"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied...." (Luke 6:21)

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." (Luke 6:21)

Jesus continues his lecture, directed at his disciples (Looking at his disciples...)

Is Jesus speaking literally of hunger and weeping?

How will someone who is hungry become satisfied? Is Jesus going to give them food? How will someone who is weeping turn to laughing? Will Jesus be telling them jokes?

It is nonsensical to think that Jesus is speaking literally here.

This type of speech is called figurative. When someone is speaking figuratively, they begin to speak of something that is analogous in principle or symbolic in imagery.

Let's use an example. Let's say that a school teacher is speaking to her class about her students achieving great learning and advancing in their academics. The teacher might say something like, "I want you to soar above the clouds as you gather knowledge."

Is the teacher literally saying the children will begin to fly? Certainly not. She is using "soaring" figuratively to indicate raising the mind to new levels of learning. The teacher is hoping the children will eventually go to college and continue their education.

In the same way, Jesus is speaking figuratively as he uses concepts of hunger and weeping. The meaning of these is understood when seen from the spiritual perspective:

A person who has forgotten their identity as spiritual, who has forgotten that the Supreme Being is their Best Friend and Soul Mate can be compared to someone who is hungry because we are empty without our relationship with the Supreme Being. We have nothing but emptiness without God.

And as we identify ourselves with the physical body, we are faced with continuous misfortune and letdowns. When we identify ourselves as something we are not (false identification), we cannot be fulfilled with the things that this identity consumes: the things of this physical world.

This is why even the most wealthy individuals - those with more riches than they could ever use in a lifetime, and the power to do most anything in the physical world - are still unhappy. Despite all of this wealth and power, they are still anxious.

Why are they anxious?

Why do so many have anxiety?

They are anxious because they don't want to lose their wealth. Or they are anxious about getting something they don't yet have.

There are three central anxieties of the physical world:

1) We are anxious about obtaining something we don't yet have.

2) We are anxious about the possibility of losing what we already have.

3) We are anxious about having lost something we previously had.

Every physical thing has the potential of causing all three of these anxieties. And most of the residents of the physical world are constantly in all three anxieties about different things.

For example, we might be in anxiety about finding and affording a new car, at the same time we might be fearing that someone will steal our wallet as we ride the subway home, at the same time we might be regretting having lost money in the stock market. At different times or concurrently, all three anxieties plague those who seek happiness within the physical world.

And each thing can rotate us from one type of anxiety to another. Round and round we go on this cycle of anxiety, as we look for things of the physical world to satisfy us, fear we might lose those things, and regret having lost them. This can occur in relationships with other people, material things, money, or name and fame.

And because we are spiritual in essence, none of these physical things can satisfy us.

What can satisfy us?

Yet Jesus is stating that his spiritual teachings will satisfy us. He is stating that his teachings will give a person who has the sorrow and emptiness of this world a renewed life of fulfillment and happiness.

Jesus' teachings are fulfilling.

And what, specifically, did Jesus teach that will bring fulfillment and happiness? A loving relationship with the Supreme Being:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ..." (Luke 10:5-6)

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you." (Luke 10:5-6)

Jesus is continuing his instructions to the 72 disciples whom he is sending out to preach among the villages and towns.

Why does he say "peace to this house"?

Was Jesus really saying "peace to this house" as we might consider it in modern English? Is he saying that these houses - or the people in them - are at war and require peace proclamations to be made inside?

While we find the Greek word εἰρήνη (eirēnē) is being translated to peace along with most of the other English Bible translations including the King James, we do find in the New Living Version that it is being translated to "God's peace" - even though God's Name is not being mentioned in the original Greek text.

What is being assumed here is that Jesus is not speaking of "peace" as in a lack of warfare. This contextual use of "peace" is indicated from Strong's lexicon, as it defines the alternate use of εἰρήνη (eirēnē) as being, "the way that leads to peace (salvation)." So this is indicating another kind of peace being spoken of by Jesus - relating to salvation.

Is this about peace within?

Just consider the state of the physical world for a moment. Currently, we find suffering and violence in various places. We find terrorism, kidnapping, war. We find daily occurrences of murders, rapes and other acts of hatred each day in the news.

We find in some places people are being enslaved in prisons for speaking freely. We find in some places women are enslaved in sex syndicates. We find in some places that children are being worked as slaves in factories.

In other places we find people starving, or trampled by natural disaster and left homeless. And throughout the world, we find millions of people sick from cancer, AIDS, or suffering from other diseases. Even in places that seem like idyllic places, we find outbreaks of malaria and other ailments throughout the populations.

Where is the peace in this world? Where is the freedom from suffering? Can we find peace from the onslaught of suffering around the world by walking around and talking about "peace"? This was, in fact, the mission of hippies of the 60's and 70's - with the peace signs and all the talk of "peace." Did it help? Perhaps a little. But not much.

