Luke 1:17 · World English Bible
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.
Every mind divided against itself waits for a reconciliation, and the herald who goes before is the part that begins to heal the split. Where one portion of the mind has stood as father and judged another as unruly child, love reaches in to soften both, until the accuser and the accused within remember they were never two.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Every mind divided against itself waits for a reconciliation, and the herald who goes before is the part that begins to heal the split. Where one portion of the mind has stood as father and judged another as unruly child, love reaches in to soften both, until the accuser and the accused within remember they were never two. What seemed disobedient was only frightened, and fear is answered not with correction but with welcome.
To make ready a people is to quiet the mind so it can hear. The preparation asks for no achievement, only willingness, the small opening through which love enters a house that has finally stopped defending its door.
Fathers: the part of the mind that judges and condemns, standing over the rest as if in authority Children: the part that feels accused and cast out, frightened rather than truly disobedient A people prepared: the whole mind grown quiet and willing, ready at last to receive the peace it was made for
Christian Psychology lens
Who am I still standing over as judge, including myself?
The practice turns kindness first toward yourself, including the part you are ashamed of. Anger at your own failings is still anger, and it cannot be the thing that heals them.
Zhuangzi laughs at the inner official who inspects and ranks everything. Drop the inspector and what remains is a mind at ease, not a mind out of control.
When you find fault, ask what the person believed that made their action look right to them. Fear and confusion explain almost everything we call defiance, including our own.
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Christian Psychology