John 17:13 · World English Bible
John 17:13 Meaning But Now I Come to You
But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
What does John 17:13 mean?
The joy he speaks of does not come from anything that happens. It is not the pleasure that rises when the world gives us what we want and vanishes when it does not.
From the Ego v. Being reading below.
John 17:13 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Ego v. Being
EGO & BEING
Ego v. Being
The joy he speaks of does not come from anything that happens. It is not the pleasure that rises when the world gives us what we want and vanishes when it does not. It is the still gladness of being itself, the deep well that opens when you are wholly present and no longer divided from this moment. Such joy needs no reason, because it is the felt texture of life awake to itself.
He wants this fulfilled in them, not admired from a distance. That is the whole point of his speaking. The peace he lives from is not his private possession but the birthright of anyone who becomes still enough to find it, and it is complete in you the moment you stop looking elsewhere and simply are.
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Ego v. Being lens
Live John 17:13 today
- Find one small ordinary thing today, the first sip of coffee, hot water on your hands, the walk from the car, and be entirely in it for its whole length, with no phone in the other hand.
- Tell someone one plain good thing about being alive right now, not an achievement, just something you are glad about. Watch how it changes the shape of the conversation.
- When the day goes sideways, the delay, the bad email, the slow line, check whether the gladness underneath actually left or whether only the mood on top of it did.
Have I been waiting for something to happen before I let myself be glad?
The same truth in other traditions
Zen
The old teachers point to the ordinary: carry water, chop wood. When you are entirely in the act, the gladness is already there and needs no occasion.
Tao Te Ching 46
To know you have enough is to be rich. Wanting is the one poverty that no amount of getting cures.
Stoicism · Epictetus
Joy that depends on what happens can be taken away by what happens. Keep it where nothing outside you can reach it.
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