when the wolves eat....

the evangelists:

Am I not a disciple of the Logos? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?

Who spawns enmity at any time against his own? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't partake of it? And who feeds and tends a flock without having the milk of it?

To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak; I try to get along with all men, that I might save some. Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant to many, that I might gain the more unto the cause for Christ.

the wolves:

Do we not crawl on our bellies? Are we not tied to the earth? Have we no truth beyond?

Do we not eat our weak ones? Do we not try to eat everything else?

notes:

As I paraphrased, "I owe my people the truth."

The divine Logos, after all, is truth, light for light's sake--coming into its own, of its own being--

--perhaps in the very beginning of the concept of love, in a universe otherwise blind to sufferings.

At some point, Abraham Maslow pointed at it:

on full bellies, we ascend our mountain on the idea that we deposit social capital among our group.

In other words, with the house built, and the garden tended, Thoreau swam in the pond.  Thoreau read of Virgil and Homer.  Thoreau visited neighbors.

I saw it with my own eyes: a man completes his duty, say for the day or week, and then on to the higher arts.  The very Netflix of the spirit: servitude, fellowship, shepherding. And yet there is the very oven of existence for so many, to fulfill their claim of duty, the claim of humanity among the others: then the streambox.

The Netflix that is the Netflix.

As I paraphrase Paul, "I owe them the truth."

Mutating the words of John, Paul, James, Peter: "Of recent have I seen, beheld, the truth--that no sin is without a mercy in waiting--no mercy is without its sin--and even the demons in hell believe. I owe the truth to my people in meakness and "fear", in gentleness and respect, in decency and humility. To call upon the name of the Lord brings to you the cup of forgiveness. Just call on the name of the Lord."

When the wolves are fed, they sleep.

veil, buffer, barrel roll, and our varying visions of what is best

 aforetime was the veil of enmity among the peoples...  

Christ is the "buffer" between us and all now—not as a slogan or rote for recital by the fervent, but a reasonable program of love and hope.  "for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." -1 John 3:11

And though their words may be bitter gall, their actions and attitudes reveal something quite different: they do indeed concern themselves with their fellow. We roil in a common barrel along the hillside: though we may betimes face uncertainty, there are those few things which lead us like a guiding star leading the magi.

If we contend with each other, we contend only for the best for all of us, not the best among us; for our vision of what is best tends to differ among us, worldly things bring about worldly attitudes.

“You are of God and have thrived despite other peoples: greater is He who walks with you, than he that is beholden to base things.” -1 John 4:4(paraphrased)

shunners are shunned, eschewers are eschewed, and me to thee, the message of hope, joy and peace for you dismal self.

Those who are first to shun you would themselves find alienation from Christ Jesus. When we ignore or put-off a brother in need or one who is the least of us, we in our condemnation become the very thing we condemn. In other faiths, they call it Karma, a lack of virtue, not being true to the Book.

In either vanity or disgust, I speak of myself: I know no other subject so thoroughly. I’ve been squashed by him, fed past nauseau, cursed, kicked and then lauded with the highest favor.

Straight is the gate, and narrow, the way:

as much as the case of Christ is the world's message of hope, joy and peace.

We are not sensualists, sensationalists, or gluttons; we glory in ourselves, but we glory in you too!

We find our highest, best hopes and efforts for your hope in the cause of Christ Jesus.

We are to press on for the high calling, to work towards the unattainable heaven on earth before we depart for our Creator, in love and truth.

It's the inner reflection AND the cause for conduct;

the tent-bound Ark of the Covenant is our mind,

the red-letters our heart,

and the world-wide ministry our hands.

We can do this.

 "Be not disappointed in coming home with the same set of beliefs you held when you exited prior; the truth is that you had no wish to change, no impetus to correction or the acceptance of others." -Epictetus

People are the most cruel when they are unaware of it, and in the offing, their extensive sharing. Generosity of spirit is what it must be, the dissemination of utter filth.  Their anxieties.  Every slight the butterfly flap that precipitated the destruction of many villages on some far shore.

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."  Hebrews 11:13(of Abel, Enoch and Noah)  

Sustaining hope keeps life flourishing.

Hope.

Sip coffee whilst awaiting the next disappointment.

A message with hope?

A setting of the table for the next shoe: 

In the meantime, we approximate to return of Jesus Christ in our words, in our actions—speaking and walking in truth, mercy, forgiveness, patience.

490 opportunities to be wretched and humble before those that would overtake us.

490 opportunities to give the residue of our faith.

490 opportunities to show them.

For the people around us, the people that troll us on social media, those that hear scant mentionings of us outside our circle--

let our lives be that residue of faith--

and give them ample reasons for your hope when asked, fret not in the defense of the faith.