Entering into each other.
“I am the Door of the Sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them.” John 10:7
The first I AM - I Am the Bread of Life, directs our gaze downward, to the earth, to all that is beneath us which sustains our life. This includes all the minerals, the plants and animals.
The second I AM - I am the Light, directs our gaze upward. The light fills us from above. The light enables us to see and increasingly we can see all the dimensions of it, and eventually we will see spirit within matter.
The third I AM directs our gaze outward along the horizontal to that which lies before us - I am the Door. The fourth I AM directs our gaze within - I am the Good Shepherd. These four I AMs form a cross, the cross of our existence.
If our I AM is a door then we must ask: is it closed or shut? Most people in this world keep their door shut. They do not allow others in and nor do they go out to others. This is why there is so much anxiety and depression in the world, so much loneliness and sadness.
We don’t have to preach Christ from a soap box, all we have to do is to show people how to open their doors, and how to enter through the doors of others. It is not just about opening our door or others opening their door, we have to dare to enter into others. It is a two-way thing.
How can we encourage people to open their door? If you see that someone is distressed about something, if you can get them to express just a little bit about their distress, you will have assisted them to open their door, maybe just a little bit, just enough for you to get your toe in. Although just a small opening, that still constitutes an open door. A gentle breeze of spirit can flow through a slightly open door.
When we are in distress preferring to keep things close to our chest then we experience the agony of bearing the weight alone. A lot of pressure and stale air can build up behind a closed door. If we are able to open our door, even if only slightly, then we will feel the relief of the gentle breeze of spirit on our face. Rev Mario Schoenmaker said several times that we could feel the presence of our spiritual companions as a gentle breeze blowing over us. This is what happened to the disciples after the crucifixion: “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jn 20:22
If we do find someone in distress and we do encourage them to open their door slightly, then we must take the opportunity to enter into them for it is only by putting ourselves ‘in the other person’s shoes’ that we will be of any assistance to them. We must drop your own ideas and perspectives and enter into theirs. We can compare their position with ours but we cannot impose our position on them.
If we observe carefully - which is the constant cry, for esoteric teachings are not a complex and secret fandango, they are the result of careful observation and clear thinking - if we look closely we will see that people open their doors or keep them closed for the wrong reasons. Many people, even in our immediate vicinity, are tight-lipped about the things that should be openly discussed while at the same time they discuss openly things that are of little consequence. The door should be weighted according to spiritual principles.
Observation also reveals that people confuse earthly matters with spiritual matters. This does not raise earthly matters to spirit, it materialises spirit! Many of the so-called spiritual systems today are purely materialistic. It is not quite right to say that the sign of spiritual accomplishment is worldly success. That cannot be. Only spiritual success can come from spiritual work. If we achieve spiritual success then that will undoubtedly translate into earthly success because we are changed and our expression in the world is changed.
What happens is that our doors will open a bit wider. And of course the key to this door is love. The greatest love is revealed to us in the Easter Deed. Easter is indeed a door.