The
Inner Advocate
“A
nineteenth-century teacher in the Celtic world, Alexander Scott, used
the analogy of royal garments. Apparently in his day royal garments
were woven through with a costly thread, a thread of gold. And if
somehow the golden thread were taken out of the garment, the whole
garment would unravel. So it is, he said, with the image of God woven
into the fabric of our being. If it is taken out of us, we would
unravel. We would cease to be.”
J.
Philip Alexander (Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation)
As
you may know, I am a “thread-head.” If you ever want to see me
high as a kite, just take me into a shop with rows and rows of
brilliantly colored thread. It's crack-cocaine to me, truly. So, I
strongly relate to this analogy of God as the golden thread within
our royal garment.
In
the Garden of Eden story in Genesis 3, we are told that God walked in
the garden “at the time of the evening breeze.” In the beginning,
there was the garden, and within that garden was God. Another
analogy, I believe, to our inner being, and the centrality of both a
lush and fruitful garden within, and the presence of the divine from
our own genesis.
In
John 14, Jesus promises his disciples that when his flesh and blood
body is no more, God will provide an Advocate within—the Spirit of
truth. “You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in
you.” We have, and have always had, the spirit of divine royalty
within us, and there is no human foible or misstep that can separate
us from that—it is woven into our very fabric. We can ignore it, we
can fail to ask its council, we can even act against it, but it does
not abandon us. “I will not leave you orphaned...” (John 14:18)
Today,
allow yourself a moment to walk in your garden. Ask the Spirit there
any questions you may have. Let it sink in that you are not an
orphan, and will never be abandoned, because it is impossible to lose
the aspect of yourself that is God. It is the golden thread within
your royal garment.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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