This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

 

- Mark 9:14-29 

 

Yesterday we read that after six days (that is, six days between the day of Peter's confession and this event), Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"   Jesus has returned (with Peter, James, and John) from the mount of the Transfiguration, to find the rest of His disciples, and a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  We notice He first seeks to defend His disciples in front of the multitudes by intervening, asking the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  Sickness in Scripture, my study Bible comments, is often connected to demonic activity.  While the disciples also lacked faith, my study Bible says, Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  This father shows humility in his tears, and by saying, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."   This kind, my study Bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, not simply those that cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting,  for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, the  has taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

So often we seem to simply assume that faith is something we either have or we haven't.  As a gift from God, it seems to be entirely out of our own hands -- and beyond anything we can work at -- in terms of the quality of our faith.  But today's Gospel passage teaches us that this is really not so.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus first responds to the disciples' question, "Why could we not cast it out?" with a rebuke:  "Because of your unbelief;d for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  He then goes on to speak of the necessity of prayer and fasting for "this kind."  Let us note that He speaks to the nine disciples left behind when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to the mount of Transfiguration, from which they returned to find the scene in today's reading.  But Jesus stresses here that there are things that we can do to shore up and to build our faith.  The practices the Church has offered:  our worship services, prayer, fasting (such as was traditional during Lent), almsgiving, etc. are all practices which are designed to build upon our faith and strengthen it -- prayer and fasting are the two which Jesus names here (as well as in Matthew's version of the story).  Prayer we all seem to know about, but we don't understand a lot of about fasting, generally speaking, as not all denominations routinely practice fasting any longer.  The Orthodox have maintained this tradition, and others do in varying forms.  But we should ask ourselves why fasting would be effective in building a strong faith.  It is a lack of understanding of the purpose of fasting that leads to its disuse (besides the fact that in a consumer-oriented society it seems somehow counter-intuitive).  Dieting we understand, but what of fasting?  Fasting is not about a physical goal, but rather about developing the capacity to say no to that which is harmful, especially spiritually.  We are meant to fast not simply from certain foods during a period of time, but to fast from practices which are harmful.  Lent is a traditional time for fasting, and many fast from -- for example -- social media at this time.  We also fast from gossip and backbiting, from jumping into controversies and contention which isn't good for us.  We refrain from joining in practices which take us away from a focus on where Christ would want us to go, from our own sobriety and well-being, and from people who draw us into those practices or have a bad influence upon our lives.  In short, fasting is a practice designed to help us with discernment and the discipline to say no to the things which are detrimental to our faith.  Jesus in all ways encourages us to effectively use such practices, just as He exhorts the disciples in this.  Faith isn't simply a sort of roll of the dice of fate in terms of our own levels of faith; it is something we must engage within and work out, making commitments, and using the practices we're given in order to strengthen it, build it, protect it.  Let us note that prayer is always meant to accompany other practices like fasting.  Constant prayer is a goal mentioned by St. Paul, as is the practice of gratitude  ("Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  As we look toward Easter and the celebration of Resurrection, we are each meant to be working on such practices to build up our faith and our discipline in living and protecting our faith.  What are you working on today?  How are you building faith and practicing discipline?  Do you remember to pray?  There are no hard and fast rules, simply a challenge to work at this, to build up one's faith and the Body of Christ through such efforts at discipline.  We will find that we help ourselves in a number of ways by making such efforts, building up our own capacity for personal discipline, for commitment, and the use of our skills in many dimensions.  Let us not neglect that which Christ has recommended and commanded.

First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much of a son of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

- Matthew 23:13-26

In yesterday's reading, Jesus began what my study bible calls His grand critique of the scribes and Pharisees (which continues in today's reading). He is in Jerusalem, and He has been questioned by the leadership in the Temple, after His cleansing of the Temple. He is speaking to the multitudes and His disciples. In yesterday's reading, He criticized the scribes and Pharisees, telling the crowds to listen to what they have to say, and observe as they teach, but not to do according to their works, "for they say, and do not do." He said, "They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Rather, all their works are done to be seen by men: they love the attention and honor their positions give them among men. Jesus said, "They love the best places at the feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'" But, He taught His disciples and the crowd, "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ." Finally, one of His most important teachings for those in His Church: "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation." In today's reading, Jesus becomes even more specific with His criticism. He doesn't shy away from saying what He believes is the truth about what is wrong with their practices. In effect, they shut up the kingdom to the people they lead, neither going in themselves nor allowing others in who are in their care. He begins with the specific: greed and callousness, a real lack of care -- covered over with long prayers for a pretense. This is the root of His greatest word of criticism: hypocrite. The widow would be helpless, destitute without a protective social system of family and relation; yet they would take what she had. Hypocrite was the ancient word for actor: in the ancient plays, one who wears a mask to denote character, a false face. Thereby, these people put on a mask to cover the true identity of the heart, who they really are. Hence, our use of the word hypocrite as it comes to us from the Gospels. My study bible says, "The Pharisees perpetuate a systematic hypocrisy which creates a wall between people and God."

