The centre of gravity for work on myself over this unfolding year, 2008, is to control the habit of talk. A dedicated effort to control the chief function of unnecessary talk.
Pro 6:2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Why mouth control?
It's a primary source of leakage and a social contagion for the manifesting of the mechanical in every living moment. When I observe myself, all my vanity and self-love has for it's root my tongue. There is a direct correlation between talk and identifying, talk and internal-considering, talk and false personality, talk and sleep ... and, so on. Talk is the framework from which the acquired personality drips it's ignorance upon the world. All the worst things come out mechanically through my mouth. Just as the scriptures say, the mouth defiles & condemns.
Mat 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Whilst writing I remembered several years ago I had the aim: To live in the presence of the Work. That is a great aim, good for a life time. Lack of mouth control prevents it. And though my tongue be untamed and my being small and dirty I shall seek that which is in heaven and pursue holiness. My mind is set on heavenly things. This is what God wants.
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My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
From James 3.
This is a big statement: "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."
A perfect man.
The Matthew verse you quote is equally big and deep on this subject...
Words that come out of our mouths are involved with our conversation with the world and laws. It has a big thng to do with our being contained or being promiscuous with the world. Also with us getting involved in the world in ways that entangle us. (Words can also be used wisely to maintain our unbroken cosmos, if you will.) I write this as knowledge of course, but getting it as being, actually practicing it - remembering it - is a different thing...
So I can conclude you have embarked on a central, foundational aim.
On one of the old Fourth Way yahoo forums (not my own, I think John Duff) I joked once that the Work is like diplomacy school. Never get angry. Smile. Always be respectful of other people and their ways. Etc., etc.
Of course it isn't because that is all mostly surface manifestation, and limits are rarely provoked and all that. But still...
Circumspect is a good word. Knowing how your words effect you and others. But mostly knowing how powerful words are.
You see the power of mere words in politicians at the highest levels. If they say the most obvious thing, or don't say it, it has tremendous effect. Words can let air out of baloons, so to speak. An idle or promiscuous word can make your enemy the devil smile. "Oh, you were doing so well up to this point," the devil smilingly says. "Then you played into my hands..."
I see it in these denomination reports that get drawn up against false teaching movements. I can instantly spot the one word or phrase they SHOULDN'T have included in the report because it will be zeroed in on by the false teachers and used in their favor. In one long report where a denomination just blistered, in an on-the-mark biblical doctrine way, a false teaching movement, they then added at the end, in unthinking diplomatic tone, that they consider the false teachers "brothers in Christ" (of course they weren't referring to them as 'false teachers' in the report itself but of course by implication of everything the report said they WERE that). And of course the false teachers immediately used that phrase to deflect any and all criticism brought to them based on that report ("Oh, but didn't they say we were brothers in Christ?") and even used those three words to exonerate themselves of all the charges made against them in the report.
I saw the report the minute it was released to the internet and I saw "brothers in Christ" and immediately predicted on blogs the stupidity of saying that. You can just 'see' how words have this political power and spiritual power. How they control and effect and cause and so on thing in the unseen world, and in the unseen dynamics between people and spiritual entities and so on...
Those three words - brothers in Christ - let the air out of the baloon that was that entire report. They were a breach that allowed the dark forces to violate the otherwise on-the-mark, well-drafted report.
Thanks for quoting James. I love the language, it's almost like wisdom herself is here. I had wanted to use it myself, but it felt too lengthy for my post. So it's good that it's attached as a sort of footer.
What did you think of this:
http://0140190112.blogspot.com/2008/01/and-to-survive-their-sting-yeah-you.html
Had you heard of him? After sampling a few other songs of his on youtube (not making any kind of thorough search though) I think I just like this one song mostly...
>:o Answer me!!!
>:( OK, I've had it.
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>:| I've had a question posted here for five or six days now and no response even though he has updated other posts on this blog. He's obviously been here, and he's ignoring me.
>:o Oh, yes, you think I'm indulging resentment!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!!!!! I am so much in control my being could cause a glacier to stop in its ancient track recognizing a more in control being in its presence...!!!
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~:| I really don't care about anything...
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>:o Answer my little question, don't answer my little question... WHAT DO I CARE???!!!
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>:o Here's the answer: Damien Dempsey sucks!!! OK?!? He sucks!!! There's your answer!!! Done!!! Taken care of!!!!!
>:| And don't accuse me of internal-considering. I know more about internal-considering...wait a minute...I've forgotten! more about internal-considering than you'll ever remember! Got it? Can you begin to grasp anything I say? Of course you can't. Not without great mental anguish and effort, and I understand that. It's like that with anybody I choose to speak to. Don't think you're unique. You're not. All humans have difficulty just enduring my higher presence, let alone words and ideas I choose to direct to them.
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>:o I'm being a mirror for you! That's it! See? I'm way ahead of you!!!
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~:| And you don't even know it. Because you can't.
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~:| Sinead O'Connor has a deep voice now, have you noticed? And she's put on weight. And Celine Dion has lost her voice pretty much.
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~:| Everything's going to hell...
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~:| Flesh withereth as the grass and vocal chords are flesh...
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~:| I have nothing else to say... You can relax now...
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I thought I'd replied on your site. But for what it's worth: Crikey. I thought he was singing in some strange tongue. Then I began to perceive the heavy Irish accent and english words. Very strange. Interesting lyric, but too many 'yeahs'. Yeah.
Yeah. I have a reputation for not replying in a timely manner. Sometimes I take a month to reply to emails. Absolutely. I'm anti-intuitive to the medium. I know it pisses people off. No point apologizing because I'll do it again. I'm not a natural communicator, there are times where I have no energy for it. Ooops. That's not very nice.
I thought he was trying to sound Jamaican at first in that way that is always lame when non-Jamaicans try to sing that way. Interesting that you as an Englishman couldn't figure his accent out at first either. OK.
>:o OK, yeah! OK, yeah!
I read something about him. He actually went to a school that trains you to become a performer of sorts. Like a Rock and Roll school or something like that. That may explain the fact that he doesn't 'look' like a singer songwriter type. He looks like a guy from some office participating in some office performing contest. Not a bad thing to develop a side of yourself that is undeveloped in essense, perhaps. Enough about HIM.
I just read a story about a medical procedure that stimulates memory in patients, and it reminded me that though we don't remember alot of the Bible after we read it complete, it is STILL THERE inside our memory to GREAT DETAIL. These people would remember events forty years prior and what clothes people were wearing and so on...
Of course understanding is different from detailed memory, but it's still an interesting thing to ponder...
~:| Crikey.
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~:| Crikey.
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>:o Bloody crikey! Bloody crikey, mate!!
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