Thus we find that while this may be the best translation into English possible, it does not convey the meaning of this instruction by Jesus. It is, in fact, sort of a "code word" - referring to a grander teaching of Jesus, similar to how Jesus taught in parables.

And yes, Jesus was speaking of the freedom from the various sufferings of the physical world - all of those things mentioned above and more. How? How could a house be freed from these sufferings?

By those inhabitants understanding their real identity and their relationship with the Supreme Being.

You see, all of the sufferings of the physical world - they belong to this world. And our temporary physical bodies - they too belong to this world.

Is there peace for the physical body?

The body was designed not to have peace. The physical body can feel pain from the time in the womb, as it grows within a tiny womb space. As the body is pushed out of the womb it is typically covered in various bacteria and as it makes contact with the outside environment the body can experience a kind of shock. Yes, this is why virtually every baby cries loudly at the time of birth. Because the body is born into pain.

And the pain of the body continues throughout life. The body submits pain responses from any number of injuries; from disease; from being hungry; from being thirsty; from being otherwise hurt; from even growing (hence the term "growing pains"). The body goes from one type of pain to another - on a virtual cycle of pain.

And as the body ages, it reaches new types of pain; including the various pains of working; the pains of aging; the pains of breaking down physically, and getting old, which include muscle pain, joint pain, breathing pain, teeth pain, and so on.

Adding to these are the pains associated with the mind. These include being scared, being anxious, being nervous, being embarrassed, and others. These pains of the mind fill in the gaps between the physical pains. In other words, we might have a period where we have little physical pain, but during that time we may have more mental or emotional pain.

Yes, this physical body and mind are full of pain. They are born in pain and they die in pain. At the end of our physical lives, our bodies will die in excruciating pain, accompanied by mental pains associated with fear and anxiety, and losing what we are attached to.

But all of these pains belong to the physical body and the physical mind. They are elements of the physical world. They are part of the design of this physical world - created by the Supreme Being.

Yes, we are in hell. This physical world is hell - and our particular region of hell might be better or worse than others.

Yes, all of the pain of hell was designed. Why? Does God want to torture us? What kind of loving God wants to torture us?

Actually, we are the cause of all this pain. We are the cause of all the pains of the physical body and mind and the physical world. How so?

The Supreme Being simply created a space for us to play out our self-centered desires, and experience their consequences (good or bad). He simply created a zone where we could experience the position of feeling that we are better than others. A place where we could act superior to others, and thus experience being "king for a day" (or lifetime or whatever).

But this "zone" - the physical world - also had to be built with certain parameters. One of the central parameters programmed into the physical world is the law of consequences. We must be able to experience the consequences of our actions.

This law of consequences is also seen within the scientific observations of the physical world such as the "law of cause and effect." This principle dictates that every action has a reaction and every event, a cause.

This is part of the dynamic of the physical world. Without it, we would have chaos. There would be no order within the physical world.

In the spiritual realm, the order is produced by the personal energy of the Supreme Being. But in the physical world, the order is produced by His indirect energies, such as the principle of consequences - the law of cause and effect.

So what does this have to do with the sufferings of the physical world?

Why is there pain in this world?

There is pain in this world because pain teaches us. Pain gets our attention. We immediately want to stop the pain, and contemplate the cause of our pain.

Pain allows us to realize - if we allow it - that we are spirit, not the physical body. It is a flashing red light that indicates that this is not our home. That we have a home outside of this world.

We might compare this to how a person might step into a car and begin driving the car. Once the person is in the car, they leave the garage and begin driving on the freeway. The car gives the person access to the freeway. In the same way, the physical body gives access to the physical world.

And just as a car driver must obey the rules of the freeway - the driver of the physical body must observe the rules of the physical world. The threat of an accident - causing pain - teaches us to follow the rules.

But the stress of driving - including accidents or near-collisions - also makes the driver want to stop driving and get out of the car.

For example, if a car were to slam on the breaks in the middle of the lane while driving on the freeway they would certainly be smashed into by the car behind them. And for this reason, there are minimum and maximum speeds posted. This and other rules - such as staying in the correct lane - is required in order to keep order on the freeway - keeping the freeway from becoming chaotic.

Now if our car had such an accident on the freeway - caused by someone running into the car after we slammed on the brakes on the freeway - would we blame the person who put the speed signs on the freeway? Doing so would be idiotic. The accident would be our fault. We broke the rules and stopped in the middle of the lane on the freeway. Getting hit was simply the consequence of that.

In the same way, as mentioned, there is a consequence (good and bad) to every self-centered activity within the physical world. Whatever activity is performed creates a consequence. And everything that we decide to do during a conscious human lifetime - creates consequences that will affect not only this life but future lifetimes.

