My Struggle

The strongest test I have faced in my commitment to a spiritual life has been worldliness. The ways of the world constantly assail my senses, they come at me from every direction and from every conceivable source. The media forces itself down our collective throats at every opportunity. Advertising on television endeavors to convince us that we need this car or that pair of shoes. They conspire to convince us that unless we own this cologne or that pair of jeans we can never be happy or complete. They even try and tell us what we must look like in order to be loved.

Worldliness is a trial and a test I face every day. Sometimes I am more successful than others in keeping its influences at bay. My commitment to simplicity is pushed almost constantly and despite my best efforts I find myself succumbing to the tantalizing temptations of the outside world. I oftentimes try and rationalize my weaknesses. I suggest to myself that it is just a book. I choose to believe that my craven desire for a new release is somehow morally superior to someone who succumbs to a new and improved consumer item.

I am able to return to my spiritual path again and again due partly to force of will and partly powerlessness. I exert my willpower at every opportunity and strive to resist the most blatant lures and snares that are laid out before me. When the force of my own will fails to provide the strength that I need I am put into a position to accept my own powerlessness and put my faith into a power that is greater than me. What temptations escape the exertion of my will are more often that not blunted by my faith, more often than not, but not always.

I am the obstacle that I face every day. I am the weakest link in the chain forged by my will. I am my own worst enemy. I see some things and I just want them. I admit I like the shiny and new. I love the slick and the cool. I desire, but not require, the latest and greatest. I know that modern society is filled with temptation. I just have to remind myself to by sharp enough not to snap at the bait.

Faith in me seems to be the best defense, and when faith in myself misses the mark, faith in the Lord my God generally makes up for my inadequacies.

The dialectic

The dialectic of double consciousness refers to the duality that exists in African Americans.  They share many of the same experiences that we all share as Americans and in particular as Citizens of these United States.  But, the African American experience does and will always differ in unique ways.  They had an experience that most of us can little understand.  Their passage to the new world was not one of joy but a road strewn with tears and the bodies of those that they loved.  Once they arrived here in this new Egypt they were bound, enslaved and treated as nothing more than property.  The experience that they had undergone deserved to be honored and acknowledged.  They sought to do this through the establishment of holidays to recognize the struggle that they faced every day.  It is of especial importance to note that while these holidays were being established and celebrated many of their less fortunate brothers and sisters were still chaffing under the yoke of slavery.  There is a duality, a double conciseness in the African experience that will always be a part of their tradition and shared heritage.  They could not separate from or deny this shared history without losing something integral in their being.  This double consciousness and the experiences that brought it about is one of the powerful instruments that helped to forge them into a unified people much as the Passover experience did for the Hebrews.

It was not an easy road for African American to establish a holiday which recognized their experience.  It was hit and miss for quite some time as these few cities celebrated this day or those few cities celebrated that day.  The emancipation of the slaves in the south provided a common ground for some time but it was not truly until the establishment of Dr. Martin Luther King Day that the African American experience was recognized in a way that recognized their experience in the way that it merited.

I am ashamed to say that in Twin Falls, Idaho there is little recognition of the holiday outside the churches.  Within the churches the recognition it receives is little more than a footnote.  Of course there are exceptions; the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, ELCA Lutherans, the UU’s and the Friends all devote time to recognition of Dr. King’s accomplishments, but we mainstream and liberals are few here in Idaho.  The vast majority, I dare say 80% are very conservative and extremist in their religious and political views.  We have no civic acknowledgement of Dr. King beyond a day off school for the kids.  We do not even have a road named after him as so many cities do.  There has been a number of attempts to get an intuitive passed but most of the efforts failed even to get enough signatures to get it on the ballot.  

