gospel of Thomas 42

Jesus said, "Become passers-by."

This is the shortest of the verses in the Gospel of Thomas. And as with most spiritual teachings, the more succinct they are, the more valuable, the more they contain. Everything to do with spirituality is paradoxical. And this aspect of teaching is one such paradox. When someone waffles on – a bit like Andy does – the words usually don't go so deep. And when someone says something very brief, as Jesus has here, usually it is pointing to something very profound.

Jesus said, become passers-by. Ah, yes. Most people are not passers-by. Or at least live most of their life without being a passer-by. They create a home somewhere. They become settled. They become comfortable. This homemaking, this settling, is really a substitute for coming home to our essence, to an inner homecoming.

We feel we are missing something. We feel out of place in the world. So we try to fill that void by creating a home – a place where we can put down roots, where we can feel part of the community. All of this is really trying to compensate for something that is felt as a lack within us – a lack of connection to the rest of existence and to other people; and a lack of really feeling at home in life.

So we stop being passers-by. We stop being nomadic. And we become settled. It can be very comfortable – comforting. We need not look anymore at what is around us. We become familiar with our surroundings, with our environment. And we need no longer be attentive to it. We can live from habit.

And here, in this short saying, Jesus is guiding us to a different way of being in the world. Become passers-by, he says. A passer-by lives an unsettled life. He is moving. Changing. He doesn't put down roots. He doesn't create a physical home in the material world.

And by remaining in this unsettled way, in the outer world, the drive to find home remains. It remains alive within us. We continue seeking. What we are seeking is on the inside. And if we make substitutes in the outer world, then the energy of seeking decreases, without us ever finding our true home, which is our essence, the essential part of who we are, our spirit. And that is only found through seeking, through looking within.

That's why Jesus says, become passers-by. Don't expect to find truth on the outside, by becoming settled in one place. No. Move on. Live in the moment wherever you are. But don't become habituated to one place or one way of living. Keep moving. This way, there is much more chance of finding our inner self, the truth that is within us.

And also, we remain attentive to what is on the outside, because that also is changing, whilst we are moving on. That ever changing environment demands our attention and our awareness. We cannot live from habit. We cannot fall into a routine. We need to be always alive, alert to the moment.

And with this attitude of being a passer-by, we do not form attachments. We can enjoy the moment. We can enjoy relating to the people around us. But we do not form an attachment. Our joy in life does not depend on the specifics of our current circumstance.

And this more detached way of being in the world is ultimately much more healthy. It reflects the true nature of existence. Everything in existence is changing, is passing away anyway. Nothing is permanent. And if we become attached to a particular place, a particular person, or a particular lifestyle, then sooner or later, we will suffer terribly – when those outer circumstances change. So for this reason too. Become a passer-by, as Jesus suggests.