Going Forward

Following Jesus has meant many things historically and to me. As a child, I sang and believed the songs -  "Jesus Loves Me," "In the Garden," "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," etc. I wanted so very much to live as he wanted me to live.

As I grew, I came to understand that Jesus exemplified the Cosmic Christ and spoke and modeled The Way to live in communion with God. My life goal then became to internalize The Way and walk it as best I could, living in the awareness that my life is played out in the Presence of God.

I see a glimmer of this understanding taking a bit of a root, but I am concerned about the future of Christianity.

I want the understanding of Oneness as children of God to flourish and expand. I want people to be seekers of Wisdom, lovers of God and of each other, quick to forgive and to give mercy, filled with compassion, eager to lend a helping hand and being doers of The Way taught by Jesus.

As a student of history (my minor in college), I know that the religion that is called Christianity has veered off course repeatedly. I also know, as I have shared here previously, that Christianity began to decline in followers at least since the Enlightenment.

I also know that the death of the teachings and practices of The Way would be disastrous for humankind. Our souls yearn to find a better path, a better way to live, a closer walk with God. I know that The Way can nourish those deeply held yearnings.

There are several things I see that could facilitate this turning back to the original intent of the teachings of The Way. I shall share a few:

• Stop the ignorant teaching of the Bible that ignores who spoke it and later wrote it ---what was the context of each story, who lived it, what did it mean to them, and are what possible meanings to us today?
• Stop teaching the magic as literal. Everyone knows the magician is fooling the eye and not actually doing magic.
• Stop teaching the pre-scientific, tribal stories as literal. They have much more usefulness when read as parables and metaphors anyway. The earth and the sun do not and cannot stand still, etc.
• Stop the superstitious nonsense. We don't have to do rituals or go through any rigmarole to gain God's favor, for example.
• Realize the Bible is a Jewish story, all main characters being part of it, so embrace it and stop the ignorant anti-semitism. Jesus was a Jew you know.
• Stop getting rich by misleading the people with false teachings.
• Start teaching the actual context of these various scenarios. The Exodus story maybe was around 1200 BCE but not written till the 500's BCE while in Babylonian captivity, and why is that important, for example. What was actually going on in the 1st century and how did that influence the writers of the New Testament?
• Understand the Jewish storytelling techniques and the practice of midrash.
• Start teaching the inner transformation that comes with spiritual awakening and how to achieve it.
• Start teaching Oneness, sacredness of life, the way to live such a life, healing, forgiveness, love for all including our enemies.
• Get real about our stories and inspire one another.
• Teach the silence, meditation, centering prayer, affirmative prayer.
• Actually teach, model and encourage walking The Way.
• Be willing to transform oneself and be made new.

I am deeply saddened by the current state of affairs on our planet. Before we destroy ourselves and this beautiful planet, let's clear our heads and set forth on an actual journey to live as love, as care, as compassion, as helpfulness, as kindness, as brothers and sisters, offspring of one God. Let's set our intention on spiritual awakening.