I ran past the first watchman. Then I was horrified, ran back again and said to the watchman: “I ran through here while you were looking the other way.” The watchman gazed ahead of him and said nothing. “I suppose I really oughtn’t to have done it,” I said. The watchman still said nothing. “Does your silence indicate permission to pass?
What to do? Stay or go? If I go, will I be in trouble? Why is he there? What is he guarding? Where is the fence? Why is he there and not saying anything? Maybe this is a test of some kind? But what kind? Do I fail if I go on, or do I fail if don't go on? It is really bugging me that he is there. Who put him there?
The answer to that last question is that we did; we humans put the watchman there. And we give him/them whatever power they have or do not have. They guard "the truth." They guard God. They guard religion. They guard the boundaries that define who is in and out, who is good and evil.
They exist in our minds, the watchmen. That doesn't mean they are not real, because if enough people give them power they come to life and actually create real physical boundaries and real emotional and spiritual borders around truth, god, and religion.
But as soon as anyone sees the true nature of the guardian, then they come to realize that no permission is needed to enter. In fact, they don't even need to enter. The boundary between in and out is juillusorylusary as the guardian. They are already in.
And this is the way it is in the realm of God. It is already here and we are already in it. There is no "up there" or sometime in the distant future or in an age to come. There is no holy room or holy person or holy ritual. There is no one with the moral or religious authority who can tell us that we don't belong; we are not good enough.
A saying by Jesus:
You won't be able to observe the coming of God's realm. People are not going to be able to say, "Look, here it is!" or "Over there!" On the contrary, God's realm is right there in your presence. Luke 17:20-21
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