Jesus, Hoodies and Holy Week

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Trayvon Martin Case in Florida - for those that don’t know... 

On February 26, 2012 in Sannford, FL - George Zimmerman was keeping watch in his neighborhood.  There had been a recent rash of crime and because George cares for his family and neighbors he wanted to help keep a look out for “suspicious behaviors.”  When George saw Trayvon Martin, a young 17 yr old African American, walking through the neighborhood with his hoodie up, he called 911 to report his “suspicion,”  but George did not stop there - he followed Trayvon, despite being told not to by 911 dispatch, he caught up with him - and an altercation took place resulting in George shooting and killing Trayvon armed with only skittles and an Ice Tea from a local store.  George claimed self-defense when the police arrived and was released without further investigation.

It is a tragic story that as President Obama said, “calls for some deep soul searching in America.” 

“I am Trayvon Martin” has become a popular declaration of solidarity and support. I, like others have used that tag line - I’ve changed my profile picture on Facebook - to a picture of me wearing a hoodie.  It’s important to stand up in the face of injustice and to remember that we are all connected, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said, in a “single garment of destiny.”

I too know what it is like to be mistaken for a trouble maker.  In my own neighborhood where I live and pastor - I was stopped on the street by a police officer because I resembled a young teen that they were looking for - I resembled him so much that the officer called for back up, in case he needed the vehicle to haul me away.  I guess in my town, all young white males in baseball caps look the same.  

But this case is about more than racial profiling - it’s about our collective call to wake up.  It’s about out inherent oneness with each other - and it’s about the opportunity to transcend into a new way of being.  If that is the case, then from a New Thought perspective... I am George Zimmerman.  You see,  I too have chased down the object of my suspicions to shake them and convince them that I am right and they are wrong.  In doing so, I’ve ignored the call to cease the chase.  I’ve ignored the fact that upon investigation my suspicions pose no threat to me, and have no weapon against me.  Nonetheless I, at times, have fired away with my righteous judgements.  

Trayvon and George live in all of us.  Which tells me that something needs to change. We have become a society so deeply trapped and locked in our cultural identities of “us and them” that violence has become the self perpetuating response.  

Of course as a nation we are outraged at the unjust assumptions to which George Zimmerman seems to have gone to in order to chase down this young man.  but bear in mind these are manifestations of the culture he has been indoctrinated in.  

Similarly many seem to believe that there is a form of social “sacred violence” that can now be justified upon George.  Wether it is the despicable $10,000 bounty on his head or the more covert illusion that our justice system could put him away for life - as if a life in prison sentence could resurrect young Trayvon.  Let’s be clear - two men died that night - Trayvon and George.  They were killed by the out picturing of our cultural expectations.  Victims of our collective consciousness as a nation.  

Where then shall we go from here?  Are we doomed as an inherently violent species?  Gratefully I believe the answer is no.  Violence is a byproduct of our culture.  Culture needs violence to maintain it’s identity.  However, as human being we are actually built for transcendence - we are biologically engineered to overcome such obstacles.  

Joseph Chilton Pearce points out that we have 4 major developments in the evolution of our brain structure.  Briefly they are:

1. reptilian brain - in charge of flight or flight, sex, food, basic survival
2. old mammalian - nurturing, love and caring 
3. Neo Cortext - language and creativity
4. frontal lobes - higher consciousness, complex thought

Each developed as the result of adapting and overcoming the obstacles in our environment.  Each is equipped and designed to rule over the “lower brains.”  Biologically speaking we are designed to transcend and overcome our violent reactions.  Violence is the nature of our reptilian brain - which is intended, biologically to be transcended.  Biologically there is a higher function available to us.  Such an option requires the surrender of our cultural consciousness and an acceptance of a higher realm of consciousness.  

Each senseless murder (they all are) and each act of war and violence is an opportunity to recognize that what we have been doing is no longer working.  Each act is a wake up call that shocks us (or at least it ought to) into seeing the insanity of our cruel humanity - but it is all too easy to be lulled back to sleep by the sirens of cultural norms, notions of “sacred violence” and righteous indignation fueled all too often by politics and/or religion.  

As Christians worldwide prepare for Holy week, Jesus’s final entry into Jerusalem, it occurs to me that the template for transcendence is set before us.  One need not be Christian to see and feel the power of the template that is available here.  Jesus lived in a time when the cultural norms of “us and them”, right and wrong, good and bad had reached a fever pitch.  It was tearing the world apart.  We see in the life of Jesus the journey of consciousness that makes him the great example.  

