YouTube: Discerning the Mystical Thread
Last week we looked at The Hidden Jesus. I suggested that throughout the Gospel accounts, there’s an Orthodox, larger-than-life presentation of Jesus and then there’s the man behind it. In thinking about the man, I’m talking about the thought processes that set him apart, that made his teachings unique. We don’t really know who that person was. We like to think we know. But all we really know is what’s been passed down to us through tradition, which has become the mainstream Christian thought. There’s a stream of ideas that run through his teachings that strongly suggest he didn’t make himself the central focus, as both the mainstream and New Thought Christian communities do today. His focus was on his listener’s oneness with God – the kingdom of God within the individual. I like to call this stream of ideas, the mystical thread. To recognize this thread of ideas, we have to be willing to lay aside much of what we think we know. …
J Douglas Bottorff 
This was a wonderful explication of the parable of the Prodigal Son in which you point out that none of the elements of the traditional Plan of Salvation are a part. If one reads the Gospel accounts seeking guidance, not from Bible study guides, but from the Spirit of Truth, the essential message is that we are not separate (which is the essence of sin) from our Father God, but only ignorant of our spiritual heritage as a child of God. The explanation you gave of the lack of condemnation of the Father toward the prodigal son, including the lack of the need for forgiveness on the part of the Father for the son’s leaving to wander in the far country, relates a profound truth about the nature of God and God’s unconditional, steadfast love. The Good News is that God IS Love. This was a remarkable message that if fully grasped and understood (and it’s worth the effort to do so) makes one truly free. I also enjoyed the beautiful piano/violin duet and thank the ladies who shared their talents.
I am always moved by your comments, as you clearly get what I’m trying to pass on. No one should fear God, or fear imagined unfulfilled expectations from God. I think Jesus got this and was doing his best to inform his immediate followers that, in spite of the warnings from their religious authorities, they could sleep at night.
We’re not Jesus’ immediate followers, but I think he would have been thrilled (and humbled) to know that someday, a few thousand years in the future, people on a completely different continent (and different religious upbringing), would be passing on what they think he was actually saying.
What an uncomfortable joy it would be to sit down with Jesus and allow him to either destroy or affirm everything about him that I/we believe is true.
Thanks again.
Doug