The Brown Book Commentaries

―Truth has many faces, and any one of them alone is a lie.‖ ~ anonymous
Paradoxically, this statement might be the only exception to its own rule. For Truth seems to
say that ―To err is human; to forgive is Divine‖, and yet forgiveness without commensurate
Kindness is not nearly enough for absolvation … And Truth seems to say that ―Patience is a
virtue‖ (enabling both gratitude and compassion), and yet patience alone is a life passive &
neutered … Truth seems to say that ―It is better to give than to receive‖, and yet on the highest
plane of conscious selflessness the two become one (Givers receive the greater ―gift‖ by giving,
and Receivers know that their receiving enables the Giver to receive the same) ... And Truth seems
to say that we are to ―Be grateful for our many blessings‖, and yet it is our trials and tragedies that
bless us with the highest concentration of potential empowerment (if we choose to use them to
magnify our potency via Loving anyway therein &/or thereafter) … Truth seems to say that we are
to ―Be Kind to strangers‖, and yet Kindness only blossoms fully when it is given willingly to our
enemies … And Truth seems to say that we are to ―Always speak the Truth‖, and yet real honesty
is more what we do than what we say … Truth seems to say that we are to ―Humble ourselves
before God‖, and yet there is nothing Truth-full about abdicating our immense Power to Love –
there is nothing Truth-full about being timidly subservient to a celestial tyrant … And Truth seems
to say that we are to ―Search for life‘s beauty‖, and yet doing so prevents us from Seeing the
scintillating Beauty already nearby – the Beauty in things considered ―normal‖ &/or people
thought to be ―ugly‖ … Truth seems to say that we are to ―Have faith in divine providence‖, and
yet doing so often precludes us from embracing the far more important Faith in our Selves – the
Faith that comes only from acting as agents of God instead of assuming that God will act for us.
―There is a love like a small stream which dries up when it doesn‘t rain. But there is
also a Love like a mighty spring gushing up out of the earth … It keeps flowing forever and
is inexhaustible.‖ ~ Isaac of Nineveh
Isaac of Nineveh was a 7th-century East Syriac Christian theologian & devout ascetic. His
staunch belief that that the notion of God punishing men endlessly through the mystery of
Gehenna (or ―the lake of fire‖, or ―Hell‖) was not compatible with God‘s all-encompassing Love
resonated perfectly with the teachings of Jesus and The Way of Christ, and as such we should not
be surprised that he would utter something so potently reminiscent of Jesus‘ statements in the
Gospels … John 4:14 has Jesus noting that ―Those who drink of the water that I will give them
will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up
to eternal life‖, and John 7:38-39 has Jesus continuing on to say ―‘Let the one who believes in me
drink. As the Scripture has said, ―Out of the believer‘s heart shall flow rivers of living water.‖‘ He
said this about the Spirit‖ (see also Proverbs 18:4 & Gospel of Thomas 108) … Jesus also noted
that this inner Spirit was essentially of God Himself (John 14:20) and that God was the essence of
perfect LOVE (Matthew 5:48), so it makes sense that Isaac of Nineveh would have equated the
three as well – Water as Spirit as LOVE … As far as the inexhaustibility of the same goes, this is
an accurate utterance as well, for while the self-centered ―love‖ of the ego (i.e. love given as
manipulation or obligation or reciprocity or in response to societal expectation) inevitably drains
its giver – leading to fatigue, resentment, isolation, and despair, divine LOVE is given solely for
the benefit of the other – often via acts of willing self-sacrifice, and as such is an ever-invigorating
act; leading the giver thereof to always experience empowerment, calm, Joy, &/or Contentment.
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