I feel led to explain the source of my shame and try to make the attitudes of my fellow Idahoans understood, so let me offer up a little background. Racism is still everywhere here in Idaho.  The Christian Identity movement, the Arian Nation Church, the American Nazi Party are all prominent in my state, and though the movements themselves are small we only have a population of 1.4 millions, of which some 90% are white, so the raciest crazies make up a sizable segment of society and their fellow travelers are prevalent if not the majority. Most Idahoans are victims of cultural racism rather than racism by choice, our African American population in 2004 was registered as 0.4%, it easy for some folks to fear or loathe that which they do not know or understand.  Most of the minority population in Idaho is Hispanic, some 8% who work in the potato fields.  But don’t let that fool you, Caesar Chavez day is not even recognized here.  All Idahoans are not knuckle dragging primates but we have more than our share of the unenlightened.  
But there is movement in the right direction, change is on the horizon.  We will get this state and its people where they need to be.  It will just take us a little longer than it has taken some others to accept that which is different our outside our understanding and experience.  I have full faith that Dr. King’s dream will manifest itself fully in due course.

George Washington

George Washington put forth considerable effort in his letters in order to assure his readers that they would be free to practice their faith but, “...being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dicates of his own conscience”.  I agree with what has been stated by my classmate that Washington seemed to be a little less inclined to show understanding of the Quaker path than he was of some of the others.  His statement that it was, “no more than justice to say that (except their declining to share with others the burthen of common defense) there is know denomination among us who are more exemplary and useful citizens.  I believe that this stems primarily from his time as commander of the Continental Army.  There were many occasions when Washington, in dire need of reinforcements to fill his dwindling ranks, must have felt negatively towards a people who refused to help him achieve his desired ends.

Washington seems to have been honestly trying to allay the fears of some of the denominations regarding persecution.  I see this particularly in hiss address to the Roman Catholics when he told them that as mankind becomes more liberal their fellow citizens would recognize that all worthy members of the community are deserving of the protections of civil government.  He further assured them that he believed their fellow citizens would not forget the important assistance they offered during the revolution.
He seemed to be speaking from the same spirit when he assured the United Baptist churches that the Constitution would never, “…endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society”.  He further assured them that no one more than himself would, “…be more zealous than myself to establish barriers against the horrors of ecclesiastical tyranny”.  

Washington seems to have endeavored to address the particular concerns and needs of each faith community to which he wrote.  He seemed to do his best to remain above the fray of inter-religious quarrelling between the various denominations.  The example of Washington would be of great benefit to many of our leaders today.  As our society has become more pluralistic many individuals have become more outspoken in favor of one path and dismissive and disrespectful of others.  I see this in the fear and misunderstanding exhibited by many for faiths outside the Christian fold.  I also see it inside Christ’s church as this or that denomination tries to claim ownership of Jesus and his message, all the while defining their brothers and sisters outside the fold through increasingly narrow definitions of what a Christian really is.

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Howard Thurman

Howard Thurman was one of the great theological minds of the twentieth century.  He grew up in an economically depressed household but, in a community infused with love and compassion.  Howard seems to have always been a spiritual, mystical and introspective boy.  In the spiritual autobiography we viewed in class he seems to have felt the stirring of mysticism at a very young age.  Perhaps this was due to his very nature; perhaps it was due to some of the formative influences he was exposed to at a very tender age.  I am of the belief that it was both.

He tells of his time spent with his back against the bark of a great old oak tree in his yard.  He describes it as great in stature and covered with mossy growth.  Howard would rest his back against the might tree and speak to it.  He also enjoyed watching the tree sway in the wind during great storms.  I imagine young Howard taking not of the tree’s swaying with the wind, rolling with the punches, yet never succumbing to outside forces due to the strength of its roots.

Another powerful influence on his life was certainly his grandmother who grew up as a slave.  One of her early memories was of a slaveholding woman beating her white child for teaching the alphabet to a Negro.  At that moment she knew that letters must contain some power.  She passed this belief on to her grandson who took her guidance to heart.  
He was determined to get to school and tells us a wonderful story of his efforts to get there.  He was in a train station on his way to college and discovered he did not have enough money to ship his trunk to his destination.  He was so frustrated that he broke down into tears right then and there.  As he was sitting there full of despair he met a kindly stranger who responded to his need.  This man walked over to the counter with Howard, purchased the necessary transportation voucher and handed it to Howard.  That unnamed man’s act of kindness enabled him to go forward and illuminate the world through his light. He tells us that while he was at school a wonderful teacher went out of her way to tutor him on the side.  He tells us a story about the establishment of his interfaith-intercultural church in San Francisco and despite the fact that there was little money and much risk, all things fell into place.