As such, every physical body is experiencing the results of previous activities. This takes place on an individual level, a society level, and a cultural level. Group activities affect each of the individuals in that group depending upon their level of participation or responsibility in the group or society.

Thus every victim of every crime or otherwise painful experience is receiving precisely the reaction of a previous activity they had in the past. For example, a person who has difficulty breathing during much of their life due to a lung infection may be suffering because they suffocated in a previous life. And a person who is raped in this lifetime likely raped someone in their previous lifetime. And so on.

In other words, there is no such thing as an "innocent victim" within the physical world.

Is our identity an illusion?

The other and most important principle to understand about the physical world is that these physical bodies are not us. They are an illusion of identity. They do exist, but the body is not me - it is an illusion of me.

This might be compared to a dream. When we are dreaming we are actually sleeping and actually having a dream. So the dream is really happening within our mind. But are the events taking place in that dream happening to me? No. They are happening to my dream-identity. They are happening to this person I am identifying within the dream.

Therefore, I may get slugged in my dream, or I may fall off a cliff in my dream. But did my waking physical body fall off the cliff? No. Only that dream-state body fell.

Did we experience suffering while we got hurt or fell off the cliff? Yes. Why? Because during the dream we were identifying with our dream-state identity. We thought it was me.

But it wasn't me. We know this when we wake up and think back - "whew, I'm glad that was only a dream!"

In the same way, what is taking place to this physical body is like a dream in that it is not happening to me. It is happening to a virtual me - a facsimile. A surrogate.

In fact, there was a movie called "The Surrogates," starring Bruce Willis. In this movie, the robot technology was so advanced that people could lie in their beds attached to a machine that allowed a surrogate of themselves - a robot that looked like a real person - to go out in public and deal with all the problems. Outside, surrogates could get crushed or knocked off but the person running the robot from their bedroom would not be hurt. They would just order up a new robot.

This is very similar to our situation. In our situation, we are running these physical bodies but we are not these physical bodies. The only difference between the movie and our situation is that God has programmed things so that while we are running our surrogates we forget our real identities. Our real identities are blocked from our consciousness, and we identify ourselves as these bodies.

In other words, we get sucked in. This can again be compared to a dream. While we are dreaming, we completely forget who our bodies are in the physical world. A man might be a janitor in the physical world but be dreaming he is a sea captain undergoing a mutiny and being thrown overboard to the sharks. During the dream, he completely forgets his identity as a janitor.

Can we get lost in our dreams?

Yes. This is precisely what happens to us in the physical world. We have become lost in this landscape of the physical world. We have completely forgotten our real identities - our spiritual identities - as we've gotten sucked into the illusion of our temporary identities.

And how do we know these physical identities are temporary? We can simply look back and forward at our physical lifetime. If we are an adult, for example, we can look back at our high school days when we were a big sports star (or whatever). We are no longer that sports star. Perhaps our body is now overweight - or just old and wrinkled - now. Our body looks nothing like it did, and that role we played - the high school sports star or whatever - is now gone. It was temporary. The role no longer exists.

And soon this body will die and be buried and all of the roles in life we played will be wiped out forever.

So we can understand that the sufferings of the physical world are only taking place for these temporary bodies - our surrogates. These physical bodies are temporary vehicles we drive for a while so we could experience the physical world.

Why? So we could act out our self-centeredness.

And so that we can - at the same time - learn.

Yes, the physical world is a teaching experience. It is like a computer program designed to teach children. Have we ever seen these? Now kids can go to school and learn their courses by opening up a certain program that manages their learning process.

Yes, this physical world manages our learning process. But in order to truly learn some of these lessons, we must become lost in them. We must identify with the situation to truly learn from it. We must truly experience those consequences in order to learn from them.

Just imagine if we didn't get lost in the physical world.

Again we could compare it with a dream. Say the janitor was dreaming of being a sea captain but realized that this was just a dream and really he is a janitor. He wouldn't get involved in the sea captain situation. He would chuckle as the dreamscape presented the big ship and the mutiny at sea. He would not be afraid of being thrown overboard and get eaten by sharks because he knew he'd just wake up and he'd be fine.

But by realizing that he was a janitor and not the sea captain, he also won't be able to learn the lessons needed to learn in that situation. Maybe in the dream, he treated the crew badly and that was his lesson - that's what you get when you treat others badly.

As stated previously, the consequence programming of the physical world teaches us. You see, part of God's programming of the physical world is that as we get lost in these identities, the consequences they receive allow us to learn and grow. Our consciousness becomes more evolved. We become wiser (hopefully).

But now let's look at the situation from the perspective of Jesus' statement - about peace in the context of his students giving his teachings to those who are ready to be woken up.

Again let's say that the janitor dreaming about being thrown overboard has already learned those lessons, and actually does remember that he is a janitor and is not actually being thrown overboard and this is only a dream. What will happen?

