A friend just emailed me some profundity today. A guy named John Shea who wrote The Spirit Master. I've never heard of him before, but i will be looking into him. Here are some of the best parts:


Identity

With the possible exception of 'Son of Man' there is no evidence that
the earthly Jesus ever used these titles of himself.

His reality shattered categories imposed on him. The person of Jesus
absorbed every title applied to him, changed its meaning, and
transcended it.

There is something fascinating about a man whose importance is so secure
he has no need of establishing it by arrogating titles to himself.

Authority is known because new life is being 'authored' not because
titles are being claimed.

IT seems that the greater a man is, the less he claims for himself.

Jesus relies on what he does to convey who he is. Man relies on what he
says to convey who he is.

The spirituality of Jesus holds to two insights:

1. Revenge breaks the spiral of forgiveness and contributes to the
spiral of violence. Who is my neighbour and How many times should I
forgive-both presupposes limits to the extension of love, and therefore
predict a future situation where forgiveness will give way to
retribution. At that moment the spiral of forgiveness gives way to the
spiral of violence.

2. Forgiven people extending forgiveness is a matter of enacting their
identity. The foundation of their selfhood is an experience of
forgiveness. If they are to be faithful to that self, they must allow
that expression.

Grace may be free but it is not cheap. It will cost us our life as we
express it to others.