One of the most constant messages that resonate in the story is that God will provide.  If you follow the path that he lights before you anything is possible.  When I read the words of Howard Thurman or hear his heartfelt testimony I know that god will make a way for me.  I need only have confidence in myself and the faith in him and God will provide for me as well.

Turning Points

I can identify a number of turning points in my life.  The first that comes to mind is my parents divorce.  This seemingly personal event, between the two of them, has had ramifications in my life far beyond the initial pain caused by their parting.  Much of the loss of faith I experienced in my late teens can be traced to their divorce.  Things never seemed to right in my childhood home after its foundation had been shook asunder.

I found that many of the relationships that I carried on with members of the opposite sex were tainted by my parent’s failures.  I had a terrible time trying to keep the practices that had destroyed their marriage out of my relationships.  Other times, in an effort to prevent its influences from overwhelming me I would overcompensate, which would cause problems of its own.

Another difficult turning point in my life was my discharge from the US Army.  I joined the military not so much out of conviction but, as a form of rebelliousness against my parents.  I walked the path that they would never have chosen for me out of anger and resentment over their parting.  I hoped to carve out a life for myself and deliberately chose the opposite of everything my parents stood for.  I was in the Army, I was a registered Republican, and I even supported Ronald Reagan.  And, my parents were sad, angry, confused and blamed themselves.  The very same situation I had found myself in after their divorce.

I did not hack it out in the Army even 2 years.  I was stationed in Germany after the training phase of my enlistment.  This was in 1983 during the time when Ronald Reagan was positioning Medium Range Ballistic Missiles in Western Europe despite the overwhelming opposition of the European citizens.  I started talking to my fellow soldiers about the ramifications of the policy.  I sent off for some literature from a grassroots activist group in the U.K.  I spoke to the Army Chaplain assigned to the base where I was stationed.  I was once again in touch with my roots.  The Me that I had been raised to be was bubbling to the surface as the pain over my parents splitting was passing.

This resulted in my name and number popping onto the Commanding Officer’s radar, a place I did not want to be.  I now had to pay the price for exhibiting my convictions.  I was singled out for special treatment, remedial training, strict discipline, and other unpleasantness.  I had my rank stripped away, my pay taken, and was treated like a traitor.  Rather than let me out the elected to keep me around as an example to others.  I was tormented for 6 months with hard labor, public humiliation, and physical abuse.  When the Command Staff felt I had served their purposes I was discarded like a piece of refuse.

I look back on this experience now and I can recognize it for the transformational period that it was.  I am grateful for the experience since it tempered my being.  It solidified the values and convictions of my youth and I have never looked back.  But, while it was happening it was hell-on-earth and I thought it was never going to end.

Hagar

When Sarai discovered she was unable to conceive she offered up her slave Hagar to Abram, her husband. Although this practice seems alien to us it was a common procedure in the ancient near east of their day. Hagar found herself pregnant in due course which proved to be a powerful catalyst for change in her life. She was no longer just their slave; she was carrying a child for Sarai and Abram. This event proved to be an epiphany for Hager and she discovered her worth as an individual. We read in Genesis 16 Sarai claiming that Hagar looked down upon her and despised her. We can not be sure of the details of Sarai’s claim but we can be sure of what came next. Sarai complained to Abram who told her to treat her slave as she pleased. We know that Hagar was ill-treated by her mistress and unable to bear it she chose to flee. She only returned after an Angel of the Lord appeared and admonished her to return and submit to her mistress. This angelic messenger announced to Hagar that she would have a son and he would be as a “wild ass” meaning he would be free, a prophecy of great promise for a slave. God had forged a covenant with Hagar completely separate from his covenant with Abram. Years later when Sarai sees her son Isaac playing with Hagar's she is driven by jealously over Abraham’s estate. She encourages her husband to drive away Hagar and her son and they are sent into the wilderness. Were it not for divine intervention they both would surely have perished. God kept his bargain with Hagar and she and her son lived free. She found him a wife in Egypt and he fathered a great people.

