Happy New Year and New Beginning!

This month and season is a time of New Beginnings!
How do we know this principle is true?
It originates from the Bible in Leviticus 23 when the Lord designates this time of year (on the seventh month, in the first day of the month, 1st of Tishri in the original calendar, v. 24) as the "Head of the Year" (Rosh Ha Shanah) and it's the one time of the year when the High Priest and sons looked at the setting sun on that specific day, so they could go into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and offer the sacrifices in behalf of their entire families and tribes. They would blow the horn for all to hear, as if to mourn and cry out to God. (It's called "Feast of Trumpets").

What evidences do we have that this still could matter to us, now that the Great High Priest-- Jesus Christ, made his infinite and eternal sacrifice?

This.

This article shows how a man named Joseph Smith was visited by an Angel named Moroni, a former inhabitant of the American continent, on the day of the "Head of the Year" & Feast of Trumpets-- that day that holy sacrifice would have taken place in the Tabernacle of the House of Israel, if there was a current temple and a high priest to do so. Across the world at that time, those still recognizing those holy feast days were remembering, and would have made efforts to make it a "New Beginning" day. For those who do not know, Joseph Smith was being called to restore the order of the High Priest & Priestess-hood and Kingship authority into every home and family.

Not only were these truths applicable for what God was asking Joseph Smith to do, but they still apply to many events held by the Church of Jesus Christ since, and these scriptures are showing or modeling a pattern and daily living principle for us to apply.

How do we apply this in our lives and make it a time of New Beginnings? To start,
👉it's a great time for new schedules that feel right.
👉it's a great time to clear out unwanted or unneeded clutter.
👉it's a great time to let go of false beliefs or old grudges.
👉it's a great time to release that which is no longer helping us act in alignment with who we really are.

It's a time for New Beginnings. 🌅

To search for other times the Holy Feasts days have applied to our day, you can read this blog post, breaking down the 7 feasts from chapter 23 of Leviticus.

Today-- September 23rd
This year the exact date of the "seventh month, in the first day of the month," or the 1st of Tishri in the original calendar mentioned in verse 24 of Leviticus 23, will be Sept 23rd. (evening of Sept 22nd- evening of Sept 23rd)

Begin anew with a pause on that day to remember when Adam and Eve returned to the Garden place, cried out to their God and began making the yearly sacrifices. (This is where Leviticus 23 picks up with Moses.) A pause to remember our desire to return through Christ, and the Great- High Priest's sacrifice so that we can return into the presence of God.

This article may help you more deliberately pause on that day.

It's also a time of Harvest!
The Feast of Tabernacles, and a time to gather and celebrate comes after the Head of the Year and Feast of Trumpets.

"Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days."
"Ye shall dwell in booths seven days;" v. 39-42

This year this "celebrating and harvest time", according to Leviticus 23 on that original calendar, begins on October 14th and goes for 7 days. Just before this time, we can "feast" at the "Tabernacle" with hearing the Word of the Lord, at a World-wide General Conference from prophets called with the authority of the High Priesthood, the Kingship and the Law on October 4th & 5th. Come and join us there online!

One way we are celebrating is by putting up a booth-like structure in our front yard to share our harvest with friends who stop by. If you'd like, join us where you live by doing the same, and let's celebrate a New Beginning!

Time for a Fall Celebration

It is time again to Celebrate! 

What are we Celebrating?

We are Celebrating Our Universal Story.  As civilizations rise and fall, the remnants of the cultures they leave behind are in the form of stories & art.  The power of story is real.  Stories preserve community and family culture.  They can also help us renew our connection with our Creator and our identity in this world.  Stories are what keep us connected in our churches, families & communities.  No matter where we come from, we all share a Universal story of Creation & the Creator.

The Pilgrim's Course Tutorial (Online Retreat) class offered on HouseoftheBook.org, shares an introduction to the Hebraic Principles of Creation.  This circle-pattern teaches us our Original Culture and the Universal Story.  This class offers mathematical and symbolic pattern recognition skills in the Old Testament, but as we come to see that circle-pattern in the scriptures, we come to see ourselves in this story like we never have before.  We also come to see our connection to each other and our need for gathering and celebrating! 

