States of BLISS & Yearning// Table Talk

Bell talks about Jesus' conversations at the breakfast/lunch/dinner table in all the stories in Luke, since Luke does have a bizarrely large amount of eating stories. The one from which he draws the majority of this chapter is the line from Luke 11 (after Jesus doesn't wash his hands): "Did he who make the outside not make the inside too?" Here, Jesus was willing to eat with these guys and be kind, but they're worried about the fact that he didn't wash his hands... There is never a dull moment in conversation with Jesus.

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Bell says it appropriately: "For in the face of these paragons of propriety, these exemplars of religious behavior, he exposes the fraudulence of their existence which no one else had noticed, namely that all this show, all this obsession with detail, all this prissiness about what was right, was a cover-ip for the lives of interior inadequacy" (97). They are so nitpicky about the stupid stuff, but its all a scam... they do that just so people wouldn't realize how broken they are inside. they've had a breakdown.... a breakdown which has been identified as a disconnect between your outer and inner person.

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It matters not whether you are outwardly perfect or pious or good mannered. As long as it is at odds with a damaged, denied or emaciated inner self, it doesn't impress God.

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I think if we figure out our inner life, the rest will follow. Just like, when I am engaging in spiritual practices and spend time with God, the rest of my life is on the right track. So, how's your spirituality? How's your prayer life? Are you broken? Pray for healing. Have you done something ill-mannered? Pray for forgiveness. When life seems like it is closing in around us, we can only turn to God. If we lack that relationship, and rely only on outward appearances, we crumble to the ground because we have nothing to stand on... no relationship grounding us.

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Trying to get people understand you by false talk and false actions does you no good. We need to be real with each other; have real conversation, not petty nothingness. It's not like we're hiding anything from God by pretending to be someone we aren't. Close that gap between who you are on the outside and what you lack on the inside. That is what God is interested in. Spend time intentionally rebuilding your inside. When we reject that, we reject God's creation for:

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"Did he who made the outside not make the inside too?"