Saturday, July 4th, 2026
Dudes, how much longer are we going to let money, scarcity, and fear keep us from experiencing the bliss of being with each other??
I know that this is a really simplistic question that completely ignores the factors which tear us apart. So let me explain what I mean. But first let me share that the big idea is that we can release our stranglehold on money as the lifeline that gives us worth and keeps us alive. We have chosen money as one of the tools with which we build our lives. Therefore when we let go of money as a lifeline it will move freely and profitably between us, and we will have the opportunity to then connect to the true source of life — the circle which includes all of us, everything that lives, and our Creator.
When I look at all of human relationship breakdowns to identify what caused the structure to begin to topple, I see money in the background as the ground zero source of infection. And it’s not the physical money that we hold in our hands. It’s money as a representation of worth and power and as the source of survival.
What if we remembered that we were here before money? What if we remembered that money is something that we made to organize our transactions?
What if we remembered that we always have what we really need?
What if we remembered that we are already very clearly seen?
What if we remembered that we do not need to be afraid? Aware? Yes. Wise? Yes. Afraid? Not needed.
If we took money out of the equation and organized our world by exchanging skills to help each other build the ideas that come to our minds, what would emerge as the most valuable and powerful thing?
Drum roll? 🥁
We would. We would be the most powerful and valuable thing.
And what are we? We are:
•Our minds.
•Our ability to communicate.
•Our respect for each other.
•The patience that allowed us to wait for an idea to fully come alive.
•The gentleness that held us safe as we waited, and comforted us when waiting became difficult.
•The self-control that harnessed anxiety and reminded us that we just need to wait our turn.
. The faith that believed that we would figure it all out.
•The joy that helped us to laugh and have fun while we build and while we wait.
•The love that is like a cozy blanket which keeps us perfectly warm and perfectly cool and perfectly grounded. Can you feel that blanket? Can you visualize it?
•The hope that knows that all of these things will always be replenished.
•The experiences that helped us to strengthen all of these parts of ourselves.
•The goodness that helped us to share with certainty that we would have what we need when we need it.
And we’d see that goodness is the peaceful state that allows us to connect to patience, gentleness, faith, self-control, respect, communication, love, hope, and each other.
- What if we remembered that before there was money there was a Creator who equipped us with everything that we needed, and enjoyed watching us explore the world, and enjoyed watching us come up with new ways to put things together?
- What if we remembered that we invented money as a part of our exploration? What if we remembered that money does not preserve our lives?
- What if instead of loving money we loved us?
What would change for us then?
Would we able to rest?
Happy Sabbath. I say happy Sabbath because I am writing this on the seventh day. A day which I receive as the Creator’s original built in weekly holiday designed to fully embrace rest. Not because it’s Saturday but because I see the value in the cycle of six days of work followed by a full day of rest. Rest is the gift that allows us to slow down and remember. We are not poor. We have and will have everything that we need. Sabbath is not a religious idea. The Creator attached no punishments and restrictions to the day. It is a gift which we are invited to accept. Let me pause here to clarify this thought.
Rest is not owned by religion.
To be clear, I am not speaking from a Christian worldview or from any other religious perspective. I am speaking from what I think is the perspective of our sustaining spirit’s heart: from a spiritual perspective.
As I observe the world I see that people co-opted relational virtues and placed them into a container called religion, then distilled this idea further to create a hierarchy which elevates religion as the only space where people can become virtuous.
People made religion the only container in which perfect harmony is held. As if that is even remotely possible. It’s like building an aquarium and then insisting that the aquarium is the ocean.
I’m not looking at religion I’m looking at what causes fragmentation in a community and looking at what qualities create a thriving, vibrant, hopeful and healthy community.
So returning to the framework of healthy community:
Accountability is the part of relationship that calls us back to remember what wholeness and thriving looks like.
Forgiveness is the part that understands that we forgot.
Power is knowing that this is all true and possible.
Peace is understanding that we cannot force anyone to remember. We all remember when we can. And so we embrace all that we are, and do no harm.
Sin is forgetting. Forgiveness understands. Grace creates space for repair of the wound that forgetting caused.
This is what I mean when I say that God freed my fucks, and became my best friend on my journey through the Bible with Jesus.
Because the Bible is a record of the story of humanity’s beginning, which pivots to the experience of one community from its inception through its journey in relationship to other communities, and then it ends with the promise of complete relational restoration.
And through that story I found peace in the consistency of God’s well regulated presence which continued to be with humanity through much misunderstanding and confusion mixed with some understanding. I saw that humanity consistently legitimized its adulterated harmony by claiming that its interpretations and practices are fully congruent with God’s pattern of being. And Jesus came to remind us what was truly legitimate. But we killed him. He let us do that because he knew that his survival did not depend on our actions. He chilled for a bit, and then got back to business having been restored to life by the giver of life.
God accepts my rage, allows me to pour it all out instead of imploding with suppression, and is completely unoffended throughout the process. They’re the ultimate well regulated parent. Their one request is that I learn to slow down and bring my rage to them, instead of unleashing it on to others.
They don’t punish me for my rage or for the things that I do and say when my mind is flooded and overwhelmed and I get stuck in flight, freeze, fawn, flock, or faint.
They help me to repair. They help me to restore. They help me to figure it out. And they help me to rebuild when I’m ready.
This is us.
We keep wrecking the home which was designed to be the space in which we have this experience, so God keeps showing up to patch it up and heal the wounds that we got when things broke. And when we get to the place where we mess with the chemical balance and burn the house down They’ll come back to rescue us, and take us to the new home that They’ve had waiting for us.
It would be super foolish to fight being rescued and stay in the burning house to try and save our money and the things that we got with money. But some of us will do that.
I wish we wouldn’t.
#NurturingKindred #TheForgivenessFramework #LessonsFromJesus
Nurturing Kindred 