We are meeting this Fall at the "Rosh Hashanah" (Head of the Year) 2023 to Celebrate in The Hebrew Way.  That includes the holistic nurturing of singing, dancing, whole foods and our like-minded connection!   

We also desire to continue our Original culture with every effort and resist any efforts to "cancel culture".  We must know why it is so important for us to be doing these simple yet essential things, like singing!   We are Celebrating through Song to help encourage and transfer our story!  Music and singing is a powerful gift from God to carry our story on through the ages. 

We are Celebrating Song.

Did you know that a culture of singing is what freed the entire nation of Estonia? After Stalin took over the Baltic States in 1939/1940, the people lost their freedom to celebrate their cultural singing festivals. After 50 years, they began overcoming their fears and gathering to sing their cultural songs. This gave them more and more courage to stand against their oppressors and grew to a point where they stood, hand-in-hand, in 1991, against the tanks, singing. The world saw this on the news and it was the first time we in the West understood what had been happening those 50 years after WWII. Singing is powerful!!  Through a simple song, we can learn a powerful message.    For this Celebration, we have prepared an original Beatitude song.  Shelley Schneider and Emily Erickson have been working to compose it and I am so excited to sing it with all joining us!

We are Celebrating Joyful Movement.

Did you ever notice that each culture around the world includes dance as a part of their festivals? Have you ever wondered why? Did you know movement is a strong need of the body and even helps us release negative emotions to Christ?  Think about it.  Running is great to do when we have to let-off steam. Walking may help us think. Yoga and breathing helps us to calm the chatter in our minds. There are many studies and research showing the benefits of movement.  Now, did you also know the Jewish culture enjoys a dance at their wedding feasts?  This tradition goes back anciently, and I believe has something to do with the word feast, which means, to gather in a circle and dance!

I invite you to gather in a circle and dance with us!   The specific joyful movement (above) and dancing we will be enjoying is a form of a Hebraic circle-dance which we've inherited from our Ephraimite culture.

We are Celebrating Our Connection.

One of my purposes in gathering is to help "relieve society."  This vision leads all I endeavor to do through the Foundation Builder Guide organization.  Our Vision of Celebrations comes from Original families who gathered each year to Celebrate by telling our Universal story of Creation and how Adam & Eve came to be.  Over the years this tradition can be seen as families gathered in large-scale Celebrations working and learning together.  In each they are telling their community stories and the most powerful story:  Their Creation Stories.   This includes their dances and singing and the words that give them strength and power.  They utilize beautiful colors, material like fabrics, paper and paints and they also use the tools of the technology they had.    We know it is time to restore this way of lifting the wounded, poor and hungry among us.  As we join together with this vision in mind, we can unify our purpose and connection as women and families!  

At this Fall time of year, we are Celebrating the "Head of the Year" in preparation for the most Holy Days ahead.

Where ever you are, consider celebrating in simple ways with your family or community.  Prepare to release and receive the Great High Priest.  Read more on a blog post here.

If you are in Utah, we are gathering: 

When:  September 15th 2023

Where:  American Fork, Utah 

Time:  6:00 pm - 9:00 pm MST

Register: You can register ahead of time on HouseoftheBook.org HERE.  

Read More:  

• Fall Holy Day:  The Symbolism of the Cry of the Shofar
• Fall Holy Days:  Cry of the Shofar, A Cry to Heaven
• Example Videos of us dancing America's Cultural Dance:  Heel-Toe Polka Part 1 & Part 2, Lucky Seven Part 1 & Part 2
• Example Videos of us dancing: a fun Basket dance Part 1 & Part 2
• Example Video of us dancing a simple version of the Jewish Dance Hava Nagila 
• Learn more about the movement we started of Family Celebrations, on HouseoftheBook.org

The "Hebrew Way" of Reading in-Depth

If you missed our free article offered on our Foundation Builder Guide organization site's House Newsletter, Nurturing Our Skills of Discovery, you may be missing a lot.  Though simple in it's presentation and application, it is actually an in-depth concept.   

