{"id":27511,"date":"2026-08-26T08:54:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27511"},"modified":"2026-08-26T10:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:09:37","slug":"27511","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27511","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The True Seed Within<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"India.Arie - I Am Light (Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ism8dBjxKvc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Wednesday, August 26, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The words, \u201cnot I, but Christ\u201d urged me to come home to myself more fully, to the petaled truth buried deep within.<br>\u2014Sue Monk Kidd,&nbsp;<em>When the Heart Waits<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The author Sue Monk Kidd reflects on her midlife discovery of the concept of the true self:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over and over again God calls you and me \u2026 to the cultivation of what Meister Eckhart called the \u201ctrue seed\u201d within us. God calls us to tend what lies seeded in the soul, this kernel of our truest nature\u2014the God-image or True Self\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout our lives we create patterns of living that obscure this identity. We heap on the darkness, constructing a variety of false selves. We become adept at playing games, wearing masks as if life were a masquerade party. This can go on for a long while. But eventually the music of the True Self seeks us out. <strong>Sooner or later (often in midlife), we\u2019re summoned back to the garden. We\u2019re called to soul-work<\/strong>\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soul wants to be acknowledged and nurtured. The True Self wants to bloom and grow. And the way to begin this spiritual flowering is to<strong> confront your false selves\u2014the ego patterns you have created\u2014and come home to who you really are inside.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Monk Kidd compares soul work to the art of whittling:&nbsp;<\/em><br><br>The art of soulmaking is taking our lives in our hands and\u2014with all the love and discernment we can muster\u2014gently whittling away the parts that don\u2019t resemble the True Self. In spiritual whittling, though, we don\u2019t discard the shavings. <strong>Transformation happens not by rejecting these parts of ourselves but by gathering them up and integrating them. <\/strong>Through this process we reach a new wholeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spiritual whittling is an<strong> encounter with Mystery, waiting, the silence of inner places\u2014all those things most folks no longer have time for.<\/strong> I\u2019ll be honest. As I began my own spiritual whittling, I often clung to my \u201cblock of wood\u201d resistantly. After all, wasn\u2019t I fine just as I was?&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there were also days when I felt drawn to try, when I yearned to discover how I was living falsely\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The writings of Thomas Merton encouraged me. He envisioned much of the spiritual life as <strong>whittling away the false self in order to become the True Self.<\/strong> He called the struggle for authenticity a \u201ccontemplative crisis\u201d and insisted that no one can avoid it, that eventually we all \u201cget the treatment.\u201d According to Merton, \u201cOne\u2019s actual self may be far from \u2018real,\u2019 since it may be profoundly alienated from one\u2019s own deep spiritual identity. <strong>To reach one\u2019s \u2018real self\u2019 one must, in fact, be delivered from that illusory and false \u2018self\u2019 whom we have created.<\/strong>\u201d [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How real am I, I asked myself. What are the illusions I\u2019ve created? What false selves do I need to pare away? Those are the whittling questions. Taken seriously, they\u2019re tough and agonizing. \u201c<strong>We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves,<\/strong>\u201d wrote Merton. [2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=====================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following introduces the work of Wayne Jacobsen.   And how he is beginning to use AI to assist readers in finding his thoughts from his life in writing, speaking and teaching.   (A dozen books and over 1000 podcasts).  Like all of us, he is nervous about AI and shares some examples of it&#8217;s use here&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d\/images\/be4d08d7-6158-48cc-b30b-b58df1597274.png\" width=\"564\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>What Does it Mean to Make Disciples?08\/25\/2026<br><br><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AITrailGuide-600x314.png 600w, https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AITrailGuide-200x105.png 200w, https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AITrailGuide-750x393.png 750w, https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AITrailGuide.png 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AITrailGuide-600x314.png\" alt=\"\"><br>A few weeks ago,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=7d37cc1165&amp;e=425240be9a\">we introduced the new Trail Guide at Lifestream and The God Journey<\/a>&nbsp;websites with some trepidation. It\u2019s a chatbot loaded with all the information from those websites and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=f53f99debb&amp;e=425240be9a\">My Friend Luis<\/a>, as well as all my books. It can help people search those resources as well as summarize my thoughts on a variety of topics drawn from my writings and podcasts.I get that some people are deeply concerned about AI and its future, and question my use of it here. I appreciate those concerns, which is why I keep a close check on the Trail Guide. As long as it\u2019s helpful, we will keep it available. &nbsp;But it is on a short leash, should something go awry. Weekly, I get to review a log of the questions and answers from the previous week to ensure that all is well. Rest assured, however, that I do not see the names of anyone asking questions, since the Trail Guide does not ask for, nor does it retain, any identifying information about who is interacting with the Trail Guide.