When Jesus was born, scripture gives us two names to call him.  (Matt 1: 21-23)  Jesus (aka Joshua a common name at the time) - his cultural name, and Emmanuel (One with God) his spiritual name.  Within the life of Jesus we see him make the journey from "Joshua the man" to "Emmanuel" the vehicle of a transcendent Principle.  

It begins at age 12 when his parents travel home and realize that he is not with them,  they find him in the Temple - he says "I was in my Father’s house" - thus he begins to shift his identification from his earthly culture to a higher power.  (Luke 2 : 41-50)

When jesus reappears in the gospels, he is an adult, responding to the call of his ministry.  Yet he still finds himself trapped by his culture.  in Matt. 15:21-28 - we see how he responds to a Canaanite women, seeking healing for her son.  Jesus tell her that he was not sent to serve her or her people - he was sent for the lost children of Israel.  Still she presses on.  Jesus is so trapped in his cultural identity that he cannot transcend it - he tells her "it is not good to take the children's bread and feed it to the dogs" But the faith of the canaanite women is not based on cultural identity - it's grounded on the transcendent healing principle within Jesus. She response to him.."Still, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the masters table." 

He suddenly realizes that simply preaching to “his people” and his culture is not enough - it will only produce more of the same us and them fervor.  So his message takes on the characteristics of radical inclusion - from that point on he makes clear that there is room at his table for everyone.  The more radically inclusive his message gets - the more “dangerous” he is thought to be by the “authorities “  

Unitl finally we come to Passover, he retreats to the garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26 :36)  begging his disciples to “stay awake with me" - stay conscious - alert!  there He wrestles with God and the deeper insights of his destiny - to bring forth a message of transcendence - Principle over culture - even if it means his life.  So when the time comes, he mounts a donkey - a cultural symbol pointing to the prophesied scripture - as well as a symbol of the Higher Consciousness overriding and controlling the lower “animal mind.”  

At first he is hailed and celebrated, as long as he is fitting the cultural expectations (the Messiah riding in on a donkey) - but the authorities (Roman and Jewish) see him as a threat to the cultural norms - so he’s arrested, tried and crucified.  Of course we know that the story does not end there - it is just beginning. The Easter message is that Christ triumphs over the grave, Life conquers death, Love overcomes Hate...and Principle transcends culture.  

It is in the reappearance of Christ that we find the invitation to live from and in this resurrected consciousness - the consciousness of the New Being.  

Unfortunately we have made of Jesus and of Christianity a cultural symbol and class of people rather than a transcendent invitation.  

“Christianity is not about Christianity - it is about a New Being” - Paul Tillich

As long as we continue to default to our cultural identifications - of us and them - in all it’s forms - we will continue to be met with tragic and alarming wake up calls in every sector of life: the environment, politics, race, religion, class, and so on. 

Fortunately, because Principle is eternal - the invitation to transcend will remain ever present.  The invitation to become more fully our Divinely Human selves - expressing The Kingdom on Earth as it already is in Heaven.  An invitation to the New Jerusalem where “The light of God is one the streets and the gates are open wide - and all who might enter in, no one will be denied” 

For now we add to the chorus of voices, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman along side Joshua saying... 

“Stay awake with me.” 

All religions are self-made, some just have better marketing.

My last blog about regarding the phrase "Spiritual but not Religious" drew out some wonderful comments and lively dialogue on Facebook as well as on the other blogs that inspired my post to begin with.  There was so much good stuff to chew on,  I've been tempted to just let it linger, so that the post doesn't get buried.   But there was one facet of the conversation that I wanted to make sure got the full attention it deserves.....

In Dr. Lillian's longer post she warns against the danger of "self-made" religion.   And while I think her real and bigger point is again about the importance of being in community and the transformative growth that comes from sticking to a discipline and practice, while resisting the temptation to only do what "feels good,"  I think the point is once again too easily dismissive of a greater sensitivity to the faith formation process.

If you read my previous blog post, you'll remember I made the point that all religions are self-made. Meaning that they all follow a personal revelation by one person.  I brought this point forward on Dr. Lillian's blog to see what kind of comments it would draw and hoped for a deeper dialogue.   Instead, this is what I got....

"No, I didn't make up my religion, God the Son did, and I am following Him in part by belonging to the Church He build."

Um, ok...few questions then....  Which religion are your referring to?  Christianity?  Because Paul had a lot more to do with that than Jesus - at least in the formalizing religion part...and which Church?  Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal?  Or one of the other 100+ varieties I don't have time to mention?
While it's tempting for me to dismiss the simplistic naiveté of this persons comments, it only drew me deeper down the rabbit hole of this entire concept.

