Remember a couple weeks ago when Conrad sang “Lord Help Me Jesus” for Special Music? I love that song! It was so fun to sing that with everyone, so heartfelt, so soothing, such a beautiful melody. I looked around and the people I saw seemed completely taken by the song.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but think about how confusing that song is in our church, and how I really don’t like foggy theology. I mean, our apparent theological stance is that it’s okay to SING words like “Jesus, my soul’s in your hands”, but it’s not okay to SPEAK that way.
The truth is that words we SING actually lodge in our hearts more readily. We remember sung words more easily and we keep them for longer periods of time. The emotional attachment we have to sung words readily gives rise to what we call “belief”…that ability to trust, even when reason says, “hmm, not so fast…”
We have all been educated in the damage which the Christian religion has done, as it has been used as a weapon in the hands of unscrupulous people. And many at Walker feel personally abused by particular interpretations of the Christian religion inflicted upon them as children.
But Jesus is simply a Divine Human…one Divine Human among many in the world’s religions. A Divine Human is a character created by humans to fill a need…a person who radiates love and doesn’t get depleted. A person who is sustained solely by the Divine Energy, who doesn’t have to rely on help and affection from other people. A Divine Human is a wonderful being to believe in because you can love them, you can rely on them, you can receive forgiveness and nurture and strength and courage from them. They never let you down. You seek them, they answer. You can worship them because they will never never take power over you. The Divine Human is not the church institution. The church institution is just an organization of humans, prey to all human weaknesses. But a Divine Human is an imaginary being created to heal you, to calm you, to energize you, to help you make decisions, to comfort you…and to teach you how to let the Divine in yourself EMERGE…let your little light shine!
Why do we care if Jesus is imaginary? Is it not our imagination which has created everything we know? What is more reliable than our imagination? For humans, it’s our life! We were taught about the Scientific Method… we were taught that if something can’t be proven by the scientific method, then we shouldn’t trust it.
But come on! We know that results of experiments are affected by the observer. So much for “objectivity”. And we also know that what we humans are able to observe is but a tiny slice of reality. So what do we know? At least we have imagination.
Jesus is imaginary. That’s not an insult. That’s not a put down. On the contrary, that means that he is the best we can know…the ultimate servant, lover, friend, helper, advocate, defender, constant, teacher…Jesus never fails!
Now, obviously, the Christian religion has been used for too long as a weapon…I don’t see any hope for trying to clear its reputation, really. But in my community, my home, I just want people to understand how I see this. I love Jesus.
Jesus told us that if we want to step into heaven (the present moment), we need to become like children again. Children are able to believe in their imaginings. Are you able to? Can you love and trust and follow Jesus even though you know he’s a construct of the imagination? What is your imagination? How much time do you really spend outside of it? Why don’t you let yourself go? Why don’t you relax? Why don’t you surrender?
Oh yes, Jesus, my soul’s in your hands.
I love Jesus, too, BUT…
I think it’s important that Christians constantly acknowledge the ugly baggage that Christianity carries with it.
The point of Walker’s sensitivity about “the J-word” is that we want to be a haven for those of us who have been spiritually bullied and wounded by Christian language. This is an important aspect of Walker for many of us. The point is not to restore the “reputation” of Christianity; it’s to acknowledge to those of us who are wounded that we understand the hurt.
But it is a problem because this prevents some people from expressing their spirituality. This is one of Walker’s huge dilemmas.
We are always walking a narrow line between the will of God and human projections of the will of God. Take, for instance, the idea of “surrender.” I believe fully that I must surrender to God. When you say, “Why don’t you surrender?” my heart responds. It’s a good question, a question I need to hear. But it’s also the very same question that the spiritual bully asks. That’s the narrow line we walk.
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Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
I don’t know. Now we see through a glass darkly.
I’m both an agnostic and a Christian.
I think “all that is” could be the result of chance and evolution. “It is precisely because we evolved a sense of altruism and purpose that we find it hard to imagine a universe without them.”
I think all traditions that help us (all 7 billion of us) be kind to one another are good. To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly. To care, to share, to be humble. To understand that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan Tanka and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. Named it is the source of creation, nameless it is the mother of all things.
I was raised Christian by loving parents in a liberal Lutheran church. I try to be a Christian in the sense that I try to follow those early teachings to be kind and loving. And often fail.
And now that Mary has “dared” to say “I love Jesus” I have the “courage” to say, “I love Jesus.”
And yes, Jesus loves me. He loves all of us. Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. He walks with me and he talks with me. I rest assured that when “things go bump in the night” I can call on Jesus and he will protect me. When I’m tired, weak and worn he will lead me on, help me stand. He is my blessed assurance.
Faith, hope and love abide.
Thanks Mary,I really like this new way to communicate with each other. Each time that someone shares something personal about what motivates them spiritually as you have just so nicely done,and they are received with acceptance and openness,our community strengthens and grows. This helps me grow along my path even should my path be radically different,because if I take the risk of owning my beliefs and put them out there and feel that i have been heard,the strength of that support goes out in all directions in a chain reaction of positive possibilities. Walker Church has been this type of community for me and I hope it will continue to be. For me the concept of mystery best embodies my spiritual connection to all that is. Attempts to offer words or descriptions inevitably fall so far short,but we can choose to open ourselves to the new and infinite opportunities of support and interconnectiveness that arrive for each of us on a daily basis. Thanks for this new spirit blog! —- steve sandberg