Watching against those who have an aversion to immediacy so that the pottage does not slip between.

Early in John Wilbur's labors against those who did not have faith in a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by the immediacy of Presence, Betsy Purinton wrote these words to him in a letter:

The longer I live, the more I feel the necessity of a deep indwelling with the spirit of Divine life, and as my dear, aged kinswoman, (Comfort Collins,) used to say, neither ' borrow nor steal,' however in want ; and this is not all, but to be content with our little, and neither suffer ourselves to be bought or sold, to gain the popular ity of the world, or the applause of men. I speak not, my dear cousin, these things for thee, but in general ; being what I have often to watch against, lest, in my manifold weakness, the mess of pottage may slip between me and my Divine Master, against which the injunction remains to be good — " Watch."

Source: "Journal of the life of John Wilbur" page 122

It is a challenge to not let the pottage slip between me and Presence when suffering the aversions of those who cannot abide the testimony and affirmation of immediacy in a lack of faith and aversion for a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence.

Turning again to the Presence, the inward Light fills consciousness and conscience so that there is no need to borrow or steal from the outward to mediate a lack of faith in immediacy. Consciousness and conscience in the Presence is not bought or sold by identity and bondage to the outward professors. In thankfulness and gratitude, strength is Presence girding a new consciousness and conscience. 

I watch.

Political Activism: A Lack of Faith in the sufficiency of a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence ... the seed of Christ in human being.

Political Activism: A Lack of Faith in the sufficiency of a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence ... the seed of Christ in human being.

Political activism is the agitation of human being to anchor consciousness and inform conscience in outward political agenda. It is a lack of faith in the immediacy of Presence as the anchor and guide of human being in human and worldly events.

Political and religious professors and activists seek to avert human being from Presence; offering a sense of meaning and purpose through devotion to and the imposition of outward political ideological constructs and outward institutional discipline.

This usurpation of Presence in human being is the idolatry of modern human beings. These outward ideological idols sap Presence and enchant consciousness and conscience.
Political agendas (often couched in religious contexts) calling for the external institutionalization of abstract concepts (idols or memories) like freedom, liberty, peace, equality, hope, love, social justice, economic freedom, etc. Are merely the transference of professed memories (ideological constructs) of leaders over against Presence. Followers, averted from Presence, become borrowers dependent on the reflected experience or outward abstract concepts (idols or memories) of those they follow.

Presence is peace, hope, freedom, justice, equality, love, in all things and events; bad and good. Political activism seeks to bind consciousness and conscience to outward ideological forms and artificially impose the birthright of Presence. Presence is in inequality and equality, freedom and bondage, love and hate, justice and injustice. The outward institutional imposition of a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence is an aversion and idolatry. Faith is Presence is iconoclastic. Presence in human being is the Principle and the Rule. Presence is Being. Presence is unmediated activism.

The Living Gospel unhinged from outward worldly and bodily religious forms.

The Living Gospel unhinged from outward worldly and bodily religious forms.

Or

The Message of Christ free from canonical testimony in Immediacy.

Or

The Message Unmediate

Normally, consciousness is anchored in and conscience is informed by external forms or by externalized borrowed experience in the form of the writings of others. This normal consciousness need mirrors to “see” or “to be.” The five senses of the body anchors normal consciousness and is its mirror. Normally, consciousness and conscience cannot sustain without a functioning body.

To test this, just take an hour and imagine your Self without sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Now add to your imagining, your Self without a functioning brain reflecting thoughts, feelings, desires. For normal consciousness this is death. Consciousness goes dark. The fear of death is the fear of loss of consciousness.

If you deepen further into this imagining and wonder who or what is “imagining” you begin to experience directly an immediate Presence behind the imagining. This Presence is always right there in the things sensed and reflected thoughts and feelings. This Presence is in everyone.

To know a sustained consciousness, even when the body no longer functions, is consciousness anchored in the Presence rather than the mirrors of the body and the world. A consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed Presence in the world is freedom from fear. As Presence anchors and informs, a new Self is born into the world of form.