So let's establish the basics again.   From the work of Theologian Paul Tillich:

Revelation is Gods attempt to reach man
Religion is man's attempt to reach God.
Further,
Revelation is always personal never universal.

So once again it stands to reason that ALL religion are self-made.  They all came from a personal revelation of one person.  Jesus, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Baha'ula...

Each of these individuals (and may others) had a profound personal experience with God, a personal revelation.  They shared that revelation with others who then, having been inspired by the revelation sought to touch the wisdom of the insights - by creating rituals, cultural practices, religious rules and observations etc.  These things in turn became "The Religion"

Of course the point that Dr. Lillian is trying to make is that there is real value in being steeped in a tradition, ritual and practice - that you did not invent, that you stick to it and don't just throw it out or replace it when it seems to not work, feel good, convenient or comfortable.  I get that.  And I agree.  Which when I reflected on it further - discovered that this point leads you to yet another way that all religions are ultimately "self-made."

 If you are steeped in an ancient tradition, doing thing the way they have been done for eons...because it was how you were raised, what works for you, or what you believe is more "right" than anything else.... there is something magical that happens at some point on your journey.   There is a flash, a moment of insight, an "Ah-ha!" and Eureka!   Moment where suddenly it becomes clear to you.  Suddenly that which you have been doing as routine, gains new life and meaning to you.   This is the moment of self-discovery, whereby you discover for yourself, the meaning behind that which others (or your tradition) has told you was meaningful.   In this great awakening you don't need others to tell you how valuable it is, because you know - first hand!

This is what Brazilian educator Paulo Freire described as the re-learning moment, when the student learns something by re-learning it in their own mind.  Paulo noted that this is the only moment in which real learning occurs, everything else is just regurgitation of someone else's knowledge - not our own.  We are not "blank slates" to be filled with knowledge and value as determined by others, but rather co-creators of our world through the engagement of our mind in self-learning and self-knowledge.

And so, as you practice your religion of choice and do all the things that you are suppose to do as a good member of that religion - be mindful that one day, it will take on new and profound significants for you, it will become more real to you than it ever has been, and in that beautiful ecstatic moment, your religion has become self-made.    And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing!

NEWS FLASH: Jesus was "Spiritual but not Religious"

In the last 24 hrs on some of the blogs that I follow and Facebook comment threads, there has been quite the stirring about the phrase "Spiritual but not Religious" aka SBNR. After spending a good portion of the day chatting and commenting, I thought I'd blog about it as well.

It all began with a Facebook post from Chad Holtz (the guy who got in trouble for liking Rob Bell's book). I enjoy the way Chad thinks about things and tend to pay attention to the things he post that are of interest to him.

He posted a link to an article on the United Church of Christ site from The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, "Spiritual but not Religious? Stop Boring Me." in her post Rev. Lillian shares that she dreads conversations on airplanes with people who identify as SBNR. She dreads it because she seems to find their version of spirituality boring, uninspired and lacking of the real substance that is required for growth (that being the element of community). She further claims that SBNR folks are little more than typical self-centered Americans. Self-Indulgent consumers of their own brand of spirituality, she claims.    An interesting judgement for sure. For those of you who are friends with Chad, we had a wonderful exchange on his comments section of the post.  Chad later posted his own blog entry about the conversation, which is getting some great feedback as well.

Now to Dr. Lillian's credit this article was a mini version of a much longer article posted on the Christian Century site, "You can't make this up: The limits of self-made religion" and as she expressed to me in a personal email, you can say a lot more in 3,000 words than you can in 250.  In the longer article her tone is not as snarky, and her points are better delivered and overall provides some wonderful thoughts for consideration.

Even so, there is still an overall theme that seems to look down upon the classification SBNR as inferior to "religious people."   A judgement that I think naively overlooks the rich history of the SBNR movement.  It makes me wonder if those who criticize the term actually understand what it means?   Do they understand that SBNR is not some mer post-modern cultural fad - but is in fact a deep and enriching part of American culture for over 150 years and has positively impacted nearly every major religious institution for the better?  It makes me wonder if their criticism is balanced with scholarship. Have they read "Spiritual but not Religious" by Robert Fuller  and others like it (which you can find along with other great info on SBNR movement at www.newthoughthistory.org)?

If the answers to these questions were yes, I imagine we'd find a slightly more understanding and tolerant tone.  Perhaps we would discover that those who identify as SBNR often do so as a result of the religious abuse and oppression that they have suffered in the name of God and religious authority.  That more often than not, the SBNR among us do not "reject" religion as much as they reject Dogma.  Dogma that has too often been defended and promoted by organized religion.  Dogma that has oppressed the weakest among us, dogma that has suppressed the Holy and Divine Feminine making it shameful and wrong. Dogma that has made a mockery of scripture by using it to defend racism, homophobia, sexism and classism. Dogma that has the audacity to put conditions on Grace, Love, Mercy and Salvation which Jesus so freely gave to all.  Dogma that helped produce a religious institution so unlike the name and nature of Jesus that the Son of Man himself would be hard pressed to recognize, much less defend it.

So please forgive us, for I too am SBNR.  Forgive us for looking outside of the institution that has far too often failed exemplify the simplest element of it's own creed, to Love thy neighbor.  Forgive us for looking into nature to find God's true Nature.  Forgive us that while on this seemingly self-indulgent path of personal discovery, we in fact discovered Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and The Christ Principle.  And please forgive us if we discovered that this encounter was far more real, authentic and transformative than anything we previously experienced in "church."

And forgive us if we happen to notice that this seems to be the path that Jesus took as well.  Remember, he disappears from the narrative from age 12-30 and when he reappears he is not touting the virtues of religious and spiritual community.  In fact, quite the opposite. He railed against the institutions of his day, their dogma, rules and authoritative judgements over society.  He sought his own personal relationship with God, so personal he called him Abba, Father.  So personal that this connection was not made through a creed, book or Temple, but in fact was closer than his breath and dwelled right within him.

Forgive us for thinking he was not self-indulgent for doing so.   Forgive us for noticing that Jesus was "Spiritual but not Religious"

And while you consider forgiving us for these transgressions, take note of the following;

SBNR people do not deny nor reject the power of being, growing and learning in community. In fact a more loving, inclusive and charitable community that is working toward a world that works for everyone is something that we care deeply about.

Take note that often the loudest voices against Religious Institutions have been voices from the inside. Voices that have been the source of positive and evolutionary change.  Religious voices that have called upon us to be more Spiritual and less Religious.

Rev. Henry Emerson Fosdick

Shall the fundamentalist Win?

Bishop John Shelby Spong

"So it needs to be said clear that the God presence of this Jesus will lead us ultimately beyond every religious definition.  Indeed, it will lead us beyond Jesus himself.  That becomes essential to human development whenever our idolatrous convictions identify the messenger of God with God.  So the Ground of Being will finally be worshiped apart from any system of religious thought.  It is a startling but real insight into the future of worship."  - Why Christianity Must Change or Die, p. 224

 Paul Tillich, Protestant Theologian

"The importance of being a Christian is that we can stand in the insight that it is of no importance. It is the spiritual power of religion that he who is religious can fearlessly look at the vanity of religion. It is the maturest fruit Christian understanding to understand that Christianity, as such, is of no avail." - The New Being, p 19

In other words Christianity is not about Christianity. It is about a new way of Being. When Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" he was not speaking of a religious way of Being, but a spiritual way of Being.

Scripture reminds us that it is the letter of the Law (religion, creeds and dogma) that kills, while the Spirit of the Law gives Life. An to enter the Spirit of the Law, one only need be spiritual, not religious.




And finally Dr. Lillian, do not make haste in your criticism of "self-made religion"

All religion is self made.  Paul Tillich reminds us that "Revelation is God's attempt to reach man. Religion is man's attempt to reach God." All religion stem from the personal Revelation of one individual, who then shares that revelation with others who in turn seek to touch the wisdom of the revelation by way of rituals, customs, rules and traditions that ultimately become...a religion.


In the end Dr. Lillian's point on the importance of community is well taken. We need community.  In community we grow, we are challenged and we change. But the world will not be served by more communities of "us and them."  In fact the world of divisive separation that humanity has created can only be served by the spiritual insight and revelation that there is only One Community. One global community of humanity in which, as Dr. Lillian stated, "[in community] we are stuck with each other"

And, like it or not that this is the way it is... This transformative insight can only come one personal revelation at a time.


Ernest Holmes

"The Church of God"

The Church of God is not built with hands, it is eternal in the heavens; it is not lighted with candles; its dome is heaven and it is lighted by the stars of God's illumined thought, and each member in his separate star "shall draw the thing as he sees it, for the God of things as they are." Here all people recognize the God within their own souls and ask for and see no other God. When you can look upon all creation as the perfect work of a perfect God, you will become a member of this church. I doubt very much if the church universal admits members from the church individual. When you can see in the saint and the sinner one and the same person, when you can realize that the one who kneels before the altar and the one who lies drunk in the street is the same one, when you can love the one as much as you do the other, no doubt you will be able to qualify. As it now is we have too many preachers who do not understand, that have no purpose; too many prayers, too many creeds, too many teachers, that have no message; too many churches, too many "learned" people, and too few thinkers. "The Kingdom of Heaven cometh not by observation." It is the "Still, small voice" within the soul that speaks. The expanded thought will never wish to join or be joined to. Nothing human can contain it. It feels the limitation of form and ceremony and longs for the freedom of the Spirit, the great out of doors, the Great God of the everywhere. Alone in the desert, the forest or by the restless ocean, looking up at the stars, man breathes forth these words, "With only my Maker and me."  

