4:1-2 God's children (we) undergo the same experience of life lessons as people who do not recognize or believe in Him (It, spirituality, whatever your conception of God is). God has given and promises to give us so much of life but for us to appreciate it, and most importantly -- understand it, we must develop our spiritual, intellectual and emotional intelligence.
4:3 Yet within this classroom we have training wheels, so to speak. Our faith enables us access to spiritual guidance and support. Our lives are sprinkled with little hints and inspirations, shining pebbles beckoning us to pick them up and and look, listen to things we would not have noticed on our own. We have ultimate freedom, most especially in our spiritual lives which follow this one but we cannot fly without knowing how to use our wings. Our lives here are to prepare ourselves, to learn to fly so that we can truly live and explore and create...
4:4 ...because the truth and upshot is, without spirituality in some form, humankind was not learning or developing progressively, compassionately. Out of His love for us, God divined and inspiring opportunity to finally and intimately reach His children. To restore our connection with home, with Him.
Jesus, the core, content, context and inspiration of the New Testament made that connection. For the people who had willingly and even subconsciously denied or neglected their true home (spirit) came a chance to, if not remember, than at least realize and create their connection with life and wisdom beyond this world.
4:5 Many have rejoined the spiritual family... former orphans adopted, attracted and held by Jesus's love and compassionate work and word. Our redemption is our commitment to compassion and our faith in spirit. And perhaps justly, redemption has a somewhat negative connotation. Yet to be redeemed in spirit is a gift for the soul, for the self. To heal yourself from chaos and wandering. To restore peace and opportunity to a soul which mourns its time wasted unfocused, unrealized.
4:6-7 We are not slaves to the ways and laws of the world. Even the natural laws which exist here are not applied to us in spirit. This world we live in is a complex system of power and procurement of wealth, property and fame. Quite ironically, humankind's obsession with consumption consumes their entire lives and character. In this world, many times the circumstances of our lives are dependent on and vulnerable to the choices and beliefs and intolerance of others. We are metaphorical but also literal slaves to masters such as our own and others' thoughts and abilities. But only during this short time in the classroom of earth.
In spirit we break free from those bonds. As a child of Life and Universe and Creation Itself, we inherit life, universe and creation. We do not have to labor, beg, or even ask for sustenance, shelter or love... and abundance of each and more is freely given.
4:8-10 Healthy faith is focused and pure. Healthy faith has established core beliefs and a pure fulfillment of them, is well and purposefully intention in all moments, interactions, thoughts and decisions. First the Corinthians and now the Galatians provide an example to us: if we are not vigilant over our faith, it can be corrupted. We can corrupt it if we are not intentionally pursuing the development and establishment of our values.
We become distracted. Distracted by people, by events and ideas. Distracted by circumstances and interactions and choices. God's promise to us is that if we can focus on just one thing, our faith, He will take care of the rest. How? Why? Our soul is like a nucleus. It's our powerhouse. If we focus on our core, our center, the space in which everything about us is stored... if we focus on keeping that (our soul) healthy, everything within it is going to naturally organize and thrive.
The Galatians veered off of the path. They become enamored with ceremony and pomp. With man-made rules and holidays. Keep it simple. Live with compassion. Faith and love are simple -- for validation they do not require holiday or rules. Love and faith run and reign and leap boundlessly. Focus and simplicity and never become distracted.
4:11 You do not want to labor in vain all of your life. To end up at the culmination of your life and realized that you clouded and confounded your life with nonsensical rules and actions: procuring fame, wealth and/or power. If you are not laboring on your soul, whatever you are building is meaningless and finite.
Arrogance and superiority are rampant throughout the world, throughout religion, throughout community and almost all places. Do not be awed or distracted by wealth, power or fame because they deprave your soul. Become a stone for someone to rest on. A river for someone to float. A sun for someone to warm themselves. The more you humble yourself the more you actually have to brag about yourself... but you won't, because you don't need to. Don't even want to. Because the joy and contentment of providing compassion to another is an immeasurable reward in itself.
4:12-13 Paul's mission here was a difficult one... he was working to restore a broken relationship between himself and the Galatians but also between the Galatians and their natural faith. Once closely bonded, the Galatians no longer recognize Paul in a necessarily friendly manner. Yet Paul reminds them that he humbled himself for their benefit and now asks for that humility to be returned. For them to simply hear him speak genuinely to them.
4-14-15 Distraction can be absolute. It can completely cloud our perspective and our judgement. From the Galatians we can learn to value our faith and to value the healthy and natural relationships in our lives (especially the relationship we have with our own soul and our faith). For many people start with good and focused intentions but gradually abandon them until they're completely unrecognizable.
4:16 We never want to receive well-meaning constructive criticism with enmity. At most, we should give our disagreement with respect. Paul is asking the Galatians if they are so far gone they no longer recognize a friend, a person, a soul who they loved and cared about. If you have an idea, belief, value, thought, person, situation in your life which is and has always been genuine and truthful with you, tethered yourself to it. Ground yourself.
8:17 Many people are not focused. Even more unfortunate, many people who are focused are focused without good-intention. There are people and institutions which work fancifully for your attention and only so that they can take something from you. Therefore we should only ever be impressed with humility. With simple authenticity.
4:18 A zealous spirit is a productive spirit, but be zealous about Good... promoting goodness. Be able to sustain your own zealous spirit, to kindle your own passion without an external source. Within yourself is your soul and your faith and it is all you need to remain impassioned and productive.
4:19-20 Our journey and purpose here is to form ourselves. To become and to create within our soul. Paul requests their (and our) attention. Paul's life's work sought to further inspire and produce personal growth for each of us in faith and in compassion. In order to grow we need to be open to learning through listening... and within this classroom that is life on earth, there is much opportunity to do so.
4:21-23 Tethering the New Testament with the Old Testament, Paul recounts an element of Abraham's story. In which we derive through metaphor that those who follow and nourish their soul in compassion and humility are free and thriving.
4:24-26 When you see the word Jerusalem, do not think of the modern country. Jerusalem was and is a symbol for a people who abandoned their faith and consequently were scattered in confusion and chaos because of that. Those who remain truthful to themselves, compassionate to others and faithful to creation are infinitely free.
4:27 Another symbol: the book of Isaiah calls for celebration. Celebration for those who have not spawned evil, unkindness, greed...
4:28-30 And truly this is and has been the way of the world here, an element of this classroom: those who are focused in compassion and faith are constantly confronted by injustice, greed and even evil. Though through our focused faith and nourishment of the compassion and light within our soul we are never overcome. More than that we grow and improve ourselves and the quality of life of those around us. Sometimes an evil enters our path because God knows we are precisely the child of His who can defeat it.
4:31 A reiteration of our freedom because it defines the nature of our lives. As children of creation and life we will always grow and thrive. We are eternally alive within a purposeful love.
