15:1 Paul brings his message to the Corinthians home. After all of his teachings, he draws it all back into the core of the reason why he was there speaking, the reason why they were there listening and the reason why we are here reading. We are here because we believe in this philosophy of compassion and because we understand it is a journey. We are here for help navigating the path of authenticity and creation and purpose.
15:2 Paul reminds us to grip onto this philosophy and hold it in the core of our hearts, minds, souls and actions. This philosophy of compassion is a pillar, a guiding light, a constant friend and father. We are consistently and expertly saved by it in as many moments as we allow it to, uplifted out of sorrow and confusion, frustration and fear. The only stipulation is that we actually must believe or at least work to understand it in the depths of ourselves. If your faith is the size of a pinprick, how can the light enter? God, the universe, divinity in whatever form you believe in will not intervene in your life without your permission. So if you believe in the philosophy of compassion, draw it into yourself and let it flow out of every word you speak and action you make.
You should not believe in anything "in vain" and especially not this. This is a philosophy of humility and gratitude and empathy. This is a philosophy of servitude; we serve compassion. This faith is a giving faith, constantly seeking avenues to create, promote and protect justice. When you believe in something strictly for self benefit, the selfishness of the action taints and even thwarts you. Selfishness cannot thrive on this selfless earth. This earth which sustains and protects us and boldly yet subtly exemplifies the naturally-compassionate order of the universe and spirit.
15:3-8 Paul taught from the beginning, taught of He who brought this philosophy to humanity so that we would understand the roots of this faith. In the DNA of our bodies as well as our spirits is a history and a memory of our purpose and of the trials and triumphs we have endured as a many One to get to where we are today and to continue on into tomorrow.
15:9-10 Paul's honesty and humility reminds us that no matter who we are, available to us is a magnitude of purpose. Nothing makes a parent more glad than to receive a child who was lost; we learned that message from The Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-32. Paul had disrupted the world... and then with God, he put it back together. There is redemption here, there is purpose and above all there is love here for us to utilize and express.
15:11 We are many streams flowing from the same body of water. Our journeys are diverse, our culture and expressions are unique, but our ability to impact the world is abundantly present for each of us. We are beloved instruments; God holds us in His hands and completes amazing work with us. No matter who through, love and justice come into the world. Creation has and will always ensure that.
15:12-19 It is not necessarily Christ the man we must believe in. Jesus is the manifestation of everything this philosophy stands for. We must believe (and ensure) that everything He exemplified is alive: justice, compassion, wisdom, truth, and love. Without belief in those things, life surely would be futile and pitiful.
15:20 Jesus' message is a proffered awakening. For without understanding the purpose and philosophy of life, a person is in slumber. Life is difficult and chaotic without spiritual understanding. Jesus' message is a sustenance, a nourishment, a balm and an instruction through the wounds of living without purpose and understand.
15:21 Jesus' message is the symbolic promise of Life. His message is an unveiling of the truth that life lived with love is inextinguishable. Life lived with love constantly transitions but never ends. We rise from the earth alive and then are carried as if by the wind into Spirit, alive.
15:22 Jesus representation of spirit taught us that the superficial life of man, the life of greed for wealth and power and fame leads inevitably to an end. Yet spirit teaches us that compassion is a lifeline and as long as we allow it to flow into and then through us, we will always have life.
15:23 Compassion, embodied as and in Jesus, came here to earth and established a philosophy that would continue to collect us throughout generations. A home was built of spirit and each individual life here can choose to enter it, accepting their membership of the family.
15:24-27 The inevitable course of life and creation is compassion and love. The earth as it is now is a classroom, a classroom of freedom, trial and error, and choice. At the end of this class, we either align with eternal life or we do not. For only truth and justice, compassion and love can exist eternally. Greed and power have an expiration date; it's not a threat or even a punishment, it's just a truth. One way of live expires and the other continues on, infinitely, infallibly.
15:28 Jesus or the philosophy of life comes to rest under God, or creation. The manifestation of creation's philosophy came to live here and taught and aided and guided and comforted, speaking of the ways and characteristics of creation. Having completed its work, this philosophy of life will return to its origin... and so will we if we are joined with it. For creation sent forth this philosophy so that we would find it, so that we would find ourselves in it and it within us. Inevitably, we fold back into it, into our home and creator. Can we sustain its light? The purity of its goodness? We make those decisions here on earth through the way that we live our life. For creation, like the sun, does not punish... yet only that which is strong and pure can survive its heat, adapt to the conditions of being near it.
