Mark 11:30

It is about John’s baptism. Was it of divine or human origin? Answer me that.”


getting any system
to play by its own rules
throws sand in its gears
revealing common hypocrisy

consistency of intent
can’t bear the weight
of real life dilemmas
assiduously approaching avoidance

stuck between its own
rock and a hard place
with only hot air between
rules shatter scatter


Riddle-me-this, What-say-you, How-do-you-read the import of John’s practice of baptism?

What is the dividing line between “human” and “heaven”? This has vexed folks since the cessation of walking together in the cool of the evening.

Another way of asking this is what are the connecting points between “human” and “heaven”?

Whichever way these questions are responded to we have to come to a great divide that they can or cannot be neatly separated. Partnership is not like that, but lives in the messy. Authority or power don’t do well with gray areas, no matter how many shades there are.

In an instant we are back with Jesus asking the disciples, “Who do people say I am? Who do you say I am?” With just a moment’s delay we know this question is still being asked of us, the Reader.

This question is one that might well come from a quick-witted person. More likely it is the result of intentional analysis or reflection in the wilderness about what lies behind the impasse of history that keeps repeating itself through the generations. This becomes a question of original misalignment.

Because of an implied partnership the issue will not come down to a single moment or act. It is not all about G*D saying, “Don’t eat”, and investing wisdom and immortality in a single instance. This is not life, only an uninvested and disembodied G*D grok. It is not about humans tasting and hiding. This is not life, only over-functioning and with only an emperor’s new fig leaf for protection.

Finally, the difficulty we face is forever falling into the trap of one side of a pendulum only to be flung to the other side. Only a relaxed gaze appreciating both options will do. Any answer to the question will reveal an underlying essential unity of a yin-yang response.

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