The four methods in Counting to Four are not random. Not only has God told us several times to do them, but there’s also a logic to them. The four methods engage the different parts of the self, and bring balance to a person. By doing all of them, a person grows and becomes beautiful in all ways. The four methods show themselves to be beautiful in practice.

Inner and Outer

Many methods have been proposed. Some will focus mostly on internal change. They say that if you change the world inside you, you will enter Heaven. Making your inner world beautiful is enough. An example of this is someone who goes off into a cave to pray all day long. They cut themselves off from society to focus on God. By praying all day, they try to make peace with God. They try to match their inner world with God’s will.

Other methods will focus mostly on external change. They say that if you change the world around you, you will enter Heaven. Making the outer world beautiful is enough. An example of this is someone who spends all of their time trying to help the poor. They distance themselves from contemplation, because God’s will is done through action. By giving help to the needy, they try to make peace with God. They try to match the outer world with God’s will.

Both of these paths are good. Both the inner world and the outer world are really needed. Is your experience on earth entirely internal? Is there nothing but your inner world? How easily do you think you can change yourself without changing your environment? Would you plan to keep yourself clean, when your room is totally filthy? That would be hard. Or is your experience on earth entirely external? Is there nothing but the outer world? How easily do you think you can change your environment, if you never change yourself? Would you try to spread love when you yourself are hateful? Rather, you change the world by changing yourself, and you change yourself by changing the world. The inner world and the outer world are always connected. Make peace with God, and make peace with God.

The four methods balance both the inner and the outer. Two of the methods are internal, and two of them are external. The two inner methods are prayer and fasting. The two outer methods are togetherness and giving. Internally, you join yourself with God. Externally, you join yourself with others. Internally, you fast from addictions that keep you from God. Externally, you give things up for the sake of others. The internal and the external strengthen one another. The inner world and the outer world are really one world.

Joining and Releasing

And maybe you can guess what else the four methods balance: joining and releasing. The methods that join you to God are:

• Togetherness = outer + joining. Togetherness is when you join yourself to God in your outer world. The world is a ladder to God, and God has given everyone a step. If you gather the steps together, then everybody can climb the ladder. They can climb closer and closer to life. God’s life. If you slip, you can hang on to one of the other steps. But how useful is a ladder with only one step? Won’t you always be stuck on that one step? Never going up. And if you slip, you fall into the abyss. The climb is over.
• Prayer = inner + joining. Prayer is when you join yourself to God in your inner world. It makes you look at both ends of the ladder. On one end, there’s life. God’s life. On the other end, death. Prayer reminds you of God. Your body may not have reached there yet, but your heart is already with God. Like two people calling on the phone. When you talk to God, God talks to you. When you think of God, God thinks of you. Babylon System can distract you from God. It distracts you from the climb. Climbing to the Kingdom of God. Prayer reminds you. God reminds you.

The methods that release you from godlessness are:

• Fasting = inner + releasing. Fasting is when you release your excess to God in your inner world. All things belong to God. You can use them as steps in the infinite ladder to endless life. God’s life. This is good and will give you joy. You can also use the steps as their own goal. You stay on the step for too long, and it breaks. When it breaks, you fall. You fall away from God and the Kingdom of God. This is what fasting is for, and fasting takes different forms. Fasting makes sure that your inner world stays focused on God. The goal is climbing to God, not any one of the steps.
• Giving = outer + releasing. Giving is when you release your excess to God in your outer world. You’ve gathered the steps on the ladder. One step is too long. Another step is too short. The long step won’t fit on the ladder. The short step is too short to be used. But the two steps love each other. The long step gives a bit of itself. The short step receives it. Now they both can be used. They’re both the right size. But if you don’t give, the ladder will be missing steps. Will it matter how many steps you’ve gathered if you can’t use any of them? You’ll be stuck, and eventually you’ll fall.

These are the four methods, and they all work together. Are you ready to climb?