15:29 Be authentic in faith. There is no point in going through the motions and customs of a rigid religion without having the core philosophy in your soul. Do not have a superiority complex over others because of how often you attend a church or enforce your values. Remember that Jesus accepted, loved, lived and interacted with people who needed to change and grow; He remained with people who were working on bettering themselves. Also remember that He taught out in the open, on boats, on rocks, on mountains, in the street... there does not need to be an elaborate institution to practice or validate faith. People who have never been inside of a church or temple or mosque could be (and are, sprinkled around the world) some of the kindest, most faithful people ever to live on the earth.
15:30 Paul daily risks his life to preach this message because it is his truth, it is the truth. Paul stands passionately and faithfully for this truth. Whether you believe in the man, Jesus, or not, believe in this truth Paul expressed to humanity: this truth of the compassionate philosophy and nature of life.
15:31-32 Every day not lived with truth and purpose is a death. A death, a disappearance of an opportunity of purpose. Grasp life. Realize the abundant opportunity and ability here to be purposeful.
15:33-34 Surround yourself with truth, justice, compassion, and love for they are our best teachers. Let the earth around you exemplify the way of creation. There is peace and patience in the way the earth sustains itself and the life within it. Just as bad company corrupts and leads us astray, good company heals and guides us home. Be conscious of the environment you are in.
15:35-36 The transition from earth to spirit is a graduation, a completion of this course of life. Part of the lesson is to live with the acceptance of finality here in order to reach eternity in another place. We must be separate from our eternal home; it must be nearly intangible to us, in order that we may authentically find it. Without solid evidence of life beyond this one, we are each forced to live and work as if this is all there is... and if we decide that this short and vulnerable life is worthy of our compassion, then we become worthy of a long and invulnerable life after it.
15:37-38 Within different vessels, God places our souls. Each vessel is a scope through which to experience and express life. This body is not our spiritual body; its design enables us to learn many lessons we could not have learned in spirit. We learn what it is like to be fallible, to have limitations in thought and sight and physicality. We work with specific materials here, within and around us, which create constantly classrooms of learning and experience.
15:39-40 God has placed life in many vessels and each are cherished for what they specifically are. The wonders and glory of one is different from the other, but each are loved the same. For the spirit (celestial) body is perfect and is loved for its perfection. The flesh body, here on earth, is imperfect and is loved for its imperfection, for its ability to rebound against sorrow and pain and injustice. For its strength despite and in spite of vulnerability.
15:41 This universe is specifically, intricately designed and loved by creation. Each manifestation of life is elaborate and understood in incredible detail. One manifestation of life is not better than another. Sun, moon and stars are created, placed and loved for their specific reasons. Likewise are we created, placed and loved for our specific reasons. Different in individual aspects... but deeply loved the same.
15:42-43 The imperfect journey here allows and leads to the perfect destination. We begin here, fallible and among fallibility. We are subject to making mistakes and to suffering the consequences of mistakes (both our own and others'). How we react, recharge and respond to life here is an opportunity to grow toward spirit.
15:44-45 Our bodies are temporary vessels, provided to us by the earth. This body is like our backpack, our pencil case, our pens and pencils and highlighters... this body is the complete package of all that we need to study and learn from this schooling. This body is the host of our soul as it undergoes transformation and growth. After graduating earth, we divest ourselves of these materials because they are not necessary any longer.
15:46-49 Our spirit, indefinable as it is, is our natural, true self. Yet we begin as humans, spirits with earthly bodies. We begin here because we are given the opportunity to create ourselves, to grow and be better than we were at start. Afterward, we are stripped of all the outside material and left only is a true self in the true manifestation of creation: spirit.
15:50-54 The inevitability of the earth and humanity is spirit. Each will experience a rejuvenation, a transformation from vulnerability to invulnerability. The conditions here now only exist to enable certain situations from which to learn, but once all of the lessons are taught, and all of the students experience the class, we each return to our natural state: the state of which our souls were made, Spirit.
15:55 From Hosea 13:14 we learn and are reassured that life triumphs consistently. The only victor will always be life and justice and compassion and wisdom, the ingredients of true, eternal life.
15:56-57 In the Spirit there is no death or law or sin because compassion abounds, the core of every entity of life there. Gratitude to our creator for ensuring that our natural and eventual home is love.
15:58 What better way to end this study and to move through life is there than this advice: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