<br>       So, how is it working? &nbsp;Better than I could have hoped. I\u2019m fascinated by how it can pull from so many sources and come up with summaries that are accurate and helpful, as well as provide additional links if people want to explore the answer a bit more deeply. The way people are using the Trail Guide is exactly what I hoped for. It allows you to access my content and explore topics that might interest you.For those who haven\u2019t tried it yet, here are a few examples of what it does:<br>       <strong>Q: What does Wayne teach about making disciples?  Trail Guide:<\/strong>&nbsp;Wayne\u2019s understanding of discipleship is quite different from what most people have been taught. He sees it not as a program or a set of practices to master, but as learning to follow Jesus himself\u2014and that happens through relationship, not religious instruction. In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=077b0867f4&amp;e=425240be9a\"><em>Learning to Follow the Shepherd<\/em>,<\/a>&nbsp;Wayne pushes back against the idea that discipleship means building a relationship with God through intellectual principles or becoming like a particular teacher.The real goal, he says, is to become a follower of Jesus\u2014to reflect the Father\u2019s nature in the world. That means learning to listen to his voice and follow him, not following a person or a program.&nbsp;What makes discipleship real, in Wayne\u2019s view, is&nbsp;<em>conversation and relationship<\/em>. In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=052266d705&amp;e=425240be9a\"><em>The Approval Addiction<\/em>,<\/a>&nbsp;he reflects on how Jesus discipled his friends by talking with them about what mattered most\u2014not performing for an audience, but inviting them into genuine friendship. The goal of a good teacher, he says, is to enable people to do what he\u2019s done and even more, not to create dependency on himself.This comes through clearly in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=07abc49564&amp;e=425240be9a\"><em>So You Don\u2019t Want to Go to Church Anymore?<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;Wayne\u2019s novel about a disillusioned pastor learning from a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to John the apostle. The story shows discipleship as it really works: asking questions, helping someone see what they haven\u2019t seen before, and pointing them toward Jesus rather than toward yourself.Wayne also teaches that real discipleship happens when people learn to&nbsp;<em>recognize the&nbsp;Father\u2019s voice<\/em>&nbsp;in their own lives\u2014not when they\u2019re told what to believe or how to behave.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=eebc121b9b&amp;e=425240be9a\"><em>In The Church Jesus Modeled<\/em><\/a>, he contrasts this with the religious approach of making \u201cgood practitioners of Christianity\u201d through programs. True discipleship, he says, is about helping people discover Jesus\u2019s voice and learn to follow him\u2014so they don\u2019t need you anymore.Sources:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=864ca44011&amp;e=425240be9a\">The Approval Addiction (#566)<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=f932fdd9a2&amp;e=425240be9a\">The Church Jesus Modeled (#809)<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=2014ec248a&amp;e=425240be9a\">Learning to Follow the Shepherd<\/a><br>      This exchange made me laugh as a typo, or autocorrect, caused some initial confusion, but the Trail Guide finally understood:<strong>Q: Tell me about living from foldersTrail Guide:<\/strong>&nbsp;I\u2019m not finding where Wayne takes up \u201cliving from folders\u201d directly in the material I have at hand. That phrase doesn\u2019t surface in his books, articles, or podcast episodes that I can see.Could you say a bit more about what you mean?&nbsp;Once I understand what you\u2019re getting at, I can point you toward what Wayne has said&nbsp;that might speak to it.<br>        <strong>Q: FullnessTrail Guide:&nbsp;<\/strong>I\u2019d love to help, but I\u2019m not quite sure what you\u2019re asking about. When you say \u201cfullness,\u201d are you wondering about: Living in the fullness of God\u2019s love and the Father\u2019s affection? Experiencing fullness in your relationship with Jesus day to day? Something else entirely? A quick word would help me point you toward what Wayne has written that speaks to&nbsp;what\u2019s on your heart.<strong>Q: Living from fullness.   Trail Guide:&nbsp;<\/strong>Living from fullness is one of Wayne\u2019s most central themes \u2014 and it\u2019s the opposite of what most of us have been taught to do. The heart of it is this: fullness isn\u2019t something you achieve or figure out. It\u2019s not about keeping rules or getting your life in order first. You\u2019re already rooted in Christ, already complete in him. The work is learning to&nbsp;<em>live<\/em>&nbsp;from that reality instead of constantly&nbsp;reaching outside yourself \u2014 to your job, your relationships, your circumstances, money,&nbsp;respect \u2014 trying to fill a hole that only God can fill.When your fullness comes from the Father\u2019s love and presence, everything changes.&nbsp;You stop&nbsp;<em>needing<\/em>&nbsp;things from people or situations to make you whole. That frees you to&nbsp;love others without desperation, to respond to life from a full tank rather than an empty&nbsp;one. As Wayne puts it, when you\u2019re full in God, you can live toward others in genuine&nbsp;love \u2014 what he and Tobie van der Westhuizen call \u201cthe justice of love\u201d \u2014 instead of&nbsp;using them to get what you\u2019re missing.The practical side is simple but profound: when you notice discontent rising, when you\u2019re grasping for something outside yourself, pause and redirect your heart. \u201cI want&nbsp;my fullness to be in you,\u201d not in that thing, that person\u2019s approval, that outcome. Over&nbsp;time, that reorienting becomes a way of life.