There are many people who have no faith in the sufficiency of a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence. These people anchor consciousness and inform conscience in outward form. They have faith in reflected consciousness; a conscience informed by outward principles and codes sought with borrowed experience professed by others. They prefer and cultivate a consciousness and conscience mediated and bound. Salvation from the fear of death and loss of consciousness is taught as anchored in a mere belief in outward biblical testimony. This is tyranny against a free consciousness and conscience. It promises salvation from the loss of consciousness in death by binding consciousness and conscience to a normal consciousness that is not sustainable upon the death of the body.

To know a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by the immediacy of Presence is to know through direct personal experience a sustainable consciousness and conscience even when the body tires and no longer functions (Eternal Life and Salvation), and it is to know it while in the world and in the body… new and ever renewing Being.

I know a sustainable consciousness and conscience by deepening down into the Quiet and feeling for the Presence in all things experienced while in the body and the world.

Disclaimer: The above is not to suggest that any individual or group of individuals should or, would be better off if they did, follow the conscious and conscience experience merely reflected in these outward words. There is no wish, intention, or agenda, to impose a conscience on another. The intention is to express my conscience in the quiet of Presence and that is all.

Observation of the natural world and Sanctuary.

There was a time in my life when the observation of the natural world was Sanctuary (among other outward activities like the Church, or teachings of others, or political activism) and the immediacy of Christ was secondary.

Third month is almost here and the Allen's and Rufous hummingbirds will return to the south coast of Oregon. I will spend considerable hours in the field observing their migrational, territorial and nesting behaviors. For me, there is nothing more centering and tendering than spending up to 8 hours a day for over a month sitting in one place watching a wild bird build its nest, tend to its young, protect the nest from predation, and watching the behavior of the young in the nest as they grow toward fledging.

This nesting season will be different, as has been the few previous seasons. The immediacy of Christ will be primary in the act of observing the natural world. Sanctuary is in the Presence not in the natural world. I will be present in the Presence while observing the natural world.  That is, consciousness will be anchored in and conscience informed by Presence and not the objects I am observing. Perspective has shifted … I now show up in the activity of observing … it is no longer the outward object observed that anchors and informs consciousness and conscience. The self-conscious ego anchored in and informed by itself, Presence, rather than the mirrors of the world.

This nesting season, I drink from a new wineskin and am clothed in eternal threads. I will worship in silence and solitude for hours and hours daily, guided by and becoming ever more acquainted with the Presence … my Sanctuary.

Sanctuary is every place and every occasion, in the Presence, I show up. Presence is not a denial of the outward… it is the fulfillment of the eternal birthright of human being … pure consciousness and pure conscience … Liberty … human Being born again into the world of created things not bound but unbound and free.

What a blessing to know Life Eternal in the world.

Video and Photo Content - All rights reserved - Keith F. Saylor

Daily Happenings in Presence

Happenings in Presence.

Much of life was spent relatively speaking, outside the Presence. Life is now, relatively speaking, in the Presence. Here is how life, relatively speaking, manifests, for me, in daily life.

I recently re-upholstered a wing-backed recliner for a family member. She has lower back problems so a bolster was created (tailored to her needs) to support her lower back and give her comfort while in the recliner. An arm organizer was created so she had things she uses often, while reading, in an easily accessible place.

The project was given over to the Presence before beginning and prayer was offered for strength to hold in the Light to the completion. A compelling and beautiful quiet bolstered the various activities involved in the project. At one point during the process, I had difficulty getting a front panel on the arm to lay properly. A spirit of frustration manifested before me. With intention and watchfulness, I acknowledged it. Then took it up and sort of played with it. Conscience is not bound to frustration in the acknowledging, conviction happens when the spirit of frustration takes hold of consciousness and informs conscience, so that life is no longer Presence but bound to outward events and circumstance manifesting frustration. In the Light, frustration stays before me and I continue to acknowledge it. Slowly, it withdraws to the horizon by the power of watchfulness and Presence.

These little moments happen throughout the day. In is these little moments, two lessons are learned. The Presence will readily yield to the various spirits that seek to draw you outside the Life if consciousness and conscience are given over. In watchfulness, the Presence will readily strengthen you in the Quiet so that consciousness and conscience hold to the rock of ages un-battered by the waves and winds of daily life that threaten Presence.