He will not be anxious about being thrown overboard in his dream. He will remain peaceful while he is being thrown overboard because he knows that he is not the sea captain, and he is not really being thrown overboard - only his dream-state identity is. He knows that he will wake up soon and his dream will evaporate, and thus is not scared or anxious because he is aware.

This is the kind of "peace" that Jesus is discussing but in a spiritual context. It is the peace of his students understanding their real identities and their real purpose in life. They might be physically walking into a house that might have different kinds of suffering - maybe some people are sick or hungry; or sad because someone died.

How can Jesus' students bring peace into a house?

But Jesus' students can bring "peace" into that house. How? By bringing into the house the teachings of Jesus, and their service relationship with the Supreme Being and the Supreme Being's representative.

They can enter the house and see the house and its inhabitants for what they really are: Created by the Supreme Being and belonging to the Supreme Being.

And they can see their role as being related to the Supreme Being. They can understand that their happiness is tied to pleasing the Supreme Being. They can see their role as being the devoted servant of the Supreme Being.

As such, the words that come from their mouths will reflect this consciousness - and those words, coming with praise of the Supreme Being - will serve to bring "peace" upon that house and those within the house. Why?

Because those students who bring that consciousness into the house can change the consciousness of those who hear them.

And what is that consciousness? It is knowing our real identity in relationship with the Supreme Being. We are God's loving servants. We are His playmates. We are His. We belong to Him. Whatever situation we are in at the moment is related to our relationship with Him. He is teaching us, guiding us. Everything is within His control. (We might have choices, but He is still in control.)

This consciousness serves to wake us up from this bad dream of false identification with the physical world. This effort to wake people up to our real identity is summed up in a teaching that John the Baptist taught, Jesus taught and Jesus told his students to teach:

"The kingdom of God [or Heaven] is near." (Luke 12:31, Matt. 3:2, Matt. 4:17, Matt. 10:7)

By realizing the consciousness above - just as the janitor who realizes he isn't being thrown to the sharks - we can realize that all of the sufferings we are experiencing - and going on around us - is not happening to us. It is happening to our surrogate.

And we are only suffering because we are identifying with this surrogate.

Now Jesus says further - "If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you."

What is "promoting peace"? It is most certainly, someone who is desiring to be woken up, or someone who is already seeing themselves as a servant of God - or at least someone who is seeking to achieve perfection in their relationship with God. This person is "promoting peace" because they are wanting to be woken up - and possibly want to wake others up from this bad dream we are having - this illusion that we are these physical bodies and we are stuck in hell.

Thus we can state that part of the meaning of the Greek word εἰρήνη (eirēnē) being translated to "peace" is wisdom. Spiritual knowledge.

Note then Jesus states that such a person - one "promoting peace" will receive the "peace" brought by Jesus' student - "If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them" - they will be able to receive the teachings of Jesus - the wisdom - through Jesus' student. They will be receptive to that wisdom, and thus their knowledge of the spiritual realm will increase - bringing them additional "peace" - wisdom, spiritual knowledge.

But if a person is not ready to receive that wisdom - or "peace" - then Jesus is saying, "if not, it will return to you." In other words, the wisdom will remain with Jesus' student. It won't be leaving them. They will come away with more of it in fact.

But even if the person in the house received the wisdom it is not as if Jesus' student would lose it in the house somewhere - or the person would take it away from them. No, this "peace" is not like a physical object, that has physical limitations. It is a well-spring of eternal life, as Jesus indicated later to his students:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." (John 14:27)

Here we see again Jesus is speaking of giving and leaving with his disciples, his "peace." That is, the understanding of their relationship with the Supreme Being and their actual identity as one of His loving servants.

This spiritual identity is tied to a particular type of relationship with the Supreme Being. This is clarified by Jesus' most important instruction:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)

"For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes." (Luke 12:23)

What is Jesus saying here?

This statement has been slightly mistranslated and more than slightly misinterpreted. Let's understand its meaning within the context of Jesus' discussion with his students.

Jesus is continuing his discussion of materialism, in response to one of his students asking him:

"Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." (Luke 12:13)

Jesus indicates that the accumulation of possessions relates directly to greed as well as anxiety regarding the survival of the body. With respect to greed, Jesus stated:

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." (Luke 12:15)

Then with respect to "worry" - or anxiety regarding the physical body, Jesus clarified that we are not these physical bodies:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear." (Luke 12:22)

Then he states here that:

"For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes."

What does Jesus mean by 'life'?

The word "life" is translated from the Greek word ψυχή (psychē), which means, according to the lexicon, "the breath of life - the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing" and "a living being, a living soul."

Thus Jesus is not speaking of "life" in general here - as one might make a generalization about "life." Jesus is speaking specifically of the spirit-person within: The person who occupies the physical body.

