Pondering the Holy Week messages heard thus far and God's favor in my younger, more stupid moments.
Some of this has been building in my annual read through scripture, now deep into the Torah.
Brutal sacrifices and ceremonies that so mirror the path of the Lamb to Calvary and a Kingdom soon established, which Isreal to this day still sees as being established on earth, though few by way of Jesus, whom we Christ followers see as Messiah.
Meanwhile, in this post-Christian era, the Institutional Church still struggles to align with the Jewish prophesies to justify our theology. Perhaps we are also missing what that God become flesh once said, "The Kingdom of God is among you!" In fact, "within you!"
Similar to Judaism, less the sacrifices, save One, the Christian Church has become equally rigid in doctrinal issues, though varied in dimensions of grace, thus the numerous denominational divides.
It causes me to wonder what else we have missed in the Good News of God.
I am so infatuated with nature, Creation as I still call it, though more and more I see a becoming, an evolution that so demonstrates the unfolding revelation I have experienced with the Divine. As my distant mentor, Richard Rohr communicates, "God was first manifest in Creation, secondly in The Christ, and now in the Ecclesia, the Body of Christ." Note the absence of the Institutional Church.
What if the Institutional Church was less God's idea than ours? What if in fact these thousands, if not millions of years were more about a demonstration of grace unfolding before Beings far beyond our comprehension?
Meanwhile, our awareness has become fixed by a Canon that mysteriously captures the story of the God become flesh, yet One that can only be revealed over time, and by way of a generational transfer of knowledge gained by those open to the Spirit, the Voice in Abraham's tent and Moses' burning bush.
Otherwise the scripture is mere text, a mystery that at worst unfolds as another religion. Meanwhile, another 30 years have passed and the Passover, Easter and Ramadan once again fall on the same weekend; many now battle, and some die in the streets of Jerusalem. Think about it!
Our globe was once depicted in scripture as a "garden" that when departed by early humans, revealed what appeared as a flat, though expansive terrain, "a land of milk and honey" with an atmosphere that somehow watered the earth by way of a Presence that dwelt in a third heaven. That's a mouthful!
Maybe Moses' writings about the Garden were, in retrospect, an allegory of our journey from that garden, creatures formed of dust, a helpmate crafted from a rib, the temptation, followed by sin and death.
Enter Galileo, the concept of revolving planets, stars far more distant than our Sun, with some today still believing that they are there simply to light up our night...with others desperately, and fortunately for us, exploring.
Yes, now we have the Webb telescope and billions of galaxies, all dwarfing our small globe, yet still a stretch for many to grasp. We are blown away by this beautiful spectacle, no longer some human interpretation of distant light from the "heavens." Age old infra red rays are now captured in digital photos! Fake news to some still, and they, I suspect overly religious.
What if all this madness, this human journey was set in motion as a demonstration of love, grace and the power of redemption released among lesser creatures, who think too highly of themselves? Beings abusive to lesser species, though thinking themselves "superior", yet incapable of sustaining any garden, constantly prone to greed and warfare.
Sounds like where we are!
Was there originally some great "fall" in the heavens and we the residual, though by no means abandoned. Could our lives be now a performance played out on a small piece of dirt, our stage of sorts?
A stage where upon God plays out a wonderous love filled drama, as the "I Am" salvages those born with brilliance, those who daily struggle with their identity, unlike the lesser species which evolve effortlessly, the beautiful flowers and tiny sparrows. Yes, a brokenness of sorts as referenced in Genesis.
The brilliant ones, now capable of artificial intelligence are still incapable of life apart from God's ideation, intervention and redemption. These Beings, described as the "imago dei" are loved so deeply, that even with foreknowledge of a brutal Calvary, God entered our sphere in human form, suffered a death that for thousands of years had been instinctively forecast by man's own religion.
So much so, that Easter becomes prophetically undeniable, followed by an empowerment that is available by choice, which affords our doing "even greater things" than He! Pentecost!
Yes, all this for us, but perhaps also for Beings from beyond or among us but in a dimension unseen, though somehow felt at times when we gather in collective fellowship and worship. As Richard Rohr posted this a.m. "Presence that has always been available since the beginning of time, a Presence unlimited by space or time, the promise and guarantee of our own transformation"...that "great cloud of witnesses."
"Beings" who watch with bated "breath" though more "spirit" than flesh, their's quite unlike our earth bound physique, as they observe the unbelievable love of God which continues, unrestrained by our rebellion, mysteriously flooding our human brokenness.
We have limited record of these beings, often referred to as angels and the more evil as "principalities in high places." Maybe Creation through the wonders of the heavens is unfolding a still greater story?
Selah!
#johnthecatalyst