Just like reading in English has a variety of levels, reading in Hebrew does too.  This level of "reading" may come easy for some and is often passed over by others, but it is real.   

Those who fully complete our Introductory Hebraic Principles of Creation class, begin to experience the realness of these "Skills" and get a glimpse into what our organization is offering.  We are not exactly studying a Foreign Language.  We are nourishing Women & Families from within, in preparation for impacting and building the Foundation of our Next Society.   Are you called to that as well?

Find the article in your inbox or in our Intro Class - The Pilgrim's Course Tutorial to begin "reading" more in-depth and learning in The Hebrew Way.   

The cover will look like this:

#skillsofdiscovery #theHebrewway

We are beginning our 3rd Round of Study rotation in October so now is the best time to join with us in this Hebraic Study program and "University."

The Supporting Roles of Aunts & Uncles, Brothers & Sisters

Since ancient days in biblical lands shepherds protected their flocks at night by using circular sheepfolds constructed of thorns and briars. If stones were abundant, they would pile thorn bushes on top of the circular stacked stone enclosures. This allowed them to protect their flock at night from invading prey as well as keeping the flock from straying. The thorns acted as a protective wall and barrier for the precious flock so relied upon for the family’s sustenance.This same protection can be seen in the description of ancient Israel, acting as a type of Thorn camped in orderly formation surrounding the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The Tabernacle walls extended out into a vast sea of individual tents to the East, to the South, to the West and to the North, each of them under their individual standard or banner of their tribal family/Father’s House; three Tribes to the East – Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, three Tribes to the South – Reuben, Simeon, Gad, three Tribes to the West – Ephraim, Manessah, Benjamin, three Tribes to the North – Dan, Asher, Naphtali. Aaron and his sons, the Levite tribe, who were designated to fulfill specific responsibilities within the Tabernacle in its function in the protected inner area, also resided in one of the four sides of the Tabernacle walls among the twelve tribes. (Numbers 2:2-34)

If non-Israelitish neighbors with malicious intent attempted to penetrate into the center threatening their most sacred space, can you imagine the fierce resistance they would have encountered from the steadfast guards surrounding the Tabernacle? These Twelve Tribal Families not only stood physically as a protective shield against those who did not share their allegiance to the True and Living God, but also as a protection of God’s Laws as they spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally camped facing the most central place from which these sacred teachings rippled out. Imagine God’s truths from that inner most sacred and holy space penetrating the hearts and souls of Aaron and his sons, and all the rest of the twelve tribal families surrounding it. As those Holy truths were honored, respected and upheld through the actions of all those faithful husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, sons, daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren their lives began to deeply reflect them so clearly that the outside world held the Israelites in great fear and respect. As their personal choices, actions and character reflected who they were born to be and do, they ultimately created and supported an encircling reach around the entire House of Jacob as well as providing a witness of God and hope to the outside world.

Today, it is these same extended family members who are needed to support, lift, encircle and protect God’s laws and His Culture, our Original Culture & Story. Acting as symbolic thorn bushes for parents and grandparents, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts and Uncles, can stand as living embodied law-keepers offering life-giving truths through the quality of their character and actions to loved ones and neighbors. They are still needed to act as a shield and protection for that most sacred central space, and naturally extending out from that, as embodied shining lights for others outside of that society. This is what we call a virtuous community; created from a strength and power within each individual supporting a united vision, purpose and mission. Can you visualize the kind of society where individuals with the beauty of all their divine potential and gifts, stand united together in upholding and protecting of God’s Laws and truths? Let us hold that vision in our mind and heart and work towards creating that environment wherever we live.

