13.2 Considering the Pathways

I am finally beginning to understand what I have begun calling “the pathways of power.” We do not call these “principles,” because a principle is like law, it is impersonal. A “principle” can be worked with no need for a personal interaction between God and us. We could call them the seven qualities or abilities of the Lamb, so long as we understand that these qualities are living and energeoing, always personal and reciprocal.

The power is God Himself coming through. The pathway is our authority as humans, given to us by God inside of Jesus. Through these pathways of God and us together then comes a tangible influence upon all, directing all into goodness.

Synergeia. I really have no idea why I did not include the word “Synergeoing” as one of the big God-words found in Romans 8:28-30 at the beginning of each of these Symmorphy texts. Now we see the relationship between Synergeia and Symmorphy as the definition of EVERYTHING, from God, larger than the universe, down to the smallest life form. Though I’m not presently planning it, one could see the need for a Symmorphy VIII: Synergeia. Yet it is only now that we can even grasp the meaning of such a thing.

I had been trying to make the pattern language for Synergeia to be uniform with the pattern language for Symmorphy until I realized there was no need to do so, for they serve two different purposes, yet always flowing together.

Designing and Building. We can understand the relationship between these two pattern language subsets by considering the two kinds of things involved in building a home. First, we have the blueprint, the design and layout of the structure of the house. Creating this design for the builders to build requires a certain way of thinking and the pattern language that goes with it, hence – “Patterns of Home.”

As the architect designs the home, however, the primary consideration is the life to be lived by the people who will dwell in that home. This life to be lived is all about action, about doing, about Synergeia. Yet every part of that Life takes place inside the spaces of the home, inside and out, and is shaped by those spaces.

Building and Living. The pattern language shaping the life lived inside the home must be different from the pattern language of the home’s design. Yet the architect must be fluent in both.

Then, we have another pattern language used by the builders in constructing the house. This also is Synergeia, working together, even though the lingo is very different. Building the house looks quite different from living life inside the home, but because they are both action, the same pattern language should generate a common movement in both. A pattern language for pathways of power, Synergeia, guides the construction of the home and its habitation, whereas a pattern language for patterns of home, Symmorphy, shapes the layout of the spaces inside of which life is lived.

Energeoing Together. Then we see that “construction,” “home,” and “habitation” are all Gospel words, Paul’s deep concern in Ephesians 2-4.

What then is Synergeia, this big word that includes both the construction of the home and its habitation? Synergeia is not God’s life force. Synergeia is not our life force. Synergeia is God’s life force and our life force energeoing TOGETHER. Synergeia must flow, for it is alive. It flows into spaces, or forms, now shared together, that is, Symmorphy. In fact Synergeia creates those very spaces even as it flows into them. But then, those shared spaces shape the very expression of the Synergeia flowing through them. Life and form must exist together; neither exists apart from the other.

Our Source of Understanding. Our seven pathways for power through authority come first from a full comparison of the seven abilities of Jesus given to the overcomers in Revelation 2-3 with the seven Christian attacks against God and the gospel in Revelation 6. The evil one cannot create anything of himself, he just confuses and twists the meaning of things in human minds.

Yet this development of understanding has come inside an ever deeper knowledge of the Gospel and the application of the ruling verses of the Gospel. Word is a powerful thing when it flows by the Spirit inside the ways of God. And the Life that it generates inside of the spaces that it forms is more glorious than anything we have imagined.

Choosing our Titles. The seven pathways of authority, through which the power that is God moves, are 1. Essence, 2. Entrance, 3. Connection, 4. Devotion, 5. Response, 6. Condition, and 7. Perception. Each of these will get a lesson of equal length, following the same layout of thought. I can create that layout only by writing the first lesson, and so that will take some work.

Now, these are all Latin words; let’s do the list again using Anglo-Saxon/Norse words. 1. Root, 2. Door, 3. Bond, 4. Means, 5. Acknowledging, 6. Likeness, and 7. Knowing. Our seven lessons – 13.1 The Root of Essence, 13.2 The Door of Entrance, 13.3 The Bond of Connection, 14.1 The Means of Devotion, 14.2 Acknowledging Response, 14.3 Likeness and Condition, and 14.4 The Knowing of Perception.

Our One Purpose. Yet if we search for a single word for each, here is what those might be: 1. Life, 2. Purpose, 3. Propitiation, 4. Devotion, 5. Faith, 6. Liberty, 7. Love. Each of these is filled with two things, Synergeia inside of Symmorphy, sharing the same life force, sharing the same formed space – Word and Spirit. A story of words inside of a spirit self-awareness, a living soul, soul with Soul.

Now, I have chosen all of these words carefully inside the Spirit, making a number of changes until they sing just right. Yet all of this is for one purpose, and that is a highway for God our Father, that He might flow through into the knowledge of His creation, that His ways might prevail, and that His joy might be made complete.

Defining a Principle. Even though we must see these things first as “pathways for power,” our study still could use the definition of a principle. You see, in coming out from the deep personal nature of these things inside the Lamb, inside the Father, and inside of us, we find that to build a society in all practicality, we must have working principles that are drawn out from what is Personal.

Principle (from Webster’s 1926): 4. A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine from which others are derived or upon which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition. 5. A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; a belief which exercises a directing influence on life and behavior; a rule of conduct consistently directing one’s actions.

Our Diagram at Present.


Introduction and Definition. We will have a total of eighteen slides per pathway. We must now hammer out what will appear in each of those eighteen.
 

