Theme 2: Consequences Of Living Within a Network

(July 9, 2022) 2 Corinthians 9:5-7, Mark 4:24-25, Q (Matthew 25:28-29, Luke 19:24-26), Thomas 41: Validity = 1.59. (Copied from Mark: Matthew 13:11-12, Luke 8:18)

This is the Law of Return, which is also called Law of Attraction, which is a manifestation of emotional propagation through a group.  

(July 9, 2022) Mark 11:24, Q (Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-19), John 14:13-14, John 15:5-8, John 16:22-24, Thomas 92, Thomas 94: Validity = 1.94. (Copied from Mark so not used in validity calculation: Matthew 21:22)

This is a description on how the law of attraction works. Put some focused feelings out on the spiritual/emotional network and related things will tend to come back at you. 

The emphasis here is on focus. If these feelings are too unfocused the result is a lot of random reactions. An example of an unfocused feeling is asking for happiness. A wise poem which originally appeared anonymously in several newspapers in 1848 (O’Tool 2014) puts it well:

To find happiness start small with specific, short term desires and go from there.

This teaching of Jesus is another one which has been orphaned because it did not make sense within an apocalyptic framework. Consequently, each gospel added their own spin. The gospel of Mark associates this with the power of prayer. Q associates it with the process of “seeking.” John associates it with the power of the apocalyptic “Son of Man” from the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures, while both of Thomas’ entries associate it with the process of “seeking,” just like Q.

References

(July 9, 2022) Mark 4:24, Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 6:37-38: Validity = 0.79

This is another statement of the law of attraction/return. Open emotional channels are bi-directional as evidenced by emotional propagation studies. The word measure here means the instrument used to make the measurement. In this case it refers to a person's mental framework or paradigm. So, if you are a fearful person you will see a lot of things which scare you. If you assume people are rude in general you will see a lot of rude people. If you hate some leader, institution, or race then you will connect every bad event to them.

(July 9, 2022) 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 14:1, Q (Matthew 5:43-47, Luke 6:27-32): Validity = 2.1

This is a statement on how to strengthen the network, or in other words, grow divine home-energy throughout society. Love is the human connective emotion.

Love is a small and easily missed thread in the Hebrew Scriptures among all the legal codes but it is a concept which Jesus put front and center in his teachings. Here are the love passages not mentioned elsewhere in this section:

(July 9, 2022) 1 Thessalonians 5:15, Q (Matthew 5:38-42, Luke 6:27-31): Validity = 0.99

Humans have a tendency to escalate slight wrongs into feuds and revenge. This pollutes the spiritual/emotional network

(July 9, 2022) Mark 12:28-31, Matthew 19:17-19, Thomas 25: Validity = 0.92 (Copied from Mark so not used: Matthew 22:36-40, Luke 10:25-27)

This teaching was  pulled from the law book of Leviticus in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is not as broad as the first teaching of "Love others" because it is mainly focused on fellow citizens and the nation of Israel. Yet it must have been a popular statement which Jesus likely repeated.  

(July 9, 2022) Mark 9:49-50,  Q (Matthew 5:13-6, Luke 14:35-35): Validity = 0.79

Once the emotional/spiritual network has been polluted with hate it propagates around and it is hard to eliminate it. It becomes like dirt in salt. If salt gets dirty and loses its saltiness, how can it become pure again?