How can all God-fearing people with differing opinions because of our different life trainings, support each other without judgment? Often today, in our modern culture, we come to understand life through many different experiences and perspectives which affect our paradigms, choices and differing parenting styles. It is easy to fall into traps of not living our value system, by misjudging or incorrectly labeling others who don’t align with our lifestyle; especially with many false ideologies and anti-family policies promoted by national governments. These self-deceptive thoughts threaten individuals and families and often cause an undermining ripple within our community of families. In reality those divisive thoughts are not from our own selves, but come from adversarial wolves who seek to enter the flock and destroy the most sacred central message and space within us and our community. Families are under attack more than ever and in many cases these protective “thorns” of extended family are being torn down, leaving families vulnerable.  Those who recognize and strive to honor and uphold the Divine Law of our Creator and King, regardless of what religion they belong to, can join forces with others who hold that same vision and work in unity to combat these destructive ideologies and refuse to fall prey to these divisive thoughts, standing as one in truth to support order in families and society.

Imagine tribes of families standing united in their common devotion to Christ, encamped around that same symbolic central place, supporting each other in their diverse family cultures acting as one. Now imagine these families each raising children and youth with the same purpose and intent so that the message was lovingly clear and crisp without any confusion as the adults in the community understood their role to stand and support each other's families in upholding the sacred and protecting it from erosion. Could a community like this continue in its ideal state without supportive roles of extended family, those brothers and sisters of the parents? Those Aunts and Uncles?

This essential, protective role of all those encamped around the sacred center is especially seen as the aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters of the parent, support the parent’s role to teach, lead and pass on this right-doing original family culture.

As we unite with other like-minded families “encamped around the Tabernacle,” we support those teachings and each other. We stand as lionesses at the entrance protecting our young from corrupting ideologies and shield our tribe from harm. We cannot enjoy the fruits of this God-centered Tribal Family and Community without the crucial and essential support of all those family members connected to us. As these aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters act in protective support, they will receive reciprocal blessings from the support of other parents as they, in turn, engage in the same purpose to honor God and preserve this sacred center and purpose to “continue the house.”

Are you one of these Aunts and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters, acting in your role and stewardship to support those encamped around that most sacred space? Our communities of these tribal families are depending on you.  It is our original role to cultivate this environment for Our Story to continue.

~ Excerpt from The Hebrew Model: Restoring Our Original Culture & Story.  To get on the list to receive notice of this upcoming book, add your email HERE.  Learn more on HouseoftheBook.org  

The Hebrew Model:  Restoring Our Original Culture & Story 
by Katie Hansen

Learn more in our The Early Semitic Pictographic Alphabet book.

Passing Original Culture Parent to Child

There is a story in the Bible which illustrates another unique aspect of our Original Culture & Story. We find this story in the 18th chapter of Genesis where Abraham prays in behalf of the few righteous people who lived in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and asks God that it not be destroyed just yet:

…but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

After the angels saved Lot from being pulled into a crowd of angry men, the Lord waited for him, the one last right-living man in the city, to leave before destroying it. This story can show us that when there is one who honors God and looks to Him to be saved, God will preserve that life. After generations of families looked to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to preserve them, they passed on Abraham’s legacy of exactness in duty, honor, loyalty, and right-doing and living. This righteousness is shown in the Levitical lineage performing priestly rites at the Tabernacle. In an Ancient time, when a Levite Father held the responsibility to serve at the Tabernacle, that privilege was bound with a covenant and promise that was so sacred, rather than break that promise, he would die like the animals slain on the altars in the temple.   It was a literal life and death commitment. Those covenantal responsibilities were passed down from Father to Son. 

SimpleJoyArt.com

Today, passing down the responsibilities of Priesthood duties is still a privilege and honor. It may not always be passed from Father to Son or be practiced in the same way, but when a Father and Mother make covenants with their God, it holds a similar weight. Husbands and wives pass on the heritage of faith by teaching their children truth they have received from previous Patriarchs and Matriarchs to "love the Lord their God with all thine heart, with all thine soul, and with all thine might, and talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Duet. 6:7).  These “commandments…statutes…and judgements” are held so sacred that faithful, right-doing parents choose to dedicate their lives to nurturing their children and grandchildren in the words "which the Lord your God commanded” "thou shalt teach...diligently unto thy children." (Deut. 6:1, 7)  Their covenant obligation to their God and their offspring is held in such exactness and honor that they would die as the animals on the altars in the tabernacle rather than violate these sacred promises because they understood the devastating effect it would have on their offspring.

