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#Post#: 1454--------------------------------------------------
The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 25, 2015, 7:26 am
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Drawing in the Net
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
Growing Seed
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
Hidden Treasure
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
Lamp under a Bushel
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>Leaven
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/> Lost Coin
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>Lost Sheep
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
Mustard Seed
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
Pearl of Great Price
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>
Sower
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>
Tares
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>
Ten Virgins
http://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com/kerry's-blog/the-parables-of-jesus…
/>
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Remaining
Counting the Cost
New Wine into Old Wineskins
5:37�39
Parable of the Good Samaritan
Parable of the Mustard Seed
13:18�19
Parable of the Prodigal Son
Parable of the strong man
11:21�22
Parable of the Wedding Feast
Pharisees and the Publican
Rich man and Lazarus
The Barren Fig Tree
The Budding Fig Tree
21:29�33
The Faithful Servant
12:35�48
The Friend at Night
The Great Banquet
The Master and Servant
The Rich Fool
The Sheep and the Goats
The Talents or Minas
The Two Debtors
The Two Sons
The Unforgiving Servant
The Unjust Judge
The Unjust Steward
The Wicked Husbandmen
The Wise and the Foolish Builders
The Workers in the Vineyard
#Post#: 1455--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 25, 2015, 7:51 am
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The Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto
treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he
hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath,
and buyeth that field.
The earth means the earth. "The man" was made out of the
earth: H'adam was made out of adamah. There is something of
great value hidden within the very atoms of the earth. Matter
is dark and dead, you say? Ah, but all things are possible
with God; and the Power of God can raise up sons of Abraham from
the rocks. And do we not also read:
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the
honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Do we also not read that God said He would dwell in the
darkness?
2 Chronicles 6:1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he
would dwell in the thick darkness.
But God is Light, you say? Yes, God is Light; but the Divine
Light can be concealed. At His Word, the Light that was once
concealed within the darkness appears. The Glory of God is
revealed. So we also read that the Glory of God filled the
Temple.
7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came
down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the
sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.
Yes, there is something of wonderful value concealed in the dirt
-- in the "dark nature" of man. The glorified body God wishes
us to have is not created later out of nothing but rather the
corruptible is made incorruptible.
Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew
not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will
make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and
then shall every man have praise of God.
Those who have received the Light and let it shine are praising
God for all to see.
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Note it: Changed. One thing is changed into another. The
spiritual body is not created out of nothing later.
1 Corinthians 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It
is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
Yes, sown in the lowly dirt.
#Post#: 1456--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 25, 2015, 8:09 am
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Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure
hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and
sold all that he had, and bought it.
We have dealt with the treasure of the earth. Here we learn
that there is also a treasure in the sea. The soul can be said
to be made of water; and you can even think of human souls as
fish in the sea. There is hidden Glory of God in this sea --
like there is salt in the ocean which can be made useful by
boiling off the excess water; but here the symbol given is the
pearl.
Now the sea -- the astral plane -- can be a place of the most
unclean things. "From ghoulies and ghosties. And long-leggedy
beasties. And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord,
deliver us!" But there is something of value if it can be
changed.
Consider the oyster, an unclean creature, a bottom feeder that
consumes who knows what. Yet it can make pearls.
Pearls are extraordinary things. They do not emit light, and
they do not reflect it. Rather they refract light. Each
molecule of the pearl acts like a tiny prism, so if white light
is shone on it, it can send out all the colors of the rainbow.
The color you see in an area of a pearl depends on the angle of
refraction.
Pearls are also made layer upon layer, built up over time; and
so the soul also perfects itself by collecting what is of value
out of the astral plane and building up itself.
When everything of value has been removed from the astral plane,
it will serve no more purpose. Thus the sea will be no more as
John writes in Revelation.
#Post#: 1562--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 27, 2015, 6:30 pm
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Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net,
that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down,
and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
This process of casting the net is continual and will continue
until the end of the age. It is similar to the parable about
the pearl in being about retrieving what is of value from the
astral plane or sea. At present, the things of value are
retrieved and preserved and the bad is cast back into the sea to
be recycled. Virtues are preserved, vices tossed back into the
sea to be dissolved again so they can be recycled.
At the end of the age the process is slightly different. The
worthless will not be returned to the sea to be dissolved and
recycled but rather burned -- a different sort of recycling
reducing the worthless to dust and ashes.
Compare this passage to that from Revelation:
Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
21:21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no
more sea.
