chaotically water can be destructive - floods, tidal surges, rip tides, being lost in the ocean, etc.  Again in the wilderness, there tends to be a decent balance - enough water for plants to grow and animals to live, yet not so much as to flood and drown things.

John was in the Wilderness baptizing people.  Again referring to creation, this time in Genesis 2 we read about how the first human being was created from the dust of the earth.  Even his name in Hebrew, ADAM, sounds like the earth he was created from, ADAMAH.  So what happens to dirt when it gets wet?  If there's nowhere for the water to go it turns to mud, however if there are plants and seeds in the dirt they sprout and grow and are a source of life.  Spiritually you can think of yourself as dirt, and God's Spirit and Grace as water.

The message of this passage is that you can receive the gifts and blessings of God to the extent that you are able to pass them on and share them with others.  The Wilderness is the place where God's major revelations and gifts took place.  When the people received these benefits, not only did their lives improve, but they were equipped to share this gift with others.  When the first promise was made to Abraham, he was told that through him all nations would be blessed (Genesis 22).  When John the Baptist said that one more powerful than he was coming - a person who would baptize with the Holy Spirit, he was creating a spiritual connection to what was happening right then and there.  What might our world look like if we transitioned from receiving for the sake of ourselves alone, to receiving with the intention of sharing.