Logion 4 – Jesus says: “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one.”
Noa – words that stick with me after a reading:
- Won’t hesitate: as we grow older we realize that there is a veil and search to find out why. We can see it in very young ones that they seem to remember/sense something from before the veil. In our search for what the veil means we will intuitively watch for hints of that what lies in the mind of the very little kiddos.
- Single One: unity, all is one. This last part goes a bit past my head. Many of the first will be last, to me says something on the lines of becoming more like the mind of a child can help one see the unity more clearly.
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Doug: This is a difficult one! Here’s my take….
I really like your both of your reflections and think they are spot on. The older person is wise enough, if they’ve lived their life well, to know that they are embarking on what is called the “second naivete,” by philosophy. This is the second half of life about which Richard Rohr speaks a lot and wrote his book called “Falling Upwards” to flesh this out. It’s when you’ve come full circle and you’ve experienced all that you wanted to “out there” in the world. Now, you’re ready for the real stuff, the sacred stuff, the holiness of the moment, truly being present to Presence! That’s not something that the first half of life person really knows or cares about. They are busy building their Floating Selves… and that’s holy, too. So, the word, “ask” is important because it requires a spirit of humility and of inquiry. The older person has learned true humility over their lifetime and is now poised to see how the new baby is real embodiment of Being, Itself. Seven is also an archetypally symbolic number and it is seen has holy and perfect.
“On the 7th day, God rested…” The human makes up the cosmos in macrocosm. The baby just born may have been seen as repeating the 7 days that it took God to create the world. We know that on the eighth day, the baby was circumcised (if male) which would indicate individuality and belonging to the Jewish tribe. Perhaps in their mind, the not-yet-8 day old baby was considered being itself, still? I don’t know. But that God rested on the 7th day and that the logion has the old person asking questions to the 7 day old baby is interesting. Was the 7-day-old baby seen as a symbol of God being at rest and able to answer questions of the heart? Maybe. The place of life would be life outside of the veil… or in more absolute terms, it would be connecting with the Eternal Now which the baby could have been seen as a portal into which those with the eyes to see it, could encounter and enjoy.
“For many of the first will be last, and will become a Single One…” This is beautiful. I take it to mean that the circle or cycle of life is complete. The Alpha and Omega connect at the end. The prodigal child comes home. These are symbolic language to get at the idea that those who make the journey well, love themselves into living a surrendered life. Their Floating Selves descend and rest upon the Anchored Self and they learn to embody the Anchored Self as their true home. When they do that, they are whole because Anchored Self living is holistic living… paradoxes are resolved and the shadow is embraced, forgiven, and transmuted. Cynthia Bourgeault in her wonderful books, Wisdom Jesus and Mary Magdalene, says that Jesus was known as the “Single One,” in his lifetime. This was a very holy title given to the highest of teachers who had become one in themselves and one with God. That is why he said, I and the Father are One and may they be one as you are in me and I am in you. The summit of the human journey is to become a single one– a whole man and whole woman; to be wholly man and woman within the same person (androgynous). The Law of One would call this person an adept and a crystallized healer.
Noa – thinking more about that last line. Why many and not all? Is this a hint toward some kind of reincarnation? Since not all are searching (hinted in Logion 2, “if you are searching…”) maybe it is known that not all will become one?
Doug: I think you are right. There are many old people out there but there are only some “elders.”
Building 4th Cosmic Christ 