Master of Mystical Christianity
Lesson 2 - Mirror Images
Question for the Heart and Mind
1. Imagine a Christianity without the influence of original sin and the fall. If we remove 'fall/redemption theology' from Christianity, what is left and what can be put in its place?
If the fall/redemption theology is removed from Christianity, then Christianity itself is removed. Christ came to put right that which had gone away in human understanding and relationships between humanity and God, and humanity with fellow humans and other beings in creation.
The Christian Scriptures inform us that God so loved the world He sent His only Son to us, so that we should not die but have everlasting life (John 3;16). So Christ came to earth with a God sent purpose of redemption. Take away the purpose and the reality of the crucifixion-sacrifice, and the rationale for the purpose of Jesus' life, death and resurrection has gone. This is the practical reality.
In the sphere of imagination, I imagine that God would have incarnated as human to partake our life experience on earth even if there had not been a pressing need for reconciliation/redemption. In a world without the influence of original sin and the fall, humanity would be kind towards one another and other beings in creation.
Killing would be both unthought and unheard of, and the eating of other earthly beings such as animals would not occur. People would live healthily from pulses, grains, fruits and vegetables. Humans would not fear humans, and animals would not have cause to fear humans. Love, tolerance, understanding and peace would be the hallmarks of every relationship.
What is thus left after the removal of all redemption theology is relationship with God (Christ) and with fellow humanity and creation. What can be put in the place of the fall/redemption theology is a theology of all-embracing love, of a lack of malice and manipulation of fellow beings and creation for one's own ends. Selfishness would not exist; only peaceful, caring co-operation from a mature and integrated inner universe of heart, mind and soul of each human.
2. Explain the connection between the traditional understanding of the Genesis narratives and our ecological concerns for Mother Earth. Why are the two connected?
As Christians we have been trained from our earliest years to dominate our environment without sensitivity, rather than to work in partnership with the kingdoms of creation. The result has had a spin off for our planet as a whole. The traditional understanding of the Genesis narratives echoes the belief that anything related to matter, the physical body, and the feminine became defined as opposed to a life of faith, if not actual evil.
Preston Bristow (2001) has affirmed that Christianity has been called arrogant towards nature and charged with being the historical root of our ecological crisis.
Human selfishness, greed and carelessness are moral problems which lead to consequences in creation and ecology. It is obvious from watching the news that the centre is not holding (Mother Maryesah 2007). Areas of land ecologically devastated in the past experienced some or all of the following;
- wildlife being all but eradicated due to heavy trapping for fur
- forests being stripped for logging and for farming
- hillsides being over-grazed by herds (Bristow, The root of our ecological crisis; 2001).
The connection between the traditional understanding of Genesis that we are masters to dominate the earth instead of being stewards nurturing the earth is directly linked to our current ecological crisis. At present we seem to have the outlook that animals, birds, trees, resources, water are ours to pollute, maim, kill and destroy rather than nurture and contentedly share the planet with.
Consumerism in our society often tends to influence us to use more of everything for our own resources without counting the cost to other tenants of planet earth. Examples are; the murder of animals for their meat and furs; the destroyal of forests and rainforests by unchecked logging; the pollution of water by chemicals and contaminants; the interference with the earth's stability by the experimentation with airborne weapons. All of these can contribute towards the destabilisation of the earth's ecological systems, with consequences for us all as we exist as co-dependant neighbours on the planet. What affects one affects all.
3. How do you react to the possibility, as theorised by Gregg Braden, that you carry the message 'God Eternal within your body' in your genetic code?
I believe that each of us hold the Divine Fingerprint of God within both our soul(spirit) and body. Many of us verbalise the yearning I feel for Someone Greater, for something more wonderful, towards Whom I strive. I understand this Being to be the Supreme God, Who was incarnated in human form in Jesus Christ. I react to this possibility by aasserting my belief that none of us finds true rest or harbour for our spirits unless we rest within the God Eternal Who created us.
Our bodies are finite, destined to be recycled according to God's Almighty Plan back into the matter of the earth; however, we carry the DNA of God Eternal within us as the body which is fused on earth with our spirit or soul, carries that spirit to its eternal destination of Union with God.
5. Become the storyteller of your life and create your own creation mythology. What would your creation story feel, look and sound like?
In the beginning was God, and God was full of life and love. And God looked on the earth and decided earth needed to be enriched by a femal being of life, love and laughter to be His servant and humanity and animal and plant kingdom friend. So He created me.
I was created laughing and joyous in my mother's womb through the love of my father and mother, both celebrating their love together and forming the connection through which God could create me. I was created reaching my tiny being towards the Mighty Hand of God creating me. And God was overjoyed at this miracle and our relationship, and so was I.
And God in my creation, gave me a mission, to think not of self, but to offer my life in His Service for the service and benefit of others. And so the struggle in my own life began, to move me away from my own needs and my own will towards giving God supreme power over my life, body and soul in order to create me to be the person He ultimately planned for me to become when He fashioned my embryo body and embryo soul.
And God looked on my creation; and, as is with all His Creation, He found my creation very good.
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