Furthermore, the word "food" here is τροφή (trophē) could mean food in the right context, but it also means "nourishment" according to the lexicon.

Therefore, this first part of the phrase would be more appropriately translated to (as translated in the Lost Gospels of Jesus):

"Because the soul is greater than food..." 0

Jesus is identifying two things and comparing them. The first is the soul or the spirit-person within - the self. This is our identity. We are not these physical bodies. We are spiritual in essence - children of the Supreme Being.

"... just as the body is greater than clothing."

Jesus is continuing his comparison here, but this comparison is confirming the type of comparison made in the first part, "For the soul is greater than food."

Thus a more appropriate translation of the entire sentence would be something like:

"Because the soul is greater than food just as the body is greater than clothing."

This sets up the comparison that Jesus is making here.

This kind of comparison is often made in modern speech. For example, a person might say that "Gold is more valuable than silver, just as rubies are more valuable than glass." Is this statement about rubies and glass? No. The rubies and the glass are being compared to clarify the relationship between gold and silver. 

In the same way, Jesus is discussing the soul - the person within - and the idea of making sure the body is fed and taken care of. This relates directly to the fact that the soul - the person within - is not the physical body.

What does Jesus mean by 'more than clothes'?

Jesus is comparing clothes covering a body to the concern about the body versus the needs of the soul. Just as clothes cover the body, taking care of the body - possessions related to the body - covers the soul. They do not fulfill the soul, just as clothing only covers the body but doesn't feed it.

Each of us is a soul. It is not as if the soul is some kind of moral organ or something. The soul is what gives this body life. Once the soul leaves, the physical body dies.

Therefore, to nourish the body with food and possessions is not the same as feeding the soul.

The word "nourishment" relates to the seeking to nourish or otherwise fulfill the requirements of the physical body. Should a person have all the nutritious foods to feed the body; this would not be enough. Because the spirit-person within requires spiritual food. Jesus stated this clearly:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 4:34)

What is Jesus speaking about here? He is speaking of love and loving service. He is loving the Supreme Being and wants to "finish His work." Not only does he want to "finish His work" but Jesus states clearly that this is his "food." This is what nourishes Jesus. This is what fulfills the spiritual Jesus.

Just as loving service to God feeds Jesus, each of us needs our loving relationship with the Supreme Being. This is why we each search the world for our "soul mate." And even when we think we have found that perfect person for us, we soon learn that they are not the perfect person we originally thought they were.

The fact is, we are looking for the perfect person who is our "soul mate" because the Supreme Being is our soul mate. He is the perfect person we need. A loving service relationship with God is the only thing that will truly fulfill us.

This is why Jesus' most important instruction was:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:27-28)

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ..." (Luke 12:25-26)

"Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" (Luke 12:25-26)

Why does Jesus mention ravens?

Jesus is making a metaphorical observation about ravens because ravens do not go out and produce their own. Simply put, ravens are scavengers. Unlike other birds that go out and look for worms or other specific foods, ravens will feast off of just about anything that is available. Often they will eat dead carcasses, unlike other birds.

Jesus is comparing this to those who go out and produce their food, such as farmers. Farmers will plant seeds and grow foods. They will work hard throughout the day in order to guarantee that they have food to eat or food to sell. Ravens do not work like this - they will look for just about any dead thing that might be lying around.

Why does Jesus not want them to worry?

Jesus is advising his students not to worry about life. Why should they not worry? There are plenty of things to worry about in the world. We can worry about becoming sick, or becoming poor. We can worry about losing a job. We can worry about war or political intrigue.

One can worry about the body dying. One can worry about the body starving. One can worry about our reputation.

Yes, there are many things that we can worry about. But as Jesus is trying to teach his students, worrying does not help us. Worry does not do us any good. Worrying only puts our minds upon ourselves and the temporary physical body.

Yes, to worry about oneself is to be self-centered. This is why Jesus asked his followers not to worry. Jesus wanted his followers to think on a higher plane.

Jesus wanted his followers to think about the Supreme Being.

What about sowing and reaping?

The element of sowing or reaping has both a practical point and a deeper point. In the literal sense, to sow - translated from the Greek word σπείρω (speirō) - is the planting of seeds. And to reap - θερίζω (therizō) - is to harvest or cut (as with a sickle) the wheat.

Yet there is another element of sowing and reaping that Jesus is also referring to: It is the law of consequence. In the human form of life, we experience a consequence for every self-centered conscious activity we take. This is communicated clearly in the statement:

"A man reaps what he sows." (Gal. 6:7)

which has also been translated to in the King James version:

"As you sow, so shall you reap."

The bottom line is that Jesus clearly taught the law of consequences, in this statement and in others. He taught that we each reap what we sow. Whatever we do has a consequence in the human form of life.

How are reaping and sowing like consequences?

