Monday, December 31, 2007
Mind the Gap
I am mindful that I have a gap in my life. I wonder how in my life that on one side, I am constantly drawn to religious and spiritual literature. I relish the insights, the inspiration, the new ideas, or new twists on old themes that come with reading prayerful people's work. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with joy and a feeling of being truly alive when I am drawn into an article or text that brings me back to a sense of Vocation. My vocation, my purpose. It's like entering into a inner place of security and rightness and connectedness to all things. That's how I know that it's real: I get a sense of being connected to reality, to ultimate timelessness, to the Present, to God. However, on the other hand, I don't take the time to pray. Why not, I wonder? I do pray in the sense of every moment is prayer when done intentionally, but to take time out and pray, to meditate, to read the Bible, to pray the psalms, etc... this I don't do. I think that I am afraid of the transformation that would occur. I would let go some of my selfishness, I might even begin to realize my greatness... that's a scary thought. In short, I would be drawn out of the life in which I am now comfortable. I instinctively know that if I really want to live in the joy that the spiritual texts lead me to, then I would chose to cultivate this discipline. To truly deepen, I need to truly spend time with God. To spend time with God, on an I-Thou level, I would need to make the time. If I am going to go forward in my life, and be an instrument of God's love, and to live out the vocation that is mine, to live out the life that is mine, to be who I already am, then I must stop now, be with God in the present, and fill in the gap between my ontological reality and my praxis.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Who Is This Child?
This question was posed by the director of the young adult ministry in Chicago, Fr. John Cusick. He asked for reflections. The following is mine:
Who Is This Child?
Another question that is connected to this one is “Why did he come at that time, at that place?” When viewed from the story of human evolution, Jesus came at the perfect time because he represents the fulfillment of one phase and the beginning of another. The human story began a few million years ago and by the time Jesus came to earth, are bodies and brains had reached their full potential and we had some pretty good experience already with living in civilizations. While living in civilizations lumped people together in some form of unity, real “oneness” was not evident. Class systems developed and a few privileged people, mostly men, lorded over their subjects. While our technologies have evolved, we seem to still be stuck in power systems where people are being oppressed. We even oppress ourselves by being deeply frustrated by who we think we are and who we want to be.
However, the next phase of evolution is on the horizon but it began with Jesus, 2000 years ago. This phase will not be characterized by physical domination, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest, or building up and hording of resources to ensure physical survival. Instead, the next phase is a spiritual phase where people “awaken” to who they already (truly) are. It is a global movement of humans reconnecting to the earth and to each other where artificial barriers such as nation states, racial segregation, gender gaps, economic disparities, and even our own self-imposed limitations implode. Jesus teachings consistently challenged the power structures that oppressed people while inviting the oppressed to live more fully and freely. On a smaller scale, he challenged individuals to live with such freedom that their culturally enforced and self-imposed stereotypes (“false selves”) were no longer necessary. Never before in our human story did teachings come forth that were as radical, challenging, exciting, and life-giving. His own Jewish heritage could not have prepared him to live with such freedom as it was itself steeped in patriarchal ideology that allowed a few powerful men to control the rest. It seems that only through his total connection to Being, to God, could he speak with such a freshness, free from the mindset of his time, that his message remains universally applicable regardless of any historical or cultural context. In other words, this new phase of human evolution is a spiritual realization of the prayer that he prayed in John’s Gospel, “May they be one” (Jn 17:21). And Jesus’ teaching is the blueprint of how to do just that.
Jesus coming to earth also affirmed that God loves the human body, that creation is good (se we better take care of it), and that all of the life-cycles that enervate the universe such as birth, death, sexuality, love, and forbearance are the manifestations of God’s self. Because he came as a baby to a family, we are affirmed in our desires to parent, to marry, to bring forth life…and to be vulnerable. During the time he grew into his Personhood, his needs were met by his family and friends. It is a reminder that it is okay to have needs and to receive help from people.
In sum, God’s coming to the world as Jesus is the Great Morning that marked the end or fulfillment of our bodily growth while we slept and the beginning of a new dawn of wakefulness, of oneness, and of authentic self-love.
Another question that is connected to this one is “Why did he come at that time, at that place?” When viewed from the story of human evolution, Jesus came at the perfect time because he represents the fulfillment of one phase and the beginning of another. The human story began a few million years ago and by the time Jesus came to earth, are bodies and brains had reached their full potential and we had some pretty good experience already with living in civilizations. While living in civilizations lumped people together in some form of unity, real “oneness” was not evident. Class systems developed and a few privileged people, mostly men, lorded over their subjects. While our technologies have evolved, we seem to still be stuck in power systems where people are being oppressed. We even oppress ourselves by being deeply frustrated by who we think we are and who we want to be.
However, the next phase of evolution is on the horizon but it began with Jesus, 2000 years ago. This phase will not be characterized by physical domination, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest, or building up and hording of resources to ensure physical survival. Instead, the next phase is a spiritual phase where people “awaken” to who they already (truly) are. It is a global movement of humans reconnecting to the earth and to each other where artificial barriers such as nation states, racial segregation, gender gaps, economic disparities, and even our own self-imposed limitations implode. Jesus teachings consistently challenged the power structures that oppressed people while inviting the oppressed to live more fully and freely. On a smaller scale, he challenged individuals to live with such freedom that their culturally enforced and self-imposed stereotypes (“false selves”) were no longer necessary. Never before in our human story did teachings come forth that were as radical, challenging, exciting, and life-giving. His own Jewish heritage could not have prepared him to live with such freedom as it was itself steeped in patriarchal ideology that allowed a few powerful men to control the rest. It seems that only through his total connection to Being, to God, could he speak with such a freshness, free from the mindset of his time, that his message remains universally applicable regardless of any historical or cultural context. In other words, this new phase of human evolution is a spiritual realization of the prayer that he prayed in John’s Gospel, “May they be one” (Jn 17:21). And Jesus’ teaching is the blueprint of how to do just that.
Jesus coming to earth also affirmed that God loves the human body, that creation is good (se we better take care of it), and that all of the life-cycles that enervate the universe such as birth, death, sexuality, love, and forbearance are the manifestations of God’s self. Because he came as a baby to a family, we are affirmed in our desires to parent, to marry, to bring forth life…and to be vulnerable. During the time he grew into his Personhood, his needs were met by his family and friends. It is a reminder that it is okay to have needs and to receive help from people.
In sum, God’s coming to the world as Jesus is the Great Morning that marked the end or fulfillment of our bodily growth while we slept and the beginning of a new dawn of wakefulness, of oneness, and of authentic self-love.
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