Day 111f: Re-membering a greater Truth … (August 18, 2019)
I had arrived well before that day’s service was to start, and the only other person on hand was the church caretaker, who graciously told me to head downstairs to the church’s cafeteria/rec room to wait for the pastor the arrive. I didn’t know how I was going to be received there, of course, and yet I didn’t really care about that. I was walking to serve, I was going to offer my service, and then at some point I was going to walk on and repeat the same again. And while I waited I decided to serve that congregation “ahead of time” as it were, by using the chalkboard on hand to answer the question it posed [Who is your neighbor?] in the way that Jesus himself would have deeply appreciated [Your enemy – always your nearest enemy!] …
“How vigilant we must be to ensure that we don’t allow our more soulful impressions of Jesus to be held captive by the prevailing mores of our hyper-religious culture! Rather, it is essential that we continue to return to his words (and his words alone) in the Gospels to ensure that the reverse actually occurs: to allow Jesus to hold both our hearts and our intentions captive in response to the dominant dogmatic thinking of our time. For spiritual exiles trying to live faithfully within the host empire of post-Paul Christianity, the Gospel stories of Jesus are the most dangerous memories. They continue to remind us that it’s still possible to worship the Divine without condemning those of different bent or belief. They remind us that we are here to serve, not to be served and to love, not to be loved. They remind us that our political & religious leaders are almost always modern day Pharisees who place stumbling blocks in our paths to the righteousness of selfless caring. They remind us that the stories told of Jesus and the words & deeds of his that are shared therein are the Way and the Truth and the Life we are to emulate, and that any scriptures or sermons that contradict Jesus’ all-loving will are to be gently yet firmly set aside and thought of no more.” ~ inspired by Michael Frost
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