Saturday, June 17, 2017
INNOCENT AS A DOVE
INNOCENT AS A DOVE
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
6/17/2017
Do you believe you are innocent - that is, inherently innocent? I am not talking about being innocent of some beyond birth activity. Without question, many of us are guilty of some offense beyond birth, but are we innocent before we commit some offense in life? And if we are "guilty" of some offense in some "inherent" fashion, why do we think we are guilty? Ah, that is the question, isn't it?
I can't answer for you, but I can answer for me. The answer is NO! No, I am not guilty of some "inherent offense." Why in the world would I think I would be? Why would I even consider the possibility of Baby Francis coming into life already stained with some sort of "inherent sin"? Where is the evidence of such?
It is, perhaps, that I see no evidence that a Baby Francis could have been born in sin that personally I do not believe it; though I must admit that earlier in life, I did believe that Baby Francis was born in sin and "guilty" of some offense against God. Why did I believe that? Because my church and my family told me it was so; and like any child who is born to learn, I "learned" that I was born in sin.
Then along came reason. When reason looks at life - without any disadvantage of some traditional teaching - it sees things differently. Reason asks: where is the sin in you, Baby Francis? Show me so that I may believe. How do I know that you are not as "innocent as a dove"? Or is it that a dove too is not innocent? Is a dove also guilty of some inherent sin? If not, why not? Given that innocence is the most wonderful thing in the world, why is it that a dove can be innocent and Baby Francis cannot be?
In a previous article, JUST BEING ME, I wrote that in THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, Jesus offered in a Verse 39 that I should "be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove." Another has since pointed out to me that in THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, that Jesus also said the same thing - "be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove," though in a version of the BIBLE that I have, it is said in Chapter 10, Verse 16: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves."
Regardless of Jesus offering that I should be "innocent" as a dove or "harmless" as a dove, what I read is that Jesus would not have said that if he thought I could not be "innocent" or "harmless" as a dove; and if that is so, I must have been born "innocent" or "harmless" in order to go forward in that light. That is what my "reason" tells me.
The "Jesus in me," then, knows that I am innocent or harmless as a natural being. If "The Jesus of Thomas" and "The Jesus of Matthew" suggested that I should go forward into the world as "innocent" as a dove, then that is the Jesus in which I choose to believe because it is the Jesus that is reasonable. In reviewing the Gospels of Mark, and Luke, and John, I do not get the impression that their Jesus would have wanted me to believe I am "innocent" before "acting guilty," but one has to ask why is that so? Why did Mark and Luke and John take it upon themselves to express that Jesus believed I am born in sin? Why? Because that is what they believed before they encountered a Jesus who believed otherwise; and more than likely, they simply made Jesus as one of them.
Do I believe all that is offered of Jesus in the Gospels of Thomas and Matthew, then? No, I do not. My reason tells me that both Thomas and Matthew could have misunderstood Jesus too. If one reads The Gospel of Thomas and then reads The Gospel of Matthew, it is obvious that one copied from the other because many of the verses are the same; but there is disagreement between the two gospels too. That says to me that any two men can review a same subject and still come away with different views.
But that's OK as long as I know that any two - or three or four or five - can offer different views about a same man. That's the human in us; and as long as I recognize that all that is written may not be so, then I can use my reason to make sense of what I will and leave the "unreasonable" to those who might choose it. But thanks to Thomas and Matthew - and Mark and Luke and John - for telling me something about a man I have chosen to like in life named Jesus. I do appreciate it.
In the end, what do I choose to believe? I believe that Baby Francis could not have been "born in sin" - simply because there is no evidence that he was; and the Jesus of Thomas & Matthew must not have believed it either - or else the Jesus of them would have not gone forward to state that I should go forward "wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove."
With that, let me conclude this brief article with a song I just wrote - all about being "wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove." Hopefully, I will live my life in that light too - and I encourage all to think about their lives and structure their beliefs according to their own good sense. Why believe you were - or are - inherently bad when there is no evidence that such is so? Tell me that!
Wise As A Serpent
&
Innocent As A Dove
A song
by
a "son of light,"
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
June 16th, 2017
REFRAIN:
Jesus said: Be (I'm) wise as a serpent -
and innocent as a dove;
and that, my friend, is my key for finding love.
Indeed, we're all the same
from a snake to a bird.
The truth is that all in life has equal worth.
From a creature crawling in the dirt
to a creature flying high above,
all should be (I'm) wise as a serpent
and innocent as a dove.
Be careful where you step.
You may step on a snake
that's minding its own business
by searching for easy prey.
A serpent is wise by knowing that it fits;
and knowing that it fits, it is without sin.
I should be wise as a serpent
by knowing I belong;
and it's in that light,
as a son of light,
that I sing this song.
Refrain
(replacing "Jesus said" with I'm).
But Jesus also said
I should be innocent as a dove.
That means to me I should be harmless -
even to those who shove.
Just be kind to everyone
and kindness I will know -
because the kindness I offer others
will be invested in my soul.
Refrain
(replacing "Jesus said" with I'm).
Yes, Jesus also said
I should be innocent as a dove.
That means to me I should be kind -
even to those who shove.
Just be kind to everyone
and kindness I will know -
because the kindness I offer others
will be invested in my soul.
Refrain
(replacing "Jesus said" with I'm).
Ending:
Yes, From a creature crawling in the dirt
to a creature flying high above,
all should be wise as a serpent
and innocent as a dove -
wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove,
wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove,
wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove.