ver.: 01 June 2008
Emerging themes :
If someone were to choose a theme for today's theological cacophony, it'd have to be the search for an 'underlying spirituality'. This idea comes naturally to Asian religions. It also goes well with the addictions to philosophy and psychology shown by much of today's pop Judaism. But it has never been a very comfortable thing for religions which say a specific thing, such as Islam, Christianity, and most eras of Judaism.
Mainline Protestantism has quietly shifted toward this approach, to the point that each person's free, unbounded search for what 'lies beneath' has become more important than each person's following Christ. Or worse, it becomes the definition of 'following Christ', even though it's clearly not what Jesus meant by 'follow'. Small wonder so many Protestants feel distant from their own church leaders and seminaries.
Many people don't like the Christian church; they say it's too constrictive. Yet, Christianity is a very broad religion. It's hard to find any other religion with the broad range of philosophy and practice Christianity has (such as Coptic, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Nazarene, Quaker, United Church, or Southern Baptist). Christianity has proven to be wide open to adaptations from other religions (such as rosaries, Christmas trees, prayer mountains, Greek philosophy, mainline-Protestant Enlightenment themes, dates for holidays, and all sorts of spiritual practices from Europe, Africa, and Asia). Whenever Christianity encounters a culture, it adapts from it. But Christianity is narrow in a way, perhaps the narrowest of the major religions. All of Christian beliefs and practices go through only one point (Jesus) and sift through a single screen (the Bible). These sources teach us how to know what's underlying the Christian faith. Christians have spent the last 2000 years trying things out, and keep rediscovering that what doesn't pass through Jesus and through Scripture just doesn't measure up. The challenge, then, is to experience life by following Jesus.
Is there a spirituality underlying all
the world's religions? I think that in a way there is. We're
talking about something which involves human beings who, for all
that's different about them, are still much more alike than
not alike. That has to say something about all spiritualities.
When I say I am a Christian, one of the things I am saying is
that underlying all true spirituality lies a specific
person/being/entity, and that this is the same One we
met as Jesus of Nazareth 2000 years ago. If this is true, then
the search for an 'underlying spirituality' will end either in
this Jesus, who was by and large accurately portrayed in the
Gospels, or in futility, cynicism, and a cosmic shell
game.
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The world of today tells us we can shape our own destinies, even (especially in cyberspace) our own reality. And more, that we have a right to do so.
Thanks to the new technologies, we really do have more of a part in deciding where we're going. That's good. God gave each of us gifts, and we are all best off if we're using them to the fullest. But it's good only to a point -- when the reality bill arrives in our e-mail box. There is 'other', in fact all else is 'other', and that which is 'other' does most of the real shaping of the reality you live in. Of course, your attitudes make a big difference, but they doesn't change the fact itself, only how you deal with it.
Think of 'other' as an opportunity to love -- something beyond narcissism and navel-gazing. Your truest love is not for yourself, but for someone other than yourself. (See? Those old sappy romantic movies did get part of it right!) We ignore this not only at our own peril, but even more at the peril of those 'others'. Your actions can have a mighty impact on others' lives, even causing their death. Christ's call for us to love means we are responsible to consider the effects of what we do before we do it.
It's only right that your world isn't just yours. The 'others' have rights, too. But even if it wasn't right, it's what you've got. Live with it.
Furthermore, God isn't you, and you aren't God. God made you this way, it was no accident and no mistake, it was quite intentional. So any sort of search for 'unity' with the Creator or the cosmos or anything else has to be expressed in some other way than to be absorbed into the Whole. A better way to describe it would be the kind of unity found in a happy marriage or a sports championship team -- only, more so. Personally, I find that much more attractive than 'melting into the collective consciousness of the cosmos' -- it sounds like much more fun to me. But what I or you or anyone else feels is totally beside the point : there is no melting-pot option. It won't happen, even if you and everyone else wanted it with every fiber of their being. That determines nothing. The Creator settled the question once and for all, by making a you.
When the follower of Christ speaks of the Church (the body of believers) as 'the Bride of Christ', and of a Kingdom of God which operates like a family or a team, they're facing this reality head-on. And enjoying it. You didn't make it that way. God did. And that's what makes it 'real'.
Feelings are easy to manipulate; ask the ad men.
Facts are easy to spin; ask the political advisors.
Some would say God is the ultimate spin doctor, making
it seem as if all the good things belong to the divine plan
while all the bad things are blamed on you. The truth is, God
sees the good in you. You're a different being from God; that's
what makes it possible for you to do what you do and be who you
are. This different being is whom God loves. God may well be
saddened by much of what you do -- but then, God wants you to get real.
underlying matters
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