Thomas 1:23 … One from a Thousand (11/18/16)
“I will choose You, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and You will stand together as a single One.” ~ Jesus (Thomas 23)
This is one of my favorite sayings of Jesus – not because he definitely said it (indeed, it is quite possible he didn’t) – but rather because of the deep-seated Faith it evinces and the deep-seated Persistence it inspires …
You see, anyone who has ever set forth onto a path of selfless service knows that most folks are simply not interested in the same – not interested in accepting the gifts such a path offers, and certainly not interested in affirming that path (much less the humble courage required to join the one sharing it) … In short, The Way of selfless Love is ever a path walked mostly in solitude, and almost always a way flanked by denigration and apathy.
And to make matters even more challenging, it is a Way that also bears little to no Good Fruit that can be readily witnessed. And because the ones who have set forth on that path are by nature individuals who deeply Care for all of humanity – and because the vast majority of humanity tends to ignore or reject or even ridicule the Great Gifts offered by such “Peace Pilgrims”, this is a Way of Living that can become quite frustrating after even a short period of time.
Indeed, this frustration was seen in Lao Tsu, who supposedly had given up on the ethically bankrupt citizens of his homeland and was actually leaving them to live his final days as a hermit when he paused on the way to pen the now famous (and quite brilliant) Tao Te Ching. And a similar frustration was seen in Jesus Christ when he did everything but get on his knees and beg his followers to make the necessary leap of Faith into living (and thereby finally truly understanding) his teachings on selfless Love. Indeed, Jesus’ frustrations with the abject selfishness of the masses that followed him became so acute that his regular, peace-seeking, solo-treks to various mountaintops no longer sufficed, and he ultimately departed from Judea after a ministry that only lasted three years. And yet before he did so, he offered them this particular gem (among many hundreds of similarly brilliant sayings & parables) – a beacon of simple Truth that reminds us that we are not to worry or fret when the vast majority of our listeners reject our teachings – that we are only seeking to awaken those sleepers who are already on the verge of awakening; the 1% of the 1% of those still slightly slumbering who will willingly Hear our Way’s Wisdom, who will willingly open their eyes thereto, and then who will then willingly set forth to enliven the same – to thereafter deeply feel its undeniable Truth for themselves.
We are to share our Truths with the rest of humanity as well, of course – seeing as how indeed all have been so Called (even though very few will choose to answer). And yet when we see that the sleepers will not awaken, we need not fight with their slumber. Rather, we must simply kiss them gently on their foreheads, snugly tuck them into their chosen drone of dream-steeped ignorance, and wish them well as we depart … We do so knowing that at the latest on their deathbeds they too will rise UP from their drowsiness, though we pray as we depart that another will come and help them awaken well before that terminable (and often most terrible) time.
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