Light Expansive; Fear Naught
Dear beloved of God, let us now reflect on the journey that has brought us here to discuss the words of Paulus as inspired by his own journey with the Highest. Paulus’s letters are constructed as living wisdom, written for all in their artistically allegorical way, but most especially crafted for those who have walked under similar shadows and emerged basking in the greatest Light.
To those still wrestling with questions of faith, I say this: do not fear the unknown. The very fact that you question is proof that your soul is alive and exploring but then coming short in understanding. There is much to celebrate in this, despite the temporary setback of unknowing.
In the end it is always an ignorance forced upon the self in yearning outside Any desire outside God is not a request worthy of God, to be fulfilled; request the desire lessened in its pull over you instead. This is where doubt is of greatest utility, not in anything else but ourselves and our own yearnings.
Paulus’s journey teaches us that transformation is possible, not because we erase our desires as some might promote, but because we align them to God’s. Paulus’s trust (‘pistis’) is more than some empty ‘faith’ that sees God as a distant unconcerned or cold being. It is a trust in God, which is to say a downright certainty of His Goodness, and His plan, where doubt is turned to good use, against His enemies.
Paulus’s emphasis on grace challenges the modern obsession with self-improvement toward goals in the self. His theology is not about earning salvation, but receiving it wholly in exchange for our belief and trust in God’s process, most especially within. We are designed as creatures, for our created reality, of narrative. Paulus’s life and teachings offer a framework for understanding our own journeys, how we were “lost” and yet how we might find a very real redemption in this life, and throughout all domains of God. It all starts with this certain trust. To be truly free, we must rise above autonomy, and see ourselves within God’s plan instead. This is that true freedom in the ability to recognise and do good.
Paulus’s message is universal, not in the sense of a formula and the way it has come to be defined in modern contexts. It is universal in its actual universality. Jesus Christ’s message speaks to the deepest longings of the human soul in being with God; regardless any other factors of culture, era, or personal background. We belong to something greater than us, and this is an all-encompassing, demanding, and certain kind of trust, yet also open-armed and forgiving.
This is redemption. This is seeing life through the lens of grace. Paulus was gifted a blueprint for living in communion and then shared it with others through aid of the divine, which was with him in reality, and remains with us becoming available only insofar as we become aware and seek after His greater Spirit. We walk a path in the discovery of a Light that has always been there, waiting to guide us home.