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much of a son of hell as yourselves." A continuation of the condemnation of their hypocritical practices: they find those who will follow slavishly, to the point where all the wrong practice harms them and creates more error in the follower than his teacher.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it." A swearing is an oath taken. But again, in Jesus' critique we see the emphasis placed on the material (and implicitly on the greed fostered in this rigid system of rules and practices), when the real object of worship is forgotten -- when God does not come first. The emphasis is on the wrong thing, the heart is not in the right place in relationship to God first.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Tithing is a practice which is designed to help to honor God and God's worship. My study bible says, "Jesus is not against externals, but considers them of lesser significance. The weightier matters are of trust and obedience to God in justice, mercy and faith." Again, we note the overemphasis on the material, and that which alludes to greed. It adds: "In the ancient world, strainers were attached to the mouths of decanters, because any liquid might contain foreign matter. Pharisaic observance used the strainer also to strain out any ritually unclean substance which one might accidentally consume. The gnat and camel analogy points out how carefully the scribes and the Pharisees observed the minutiae of the Law, while neglecting its most significant aspects."

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." Here is the analogy to the person, related to being a hypocrite. Our own scrupulosity can turn us upside-down, missing the point of loving a loving God. Here, the emphasis again (as in yesterday's reading) turns toward the external and the opinions of others. When this is the most valued thing, then what is inside may be neglected in the true place of the heart: the inside of the cup and dish that still needs cleansing. God is the heart-knower: it is here that God relates to us and knows us, and here where our true relationship lies.

My study bible has an important note regarding church practice here, that will also apply to tomorrow's reading, as Jesus' critique continues. "These warnings are especially important to Orthodox Christians. This historic Church has maintained the ancient liturgical obligations, beautiful holy objects, specific rituals which externally guard righteousness, and imposing tradition, handed down through God-fearing fathers. These rites can be performed, invoked, defended and passed on without ever being taken by faith to heart; or they can be helps, safeguards and doorways into the true life of Christ in us, which transforms us from glory to glory." We remember that I use the Orthodox Study Bible, so this note is directed specifically to the Orthodox churches, but I believe it applies to all of us everywhere. I think all good practice can be turned into faulty for the one simple reason that our heart is not in the right place: the place where we encounter the heart-knower. In God's loving embrace we really find ourselves, and we find the place God will teach us to understand and grow -- even to appreciate and know why and how beautiful practice works for our good. Otherwise, like Christ teaches, we may be lost in appearances, hypocrites, and therefore truly lost. So let us take His teachings to heart, and remember what all of our worship practice is for, wherever and however we worship. None of it is condemned, except where practice distorts, neglects, hides, and distances believers from the true spirit of God and the kingdom. It is hypocritical practice He condemns, those who blindly lead blind followers into a deeper hell than the one they dwell within themselves. He addresses those who will be in His own Church, and like my study bible says, we all must take His warnings to heart. Let the face He gives us be our true face within this process of growth His Way, as He takes us from glory to glory. We may have to clean a lot of inside of plates and cups along the way! But His love teaches us.

This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of the cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

'This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

"For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do."

When he had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"

When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

- Mark 7:1-23

In yesterday's reading, we read about Jesus' apostles struggling on the sea, rowing against the wind, when Jesus was up on the mountain, praying. He saw their struggle in the very early hours of the morning, around 3:00 A.M. or the fourth watch. Suddenly He appeared to the disciples, strolling on the water, as if to pass them by. They couldn't believe their eyes, thinking it was a ghost, but Jesus said, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. The day before, they had fed the five thousand with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish; but only this extraordinary act opened their eyes to Jesus' reality, and the understanding of the feeding miracle.

