Mark,
I think you've pretty well picked up on my intent. I guess I'd say this ... Seems like
so long as we continue to call a thing "Divine," it's just that much easier to
remove it from the realm of human possibility altogether. And the trial by fire, for me, is not
"Can WE accept God's, or Christ's Love FOR US" ... but rather, "Can WE express some measure of God's Love for One Another?"
And I feel certain that the answer is
YES (of course!) ... so the challenge is just
Will we?
~~~
Christianity seems to me a useful instrument for God to work with & through on Earth,
only insofar as Christians put Christ's teachings into practice. I think we can say the same thing exactly about Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, or Islam. And we could have this same discussion about
imagining a Buddhism without Buddha if we wanted to.
So I can only echo the thoughts which I remember many (Christian) members at CR expressing ... even many months ago ... and say that
whatever draws us closer to God, to Spirit, and to the very heart of Love - and especially that which helps us
GIVE expression to these things (for the benefit of others) ... THAT is what is good, and most important. Wasn't it that guy, mmm, Howard Sturm, who said that? Err, Howard Stern? No, defintely not him.
Hmmm.
Help! (InLove knows, but so do others; I just forget his name.)
Anyway, if a person feels that 95% of Christianity is the path for them, but say, the notion of
Christ's miracles is just a bit too over the top,
then SO WHAT. This person can be genuinely altruistic, with a pure heart, creativity of mind, a noble and empowering spirit, and the utmost dedication to the improvement of the lives of others. And s/he can do it all
to the glory of God, and for the ennobling of the Spirit of God in each of us, and even
despite the spirit of discord, or divisiveness, which is also in each of us
.
And suppose another person must reject Christ's Resurrection, yet feels that
no greater example of the Love of one person for another has ever existed on earth. Because of personal experiences, and even perhaps the gift of being able to
see and feel the living energy that binds us and enfolds us, such a person may be a DEVOUT believer in a Supreme Being, or
`God.' Here, again, the
Way that makes the most sense for them can be Christianity!
Eventually, if we consider all the possible variations on
the theme of Christ, what we might find we're left with is more the
Mythos, along the lines of what
flowperson is saying, than the
historical, flesh'n'blood Jesus of Nazareth. And if a person also happens to feel strongly that all of Humanity shares a
Mystical connection, s/he may come to regard the
`Body of Christ' as essentially (Fundamentally) our shared Spiritual
heritage, connectedness, and common Destiny.
Christ said,
I am the Alpha, and the Omega. My (actual) belief is that the Christ Presence indwells us
all, and to this, Christ referred when He said,
`Alpha,' or First. One cannot force a flower to open, yet Nature, if we allow her, knows
precisely how to accomplish this wonder of beauty. Perhaps a
self-conscious (a spirituallly self-conscious) flower might be able to hasten its
own unfoldment, yet this is still between God, and the Flower.
The Omega, or condition of
Christ unfolded within us each and all, even to that same point - or beyond - which was the case with Christ Jesus ... is one of the many Holy Purposes for which I believe the Logos
"deemed it wise to submit Himself to incarnation," to borrow an Eastern expression. And so long as a person is able to accept the
broadest definition that Christ
equals Love, just as
God equals Love, then do the rest of the details really matter?
~~~~~
earl, in better answer to your question (I can only speak for me, not for wil),
does this make sense? You might think otherwise,
but my goal is not to be perceived by others (anyone, really) as "a Christian" ... for my own belief is that
acta virum probant - by our actions we define ourselves, and with our thoughts we create the world!
Millions of people
call themselves Christians, yet
I would not dare. Presently, I would be
so embarassed because I do not begin to embody Christ's moral teachings ... and there is no way I could
point to my own life as an example. Besides, all people seem to see is my finger anyway, so if I even raise my hand, I'm
leading them away from the bright sunshine, and obstructing their path back to God
unwittingly!
Yet suppose I DO more greatly embody Christ's teachings. What then? Will I likely be saying,
"Hey look, look at me! See this here? See my altruism? See my generosity? See my brotherly love? See my good works?" Do we usually even pay as much attention to such false prophets, who carry on in this way, as we do to
Anna Nicole Smith, Osama Bin Laden, and Adolph Hitler (who is, after all, getting all sorts of airtime again here at CR)?
What then, can we do, if our real message is
Brotherly Love, and if we feel that the
embodiment of the Christian ideal is
more critical at this time than at any other than in human history!
Is it irony, that on a Liberal Christian discussion forum, we find ourselves contemplating
a Christianity without Christ (!) ... or in some kind of double, triple-blind, reverse-reverse
transpersonal psychological sort of way - might we not simply be
opening our hearts and minds to make room for the
Christ that IS, by testing the waters of a
new acceptance of the christ that isn't?
hmmm ...
Love and Light,
Andrew/zagreus
