"Walk cheerfully over the world, ANSWERING that of God in everyone."
George Fox, 17th century
(founder of the Quakers)
This past Saturday, I spent the day at Vedauwoo Recreation Area (pronounced VAY-da-voo, or VEE-da-voo), located in the Sherman Mountains of southeastern Wyoming, about an hour from my home in Fort Collins, Colorado. While hiking there, I was struck by the way in which such a seemingly disjointed pile of rocks nevertheless forms a beautiful work of art, especially in the case of those rocks that are covered with vibrant patches of green, yellow, orange or grey lichen. I stayed until sunset, the time of day when alpenglow light fires the formation a bright, fluorescent orange, even though - from where I was standing - the sun had actually disappeared just BELOW the horizon, thereby placing it out of sight.
Then on Tuesday - Election Day - I found myself amazed at the diversity of different people elected to the U.S. Congress. For example, we had the first openly gay and the first Buddhist senators (both of whom were women) and the first practicing Hindu (also a woman). In fact, the latter congresswoman will be sworn in using one of India's sacred scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita. Since the election of this past Tuesday, we now have twenty women in the Senate, most of whom possess a vision for the good of ALL of society's members, rather than focusing on the prosperity of just a few. In addition, I find it fascinating to ponder the fact that a major force in this election was the 18 to 29 age group, many of whom possess a more positive view of diversity than the bulk of their older counterparts.
Some would claim that this trend toward diversity is a move away from Christian faith, but I see this issue in a completely different light. Interestingly, I recently watched a PBS/Frontline series entitled "God in America," where I learned that BAPTIST MINISTERS (can you believe it?) were the first group to push for the separation of church and state, thus guaranteeing that they - and those of other faiths - could worship freely in the otherwise Anglican state of Virginia. Their champion was none other than Thomas Jefferson - a Deist - who disagreed with their Baptist doctrine but nevertheless believed strongly in their push toward religious freedom for all.
For me, the act of encouraging other religious traditions to flourish in America is a profoundly CHRISTIAN act. This may fly in the face of those Christians who view their faith as the only true way, and who see their Christianity as the sole basis for an America blessed by God. But a contemplative lifestyle of prayer and meditation has put me in touch with a Christ who is profoundly HUMBLE and self-emptying, one who never points to himself, but rather to God and to others. I am in fact intrigued by the gospel accounts where Jesus is portrayed healing a person, telling them in the process: "YOUR faith has healed you!" Somehow, Jesus' presence was the catalyst - acting as a sort of mirror - for a person to awaken to their own faith. Often, he told the healed person "Tell no one about this," and immediately disappeared from view. Or, I think of the Jesus who appeared in an unrecognizable form to several disciples on the Road to Emmaus in order to encourage them, and who then disappeared suddenly into thin air in the very moment when their hearts melted into a unity in the act of recognizing who he was.
Like George Fox, founder of the Quakers, my experience of Christ is of a divine person who serves as a humble mirror, revealing to others their inherent faith, or as an alpenglow sun, illuminating the gifts of others while disappearing from view over the horizon of Being. Here I concur with theologian Robert Morgan, who writes: "Jesus reveals nothing about himself except that he is THE REVEALER. The point is not WHAT is revealed, but THAT the hearer is challenged by the Word [i.e., by Christ as the "Light of the World"] to understand himself in a new way, no longer dependent upon the world for security but dependent upon God. The 'true light' of John's Prologue is the state of having one's existence illumined, an illumination in and by which a person understands HIMSELF." Here, the Light of Christ seeks to have all attention focused not on the light itself - i.e., on the person of Jesus - but on the THINGS it illumines.
I feel myself most an embodiment of Christ's presence when I serve as this sort of spiritual alpenglow - helping others uncover the places where the Divine Presence is ALREADY working in their lives, rather than trying to make them follow my particular path. In fact, I enjoy envisioning myself disappearing from view, like the alpenglow Sun over the horizon of manifestation, leaving the person to glow in all of their God-given glory. In addition, I find that the ability to LEARN from the other person in the process of revealing their own innate glory is the most Christ-like thing I can do! After all, as a follower of many of the teachings of Process Theology, I have faith that even the Creator continually learns more and more about the riches of divine Beauty through HUMAN eyes and hearts!
Interestingly, some Christian theologians have viewed Christianity as the "highest" faith precisely because (in their view) it is most open to being changed by other faiths. For example, Wolfhart Pannenberg says: "It is precisely the ability of Christianity to be changed by others . . . which constitutes its superiority and its ability finally to supercede all others . . . Successful religions are successful by virtue of their ability to assimilate what is of value to others." Although I disagree with Pannenberg's attitude of religious one-up-man-ship, I do think he is correct in recognizing the fact that many of the most influential Christian thinkers over the ages have also been the most open to learning from and assimilating elements of other spiritual traditions. Here, one has only to think of the history of Christian thought, where Plato, pagan spirituality, Aristotle, and modern movements like Existentialism all were highly influential in shaping an up-to-date theology.
Thus, for me, encouraging America's diversity - especially in its various religious forms - is a profoundly CHRISTIAN stance, both through the act of shining the light of Christ's love on others (thus allowing their faith to glow, each in its OWN unique way), and through actively learning from their most cherished spiritual insights. America's diversity may at times look like the rocks of Vedauwoo - all jumbled up, without rhyme or reason - but it becomes a great work of art when - through grace and our own hard work - we begin to see EVERYONE united into One by a humble, self-emptied divine Light. Such is the America I love and believe in, and such is the Christianity I seek to embody.
Photo: Alpenglow radiates at sunset from Vedauwoo Rocks, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY; November 3, 2012