The Early Semitic Pictographic Alphabet

Nature reveals this same pattern for those who have eyes to see. Built into each living plant is the potential to produce another like it. When the seed of an oak tree produces fruit of its own kind from its innate ability and potential, we see this continuation of the seed of the next generation. The acorn, by Divine design, produces more oak trees in the same manner it was created. Since we are much more than acorns, as sons and daughters of God, we can find Divine purpose and mission in continuing our House through our right-doing choices, commitments, teaching and living. To not “continue our house” through this God-centered family culture would be to pervert our natural, innate ability and potential.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

We can see this principle illustrated in this simple Jewish parable.

If there are 20 right-doing men in the world, my son and I will be among them.
If there are 10 right-doing men in the world, my son and I will be among them.
If there are 5 right-doing men in the world, my son and I will be among them.
If there are 2 right-doing men in the world, they will be my son and I.
If there is one right-doing man in the world, I will be that man.

Like this parable, we were born to be and do. We can become that man or woman who carries on the right use of truth by showing and nurturing our children in this way as we mentor them in following their right-doing heart's desires. We can trust that God not only has planted in our hearts the Divine seed of potential He sent us here to become and blossom forth to the world, but that He will also provide all we need for that endeavor.  We can also be encouraged by remembering “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26) and that it is never too late to start these efforts if for any reason there has been a breach in our family house. We can start planting new and different seeds today that will eventually yield the harvest we desire; the harvest God has planned for us.

Oliver and Rachel DeMille have so wonderfully illustrated this principle in their book "The Phases of Learning" where they shared,

"a wonderful story of a farmer in the Great Depression who is busily working on his farm in the summer heat.  His friends gather at the local coffee shop and discuss why he would be planting when everyone knows prices are too low for him and if he plants a crop he can't get government subsidies.  It's hot, it's humid, his planting will actually lose him money--has he gone crazy?

One of the farmers agrees to go ask him these questions.  It turns out that this hard-working farmer is aware of all the many reasons that may justify others not to plant, but he keeps planting, "Oak trees," he says.

You can imagine what his friend must think:  "What? Oak trees?  You've gone 'round the bend!  Your work will have no value until at least fifty years have passed!"  The farmer replies that the oak trees aren't for him.  They are for his grandchildren.

Our purpose in life is to plant, nurture and become oak trees, and to help others do the same.  That is grandparenting:  planting oak trees!  We are growing the oak trees of the future today.  All of us should realize our true purpose and mission--to make the world better for our grandchildren and their children."

How are you continuing our Original Culture & Story? What are the stories you are telling to your children and grandchildren to help them develop such commitment and righteousness? Will you be among those right-doing women and men?

~ Excerpt from The Hebrew Model: Restoring Our Original Culture & Story.  To get on the list to receive notice of this upcoming book, add your email HERE.  Learn more on HouseoftheBook.org  

The Hebrew Model:  Restoring Our Original Culture & Story 
by Katie Hansen

Learn more in our The Early Semitic Pictographic Alphabet book.

Trust in the Unknown & Live by Faith

“Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.”

After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses and his people suddenly found themselves pursued by Egyptian soldiers come to recover their slaves. Desperate to preserve their newfound, God-directed freedom they turned toward the unknown. As Moses looked out over the great sea stretched beyond them do you think he must have searched for a solution beyond his understanding? As can only be imagined, could he have reached out over the water with his staff, filled with great anxiety and a need for an unknown way of deliverance to open up? What must have been unknown to Moses and the Israelites, as to even being a possibility, was that the water could move and part, allowing the dry ground to appear as their path of escape.

As this story of Moses illustrates, trusting in the unknown takes a great amount of imaginative, forward and creative thinking. In that creative space of thought and light and desires is where we believe in possibilities and in things which have not yet come to pass. It takes a certain awareness and paradigm shift to be in this place of trust. Yet, life is full of unknowns. Every step we take can bring us to a corner we cannot yet see around or facing a vista we have not yet climbed. Each new day can be called the great unknown. We may attempt to plan our months and years, thinking we can prepare every needful detail, but still find that each day brings so many new situations and unknowns.