Jesus utilizes the analogy of reaping and sowing in several other teachings. This is because reaping and sowing are analogous to the consequences in life.

Our ability to make choices about our life yields consequences. How we affect others produces consequences - good and bad. This is because we each have the choice to help or hurt others.

We can see this very practically. Should a person commit a crime, he will likely be caught and go to jail or pay for the crime otherwise. If he is not caught by society, he will still have to suffer the consequences - one way or another and in this lifetime or the next.

This means that those who are imprisoned or otherwise punished for a crime - say with community service or whatever - become resolved of their actions. This means society is doing them a service by punishing them for their crime.

Know also that this is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Being. God is the Supreme Controller and thus ultimately has arranged it so consequences are dealt out appropriately. And it is not as if the Supreme Being is going around making sure that everyone suffers the consequences of their activities. Rather, He has simply designed - or programmed - the system that automatically deals out consequences.

And this is just. Consider that after many years of research, child psychologists have concluded that consequence-training is the best way to discipline a child. It teaches the child in a practical way, rather than arbitrarily punishes the child.

The Supreme Being is the ultimate parent and He has created this consequence system in order to help us learn, and evolve in a way that brings us closer to our actual role and position - our actual identity. And what is that?

What is our role?

Each of us is a loving servant and playmate of the Supreme Being. We were created by Him to love and serve Him. But because each of us has the choice to love Him or not, some of us have decided we don't want to embrace our relationship with Him.

For those of us who have taken this course and rejected our relationship with the Supreme Being, God has created the physical world and these physical bodies to allow us to virtually get away from Him. These temporary physical bodies allow us to pretend to be someone we are not for a while, while we try to ignore and even reject His existence.

So you might say this physical world is somewhat of a rehabilitation center. We are each acting outside of our actual role and identity - often referred to by some parents as 'acting out.'

So the Supreme Being has set up this place to allow us to exercise our freedom from Him. But at the same time, He's created a place and system that teaches us through consequence learning.

But even still, we are always given the choice. We don't have to be rehabilitated. We can continue to reject our relationship with the Supreme Being if we choose. We can continue to be empty and alone in this life and the next.

And this very issue - emptiness - is what causes even those with the most money and material comforts to succumb to drugs, alcohol, and even commit suicide.

Yes, in the U.S. today some 40,000 people commit suicide each year - about one suicide every 13 minutes. Why are so many Americans - who supposedly live in the most materially comfortable country - committing suicide?

Can materialism make us happy?

No matter how much comfort or material goodies our physical body receives, the person inside - the spirit-person made of another substance - is not fulfilled.

This is why many of these suicides are by those who are wealthy and famous. Their material wealth and fame did not fulfill them. They continue to be empty inside.

This is because we are not these physical bodies. The physical body is like a vehicle we drive around for a while. And just as the driver of a car can get out and walk away from the car, the spirit-person within leaves the physical body at the time of death.

And trying to become fulfilled by the things of the physical world would be compared to a hungry car driver going to the gas station and thinking that if he fills his car up with gas, his hunger will go away.

But because the car driver is not the car, it doesn't work this way. Filling the gas tank doesn't make the driver any less hungry because the driver is not the car.

In the same way, we are not these physical bodies, and no matter how wealthy and famous and powerful we might be in the physical world - none of it fulfills us.

This is Jesus' point in his metaphorical discussion above. He is stating that the raven - who doesn't have the many options and choices that humans have - the ability to sow and reap - still is taken care of.

In other words, we have nothing to be anxious about. We have nothing to worry about. The Supreme Being is in complete control over the situation. And even though we have so many choices and options - and the ability to choose whether we want to return to our relationship with Him - He still takes care of us.

Is God's love for us conditional?

The Supreme Being loves each of us unconditionally. We each have a unique relationship with Him and He covets that relationship. Even if we are not returning His love, He still loves us.

Just consider a parent whose teenage kid runs off and becomes a drug addict. Will the parent love the child any less? Certainly not. The kid may have rejected the parent and the parent's warning to not get involved in drugs. But the parent won't stop loving the child. Why? Because the parent doesn't forget the relationship that exists between them and the child.

While the Supreme Being's love for us is infinitely greater than the love a parent has for a child, there are certainly similarities with respect to the fact that we have - like the teenager who rejected their parents and ran off and got addicted to drugs - rejected our relationship with the Supreme Being, and run off and gotten addicted to materialism.

Yes, despite the warnings and teachings of the Supreme Being coming through His representatives, we have decided that we know better what's good for us. We know what will make us happy - while God doesn't.

So what do we do? We chase our self-centered dreams around the physical world. We try to become a 'winner' - a champion - of something. We pick some special thing and then we try to become the greatest at that. Whether it is the greatest football player, the greatest businessman or the greatest actor or actress, we want to win at something. We want to be great.

