Did you hear the question? “He who loves his life will lose it; and he who”—he didn’t say the word “hate” but is willing to sacrifice it, really—-“will keep it for life eternal.” Well, really this goes back to the mystery of God himself who is willing to leave the form of God. Being in the form of God, he didn’t think it, well, unnatural or right to claim equality with God. He was in the form of God and he emptied himself and took upon himself the slave, the form of man, and became obedient unto death, even the death of man . To answer that question intelligently I have to go back to the 10th of John and not quote what you have quoted, that “No man takes away my life, I lay it down myself. I have the right to lay it down and the right to take it up again.” This is not a little thing called Neville, loving life, who because he loves life will lose it. We’re speaking only of Christ here. Were he unwilling to sacrifice his divine being and limit himself to human form, God could not expand. God’s creative power is personified in scripture as Christ Jesus. If Christ Jesus, the creative power of God, was unwilling to empty himself of his divine power and limit himself to the opacity that is man, and this contraction that is man, God could not expand beyond what he was prior to the decision to expand further. So it’s not the two of us on this level; it is the creative power of God who willingly limited himself to us, and took upon himself the limitation of man which is the limit of contraction, the limit of opacity, that it may expand. For until it took this limit, it couldn’t expand, and, therefore, there would be no further growth or expansion of God and his creative power were it not that he first limited himself. So it doesn’t refer to us on this world, trying to save our little garments for an extra few years…isn’t that at all. This is the story of the creative power of God personified as Christ Jesus; so had he not lost his life in this restriction, there could be no expansion of God into eternal life beyond what it was prior to that decision. And that being spoken of in scripture as Christ Jesus is seated right there where you are as your own wonderful human Imagination. And that took upon itself the limitation of the garment that you’re wearing, and because of that restriction it would expand beyond the wildest dream of anyone on earth. In the end we are the creative power of God altogether personified as Christ Jesus. For Christ Jesus is the personification of his creative power and we are his creative power, so all gathered together into a single being that is man, that is God. So don’t at any moment try not to someway protect the garment that you’re wearing. No, protect it…it doesn’t mean that at all…whatever is necessary to make it comfortable and to prolong its time interval here (if you can). I don’t think anyone prolongs it, personally, but if one believes they can I’m all for it. I dined with a chap last Wednesday night, you all know him, I won’t mention his name. His mother died just a few days before her 102nd birthday. He just celebrated his 79th. He’s determined to go to 102, too. His sister, older than he is, brother older, I think, and they all are quite alive and they eat heartily, drink heartily, do all the things that people think you shouldn’t do to prolong it. He’s so convinced because his mother died at 102 that he will go to 102 that he has no restrictions to save or not to save his body. So, this “not saving my life,” I wouldn’t put it on this level. I would put it on the higher level of God completely giving up his infinite power and restricting himself to us. And in that way he saves his life, he expands it. He goes beyond what it was prior to the restriction. By dying he lives…the mystery of life through death.272 ¶42