Fifteen

15.  A sacred number among the Hebrew people.  The union of 10 and 5 is holy - a reverence, an utterance of Yod (10), Heh (5).  Yah-Weh.  Like our triune God, dispersing his nature from father to son to holy spirit, Hebrew numbers and letters are 1NT3RW0VEN all the same - like a ghost they move, in and out of each other.  Where letters share numbers, and numbers are letters.

5 (Heh) breathes transformation, it draws us close and changes us.  Yod (10) is the open hand of God that gives and welcomes and hangs on to us.  It is from Yod that all other words are birthed.  They mimic God when he spoke and life became....Yod is in all words, their root, the anchor, the interwoven presence of God in everything that He created.  10 is all of creation because of Creator.

Hebrews say 9 + 6 to avoid accidental blasphemy, and to keep the name of YHWH holy.  But I say let 15 be as it is.  Say 10 + 5.  To summon the creator, our 1OV3R.  Where God is in us and through us, the root and ending.  Where we are held together in the matrimony of spirit and flesh.  Where our lives will continually circle back to Him.  Because we flow in and out of YHWH himself.

Planks and Cages

Today was the first day that has truly felt like fall.  Not just the cool 75 degrees, but the smell in the air, the wind in the leaves, and the hope in my heart.  While Justin worked, I took the boys to a small fall festival, followed by the park.  Immediately opening the park gate, River took off towards the tennis courts.  As Ahmi and Israel played their little hearts out, River entered the courts, and closed the chain link gate behind him.  Swinging, I looked up and saw his little face pressed against the fence, staring up at me.

'MOM!' he yelled as if I wasn't already directing my gaze towards him.  'MOM!  Yah in a tage!'  And I snickered because he had no clue that he was really the one that was confined.  And it hit me that the church does this very thing.  Where it stands in the dungeon, yelling faults at every passerby, thinking it will be a light of revelation and truth to people, some weird conduit of change, when really all it does is reveal its own cages.  Nobody needs to hear what they already are....they need to hear what they can become. 

The Bible says all of this a different way.  It cautions us to remove the plank from our own eyes before we should attempt to get the speck out of someone else's.  The key to life without hypocrisy is to be more concerned about your own faults and perceptions than that of others.  If you do this, you tend to feel less obligated to expose and warn everyone else of theirs.  Not to mention that it leaves a lot more room for love, relationship, and cultivation of a healthier and interdependent community of people.  Because that's what it's all about...the love.

Be in the Moment

Tides of people rush by with cell phones in hand.
Lovers stand beside one another, no longer glimpsing into each others eyes, but onto the bright lit screen of their smart phone.
People capture moments that are put on for a great hash tag.
Stop letting silly things lead your lives.
Walk into the depths of a forest and feel alive.
Drop the facades and technology for one day, to live in the moments that are real.
Enjoy the atmosphere around you without the need to orchestrate a great picture.
Who cares what others like!  Love what your spirit loves.
Forget all of the nonsense and just breathe in the life all around you.
Leave space for the static to turn to birdsong, and I promise you will be more alive.
Just be in the moment...for the sake of the moment alone.