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I Once Believed: Re-Framing a Traditional Christian Past Part 4

Even though the Christian church turned a common cultural practice of ritual washing into an exercise in “sin management”, there are still remnants of something else, something simpler. There is still a hint of the first century teacher and his followers who had something completely different to say about this experience. This is from the community of Mark who shared and wrote these words:
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the spirit, as like a dove alighted upon him. And he heard a message: “You are my son, beloved; a source of pride and pleasure.” (Mark 1: 9-11)

This baptism contains no negative talk, no self-loathing. There is no derision for being less than, or a call to be washed of what came before. As Jesus comes out of the water, he experiences a vision – a positively delightful vision – of affirmation, of acceptance. The whole event is an allegory for what it means to be human. To be fully alive, to be fully spirited, each of us declared to be a child of god or ‘child of the universe’ as we would reframe it, beloved by the very fact of our living. Instead of pejorative, soul-killing labels of unworthiness the church was to devise and that many of us need to un-learn, this story is a metaphor that has miraculously survived the power and patriarchy to speak loud and clear that there is pleasure and pride in each of our wondrous lives.

Imagine how differently millions upon millions would have felt and would now feel and behave if they were told from the very beginning: “You are much loved, you are spirit-infused, you bring pride and pleasure to the world. To create loving people, we need to have children who are told of their true nature and potential – and then are truly loved. To begin healing for ourselves, WE ALL need to hear these words also. Listen: Your nature and potential is love, is beauty, is brimming with an amazing spirit, and you bring pride and pleasure to the world. May the source of love be your strength. May the love we learn from each other be your guide. May the spirit of love in which we’re immersed be your wisdom. Welcome beloved.

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I Once Believed: Re-Framing a Traditional Christian Past Part 2

Many of us who, either long ago or more recently, have found our way to SSUC have come from very different spiritual experiences. Some have come from other traditions entirely, some from a more evangelical upbringing, many from what you might call a liberal Untied Church tradition or similar, and some weren’t raised in the Christian tradition, but have come with ideas and notions from pop culture of what the Christian church is. For some, this might be a positive memory and experience; For others, a more negative or traumatizing past. Either way, it’s important to always be evaluating what we learned early on, what we’ve unlearned, what we now understand in light of where we are now on our journey…regardless of where that is.

For as much good as the writings of any text might inspire, promote social justice and positive change, dogmatic belief statements have more frequently been used or misused to exclude, to uphold evil, unjust, harmful and violent programs and empires. Many in our community have been harmed by the exclusion, the rigidness, the hatred, that’s born of that kind of dogma. And if not us directly, then we’ve witnessed it and needed to act as a result. Social issues, areas of justice, acceptance of people just as they are – decisions to shame or exclude: these are painful and lasting wounds.

We know that the more fruitful direction is in having conversations around what informs my behaviour? What am I giving my time and energy to in order that I make of my life a positive influence in the world? What standards do I use everyday to ponder my relationships, my financial decisions, my standing up for another? What motivates me to work for justice or peace in whatever small or big ways I’m able?

None of us can ever inherit some belief, some idea, some set of values that we “ought to believe”. It just doesn’t work. We can’t inherit it from the previous generation, but neither, and maybe even more importantly, can we inherit it from our past selves. We can’t presume that something true will always be true. There are things that are true for us as children, as teens, as young adults that we then outgrow. There are coping mechanisms that are helpful when there are no other answers, but when others are found, these first ones are no longer needed.

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I Once Believed: Re-Framing a Traditional Christian Past Part 1

Beliefs and understandings are always evolving in a healthy spirituality. We all change and grow, finding that things we once believed have needed to be put aside, rejected, or allowed to evolve into something new. There is no one right place to be on that journey: from those beginning to sense that something feels different in their relationship to their beliefs, to those who’ve been through this process many times over many years…and everything in between. For all of us, it’s healthy to assess our beliefs regularly. This series will examine a number of beliefs that were/are common in traditional Christianity, the potential harm they can cause, possible expansive alternatives that don’t leave us rudderless, and concepts that may have relevance for our living today.

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Part Three: The Grief of Change
"Some things cannot be fixed, they can only be carried."

The Paradox of Change

Mere change is not growth.
Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity
and where there is no continuity there is no growth.
- C.S. Lewis

This audio taken from a live gathering. Join us every week at ssucemonton.com/live at 10 AM (MT) for our weekly spiritual reflection.

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