Why? Because we are empty inside. We think that winning will fill that emptiness. But just as putting gas in the tank of the car doesn't make the car driver any less hungry, the goodies of the physical world - including food, sex, wealth, and fame - don't bring us any fulfillment.

The only thing that will fulfill us is our forgotten relationship with the Supreme Being. This is the only thing that will fulfill us because this is who we are. We each have a unique loving service relationship with Him, and when we are acting within that relationship we become fulfilled.

This is why Jesus said:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 4:34)

Serving God is fulfilling to Jesus. Jesus was executing the will of his beloved Supreme Being. He was loving God and serving God with that love. Thus he was fulfilled by his endeavors to please the Supreme Being:

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." (John 5:30)

This is the ultimate understanding of Jesus' role and identity. One might say it is the secret teaching of Jesus, but there is no secret here: It is written clearly in the most published and distributed book ever - the Holy Bible.

Why do so many of us ignore this? Why would we ignore Jesus' statements here and throughout the scriptures that indicate our true role and identity as loving servants of the Supreme Being.

Some teach that Jesus' role was to cleanse our sins and give us whatever goodies we ask him for. They teach that we should be spending our time praying to Jesus to help us get a good job, help us become wealthy, fix our leg and cleanse us of our sins. They teach as if Jesus is our servant. As if we are supreme and his (or God's) role is to fetch us what we want.

This is because they want to ignore our real role. They want to ignore that we are the servants. We are in the role of servant and the Supreme Being is in the role of the master.

As such, our prayers should not be asking God or Jesus to give us stuff. Our prayers should be asking that the Supreme Being please help wake us up from our self-centered slumber so that we can learn to love Him and serve Him again.

This is, after all, the essence of Jesus' teachings:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’” (Luke 10:27)

"Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin ..." (Luke 12:27)

"Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." (Luke 12:27)

Jesus continues his discussion relating to materialism following the request made by one of his students:

"Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." (Luke 12:12)

After discussing the elements of greed and our identity as spiritual not material, Jesus is now teaching his students about anxiety.

What does it mean to 'labor or spin?

The term "labor or spin" comes from the Greek phrase, κοπιᾷ οὐδὲ νήθει. The word "labor" is translated from κοπιάω (kopiaō), which means to "to grow weary, tired, exhausted - with toil or burdens or grief" and "to labor with wearisome effort, to toil" according to the lexicon.

This means Jesus is not speaking of "labor" per se because a person can "labor" - or "work" - without having "burdens" "grief" or "wearisome effort."

Furthermore, the word "spin" is translated from the Greek word νήθω (nēthō), which means "to spin."

What Jesus is referring to is anxiety, because anxiety causes a person to make "wearisome effort" with "grief." And spinning relates to jostling for position out of anxiety.

We might, for example, compare this to a crowd of people who become anxious about getting into or out of a building and begin to jostle each other for position. They also sometimes panic and begin to hurt others due to their anxiety.

Jesus is posing the question that the flowers are beautiful but they do not have to maneuver and jostle in order to become beautiful. They are naturally beautiful because the Supreme Being takes care of them and they naturally grow beautiful.

In the same way, we are each being taken care of by the Supreme Being. It is not as if we've been thrown out and forgotten. God follows us through His expansion as the Holy Spirit and is constantly taking care of each of us. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the Supreme Being loves each of us unconditionally.

It is us who have abandoned Him. We have rejected our relationship with the Supreme Being and for this reason, He gave us these temporary physical bodies and this physical world to virtually get away from Him.

And while these temporary physical bodies will undoubtedly undergo the various pains, diseases, old age and death that come with the physical body, we must realize that we are not the physical body.

Why do we become anxious?

The illusion that we are these physical bodies is the root of anxiety. As we look around and see others dying, getting diseases, and aging - we begin to worry about our body. This worry - based on our anxiety about the body's survival - is based on our thinking that we are this body.

But if we understand the reality of the situation - as presented by Jesus - then we have nothing to worry about. If we understand that we are spiritual children of God - not these physical bodies - then we can rise above worldly anxiety.

Just consider a person who purchases an automobile. Does the person think that the car will last forever? Certainly not. Does the person think the car will never break down, or get old, or get rusty, or get dented, or get a flat tire or run out of gas? Certainly not. It would be foolhardy for a person to think otherwise.

If a car is driven constantly, it will be lucky to last about 10 years, or maybe even 20. If it is restored it could last a few decades. But this requires constant renovation - changing the engine, the tires, the breaks, the upholstery and so on.

The bottom line is that when a person buys a car, they assume the car will not last forever. And they assume when the car breaks down they can walk away from the car.

It is the same with these physical bodies. They will not last forever. They will break down and we will have to leave them. If we accept that the body will break down in the normal course of life then we don't have to worry about the body. We can accept that the body is temporary, and it will get sick and die at some point.

