When you've seen the son, you've seen the father

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shnarkle

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Glass is transparent for a reason.

Paradoxically, it's a mixture of pain as well as a numbness to life that impelled me to reach out into the unknown at a very young age. There were two factors operating at the forefront of my mind; an overwhelming nihilistic apathy accompanied by a memory that tugged at me from the pit of my stomach. A memory that told me I really didn't have a choice. I was supposed to be there to knowingly make this decision. The world would never be the same again.

Consciousness is an evolutionary trait that shocks us into a state of awareness that slows down time so we can assess what to do to alleviate our vulnerability. Being in a state of heightened awareness is stressful, and yet people go through their lives like this never comprehending that they're never able to rest. Others are oblivious and basically walking around unconscious of their surroundings; so much so that they frequently walk into walls, trip off curbs, and get blindsided by slow and oftentimes loud moving vehicles.

The death culture is ingrained into our psyches to such a degree that living is no longer an accepted good or benefit. Risky behavior is the norm. A careless abandon is an inspiring relief from the barrage of sound bites, and rapid fire images that send our brains into convulsions until our synapses are fried beyond repair. We can only search for more profoundly meaningless ways to cheat death, or rush head long into the inescapable arms of the grim reaper.

Nature has a way of revealing everything we need to know, but our free will leaves us ignorant of what we didn't choose. Anesthesia vacuums up what's left. Of course we've evolved to a place where not everything is presented to us to begin with. Our reptilian brain only allows the top dozen or so most important stimuli to get past its filter. How does it determine what is the most important, and what isn't? There's something deep down in there that's constantly sorting, and prioritizing.

When that filter is turned off the psyche is inundated with so much information that some level of insanity is to be expected. Those who would take that trip again, might well mainline a potent dose of Thorazine first just to be on the safe side. When one's normal waking reality isn't much worse, it allows one to enjoy the parade of deities and demons who populate an endless horizon of potentialities. An awareness unrestricted by an illusory identity doesn't soon forget undifferentiated reality after returning to the paradoxical absurdity of a single, solitary, separate perspective.

Our brains are incredibly efficient at self referencing, but even more so when completely self absorbed. Life becomes a parable that allows us to be in more than one place at the same time. To be wealthy beyond imagination as well as poor in spirit, to be perfectly collected while simultaneously in a heightened state of statuesque terror, to be completely stressed out and yet bowel-emptyingly relieved. To be in mortal danger and yet inevitably secure and at ease. To be presented with bad news that is received gladly, or presented with the tediously mundane only to respond with a sublime knowing smile.

One must welcome poverty's emptiness to make room for abundance. Desperate or frantic double clutching burns out the flywheel. How many times do we catch ourselves covering and cluttering our lives with so much precious junk? The junk is what is worthless while the treasure lies buried underneath and squandered by neglect. What's real is concealed by the cheap temporal fantasy. We look at the window instead of looking through.

"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." -Jesus

 

Enoch111

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When you've seen the son, you've seen the father
There is a complete dissonance between the title of this thread and the OP. Neither the Father nor the Son have been mentioned in your post.

It is true that those who have seen the Son have seen the Father indirectly. The Son of God -- the Lord Jesus Christ -- is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person. Indeed the glory of God is in the face of Christ, and in Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily. At the same time:

God the Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit
God the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit
God the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son

There are a few posters here who (1) reject the doctrine of the Trinity, (2) reject the deity of Christ, and (3) promote the Oneness doctrine called Jesus Only or Modalism or Sabellianism. These are all ancient heresies which are being revived and promoted with great vigor.
 

shnarkle

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Glass is transparent for a reason.

Paradoxically, it's a mixture of pain as well as a numbness to life that impelled me to reach out into the unknown at a very young age. There were two factors operating at the forefront of my mind; an overwhelming nihilistic apathy accompanied by a memory that tugged at me from the pit of my stomach. A memory that told me I really didn't have a choice. I was supposed to be there to knowingly make this decision. The world would never be the same again.

Consciousness is an evolutionary trait that shocks us into a state of awareness that slows down time so we can assess what to do to alleviate our vulnerability. Being in a state of heightened awareness is stressful, and yet people go through their lives like this never comprehending that they're never able to rest. Others are oblivious and basically walking around unconscious of their surroundings; so much so that they frequently walk into walls, trip off curbs, and get blindsided by slow and oftentimes loud moving vehicles.

The death culture is ingrained into our psyches to such a degree that living is no longer an accepted good or benefit. Risky behavior is the norm. A careless abandon is an inspiring relief from the barrage of sound bites, and rapid fire images that send our brains into convulsions until our synapses are fried beyond repair. We can only search for more profoundly meaningless ways to cheat death, or rush head long into the inescapable arms of the grim reaper.

Nature has a way of revealing everything we need to know, but our free will leaves us ignorant of what we didn't choose. Anesthesia vacuums up what's left. Of course we've evolved to a place where not everything is presented to us to begin with. Our reptilian brain only allows the top dozen or so most important stimuli to get past its filter. How does it determine what is the most important, and what isn't? There's something deep down in there that's constantly sorting, and prioritizing.