Hagar is an exemplar to all oppressed persons that through faith comes true freedom.

A Walking Meditation

I started my walking meditation with some measure of disappointment.  My classmates were going to be walking down the trail to the waterfall and since I guessed that the trail might not prove to be flip-flop friendly I would be on my own.  After moments indecision I decided that I would perform the walking exercise on the grassy area between the Evens House and the FUM office.  I had not been at it for more than a few moments when I began to notice the unmistakable sensation of something crawling over me.  I looked down and saw a couple of ants on my legs and swiftly brushed them away.  No sooner than I had removed this pest I became aware of one of their friends moving about my neck.  I pulled him off me and tossed him none too gently to the side.  I decided to make a hasty retreat and leave abandon the ground to the ants.

At this point I elected to cross the parking lot and move onto the grassy area north of the parking area When I was walking along in the parking area I noted that weeds, grass and other such life seemed to poke its head through the asphalt in search of the light and life despite the fact that its seeds and life giving roots we buried, unseen beneath the blacktop. I took note of the way that life pushes through adversity and life promoting growth takes place regardless of the difficulties that are places in its path.

As I was enjoying this insight in a moment of clarity I was surprised by the sound of a growling dog…then two.  I looked up from my contemplation and saw two muscular young boxers eying me with some ferocity.  I looked them both square in the eye and began to back away slowly.  They advanced, alternatively looking at me and each other.  They appeared quite young and each seemed to need the other to embolden themselves to action.

I backed away and they advanced after me.  As  turned to head away from them they would surge towards me is short bursts.  When I turned to face them again they would halt and continue advancing further as I backed away.  The matched my movements step by step just as their kind is wont to do.

I realized that I would not be able to escape this predicament without them overtaking me unless I walked backwards all the way back to Evens House, and being unwilling to do so, I elected to turn about, step out lively and make good my escape.  I did so and moved away with haste.  They both moved in unison and were nipping at my feet in no time.  I moved faster and so did they.  Finally I began to run and put a little distance betwixt me and my canine oppressors.

One of the little fellows lost interest in me and went back towards the direction that he had come from.  The other eyed me and continued barking but, kept looking over his shoulder in the direction that his friend had gone.  I stopped, stared him right in the eye and after a few moments he turned away and moved of in the direction of his friend.

The Egypt theme

The Egypt theme is a powerful metaphor for the United States.  For some it represents fleeing bondage for a promised land, “flowing with milk and honey”.  For others it represents enslavement and bondage.

John Winthrop set the tone for the early settlers in New England in his famous sermon “A Modell for Christian Charity”.  In it Winthrop compared the covenant the Hebrews had made with Yahweh in the wilderness to the obligations the settlers had made with God themselves.

This was the beginning of many American’s belief that they were a new Israel.  They believed that their nation and they themselves were chosen with a sacred destiny.  This self delusion kicked into high gear after the Revolution and can be seen in its full splendor in Ezra Stiles’ 1783 sermon entitled, The United States elevated to Glory and Honor”.  In which Stiles says, “Already does the new constellation of the United States begin to realize this glory”.  It has already risen to an acknowledged sovereignty among the republics and kingdoms of the world.  And we have reason to expect, that God still has greater blessing in store for this vine that his own hand had planted, to make us “high among nations in praise, and in name, and in honor””.  This sort of religious fervor fused with nationalism is what led to such imperialistic doctrines as the Manifest Destiny and leads us down dangerous roads even today.

There is another take Egypt and Israel that has been developed in the United States.  This theme was not born of Pilgrims and Puritans in New England.  Rather, it was vision of African slaves held in bondage in the southern states.  They too saw themselves as Israel, but instead of a chosen people marching into and claiming a land of milk and honey, they were Israel enslaved, still waiting for their Moses to lead them to the Promised Land.

