War Between Brothers

A brother is there to see you as you are. He is there to see you naked and there to see you in a way that isn’t shameful. Yet what do you do when you have a disagreement? If you are like most brothers you argue. And if arguing doesn’t work you fight.

But in the case of Cain he talked but then he killed Abel. And that was the end of the righteous line.

Since then the blood of the righteous has been crying out to us from the earth.

So let us imagine, if you will, that God wanted us to write about the brother as naked. Its not something you want to write about but it is something I had a dream of during the night. In the dream I heard my brother speaking and I said “That is the Holy Spirit.” But when I woke up and the lights came on I realized it was my brother. And he fled because he was naked.

I remember thinking “What a weird dream” because I have never dreamed of my brother that way before. It isn’t something that I thought of as good.

The thing about this dream is that it is the most unusual dream for various reasons. One is because if there was a righteous man on the earth it would be my brother. He is one that I love and one that I care for. He is one that I have watched from afar and found no fault. Now some might say that he is not righteous and that he has flaws. But if so I have not heard of them nor have I seen them.

Yet if I see that he is righteous why then would he be naked in a dream and flee when I discovered it was him? Now we were sitting at a table and not in a position that would bring dishonor. He was sitting at this table and the lights were out and I was waiting for the lights to go on so I could understand. Yet in the dream he came as the Holy Spirit and that bothered me.

So I wanted to cast it off as one of those dreams that could not be explained. But a thought came to me “You have condemned your father for not accepting dreams. Now I have sent you a dream you could not accept.” So I kind of apologized and tried to go back to sleep but the thought came to me that if I were meant to remember this dream it would return to me. It did but only in part. The strange part.

Yet if this is of God what then does this mean?

To understand we must go into history. History is part of the story of things that were. And if we are strange then the story I tell will shake you. Not to the core but it will make you wonder.

Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Genesis 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?

Many thousands of years ago there was a man who was rich. He lived in America and was the first man to be white in this land. He lived here before the people we call Native and he was the first man to find a home. His name is written in the earth and someday people will see it. We call him RICH and he really was called that. He was the first and only man to understand the true importance of wealth. And he was the wisest man to live.

Yet among the people who lived with him was a poor brother. His brother had nothing. His brother had one thing though that no one in all the world wanted. That was his brother. It seemed having wealth wasn’t a good thing and they said “If he is rich then he is poor.” For he was the richest poor man they had met. He didn’t know who God was and he didn’t love the things of God. He only had wealth and he used it as a weapon. And that weapon was so powerful it was the kind of weapon that would destroy.

Now some might say that wealth is good and Rich did. He thought wealth was good and it was. It was a wise idea and it was composed of desire and things accumulated. And it was the first part of this story for it is still there in the earth buried underneath the RICH logo. I know where it is but I don’t wish to let it out as yet until you know the story.

It seems that once men had discovered Rich they wanted to be like him. They saw that he had the ability to transfer ability and gift and so that ability was a gift which they gave to others. And soon others were rich and became like Rich or RICH as they wrote his name in the earth. And it was there where men could see it if they wished to.

Yet it was there in the land of Native people that Rich decided that he would begin to change what was bad into something that was good. For what he collected was knowledge and what he wanted was the ability to lay to rest everything dumb.

Well, lets put it this way, imagine that men wanted to prove the earth was flat. They would go out and look and say “It appears to be flat and thus it is.” And since Rich knew it was round, kind  of, since at that time the earth was divided, he said “Let there be a way of making men see.” And so he created light that shone into their thought. And it allowed them to see and it allowed them to understand. And they were able to see that they were without light.

Why RICH men woke up others

When Rich woke up one day he found that men really did understand. The only problem is that he was no one. They had found a way to see and they didn’t need him. And so he became angry and said “What have I done? I have made all men rich and I have nothing to show for it.”

And so RICH or Rich went out and hung himself. He realized that at the end of the story he had nothing. He was naked and he had brought shame to himself. And so he went and stole the name of Rich and went down to Hell and to the Grave. And there he was carried with honor to the light of those who had tarried too long at wine and those who had become vile and those who had become as the nature of men who did not have sight.

And they said to Rich, “Who is it that tarries too long at wealth? Did you not swear to us that wealth would make us? Did you not say that wealth would give us insight? Yet here we are in Hell and not one of us knows what is going on.”

Then the Rich man replied “I did not know who was rich. I did not see what I had done. I was poor and without understanding. And I have given away the one thing I could not take. And that is my wealth.”

And so they laughed and they mocked and they said “This is the one place you deserve. For you have failed to help anyone. You have failed to help those who were wise. And you have failed to help those who were well. And yet if you are good perhaps God will help you find a way out. For you were the man who had understanding.”

And so Rich said “If I am here then I must warn my family.” And so he sent word to those in the grave and said “Listen. I have a word for my family. Warn them. Tell them there is nothing here but suffering. Tell them I came here because I was not wise.”

So those in the Grave returned to men and said “Rich says he is in hell and he is suffering.” And men laughed and said “Rich is in hell? Then who is in the grave?” For they had buried the rich man with all his wealth.” And the rich man was RICH for they had written that name upon his grave. And those of honor had built a home nearby and they still live there to this day. Yet we of this age do not care for the riches and do not care for the wealth. Not all of it has faded. Some of it still exists. And it really does lie under the soil. Only there are none to see what Rich collected. For it wasn’t the wealth of this age. We collected gold and silver and precious stones. He collected ideas. And so the ideas were put into a storehouse called a library. And the library wasn’t made of books but of things collected. Like stone but not quite. And it was made of things that would perish in time but not in ages we could call it. And so it would last and it would sing and it would work and it would consume a man in joy not for a day but for a thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand years. And it would make men weep for it was things of beauty. Things that we would, even to this day say “So it isn’t wealth but it is. For it is of beauty and of things God created.”

And if you were to see it and think that it is a joke then maybe I would say “Then it isn’t wise but it is of things God had made.” And so if it is wise and of things that God had made then why did Rich hang himself?

And to answer that required all the knowledge I could find. For if there had been a Rich man who lived in America then who would care? For even if he was the rich man spoken of as suffering in Hell then who would care?

The answer is I would. For if a rich man suffered in Hell and if no one in all the world cared for him then I would. I would ask God “Why did he repent and yet no one seemed to care?” And the answer is God did. God cared because the rich man was his friend.

And if that makes you cry or makes you angry for various reasons it is because I cry. Because I sense that he is like my brother. For my brother isn’t the most wise man in the world. He isn’t rich in the way of riches of this world. Yet he has provided and he has given and he has loved. And he has said “There is no one who cares.” And yet God does. For God had me tell my brother “There is no one in all the world who has as much love as you.” And if there is a man I would fight for it is he. I don’t see me as failing to love but perhaps I fail to see.