When that filter is turned off the psyche is inundated with so much information that some level of insanity is to be expected. Those who would take that trip again, might well mainline a potent dose of Thorazine first just to be on the safe side. When one's normal waking reality isn't much worse, it allows one to enjoy the parade of deities and demons who populate an endless horizon of potentialities. An awareness unrestricted by an illusory identity doesn't soon forget undifferentiated reality after returning to the paradoxical absurdity of a single, solitary, separate perspective.

Our brains are incredibly efficient at self referencing, but even more so when completely self absorbed. Life becomes a parable that allows us to be in more than one place at the same time. To be wealthy beyond imagination as well as poor in spirit, to be perfectly collected while simultaneously in a heightened state of statuesque terror, to be completely stressed out and yet bowel-emptyingly relieved. To be in mortal danger and yet inevitably secure and at ease. To be presented with bad news that is received gladly, or presented with the tediously mundane only to respond with a sublime knowing smile.

One must welcome poverty's emptiness to make room for abundance. Desperate or frantic double clutching burns out the flywheel. How many times do we catch ourselves covering and cluttering our lives with so much precious junk? The junk is what is worthless while the treasure lies buried underneath and squandered by neglect. What's real is concealed by the cheap temporal fantasy. We look at the window instead of looking through.

"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." -Jesus


The gospel writers frequently used the doctors of the law as illustrations or object lessons to spotlight the fact that their meticulous scrutiny of the law was useless without discernment. They upheld the law as an end in and of itself. They filtered the world around them through the law and their subsequent doctrines, but in the process lost the ability to prioritize what was important in life. They could sit in the seat of Moses, but they couldn't implement God's word in their lives because what they taught wasn't revealed to them mixed with faith by God.

Understanding a doctrine doesn't necessarily allow one to see the reality behind it. One can build or construct a window (or even a reasonable facsimile) without ever being able to look through it. While there's something to be said for wishful thinking, being able to accurately articulate the doctrines of men won't free anyone from bondage.
 

shnarkle

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Glass is transparent for a reason.

Paradoxically, it's a mixture of pain as well as a numbness to life that impelled me to reach out into the unknown at a very young age. There were two factors operating at the forefront of my mind; an overwhelming nihilistic apathy accompanied by a memory that tugged at me from the pit of my stomach. A memory that told me I really didn't have a choice. I was supposed to be there to knowingly make this decision. The world would never be the same again.

Consciousness is an evolutionary trait that shocks us into a state of awareness that slows down time so we can assess what to do to alleviate our vulnerability. Being in a state of heightened awareness is stressful, and yet people go through their lives like this never comprehending that they're never able to rest. Others are oblivious and basically walking around unconscious of their surroundings; so much so that they frequently walk into walls, trip off curbs, and get blindsided by slow and oftentimes loud moving vehicles.

The death culture is ingrained into our psyches to such a degree that living is no longer an accepted good or benefit. Risky behavior is the norm. A careless abandon is an inspiring relief from the barrage of sound bites, and rapid fire images that send our brains into convulsions until our synapses are fried beyond repair. We can only search for more profoundly meaningless ways to cheat death, or rush head long into the inescapable arms of the grim reaper.

Nature has a way of revealing everything we need to know, but our free will leaves us ignorant of what we didn't choose. Anesthesia vacuums up what's left. Of course we've evolved to a place where not everything is presented to us to begin with. Our reptilian brain only allows the top dozen or so most important stimuli to get past its filter. How does it determine what is the most important, and what isn't? There's something deep down in there that's constantly sorting, and prioritizing.

When that filter is turned off the psyche is inundated with so much information that some level of insanity is to be expected. Those who would take that trip again, might well mainline a potent dose of Thorazine first just to be on the safe side. When one's normal waking reality isn't much worse, it allows one to enjoy the parade of deities and demons who populate an endless horizon of potentialities. An awareness unrestricted by an illusory identity doesn't soon forget undifferentiated reality after returning to the paradoxical absurdity of a single, solitary, separate perspective.

Our brains are incredibly efficient at self referencing, but even more so when completely self absorbed. Life becomes a parable that allows us to be in more than one place at the same time. To be wealthy beyond imagination as well as poor in spirit, to be perfectly collected while simultaneously in a heightened state of statuesque terror, to be completely stressed out and yet bowel-emptyingly relieved. To be in mortal danger and yet inevitably secure and at ease. To be presented with bad news that is received gladly, or presented with the tediously mundane only to respond with a sublime knowing smile.

One must welcome poverty's emptiness to make room for abundance. Desperate or frantic double clutching burns out the flywheel. How many times do we catch ourselves covering and cluttering our lives with so much precious junk? The junk is what is worthless while the treasure lies buried underneath and squandered by neglect. What's real is concealed by the cheap temporal fantasy. We look at the window instead of looking through.

"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." -Jesus


I saw this movie when it first came out, and initially found it to be worth the time invested to watch it. Over the years I've come to see it as nothing less than pure genius. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has the time or inclination to watch a movie. The complete movie can be viewed on youtube for free.
 

theefaith

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Jn 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. (Jesus is Lord)

John 5:18
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Jn 20:28 my Lord and my God!