Maria Stewart a free black reform activist from Boston wrote in 1831, “America, America, foul and indelible is thy dark stain!  Dark and dismal is the cloud that hangs over thee, for thy cruel wrongs and injuries to the fallen sons of Africa.  The blood of her murdered ones cries to heaven for vengeance against the….You may kill, tyrannize, and oppress as much as you choose, until cry shall come up before the throne of god; for I am firmly persuaded, that he will not suffer you to quell the proud, fearless, and undaunted spirits of the African forever; for in his own time he is able to plead our cause against you, and to pour out upon you the 10 plagues of Egypt”.  This was not the America that Winthrop or Stiles had though of when they wrote sermons of hope and praise.

The Africans had great affinity for the Exodus story, much to the chagrin of their white preachers.  They could see themselves as Israel enslaved and hoped and prayed for the day that God would send a deliver to free them from bondage.  They were also certain the United States stood under God’s judgment and was found wanting for its treatment of the children of Africa.  They were believed that if America failed to repent she would face tribulations and God’s retribution unless she repented the ways of Egypt.  By adapting the story as their own Exodus became a cohesive force in their culture and provided a much needed sense of unity.  Moses became an idealized version of all that is noble and good in the world and Jesus was seen as a second Moses who would come and deliver his African children from the bondage of a new Egypt.

This worldview can be seen even in contemporary times in many places, amongst them the sermons of Dr. King and the music of Bob Marley, and although Bob preferred to compare the Western world to Babylon many of the themes remain the same.

BOB MARLEY - Exodus Lyrics
Exodus: Movement of Jah people! Oh-oh-oh, yea-eah!
.......
Men and people will fight ya down (Tell me why!)
When ya see Jah light. (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if you're not wrong; (Then, why?)
Everything is all right.
So we gonna walk - all right! - through de roads of creation:
We the generation (Tell me why!)
(Trod through great tribulation) trod through great tribulation.

Exodus, all right! Movement of Jah people!
Oh, yeah! O-oo, yeah! All right!
Exodus: Movement of Jah people! Oh, yeah!

Yeah-yeah-yeah, well!
Uh! Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied (with the life you're living)? Uh!
We know where we're going, uh!
We know where we're from.
We're leaving Babylon,
We're going to our Father land.

2, 3, 4: Exodus: movement of Jah people! Oh, yeah!
(Movement of Jah people!) Send us another brother Moses!
(Movement of Jah people!) From across the Red Sea!
(Movement of Jah people!) Send us another brother Moses!
(Movement of Jah people!) From across the Red Sea!
Movement of Jah people!


America is Israel become Egypt.

In Genesis chpt 12&20

In Genesis chapters 12 and 20 Abraham passes his wife Sarah off as his sister to keep from being killed. Supposedly, she was so beautiful that the kings in each of these stories might have him killed in order to claim Sarah as their own. In ch. 12 Sarah would have been at least 65yrs old and in ch. 20 she would have been closer to 90yrs. Question..... why would any king have been attracted to women of this age when they could have any woman that they wanted? Is the writer trying to tell us something about Abraham?
The question Is quite astute, and I must admit that I have pondered it myself since reading the text. She may well have been still "beautiful" in her mid 60's but it is highly unlikely that she would have been physically attractive enough at 90ish to attract the attentions of a Philistine King. Who, in reality was probably more likely to be enjoying the pleasures of nubile maidens.The writer(s) must have known that the statements would prove incredulous to readers. They must have had a reason for doing so. I think the story is more about Abimelech and his ability to receive communication/warning from god. The incident seems to reflect a form of universalism in that God is shown deference and respect by a gentile and God in turns seeks to warn and protect a non Hebrew. Maybe even to illustrate that God had adherents everywhere. As I sit here writing this I don't know if I can recall God speaking to gentiles elsewhere in scripture. And, certainly not often to gentiles so vilified as the Philistines.The initial writing in chapter 12 may be there in order to make the Israelites feel better about their wives, daughters, and sisters being taken from them, raped, and/or enslaved by consecutive armies of conquerors. It would be easier to watch those they loved used and abused if they had known that Abraham had allowed the same thing to happen just to save his own hide.I read somewhere once that the reason "Jewishness" is passed down the female line instead of the male was that so many conquering armies swept through the Levant killing the men and raping the woman that the only way they could survive as a people was to adapt to the realities of the situation.