What is called the upper waters and lower waters in Genesis will
be one. There will no further need for "the sea" below to exist
as it does now with the firmament separating the two. That
separation was temporary in order to restrain evil to the region
below.
Genesis 1: 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
The careful reader will notice that God does not say this was
good. Nothing good was made on this day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was
so.
Here we see the beginning of the drawing of the net. The net
drew the earth out of the waters. This was good; and then on
day three we see also life in the form of plants emerging from
the earth. This was good; and God said it was.
This sea is the same sea Jesus spoke of here:
Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones
that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
It is better for the person so inclined since he would be
prevented from committing continuing abuses. Yes, of course it
is better for the innocent children too; but it is better too
for the guilty to be thrown into the sea so their evil can be
recycled before it becomes a major problem. The soul is not
usually destroyed in hell; but if the defects are too many, it
is a possibility that there will not be enough of it left to
hold together after all its defects are removed. And if the
soul is destroyed, there will not be a correct body in the
resurrection. There will come a time when the sea is no more,
and the person can no longer work at perfecting the soul. Some
may survive the trial by fire but in an unfortunate condition.
Revelation 22: 14 Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
#Post#: 1596--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Helen Date: April 28, 2015, 3:09 pm
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A good read Kerry.
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7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
The careful reader will notice that God does not say this was
good. Nothing good was made on this day.
--------------------
Well that goes to show how un-careful I am,.... No, I never ever
noticed that!!
#Post#: 1599--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 28, 2015, 5:38 pm
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Did you notice that God also does not say after making man that
he was good? The man was made poised half way between good and
evil. He could choose either. If he chose correctly, choosing
love and goodness, God could then impart some of His own Glory
to him. He would also be more like God, more worthy of God's
Love, thus proving that God was right in making man in the first
place.
Each saint which does this also disproves the accusations of
Satan. Imagine Satan as chief prosecutor in the courts of
Heaven. The saints are also called to testify and their
testimony shows that God did not err in making man, that He
was right in loving them even when they looked unworthy.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and
the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
God is also right then to crown the saints with some of His
Glory. If man were a mere puppet, he would be more like a clod
of dead dirt than he was like God; and if he were a puppet, he
could never become more like God. So man was not made good in
the beginning but it was God's intention that he become good.
And so he shall too.
#Post#: 1625--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Helen Date: April 29, 2015, 9:03 am
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Amen...excellent post....I really like that. :)
#Post#: 1651--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 30, 2015, 8:56 pm
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Luke 15:3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of
them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and
go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and
neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found
my sheep which was lost.
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just
persons, which need no repentance.
It is easy to see that this parable portrays Jesus as the Good
Shepherd who wishes to save sinners. What may be missed however
is that the lost sheep is valued by the shepherd. It is
worth a great deal of effort. It is not a worthless creature.
We can say that the sheep is saved by the good grace of the
shepherd; but we should also see that the shepherd thinks it
worth the effort. Thus again we see that in this world where
things and people look worthless, there is something highly
valuable. Appearances are deceiving. We can call people
sinners and perhaps they are; but within them lies that image
and likeness of God, the potential for them to become sons of
God.
I think we should also see that the sheep is not entirely to
blame. Yes, we can say it was wrong to wander off. It should
have trusted the shepherd and stayed close to him; but I wonder
if that sheep really knew what dangers lay out there in the
world.
What we can say is that it knows after being rescued. It knows
then that safety lies in staying close to the shepherd and
taking his instructions which are meant for his good. The
shepherd understands some things better than the sheep and is
able to protect the sheep better than the sheep can protect
itself. So there is rejoicing that the lost sheep was found but
I think there is rejoicing too that the sheep is less likely to
wander off again and now trusts the shepherd more.
Note too that this parable hints that there are many sheep, and
only a few are lost. In this treacherous world however, where
the lost sheep are wandering about lost, it can look as if all
the sheep are lost. Perhaps all the sheep in this world were
lost at one time.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
The sheep can't rescue themselves; so if they're going to be
rescued, the shepherd has to be willing to do some hard things
himself to find them.
#Post#: 1652--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: April 30, 2015, 10:17 pm
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In Luke, the passage goes on with the parable of the lost coin
following the one about the lost sheep. They are connected by
their theme but slightly different in application.
Luke 15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she
lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house,
and seek diligently till she find it?
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her
neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found
the piece which I had lost.