In thankfulness and gratitude for a consciousness and conscience in the world, but not of it, relatively speaking.

Shedding the cloak of religious words and baggage.

There is another way:

Short-form
A consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by the activity of intuition.

Long-form
A consciousness anchored in the activity of observation and thinking (not anchored in the things observed and thoughts about the things observed); and a conscience informed by the activity of intuitive imagination (not the morals or ethics from sources outside pure intuition).

To experience such a consciousness and a conscience is transparent Being.

Not me, but I AM in me.

Jesus is a noun, Christ is a being verb.

Not me, but Christ in me

Not me, but I am in me.

Not anger, but I am.

Not joy, but I am.

Not peace, but I am.

Not ideals, but I am.

Not morals, but I am.

Not occupation, but I am.

Not community, but I am.

Not institution, but I am.

Not individual, but I am.

Not politics, but I am.

Not theology, but I am.

Not ideology, but I am.

Not agenda, but I am.

Not relationships, but I am.

Not frustration over another's fault, but I am.

Not frustration over my fault, but I am.

Not happiness over another's success, but I am.

Not happiness over my success, but I am.

Not desire, but I am.

Not feelings, but I am.

Not will, but I am.

Not the words of scripture, but I am.

In Christ, I am. I AM is Christ.

If you would know Christ ... show up ... Presence.

In the beginning, I am.

Thankful for and faith in the immediacy of the Spirit of Christ that was present in the historic Jesus.

I acknowledge those who have no or fragmented faith and trust in the immediacy or direct experience of the Presence anchoring consciousness and informing conscience. 

While I acknowledge there are those who hold to outward form to anchor or help anchor consciousness and inform conscience, the Presence within me has, from the age of 16, candled a way anchoring consciousness and informing conscience not beholden to outward form. My life has been a gradual growing into a relationship with the Presence through my turnings away and re-turnings. Gradually, the Light filled the nooks and crannies of consciousness and conscience...  more and more guiding and informing from immediacy rather than the mediation of outward form. 

There was a time when observation and study of the natural world was sanctuary. The activity gave consciousness a foothold and meaning and spoke to my conscience. The outward forms of the natural world filled my consciousness and gave form to being.

There was a time when religious institutions, doctrine, theology, and scripture was sanctuary. They gave consciousness a foothold and meaning and informed my conscience. To repeat, These outward forms filled and anchored consciousness and guided my conscience.

There was a time when political institutions and ideas were sanctuary. They anchored consciousness and informed conscious. These outward forms filled my consciousness and guided my conscience.

There was a time when philosophic study was sanctuary. It filled consciousness and informed conscience. The outward "isms" gave shape to being.

And on and on...

However, in the midst of it all, the candling Presence was ever there, nudging toward re-cognition and I would sometimes re-turn in thirst of Being, consciousness, and conscience unbound from these outward anchors and informers. Sometimes religious professors of various outward forms would capture my consciousness and conscience and I would embrace their commodities and then, again, re-turn to the immediacy of the Presence and drink.

Life has been an embracing of the Presence anchoring consciousness and conscience; the Life not mediated by the outward. Then turning away to hold to form, a denial of the sufficiency and the immediacy of the Spirit of Christ within; anchoring consciousness and the rule of conscience. My consciousness and conscience has been mostly bound to the outward as the Presence slowly enlightened the darkness within bound to outward institutions, doctrines, ideas, feelings, etc.  

It has taken around 35 years for the Presence within to gain the upper hand and become the my consciousness' primary anchor and the primary Principle of conscience. Long and rocky, with heartbreaking ups and downs, has been the journey. 

One of the beautiful threads the early Quakers frequently wove into the tapestry of their writings reads:

 ... the mystery of which faith is held in a pure conscience...

In the Presence, we know the mystery in a pure consciousness and conscience, anchored and informed, by direct and immediate experience of the Spirit of Christ within. This faith and trust in the immediacy of the Presence is salvation and eternal life. It is the realm of God on earth. It is a blessing to be one among those who have faith in and affirm the Presence within consciousness and conscience as the one true Guide leading to the experience of eternal life and the realm of God here on earth.