Cain and Abel

When I read the text I felt the story of Cain and Abel reach out to me on a personal level. It is a powerful tale that contains truths many truths. Perhaps, as has been suggested it was written to typify the long stand rivalry between herdsman and farmers, between nomads and city folk. But, it also represents the timeless and commonplace difficulties of sibling rivalry within the family structure.

When my sister and I were growing up we were blessed in having both maternal and paternal grandparents living near us and activly involved in our lives. And, as sometimes happens, despite their love for both of us they sometimes exhibited preferential treatment. Our paternal grandparents favored me and our maternal grandparents favored Kim. As God was the parent of Adam and Eve, God was the grandparent of Cain and Abel. After coming to this realization the memories of my familial situation flooded over me. When we were growing up this favoritism was not really apparent to me. I may have been blind to it because I, like Abel, was not the one who felt the jealously and resentment. My paternal grandparents were quite were quite well off and their favoritism for me manifested itself in material ways which in my youth I did not recognize as unfair.

My sister and I did not speak of this until they had all passed and I did not know how she felt until years later. We spoke, we prayed, he hugged and we cried and then we put it behind us. I have to say that Cain’s slaying of Abel is completely foreign to my experience. Maybe it was because his grandparent was God and it brought about jealously beyond my experience. Or, perhaps he was quite young and unaware of the ramifications of his actions. The slaying of Cain may even have been unintentional. Perhaps it never happened and serves only to warn us of what could happen.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama Visits Sun Valley September 11th - September 15th

For the last 40 years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has traveled the world spreading compassion and kindness. His Holiness talks often of the interconnectedness of all sentient beings. How we are all dependent on others.

September 11th:

"The Healing Address" - A Message of Compassion on the Anniversary of 9/11

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM - His Holiness will send a message to all the families that lost loved ones on September 11th and offer a healing to all Americans who were traumatized on that sad day. We expect participants will come from all over Idaho and the West as well as the United States.

4:30 PM - Press Conference with Idaho newspapers and TV stations.

September 12th:

"Laying the Foundation of the Future" - Special Address to the Children of Idaho

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM - His Holiness will have a special session with the young children of Idaho at the special request of Governor Dirk Kempthorne.

September 13th:

"Blessing of the Prayer Wheel"

2:00 PM - The Prayer Wheel which was blessed by His Holiness will be available for public viewing at: Sawtooth Botanical Gardens, 3 Gimlet Road, Ketchum.

Jesus

Jesus was a pluralist who taught that one need not conform to strict and orthodox views of God, religion, and life. He rejected greed, violence, the glorification of power, the amassing of wealth without social balance, and the personal judging of others, their lifestyles and beliefs.

Over and over again, He taught us to believe in and live a spiritual and ethical life based in our essential, inherent goodness. What Jesus promoted was succinct set of spiritual principals and a way of life based upon the of love, compassion, tolerance, and a strong belief in the importance in giving and of generosity to those in need.

Certainly, Jesus brought a radical theology to the Orthodox believers of his time.

Biblical Quotes:

Peacemaking, not War Making: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. [Matthew 5:9] Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. [Matthew 5:39] I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you; [Matthew 5:44]

The Death Penalty: Thou shalt not kill [Matthew 5:21]

Crime and Punishment: If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to cast a stone at her. [John 8:7] Do not judge, lest you too be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. [Matthew 7:1 & 2.]

Justice: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. [Matthew 5:6] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy [Matthew 5:7] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Matthew 6:15]

Greed and the Religion of Wealth: In the temple courts [Jesus] found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and other sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. [John 2:14 & 15.] Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. [Luke 12.15.] Truly, I say unto you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 19:23] You cannot serve both God and Money. [Matthew 6:24.]

Paying Taxes & Separation of Church & State: Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. [Matthew 22:21] Community: Love your neighbor as yourself. .[Matthew 22:39] So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.[Matthew 7:12.] If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. [Matthew 19:21]

Equality & Social Programs: But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. [Luke 14:13 &14.]

Public Prayer & Displays of Faith: And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret… [Matthew 6:6 & 7]

Strict Enforcement of Religious Laws: If any of you has a son or a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [Matthew 12:11] The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. [Mark 2:27.]