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
First let's ask why a woman? Did Jesus make the character a
woman at random, or does it mean something? I believe every
detail in the parables of Jesus mean something. So why a
woman?
This goes back to Eve and how Light left the world. Jewish
women still light the Sabbath candles, for they say that light
left this world through a woman and must return through a woman.
It goes back to the conflict between the seed of the woman and
the seed of the woman. If we missed this lesson in Genesis,
here Jesus reminds of it again.
We may be able to see how Mary can be said to have become a
Light-bearer and helped light a light when she agreed with
Gabriel, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy word." What was that word? Why, "Let there
be Light!" Jesus was to enter this world as the Light of the
world.
There is a type of faith or trust found much more commonly in
women than in men. They know what is good and they also know
they don't have it or they lost it. They may not know much
else, but they know that. In this profound ignorance, they
accept their ignorance and ask for light. It is this faith in
God to send Light when it is needed that the virtue of the
Woman is found.
Consider Mary also at the Cross. Did she lose faith despite
how things looked? I say no. She had many things hidden in
her heart as treasures and did not doubt them; and further she
had faith in God too that no matter how things looked at
Calvary, everything would turn out right. Note that we are
told it became dark that day. The sun grew dark.
The virtue of women is also shown by how they ventured forth on
the first day of the week while the men did not. The men were
sensible and logical. Jesus was dead, why bother? But we see
that Mary Magdalene was rewarded for her foolish but trusting
kind of faith. Not only had the physical sun risen, she was
about to see a new Spiritual Light appearing.
This principle of the feminine and light can apply to everyone.
Yes, some people are men; but we all had mothers and we all
have the ability to adopt the feminine posture with respect to
Heaven. If we are like women stumbling around in the darkness
looking for something, we can choose to have the masculine
Light. Thus men may be men in this world; but in the church,
they are part of the Bride of Christ and behave as women do with
their husbands.
Note too that the woman can see something is missing. She has
lost something of value. She doesn't try to blame someone
else for its being missing. Somehow she must have lost it
herself and she's hoping she can find it if only she can have
Light.
Is this not exactly how the penitent sinner is? Does he not
realize he's lost something? If he can remember his youth as an
innocent and loving child, he must wonder where that child
went? There was once something very good and fine about him,
but now it seems to be lost. Surely he may still have his good
points and he may even do many good deeds; but he lost
something. What happened?
If he adopts the masculine mind to solve this, he won't be able
to find the solution. By masculine mind I mean trying to use
reason and logic instead of using the feminine mind which craves
goodness. Reason and logic won't work. That poor woman could
sit and think all day and all night about where her lost coin
could be and wonder if she lost it or if someone stole it.
There is no solution to be found by thinking about it; and there
is no hope of finding it in the darkness without some light.
It is also worth noting that the woman rejoices when she finds
the lost coin. We saw she didn't blame others before it but
merely thought it might be in her house; and when she finds it,
she doesn't beat herself over the head blaming herself and being
unhappy for her previous carelessness. No, she's happy she
found it and she wants to tell her neighbors.
Why tell her neighbors? What would it be to them? This shows
her kind nature. Perhaps they too have lost things and haven't
yet found them. If they can rejoice with her for her success,
maybe they too will be inspired to look for the things they have
lost.
This parable also shows the Jewish attitude towards repentance.
If someone comes to his senses and sees how he's sinned in the
past and created problems for himself and for others, this is a
wonderful thing. It caused problems in the past which we may
regret; but the future promises to be much better. If he really
understands, he won't repeat the same mistakes. That is good
news!
Indeed the Hebrew for "comfort" and "repent" is the same word.
The trials and problems of doing wrong in the past can be
replaced by the benefits of doing right in the future. The
sinner can become a saint! The potential to be a "saint"
already is there, hidden within; and if we want to encourage
that good and innocent nature to grow and mature, we can count
on God to help us. We can find that lost coin.
We were all made in the image and likeness of God. It remains
that we admit it and seek to find it if we feel lost it or lost
bits of it.
The following passage is true in more than one way, I think:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again:
and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they
might obtain a better resurrection:
Yes, yes, we see that most cases of people being raised from the
dead in the Bible are the result of women asking or wanting it
to be so. I think it's also true that our "inner child" is
brought back to life by God when we are like women who wish to
see it restored. We say along with Mary, "Behold the handmaid
of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."
