INNER CIRCLE: Blessed Are The Despised Ones

SAYING 68

Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they should hate and persecute you. For they will not find the place [the Kingdom] where they would pursue you.”

This saying seems to suggest that those who cannot see the Kingdom are the ones who hate and persecute those who do see it. It also seems to suggest that those who attack us for embracing the Kingdom reality of Oneness and connection will not find their way to the place we are.

I would hasten to add that this doesn’t mean that some will enter into this Oneness while others are left outside of this Kingdom reality. Because it would be impossible to exist outside of absolute Oneness with Christ, who is the eternal sustainer of all reality and life in the Universe.

It does suggest, however, that – at least in this life – some people may not see or accept the reality of Oneness and connection. But, in the same way the hand cannot say “I am not part of the Body because I am not a foot,” those who deny the reality of the ever-present Christ that permeates the ground of all Being are none-the-less as deep in this reality as anyone or anything else is.

We are all One in Christ whether we acknowledge it or not. While realization might be lacking, the reality of it remains, regardless.

So, if we can see that we are all connected, even with those who hate us and persecute us, we can see what they cannot see: that we are all already One in Christ, and One with each other.

If they cannot see it, our response should not be to return their hate or to affirm our separateness from them. Because we know that separateness is an illusion and that hate for another person is inconsistent with the reality of interconnection with Christ.

So, we can be blessed, even when we are attacked and misunderstood by those who cannot yet see what we see. We can even turn and bless them because, whether they realize it or not, they are already living in the same reality of Christ’s Oneness with the rest of us, and if they don’t see it now, they will see it soon enough.

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INSIDE/OUTSIDE: The Gospel of Thomas

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Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” He hosts the Second Cup with Keith podcast, and co-hosts the Apostates Anonymous podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.

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