I trust and have faith in the sufficiency of the Spirit of Christ as my sole guide and teacher (the Principle and the Rule), shedding faith and trust in any outward institutions (religious or secular), doctrine, etc . In gratitude and wonderment.

One outcome of the immediacy of the Spirit ... A free thought exercise.

Note: Conscienceness is a term I’ve coined blending conscious, self-conscious, or consciousness with conscience. Conscienceness means both consciousness and conscience.

In the Presence, I am not sad, happy, mad, frustrated. In the Presence... I am.

When the Presence fills and anchors consciousness and conscience (conscienceness), one result is the emotions that arise from outward happenings no longer enter and take hold of conscienceness. We “see” the emotions, but we are not predicated by them. What this means is in the Presence we acknowledge joy, anger, frustration, etc., but they do not hold conscienceness.

We do not experience: “I am angry” we experience “Anger approaches me.”

We do not experience: “I am happy” we experience “Happiness approaches me.”

This is how the spirit of Christ purifies conscienceness.

When “I am angry” or “I am happy” conscienceness has turned from the Presence.

When “Anger is around” or “happiness approaches” we are present in the Presence. That is, conscienceness is in the Presence.

This is not a denial of emotion. It is an acknowledgment without turning conscienceness from the Presence.

The is one result of the freedom and liberty of conscienceness in the Presence.

This is observation in conscienceness.

The Church-State and way of worship not the knowledge or the faith in the Life ...

The Church-State and way of worship not the knowledge or the faith in the Life ...

I have smarted deeply for these things, and have been taught by the briars and thorns of the wilderness, whereby my ears came to be opened, to hear the sound of the everlasting gospel, to which they were before through ignorance stopped. For I also did believe and expect great things in a church-state and way of worship; and in simplicity of heart did I enter into it, and walk in it, and was not without knowledge, warmth, and experiences there. But all this the Lord broke down by a strong hand, in one moment; and hath taught me since to throw away all my gains here, and elsewhere, and to count them but dross and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. And having tasted, having seen, having felt, having handled, I cannot but commend the life ; and dissuade all men from all knowledge, all worship, all religion, all ways, and practices (though ever so taking, pleasant, and promising), out of the life. And this is to know Christ; namely, to know the life: and this is to obey Christ, to obey the life: and this is the kingdom of Christ which is to come, to have the life reign in power and great glory. But the knowing or believing of a history concerning Christ, this is not the knowledge or the faith: antichrist all along the apostasy, in all his various forms and dresses, hath known and believed thus: and this kind of knowledge must pass away, further than it can find a place and service in the life. Be not angry at my testimony; it flows from pure love, and comes forth in great good-will to your souls.

Click on the link to read more, along with the citations.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XPUQTCPEvmOabm4jd67eD6bx1HReBmd.

This is powerful testimony from Penington. Here he unambiguously calls all knowledge, all worship, all religion, all ways and practices (though ever so taking, pleasant, and promising) out of the life, dross and dung.

He unambiguously affirms the sufficiency the life. And call all outward thoughts, institutions, and practices, about the life dross and dung. He admonishes to live the life. Knowing and believing of a history concerning Christ ... he says ... is not the knowledge or the faith. The knowledge and the faith is the direct experience of the life.

This testimony is cordial to my conscious and conscience. I affirm it not because Penington says it. I affirm it through the workings of the Presence within me. I am experiencing that which he experienced. I am well on the path to not believing or seeking knowledge through any theology, any doctrine, any scripture, any religion, any practice. I seek only the immediacy of the Presence unmediated through words or thoughts. Consciousness and conscience free from the borrowed experiences of others by knowing through direct experience the Life within. I am not religious, I am not theist, I am not atheist, I am not Quaker, I am not Baptist, I am not Christian, I am not Protestant, Catholic. In the Presence of Christ ... I am. I am without predication.

This is my testimony. This is my journey. I am thankful their are others who fellowship with me. I am thankful for the fellowship I find in the writings of the early Quakers.

The Life is individual consciousness and conscience anchored in the direct experience of the Presence.