REPENT!

…for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Language and therefore words can be such a fickle thing, especially when it pertains to dialogue correlating to specific ethnic groups. My “downtown Beaufort” vernacular is worlds away from the parlance of dramatic jargon used by my friend group, particularly after we haven’t seen each other in a while. To the common ear our language would seem foreign. If someone were to dictate one of those conversations and tried to translate it, they would more than likely misinterpret what was said, failing to grasp the importance of the emotions behind some phrases, altogether missing the appropriate diacritics. But what happens when meaning gets misinterpreted and translation gets lost when we’re talking about the important things of the soul?

“Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.” Originally written in Koine Greek, this phrase is translated to, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near” and is taken from Yeshua in Matthew 4:17 of the New Testament. But what happens when we break this down word by word to get much clearer understanding of its true meaning?

First let’s look at the transliteration (Greek letters written with Latin characters so non-Greek readers can pronounce them) version of the text accompanied by the Greek meanings of each word: Metanoeite, ēngiken gar hē basileia tōn ouranōn.

• Meta from Metanoeite or Metanoia- “meta” indicates going beyond or transcending.
• Noia- (taken from nous-mind)- the dominion of consciousness, understanding, and thought.
• Ēngiken-already present, arrived, within reach.
• Basileia tōn ouranōn- “the kingdom of the heavens”—not a physical plane but a state of awareness/consciousness.

By breaking down and appropriately translating this verse we have a totally different scripture: “Shift your perception/expand your mind/awareness because the state of divine reality is already present.” Metanoeite literally means “expand your awareness beyond what you currently perceive.”

Many modern-day Christians and followers of Yeshua would presumably conclude that “Repent” means to acknowledge wrongdoing, ask for forgiveness, and try to do better. But “Metanoeite” has nothing to do with guilt at all. After researching the original language of Matthew 4:17 and the consequent revelation I experienced, I felt substantially closer to Yeshua–I realized he was a quantum physicist!

“Reality is merely an illusion – albeit a very persistent one.” -quote attributed to Albert Einstein.

Yeshua and Einstein were on the same page about reality, and honestly, Yeshua had to be one of the first people delving deeply into quantum physics, although no one knew it at the time… or perhaps even now.

There’s this cool experiment in quantum physics called The Double-Slit experiment (if you want to be amazed or go down a rabbit hole search for it on YouTube). Basically, atoms were shot through a barrier with two small slits in it and behind the barrier was a screen that detected where the atoms landed. When there was no one present to measure where the atoms landed, there was an interference pattern on the back screen (like a wave pattern of light/dark/light/dark or pattern you would see when you shine light through a screen with multiple slits in it). Now get this, as soon as scientists added a tiny sensor at the slits (an observer) to see exactly which slit each atom went through, the pattern disappeared, and you only got atoms landing in the pattern of the two slits like individual particles.

So quick review: atoms act like waves when no one is watching and when you introduce a sensor/observer they behave as particles. Atoms are the building block of all our physical reality—everything from your hair and organs to airplanes and clouds are made of them. What the Double-Slit Experiment shed light on was the freaky behavior atoms exhibit and just how much our reality really isn’t what it seems to be.

So, you may be asking, “how does this all tie back into Matthew 4:17 and Yeshua, The Quantum Physicist? The Double Slit Experiment revealed that when we introduce an observer, wavelengths collapse into particles. So, reality is – in actuality – wavelengths that have collapsed into physical matter because someone has observed them. Therefore, you have the ability to create your own reality and this all depends heavily on what your mind currently perceives to be real/true/possible.

Our brains don’t actually see reality straightforwardly. The brain constantly attempts to minimize prediction error (gap between what is expected and what’s real) by repetitively endeavoring to predict what’s about to happen. Therefore, the brain will build a model of the world from past experiences. The brain speculates this model is correct. Each thing that matches the model feels safe/true, and anything that doesn’t match feels unsafe/false even if it’s better for you.

For example, if you have lived a life long enough in scarcity, lack, fear, trauma, or anxiety your brain will encode this experience as “normal.” It will then predict and recreate similar conditions to stay consistent with the model. At this point even love, abundance, and well-being can feel threatening or wrong/abnormal.

Shifting Consciousness and Metanoeite-

If you have consistent thoughts about scarcity, lack, fear, or worry and you pay attention to those thoughts (you constantly observe them) then those wavelengths will collapse into the tangible because your brain is using a predictability model to collapse those wavelengths into form. But if you REPENT now, you will see heaven has arrived.

In your shifting of consciousness/awareness you don’t have to force abundance/love/well-being, you simply update the prediction model by supplying the brain with new, convincing evidence of abundance/love/well-being. Things like visualization, gratitude, and acting “as if” work neurologically; those are wavelength states (the intangible) that you are focusing on/observing and what happens to wavelengths once they are observed? They become the tangible.

Believe that you deserve the absolute best there is and there is nothing too good for you. Envision yourself living your best life. Act as if you have everything you want. Practice gratitude for what is and what is coming. Forgive and let go. Give peace and understanding while reframing from judgement. Yes, this will make you a better person and presumably make the world a little bit better but in actuality this will be a selfish act because if you are able to only observe love then your reality will only be…