imagine—
Meister Eckert, mystic,
Said this somewhere—that
Confused people see
The sacred as if it stood
Over there and we here.
And so it is
We fight the dark,
Thinking and thinking
That the sacred is there,
Not here.
Meister Eckert said,
The sacred and I—
(Which means the sacred
And you
And me)
We are—the sacred and us—we are
One in knowledge.
12
His followers said to Jesus:
We know that you will leave us.
Who will lead us then?
Jesus answered:
Wherever you are,
turn to James the Just,
for whose sake heaven
and earth came into being.
Meditation
In the Book of James we read,
What profit is it, my sisters and brothers, when we say we have faith but we have no works? Can faith save us?
If a sister or brother is naked and destitute of daily food, and if one of you says to that person, “Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled,” yet you do not give that person those things that a body needs, what profit is your faith?
Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead by itself. Yes, someone might say, “You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
You believe that there is one God; in that, you do well; but the demons also believe this, and tremble. But will you understand, oh hollow person, that faith without works is dead?
Was not our father Abraham justified by works when he had offered his son Isaac upon the altar? See how faith created his works and by works his faith was made complete?
This is how the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.”
Abraham was called the friend of God. So, you see how works justify a person, not faith alone.
Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
13
Jesus said:
Think of metaphors.
What am I like?
Simon Peter said:
You are like an angelic messenger.
Matthew said:
You are like a philosopher.
Thomas said:
Teacher, my tongue cannot tell what you are like.
Jesus said:
Thomas, I am not your teacher.
You are intoxicated on the bubbling spring
that I have measured out.
Then Jesus took Thomas aside and said three things to him.
When Thomas returned to the group,
they asked him what Jesus had told him.
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