Matthew 25:40: “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.”
So I am sitting in front of the great white tree, my new little trysting place with God and I am just thrilling over this experience of being alone with God, just Him and I together. I reflected on how nice it would be to just live the rest of my life this way on the mountain top and not have to go to the valley and face the problems and heartaches of this world. Suddenly a little bird flew down by me and began to sing and dance. The Talmud teaches that when a bird lands nearby you and begins to sing and dance he is telling you that the Holy Spirit is near and trying to get your attention. Well, the Holy Spirit dwells inside me so I know He is near but I figure He is just trying to get my attention. So I say, “Ok, Lord it is your turn, tell me what you want me to know and understand. The Lord brought back a memory to me of something I observed at a rest area off the Interstate on the way down to the Abbey. I saw a young father and his little son about two years of age rolling a ball back and forth to each other. The little child was laughing with delight and the father was enjoying every moment. Sitting on a picnic table was the mother watching this interaction between the father and son. Her face was glowing with joy and pleasure over watching her husband and little child play and interact together. My spirit was quickened and I heard the Lord say to me: “You see how happy this young mother and wife is, yet neither her child nor her husband are paying any attention to her and are not including her in the activity, she is left out, yet she is just filled with joy over watching the father of her child play together. She has her time alone with her husband, they share some very tender moments together, but if that husband were to give all his attention to her and neglect their child she would be greatly disappointed and the attention her husband would give her would be unwelcomed. So too with Me, I have many children I want to reach and I want you to reach out to them to enjoy their fellowship for it gives me great pleasure watching you interact with my children as you did this past weekend in the Appalachian mountains.”
I asked the Lord what this tree had to do with that? I thought of this past weekend and my visit to the Appalachian Mountains and how my new friend took me to a place where we were able to overlook a forest of trees. I commented that the pine trees looked like they were dying as all the branches seemed to be dead except toward the top of the trees. She told me that is because sunlight was not able to reach the lower part of the tree, that really the tree was quite healthy She said that you can always tell the health of a tree by the growth at the top of the tree.
I looked at the great white tree and it had many dead branches but toward to the top there were green leaves. Again the Lord spoke to me and said: “You are in the Sonlight right now and you are flourishing but look at the branches below you, they have no leaves because they have no Sonlight. I need you to bring my Sonlight to them so they too will know the joy that I have for them. I do enjoy our time together but you must return to the valley and bring this Sonlight that you have found here to them.”
I thought of Matthew 25:40 where Jesus said: “Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.” The word least in the Greek is elachistos which means to be inferior and the word for brethren is adelohos means just that brethren. However, in the Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke the word for least is zeora (Zayin Ayin Vav Resh) which means little, least or few but in the sense of having little knowledge or ability to work through difficulties and understanding. When you help someone who is helpless that person is joyful and grateful and thus you have brought joy to the Lord as well. The verse could actually read, as you have brought joy to another you have brought it to me.
Curious that the word for brother in Aramaic is akaya (Aleph, Kap, Yod Aleph) which is a word for brother but more of a word used for someone with whom you have gone through a difficult crisis. Like soldiers would call themselves brothers in arms. They shared in conflict and war and that suffering and comradeship created a bond almost like that of a kinsman. Jesus is referring to giving aid and knowledge to those who have bonded with him in the fellowship of His suffering.
Jesus knows and understands heartbreak, rejection, physical suffering and He has a bond with those who also have similar suffering they are his akaya and when we reach out to those who share in the suffering as Jesus suffered, we are also bringing comfort to Him as well.
So ends my first lesson at the great white tree. During this time of silence I am receiving the full force of Sonlight experiencing the joy and pleasure of the Lord in this total atmosphere where there are no distractions. However, it must end in a few days and I must return to share that Sonlight with the zeora those out of reach of the Sonlight, Jesus’s akaya his brothers in suffering. For if I can bring relief to some of the suffering of his akaya, I have brought relief and joy to Him and His suffering over their loss and/or tragic circumstances.
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