And if we do not identify with this body - if we can accept that it is not me and is just a vehicle - then we can have some peace with regard to the various troubles related to the body.

This issue - troubles and suffering - in fact, is the cause for many rejecting (or continuing to reject) the existence of the Supreme Being. They say, 'if there is a God, then why is there so much suffering?'

But what they are lacking is information. The knowledge that we are the spirit-person within these temporary bodies. Just as a demolition derby driver will wreck his car up in the demolition derby and then walk away unscathed, our bodies are faced with suffering but then we leave them behind at the time of death.

One might compare the situation to a person playing a video game. A person will sit at the computer and select an icon or avatar to play with, and then click some buttons to enter the game. During the game, the icon gets beat up, blown up or crushed by opponents. Yet the person sitting at the computer continues to sit there in the chair, with no pain or scars from the video game. 

This is because the icon or avatar is virtual. The person playing the game is not the avatar. The person playing the video game can shut off the computer and walk away unscathed at any time - just as the spirit-person within can leave the body at the time of death.

Is this like dreaming?

Yes, while we are in this physical world, thinking that we are these bodies, we are effectively dreaming. We are dreaming that if my body becomes rich or famous or otherwise endowed, I will be happy. This is a dream because it is not true.

We also experience a similar thing when we dream every night. When we fall into a dream, we take on a temporary identity and become engrossed in the dream. We might dream that we are flying in an airplane, and the airplane runs out of gas and begins to fall to the earth. We might experience falling in the airplane, or even jumping out of the airplane.

If we jump out of the airplane we might experience falling. This is a common feeling during a dream - of flying or falling. Often we become scared as we are falling during our dream. We don't know what will happen when we hit the ground. We become worried that we will die.

But then we wake up from the dream to find that we aren't falling after all. That we are lying safe and sound in our bed. We are relieved that "it was just a dream" and not "for real."

This life is certainly more tangible than a dream but there are many similarities. Just as our dream was temporary, this physical life is temporary. Just as we are not the identity we assume in our dream, these physical bodies are not our real identity. And just as we can fall and get hurt in our dream, we don't get hurt for real. Our physical bodies might get hurt and even die. But the real us - the spirit-person within - will not die.

In fact, practically every clinical death case reports the patient experiences a release from their pains and suffering after their body clinically died. Once they left the body they were relieved of the anxieties related to the body - because we are not these physical bodies.

Why does our body suffer?

So what is the purpose of all the pain and suffering that the temporary physical body undergoes then?

This physical world is like a rehabilitation center. It is the place where those of us who have rejected our relationship with the Supreme Being go, in order to:

1) Act out our self-centered desires
2) Learn the lessons of love and relationships
3) Be given the choice to return home to our relationship with the Supreme Being or not

Yes, this is a life of choice. We are given so many choices in this lifetime. What choices will we make? These choices represent our freedom in terms of returning to our loving service relationship with God. We have that freedom. If we want to return home to our relationship with God we can. But if we want to continue our self-centered existence we can as well.

One of the learning facilities of the physical world is the law of consequences. This was described in the scriptures as, "as you sow, so shall you reap."

This is a learning facility that allows us to come to experience whatever we have caused upon others. If we hurt someone's body, our body will become hurt. If we neglect someone, we will be neglected by someone. And so on. Whatever we do comes back to us in a likewise form.

Child psychologists have determined that consequence learning is the best way to train a child - rather than arbitrary discipline. Why is that? Because the child learns the effects of what actions they took - which allows the child to make a wiser decision about their actions in the future.

This is the system the Supreme Being programmed into the physical world in order to provide us with a learning facility.

And this is why some people are born into starvation or brutality - as a consequence of actions they made in a previous lifetime, and an opportunity to learn and grow from this situation.

This is why Jesus' disciples asked Jesus:

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)

They asked Jesus this because Jesus had taught them previously that a man can sin in a prior lifetime - and pay the consequences of those sins in this lifetime. Otherwise, they would not have asked this question.

In other words, we cause the suffering in the world. Whatever situation we are in, we caused the situation with our prior activities. We cannot blame this on anyone else. Nor can we blame God. We can only blame ourselves.

And even with regard to having a physical body - designed to experience pain, disease, old age, and death - this is also caused by us. It is our self-centeredness that causes us to fall away from the spiritual realm (the place where there is no pain, disease, old age, and death). It is us who rejected our relationship with God. So we can't blame God: We can only blame ourselves.

Jesus is inviting his students - and all of us - back home to the spiritual realm. This is the solution to all the pain and suffering of the world. Jesus wants us to decide we want to return to our loving service relationship with the Supreme Being, and leave behind all the anxieties and worries of this physical world and our temporary physical body. This is why Jesus' most important teaching was:

"‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’" (Luke 10:27)