The
semester ends this week, and yesterday I met with a student in my
Christian Mysticism class who drove all the way from Boulder to Fort
Collins (about fifty miles) to meet with me. I was stunned when Michael
told me he felt amazement and inspiration at the fact that I've
remained rooted in a Christian perspective all my life, even when most
spiritual seekers who are open and progressive like myself have
abandoned it. He noted that for most seekers, the negative aspects of
exoteric Christianity far outweigh any richness that might be present in
the mystical wing of the tradition, and so they end up going East
instead to find spiritual nourishment. The fact that the media focuses
so heavily on the judgmental, dualistic, "Tea Party" wing of
Christianity only adds to the perception that the entire tradition is
spiritually bankrupt, and causes many honest seekers to avoid
Christianity like the plague.
I told him that I've been able to stick with a Christian lens because I experience this faith as innately kenotic; that is, a mature Christian mysticism leads the practitioner to empty out and focus on the beauty of THE WORLD and on the goodness of other spiritual traditions - seen through Christ's humble, loving eyes - rather than turning back and making ITSELF the object of attention. In other words, in my daily life, I hardly ever talk about Christ or Christianity because I am so focused on employing him and it as a lens for admiring - and awakening - the beauty and goodness of Sophia / Mother Earth / the Goddess, who is abundantly present in Nature, in other spiritual traditions, and in the uniqueness of each individual human being. When the 14th century German mystic Meister Eckhart said that we should "pray to God that we might be FREE of God," he wasn't recommending becoming an atheist. Rather, he was encouraging us to become ONE WITH God in the act of focusing on THE WORLD through the eyes of love. The same could, of course, be said not only of God, but of Christ.
However, as I talked with Michael, I also had an intensely fresh breakthrough realization. Through our conversation, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I have remained with the faith of my childhood - even if I've left its negative elements behind - because I somehow, inexplicably, have been given the faith to trust that if any person remains rooted IN PLACE and digs deeply into it like a well, an abundance of spiritual water WILL eventually be found. And this, I realized, has nothing to do with Christianity. It is simply the realization that EVERY person - no matter what their faith - has the capacity to trust that the Divine IS INDEED present within their own spiritual roots and tradition, even if that tradition - like exoteric Christianity - also contains an abundance of negative, oppressive elements! And when I realized this fact, I began to cry, for I understood that such faith in that Presence is not a thing I've ever consciously tried to adopt. Rather, it was GIVEN to me as a grace by THAT VERY PRESENCE! It has always been an ASSUMED reality, a perspective of which I've never actually been aware until our conversation yesterday revealed it :)
And so, I pray that ALL of us, no matter what our faith or tradition, may find the grace to plumb more deeply into our own roots - even as we may decide to adopt the practices of other faiths as well - in order to find a Presence who is always there in hiding! For if any of us digs deeply enough, we WILL hit the hidden divine aquifer that connects every single faith, tradition, culture, people and individual together into ONE!
Photo: Western Wallflower rooted in desert soil, Lory State Park, CO, May 7, 2015
I told him that I've been able to stick with a Christian lens because I experience this faith as innately kenotic; that is, a mature Christian mysticism leads the practitioner to empty out and focus on the beauty of THE WORLD and on the goodness of other spiritual traditions - seen through Christ's humble, loving eyes - rather than turning back and making ITSELF the object of attention. In other words, in my daily life, I hardly ever talk about Christ or Christianity because I am so focused on employing him and it as a lens for admiring - and awakening - the beauty and goodness of Sophia / Mother Earth / the Goddess, who is abundantly present in Nature, in other spiritual traditions, and in the uniqueness of each individual human being. When the 14th century German mystic Meister Eckhart said that we should "pray to God that we might be FREE of God," he wasn't recommending becoming an atheist. Rather, he was encouraging us to become ONE WITH God in the act of focusing on THE WORLD through the eyes of love. The same could, of course, be said not only of God, but of Christ.
However, as I talked with Michael, I also had an intensely fresh breakthrough realization. Through our conversation, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I have remained with the faith of my childhood - even if I've left its negative elements behind - because I somehow, inexplicably, have been given the faith to trust that if any person remains rooted IN PLACE and digs deeply into it like a well, an abundance of spiritual water WILL eventually be found. And this, I realized, has nothing to do with Christianity. It is simply the realization that EVERY person - no matter what their faith - has the capacity to trust that the Divine IS INDEED present within their own spiritual roots and tradition, even if that tradition - like exoteric Christianity - also contains an abundance of negative, oppressive elements! And when I realized this fact, I began to cry, for I understood that such faith in that Presence is not a thing I've ever consciously tried to adopt. Rather, it was GIVEN to me as a grace by THAT VERY PRESENCE! It has always been an ASSUMED reality, a perspective of which I've never actually been aware until our conversation yesterday revealed it :)
And so, I pray that ALL of us, no matter what our faith or tradition, may find the grace to plumb more deeply into our own roots - even as we may decide to adopt the practices of other faiths as well - in order to find a Presence who is always there in hiding! For if any of us digs deeply enough, we WILL hit the hidden divine aquifer that connects every single faith, tradition, culture, people and individual together into ONE!
Photo: Western Wallflower rooted in desert soil, Lory State Park, CO, May 7, 2015
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