&nbsp;Wayne explores this beautifully in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=2eaedb02d0&amp;e=425240be9a\">Living from Fullness (#1009)<\/a>, and it\u2019s woven through&nbsp;Just Love&nbsp;and his teaching on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=0e42b485f1&amp;e=425240be9a\">Affection Presence And Fullness<\/a>. You might also find the&nbsp;curated page&nbsp;How can I live every day in the Father\u2019s love?&nbsp;a rich place to explore this&nbsp;theme more deeply.Sources:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=1e967819f6&amp;e=425240be9a\">Living from Fullness (#1009)<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=cd3a212bbb&amp;e=425240be9a\">&nbsp;Affection Presence And Fullness<\/a><br>     And sometimes I ask it a question, just to see how it will answer:<strong>Q: How does the business model behind religious institutions distort the authenticity of its message?Trail Guide:<\/strong>Wayne sees the business model behind religious institutions as fundamentally at odds with the gospel itself. Once money enters the picture\u2014salaries to pay, buildings to maintain, growth metrics to hit\u2014the machinery takes over, and the message gets distorted almost inevitably.In&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=477d3516fd&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cMonetizing Ministry,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;Wayne traces how this happens. When an institution depends on donations and revenue, decision-making revolves around economics rather than the Spirit\u2019s leading. Large donors gain leverage. Pastors are forced to sign non-compete clauses. Publishers become publicly traded corporations chasing shareholder profits. The result is that we\u2019ve moved from serving God\u2019s kingdom to building our own\u2014valuing size, influence, money, and notoriety instead of the obscurity, servanthood, and flexibility that actually mark Jesus\u2019s way.The deeper problem is that money&nbsp;<em>always wins out<\/em>, even among those who start with the best intentions. Jesus said you cannot serve God and money, but we\u2019ve convinced ourselves we can blend them. We can\u2019t. The business model doesn\u2019t just distort the message\u2014it replaces it. Instead of inviting people into genuine encounter with the Father, institutions resort to pressure and manipulation, framing attendance as obligation and threatening spiritual danger for those who leave.What gets lost is authenticity itself. When people have to perform to please leadership whose success depends on their obedience, when guilt and fear become the tools of \u201caccountability,\u201d the relational heart of the gospel\u2014living loved, known by the Father\u2014disappears. The machinery grinds on, but the life is gone.If this resonates with you,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=73e3f7ffde&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cFinding Church\u201d<\/a>explores what authentic church actually looks like when it\u2019s freed from institutional frameworks, and the curated page&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=cfb7c7db75&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cWhere will I find the church Jesus is building?\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;gathers Wayne\u2019s best work on this theme.Sources: &nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=4c95cc116d&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">Monetizing Ministry,&nbsp;<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=efbbaffebf&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">Finding Church<\/a>The post&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=f078ae6e72&amp;e=425240be9a\">What Does it Mean to Make Disciples?<\/a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=dbd3b18d16&amp;e=425240be9a\">Lifestream | Wayne Jacobsen<\/a>.<br>&nbsp;<em>This post is published at&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/lifestream.org\/\">Lifestream.org<\/a>. View the original post at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=a635af15f7&amp;e=425240be9a\">https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/what-does-it-mean-to-make-disciples\/<\/a><\/em><br><br>Other recent posts:<br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=e8bccae2ed&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">When Tragedy Shakes Your Faith<\/a><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=bbbb11f448&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">Just Love \u2014 Audiobook Now Available<\/a><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=ec535258f0&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">The Love that Changes Everything<\/a><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=1654a8959d&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">Will You Help Us Again in Kenya?<\/a><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestream.us1.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=5a3e129486c9888b069e4f98d&amp;id=6655798e71&amp;e=425240be9a\" target=\"_blank\">How the Early Church Viewed Salvation<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The True Seed Within Wednesday, August 26, 2026 The words, \u201cnot I, but Christ\u201d urged me to come home to myself more fully, to the petaled truth buried deep within.\u2014Sue Monk Kidd,&nbsp;When the Heart Waits The author Sue Monk Kidd reflects on her midlife discovery of the concept of the true self:&nbsp; Over and over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27511"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27520,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27511\/revisions\/27520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}