Does anyone doubt it? How can we received the "engrafted Word"
in ourselves if we cannot say that? We see Mary receiving the
Word within her -- and that is one way the Word appeared. Can
we accept then that we are also expected to receive the Word
within but in a different manner?
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which
is able to save your souls.
The first step is to realize something is missing, that
something of value is missing in us, and then finding the
Light. This I call repentance. We seek something of value
that we lost. Beating ourselves up over our past mistakes
won't work. Feeling guilty won't. Blaming others won't. We
can keep on feeling bad about the past, or we can try to take
action to make the future better.
#Post#: 1899--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Parables of Jesus
By: Kerry Date: May 14, 2015, 7:51 pm
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Mathew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have
lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth
good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under
foot of men.
Salt is a cubical crystal. Thus its shape is that of the Holy
City above. Salt here represents the human heart when the
Sacred Flame is lighted. Just as the Holy City has twelve
gates, so too does the human heart have its twelves gates or
petals. Angels can travel in and out of both the Holy City and
the Sacred Heart.
Note too that salt is composed of two elements which are
poisonous when found separately; but when combined, they form
something useful, even critical, for life.
The mistake in Eden was trying to eat of one tree without the
other. The two trees are meant to be one -- are really one in
fact -- but they became damaging when partaken of separately.
The discussion of how man is a tree lies ahead; but Adam and
Eve were to come together themselves in union and then eat of
the two trees together.
Note that they were told they could eat of all the trees. That
would include the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What
Adam was told (it is debatable if Eve was told this directly by
God) was not to eat of that one tree -- meaning, I think, by
itself.
A deep lesson lies in how two poisons which can kill can also
join together and become necessary for life.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace
<shalom>, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Yes, we can say God created sodium and chlorine, the two
poisonous elements. We can call them evil too. But when they
are together, they are good. The concept of shalom is hard to
translate into English with one word. It not only means peace,
but also completion or a state of being whole.
Thus we can say the creation was dark and evil, but all of God's
works were and are good. Similarly man can look around him and
see darkness and evil and do good works.
Salt has another lesson for us since it is found dissolved in
the water of the sea. By applying heat, water is driven off
and the dissolved atoms form salt. If you have what is called
a supersaturated solution of salt where the level of salt is
high in water but the process of crystalization has not begun,
you can drop the tiniest crystal of salt into the water and it
acts as a seed, attracting the sodium and chlorine ions out of
the water to form a much larger crystal quite quickly.
Thus if someone has the proper heart with the Sacred Flame
burning on it, this acts to create order around him. It tends
to duplicate itself. Drop a saint with the proper heart in the
middle of nowhere surrounded by a variety of men, and the ones
ready to receive Divine Light will be attracted by the "salt".
They will want to "join" up with him just the way sodium and
chlorine ions want to join that seed crystal of salt.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill
cannot be hid.
How so if Jesus is the Light of the world as we are told by
John?
John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world.
Jesus is called that since he brought the Light into the world;
but that role was to change.
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the
world.
He imparted Light to his disciples in great measure. We can say
he imparted Light to every person when that person is born, and
that is one way ; but during his life on the earth, we see him
also imparting Light to his disciples in another way. When
Jesus ascended, it was up to his disciples to become the Light
of the world.
I believe that everyone has some Light in some measure and each
person also can share that Light; but that supply is limited by
circumstances. Only the person whose heart resembles the Holy
City above can serve as a beacon for that Heavenly City of which
he is a citizen -- and of which indeed he is one of the lively
stones which the Holy City is built of.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but
on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the
house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Why good works? The Light will go out if there are no good
works. The human heart can be set on fire the way a candle can
be; but it needs fuel also. Do not expect that fuel to come
from Heaven. The fuel is already here "in the earth" to be
brought forth. Here is where man can be said to resemble an
olive tree as well as a candle or lamp. The olive tree needs
to put down roots, get water and air and light from Heaven. It
then bears olives which are pressed to get the oil that keeps
the lamp burning.
The saint must be rooted in reality (the earth) while
maintaining contact with Heaven and receiving Light to bring the
olives to maturity. Then off to the pressing of the olives,
perhaps an unpleasant experience.
The alternative is to try to keep the Sacred Fire to yourself.
That does not work, and it was not Jesus' intention when he
imparts the Sacred Fire to men.
Light and fire are, of course, two manifestations of the same
thing. When angels go out from Heaven, we can say they are
beings of Light; and when they return, they go upwards like a
flame and we can say they are beings of fire.
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