At times we may be faced with a great unknown in physical ways, like the Israelites at the Red Sea, but often, it is challenges of emotional, mental and spiritual unknowns. What did the Israelites do? They turned themselves to their promised prophet of deliverance foretold by their father, Joseph. Moses then trusted in an unknown path and went forward full of faith.

Just before their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites received the opportunity to practice trusting in the unknown when they were instructed to kill an unblemished lamb and put the blood of that Lamb on the doorposts. They were told that by doing this act of faith the destroying angel of death would pass over them and their household and not kill the firstfruit of their womb. Can you imagine the amount of trust in their unseen God this required?

Like the Israelites, we too can learn that trusting in the unknowns of life brings peace and hope. We may not be able to see farther than the sun setting over the horizon, but we can remember after the darkness comes the Sun shining brightly with the morning beams of light. It is the way life on Earth was made–with the rotating cycles of the Earth creating a pause of the Sunshine for our nourishment through evenings and seasons of winter. That space of time, the darkness of the unknown and unseen, allows us the opportunity to use our acting power to trust in the God of Heaven, our Creator, not in man; to choose to hope in anticipation of our return to our life in Heaven.

This Way of our Original Culture was laid out and shown by our Creator since the very Creation of this earth. It illustrates a pattern for us to live by and to Be. Our original people and families had to search out what they did not see and know. They knew their mind and heart were created for searching and finding unknowns and that which is unseen. This is how God's people have always come to know great truths. It is this proving process that develops inner strength and integrity of character.  Many of us, like the Children of Israel, have taken our turn wandering step by step in the wilderness for “40 years”, a span of time necessary for the ripening process to occur within us; learning and growing in preparation for that Promised Land God has in store for us to inherit.

When Adam & Eve left the garden, did they understand how it would all play out? Did they know that eventually they would receive angelic ministers who would show them more direction on how they could return back to the garden? Did they know it would be hundreds of years before they could come back into God’s presence? They most likely did not. However, when the angel asked why they were offering sacrifices to their God, Adam’s response revealed this pattern: “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.”

Adam and Eve’s story reveals an instructive pattern that when our God offers direction through the Holy Spirit to us, or through messengers, we most likely will not know why at first. It is unknown. Yet that knowledge and inner knowing will come as we honor our heavenly and earthly parents and Christ, the King of this earth, step into the unknown, accept what the darkness brings, and walk forward until further instructions come. For the best of directions, the unknown will be revealed through that which is recorded in ancient scripture, from our God through the Holy Spirit.

Each of us is invited to follow the patterns set by Nature’s laws and continually search and trust in the unknowns. The way of Faith is an unknown path, which quickly becomes known as we act in faith. This “knowing” can quickly become unknown again, revealing a continuous cycle and rotation of knowns and unknowns, that which is seen and that which is unseen. This is our Original Culture & Story; trust in the unknown and unseen; trust in our God and Creator. This trust brings us closer to knowing God and His Way as we embrace our personal journey of Becoming like Him. It is only through these soul-stretching experiences that growth is even possible. God's way of allowing us to grope in the dark through the unknowns of life is truly a sign of his love for and confidence in us, his children.

~ Excerpt from The Hebrew Model: Restoring Our Original Culture & Story.  To get on the list to receive notice of this upcoming book, add your email HERE.  Learn more on HouseoftheBook.org

The Hebrew Model:  Restoring Our Original Culture & Story 
by Katie Hansen

Learn more in our The Early Semitic Pictographic Alphabet book.

Extending Loving Kindness

Long, long ago in the land of Israel, there lived two brothers who loved each other very much. They were poor wheat farmers, and they shared but one field, which yielded very little harvest during the year. The younger brother lived on one side of the field in a two-room house with his wife and children, and the older brother lived alone in a one-room house on the opposite side of the field.

One night during harvest-time, the older brother awoke suddenly. He sat up in his bed, thinking, “It’s not fair that I should receive an equal share of the wheat with my brother. He should have a greater share because he has a wife and children to feed besides himself. It must be very difficult for him, yet he never complains.”