• Slide 1: The introductory slide. This will be an encyclopedic, concise and comprehensive, description of the pathway of power, of what, why, and how.
• Slide 2: Defining the Power flowing through. Always a Personal Father, yet always by Spirit and as Word.
• Slide 3: Defining the Path through which the Power flows. Even though a “blueprint” is a different concept, the “path” itself is also a form, yet it’s definition is related directly to the Power, and not to the spaces into which the Power will flow.

A Gospel Flow.

• Slide 4: A Flow of Gospel Words. I must now do a wonderful new project, and that is to compile the ruling verses of the Gospel, with their primary companions, into a flow of the words as they are now in the JSV. These words are primarily the anointed lingo of Paul, John, and the writer of Hebrews. But I want to make sure to include the word choice of Peter, James, and Luke as well. I will also have two lines from Moses in Exodus.

I will place these mostly in the order in which they were written, that is, the moment these thoughts, out from the core of God’s Pro-Knowing, first entered human consciousness. The slide will then be filled with a semi-random flow of phrases from these pages, a “stream of consciousness.”

From God to Tension.

• Slide 5: The Acknowledgement of God as Father. Our primary purpose in the formation of a pattern language is so the acknowledgment of God as Father, giving God all glory, present now with us, becomes a normal part of all human conversation, yet without being stilted or religious.
• Slide 6: A Flow of Words in Modern Conversation. This will be similar to the flow of words from Bible writers, but regular conversation, that which is familiar to me.
• Slide 7: The Tension. There was no existence of evil when God spoke the ruling action of our humanity, “Subdue.” Subdue/overcome is very much a part of God’s story inside of all goodness.

What about Nature? Let me expand on that thought. The concept of “living in harmony with nature” is pure ignorance. Anyone who actually attempts it in full would soon be dead. Those who were still alive after a year or so would be fighters. Nature is always trying to make our lives miserable, and it will kill us if it gets half a chance. We can appreciate and enjoy, learn from and work with nature. But the whole purpose of a house is to protect ourselves from nature.

A twisted mind makes everything about good versus evil. But nature is just life versus death. Will birds still eat (and kill) insects in the Age of Tabernacles? This is a question we cannot answer.

From Perversion to Overcoming.

• Slide 8: The Entrance of Perversion. This will be an encyclopedic, concise and comprehensive, description of the perversion of God’s meanings, of what, why, and how, as drawn from the removal of the seals.
• Slide 9: A Flow of Darkness. This will be a flow of words spoken inside of hostility against God, shaped by the particular perversion, that is, words that prevent the acknowledgment of God in Christianity.
• Slide 10: The Actions of Overcoming. Even though God knows no evil and the abilities of Jesus exist without reference to any human sin, when sin does enter, those same abilities are well able to deal with it.

From Victory to Kingdom Building.

• Slide 11: The Meaning of Victory. Victory has to be part of God’s core, with no reference to evil whatsoever. Nonetheless, something beyond glorious is formed as a people walk out of darkness and into full confidence in God.
• Slide 12: Personal to the Father and to Us. Here we bring in the essence of Fellowship.
• Slide 13: Relationships with other Pathways. There is a male-female connection as well as a side-by-side.
• Slide 14: A Principle for Kingdom Building. We must include a practical principle for application.

From Guidance to Sharing. We are speaking of Power, God’s kind of power, which is neither what humans lust for nor any form of compulsion. The only way to call it is the Power of the Spirit, a deep and underlying essence of “hovering” – “wooing” – “revealing.”
 

• Slide 15: The Actions of Guiding and Influencing. This includes everything from governance to education.
• Slide 16: The Actions of Construction and Protection. This includes places to live, provision, land use, roads, and so on.
• Slide 17: The Actions of Interaction and Sharing. Here we have culture and fellowship, communication and recreation.

In all, we are reaching for some expression of the power-filled Words that are God through Jesus shaping all human society in all heaven-earth..

Our Conclusion.

• Slide 18: Conclusion. A conclusion contains two primary things. First, it sums everything up briefly, and second, it leaves the reader with a new thought, of wisdom or insight or beauty.

Synergeoing with God is the whole purpose of our existence. It is our only satisfying activity, the only doing that makes us complete and whole inside. This applies to all humans. No one can be truly happy unless they are happy together with the Happiness of God. In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures evermore. Joy to the full till my cup runneth over. In Thy presence is fulness of joy.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “Considering the Patterns.” It will be similar to this lesson, a hammering out of how we will write the twelve lessons in four chapters laying out a pattern language for designing the spaces of the Kingdom. To better prepare for that lesson, you might read Lesson 3.3 “Our Words” in Symmorphy V: Life.

I love the term “patterns of home,” yet the word “Kingdom” forces us to take a larger view. Then we see that our own love of home has reached out until the Father also has a Home.

I am realizing, however, that these lessons devising a pattern language will take more time than usual. There is a lot of pondering involved and coming back often with new eyes. It may take more than a week for each..

Let’s Pray Together. “Father, we acknowledge that we come out from Your thoughts every moment. And we see that Your Words sustaining us include the full expression of the gospel. We are deeply grateful, Oh God, that we can be shaped by the very language that You speak inside of fellowship with Christ Jesus, that the words that shape us are He. Give us Your Grace, Father, that we might know Your Words as they flow and shape all goodness. Let there be a full synergeia of Your Words and our words together in our daily conversation. Let Your Words shape our every next step and our judgment by which we know our world. You have answered us, Father, without reservation.”