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of the cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" The "tradition of the elders," according to my study bible, "is a body of interpretations of the Law handed down orally, which for the Pharisees and the scribes is as authoritative as the written Law of Moses. According to this tradition, purification -- cleansing oneself from defiling contact with Gentiles or sinners -- occurs by the outward act of ceremonial washing." The "elders" may also refer to members of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council or court of the temple.

He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." Jesus makes it clear that there is a separation between what has been revealed by Moses in the Law and the traditions that have developed through the councils of the elders, or the "commandments of men." If the two are easily substitutable, then what of the Holy Spirit or the power of God's grace at work in these traditions, and its revelation through Moses? My study bible says: "At issue here is not Jewish customs or traditions. Jesus does not prohibit them. At issue is the raising of human tradition over the tradition or commandments of God."

He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do." Here Jesus gives an example of what it is to raise the traditions of men above the commandments of God. When the tradition of the elders becomes superior, then its own purposes may violate the spirit of the Law of Moses. "Corban" was a way of declaring that properties or earnings were dedicated to God. In effect, it kept parents from using them, while the owners continued their use. So, in fact, the traditions of the elders in this example actually obscured the Law, preventing its purpose from being carried out. For Jesus, hypocrisy is the most scathing criticism of all, and He will use it again and again. It forms a very central point of His teaching.

When he had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" Jesus addresses the immediate complaint of the Pharisees and the scribes against His disciples, regarding the ritual cleansing. If we think about it, this is a radical departure in thinking. What is sinful? How do we separate ourselves, or 'set apart' that which is holy from that which is 'unclean?' Jesus is calling for a kind of repentance, or change of mind, that deepens a sense of who we are, and what it is that defiles. He calls us to a deeper place, and it reflects the use of the term "hypocrite" for those who do not or will not speak to the reality of sin, but only its appearance. My study bible says, "Jesus teaches that nothing is of itself spiritually unclean. God makes all things good. Sins committed of our own free will, what comes from within us, defile and make the heart impure." While tradition may help us to understand the need for our choices, it is nothing if it does not enforce the truth of the reality that is within us, and that comes from God -- and even worse, it may actually obscure that reality or keep us far away from God. We may be lost in the hypocrisy He criticizes. "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" is a common call from Jesus, an echo of the words of prophets written in Scripture before Him. We need spiritual ears to hear and to understand -- again, a call to the depth within our hearts, our capacity to truly understand the things of the spirit.

When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." As He has in the past, Jesus further explains His teachings in private to the disciples. We have layer upon layer of understanding: parables draw out those who will want more, and so we have another contribution to our understanding of depth within us. And this depth is what Jesus addresses here. It is not the foods that are spiritually unclean; this false understanding is what comes from elevating tradition over the Law. Rather that which can 'contaminate' spiritually are the things we may produce from within ourselves, and He gives a list: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." My study bible says, "All these evil things are not what God created. We will them; we produce them; they are our sins coming from within us. They are a perversion of what God has made." An "evil eye" is envy or jealousy.

It is the heart, then, that is at the center of what is clean and unclean, what defiles and what purifies, and the heart is the center of that battle for the reality of who we are. In this sense, the call to repentance that begins with John the Baptist and echoes through the Gospels comes full circle. If that which can truly pollute or defile comes from within our hearts, from our choices, then our "change of mind" is what cleanses - and we open ourselves to that which is holy and good, also in our hearts. Jesus' call, "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" is a call to our hearts, the understanding we will find there, if we care to, if we can. Once our focus is there, we see the purpose of tradition -- it is to serve that place of true "cleansing" or repentance, and understanding of the things that are of God and what we want to keep close to us and precious, and what we would like to change. Without that central sense of change and transformation, all the rituals of cleansing become exercises in a form of hypocrisy, or worse - a way to truly avoid the reality of God's power at work within us for true spiritual health. The reality of God's grace is at work within us, in our hearts. Everything else, all practices and tradition, must be a help for us to get there - and all true tradition is to that aim and its support. Quite clearly, this applies to all tradition, then and now, wherever it is found, whatever practice we deem "good" or helpful. Jesus' words are alive and well for us today, wherever and whoever we are. What draws you closer to God? What opens up your heart and helps you to see and hear what you need to? What helps you to grow in God's image in your heart - and to cast away the things that truly defile? What helps us to grow in the things that are truly of God, that give us God's joy and peace and beauty?