So the older brother got up from his bed, dressed, and went out to where he kept his wheat. It took him several trips across the dark field to carry a goodly portion of his wheat to his brother’s wheat pile. When he returned home, he slept peacefully the rest of the night.

Later that same night the younger brother awoke suddenly. He sat up in his bed, thinking, “It’s not fair that I should receive an equal share of the wheat with my brother. I have a wife and children. When I grow old, I will have someone to care for me, to provide food for me. My brother has no children. When he grows old, he will be alone. He should have the greater share of the wheat so that he can sell some of it to provide for his old age.”

So the younger brother got up from his bed, dressed, and went out to where he kept his wheat. It took him several trips across the dark field to carry a goodly portion of his wheat to his brother’s wheat pile. When he returned home, he slept peacefully the rest of the night.

The next day each brother looked in amazement at his own pile of wheat, only to discover that it had not diminished!

The brothers again worked in the field, divided the wheat, and added wheat to each other’s pile during the night. And so it continued for many nights during the harvest.

One night as the older brother was carrying his wheat across the field, he saw his younger brother carrying his wheat across the field. They stopped and looked at each other and at what the other one was carrying. Then they understood why the wheat piles never grew smaller. They both realized how much they loved and cared for each other.

The brothers dropped their bundles of wheat to the ground, ran to each other, and embraced.

God saw the love that these brothers had for each other. He blessed their field, and the field became more and more fertile. The brothers grew much wheat together, enough for both to live on when they grew older.

Humanity has shown a long-standing tradition and pattern of love and kindness that can be seen from this story of two brothers carrying nourishing wheat to each other’s pile. Perhaps this verse gives insight into the origin…...

“Show me thy ways, oh Lord, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me for thou art my God and my salvation… Remember, oh Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions…” Psalms 25:4-6

In recognition of our great need for redemption and liberty from our human frailties and weakness, we see that we are utterly dependent on our Creator’s extension of mercy in our life. He is the giver of all good gifts and lovingkindness to us. He gives us the breath of life each moment and provides the life-giving Earth and the power within us to act in accordance with our will towards abundance or scarcity.

Is it possible in all this, He has given us living examples and models of a law of life and a cultural way of living that holds these standards? He graciously offers us the direction, laws and embodied examples in the lives of many great and noble souls along our path to return back to the Garden of Eden and live with Him.

Abraham and Sarah emulated this culture when they entertained three holy visitors at the door of their tent. Abraham bowed himself low. He washed their feet and invited them to rest in the shade of the tree. He and Sarah then extended themselves further to prepare bread, meat and milk so their guests could be nourished as they rested.

This kindness of strangers, or of family members, shows us how to be. It shows us the way of our original culture. It is our story and who we are. It was not just everyday kindness which was shown, it went beyond the gestures and much deeper. Abraham and Sarah went out of their way to make a special meal of bread, to kill one of their animals to provide meat, and milk their animals for more than just water to drink. This hospitality shows additional levels of an extension of themselves and a sacrificing of their own provisions. It was done with a familial effort of love.

When Jesus of Nazareth taught of the traveler who fell among thieves and was passed over by a Priest and a Levite, and eventually picked up by a Samaritan man who dressed his wounds, and carried him to an inn to provide for him then and in the future, he showed us our Original Culture and story. This was an act of true love; a familial effort of loving sacrifice and lovingkindness.

No matter the person, whether a friend or an enemy, extending ourselves in this lovingkindness is who we are. This understanding and choice goes far beyond a specific religion to the foundation of humanity, and helps us comprehend our Original Culture & Story of service and ministry modeled after a pattern as far back as the extension of Light to all Creation from the Creator though the Sun, Moon and Stars.

The Hebrew Model:  Restoring Our Original Culture & Story 
by Katie Hansen

~ Excerpt from The Hebrew Model: Restoring Our Original Culture & Story.  To get on the list to receive notice of this upcoming book, add your email HERE.  

Learn more from our Hebrew Vocab Study PDF on Loving-Kindness HERE.  

Learn more in our The Early Semitic Pictographic Alphabet book.