For the Love of God, All Hell is Breaking Loose!

Pastor Rob Bell

Have you noticed that all of Hell is breaking loose?  No really, it is...and that's a good thing.  Let me explain...

Recently Pastor Rob Bell has made headlines with his new book "Love Wins" in which he explains, as the title suggest, that in the end the Love of God has the final word.  He puts forth that the traditional views of hell and eternal damnation are overbearing and for one to emphasis them over God's Love is to not fully understand or appreciate the power of that Love.  He proposes that believing in Hell and eternal damnation over the transformative Love of God is..well...not very Christian like!   Pastor Bell, a graduate of Wheaton College, has been challenging and expanding the consciousness of his audience for years.  His previous books; 

•  "Velvet Elvis" - Commentary on Christian Culture and the post-modern era.
• "Sex God"- Exploring the endless connection between sexuality and spirituality.
• "Jesus Wants to Save Christians" - A Manifesto for the Church in Exile .

have all served to challenge various aspects of the "status quo" within Christian culture and theology.  Bell's ministry, Mars Hill in Michigan, is one of the fastest growing churches in America.  His sermon series such as "Everything is Spiritual"(a personal favorite of mine) and his short film series NOOMA have become huge hits on the internet.  

Here is Pastor Bell in his own words describing what the book is all about:

I gratefully welcome Bell's voice to the collective conversation.  His ideas are obviously very compatible to a New Thought way of thinking about the same topics of Hell, Spirituality and Love.  It seems that a growing population within the walls of Christianity are ready and hungry for these questions and a new conversation.  In the end Rob Bell is teaching consciousness and Principle.  I may not agree with all of his theological views but such alignment is not necessary.  Bell is shaping a new conversation in which he is asking his readers to think in terms of Principle and consciousness and doing so within the context of his Christian culture story.  The result of which I believe will be a revealed and renewed richness to the depth of the spiritual power, wisdom and transformative quality of the Christian Story.  

Of course Rob's voice is added to a growing chorus of writers who have challenged the status quo; authors like Marcus Borg, Bishop John Shelby Spong, Brian D. McLaren, Bart Erman, Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Pastor D.E. Paulk and the great 20th Century Theologian Paul Tillich (the list extends all the way back to first century Christianity).  Now, Pastor Rob may not appreciate me adding his name to some of the other listed here - he seems to avoid labels and boxes, he opposes the idea that his writings reflect "universalism" or that he is a part of the "emerging church" movement.  That's fine with me.  After all, when one is teaching consciousness and Principle, one must realize that the teaching itself is that which transcends boxes and labels.  It's not about the label, its about the message and consciousness - a statement I think most of the authors listed above would agree with.  

The list is Growing:

Methodist Pastor Chad Holtz was dismissed from his pulpit for posting a facebook note that was in support of Rob Bell's book and message, namely - Pastor Holtz loosed his belief in a "literal Hell"

So, What's going on here?

One of the chapters in Bishop Carlton D. Pearson's latest book, God is Not a Christian, is titled "Get the Hell Out of my Bible."  It seems that a growing number of faithful not only want it out of their Bible, but also out of their churches and pulpits.  And why?  Of course one reason is that our collective consciousness is growing and the out dated, misguided and divisive notions of "us and them" is no longer serving (if it ever did).  People are waking up to the magnitude of the power of Love.  Even more importantly it seems that we are increasingly being given the opportunity to be the Love of God.  Earthquakes, tsunami's, and economic meltdowns are all providing us with a critical choice; to be driven by Love or to continue fear based "us and them" thinking and behavior.  While our reptilian brain is driven by fear, our higher consciousness is driven by Love.  Our outdated notions of Hell are breaking loose from our consciousness because we've come face to face with the hell (separation) we've created on earth - so much so that it is threatening to our very survival as a human race.  Our biological mandate is "create (express) or perish" and creation is an act of Love.  Quite literally - for the Love of God (choosing our biological mandate over fear), all Hell is breaking loose (falling away).  In other words,  Love Wins.