Something so fascinating to me is that the Bible contains nuggets of gold which, if you really listen to them, will disintegrate many or most of the extrapolated teachings of the religious culture ("cult"-ure) you may find yourself in. I suspect the same holds true for the Koran and the Kabbalah and all other spiritual literature with a direct experience at their core.
The Bible says, for instance: "Everyone that loves is born of God and knows God." That pretty much does away with all concepts of handing out tracts, "four spiritual laws," Calvinism, evangelizing, and most doctrinal interpretations of original sin. But there it is, one of the most beautiful phrases in the whole Bible. You don't require "being born again" to know love; simply by loving you know God. (That truth does not lend itself to spreading a religion and taking over other tribal territory, though, and we humans seem compelled to do such things.)
Or "there is no fear in love." Sometimes I feel like a vast majority of popular Christian teaching stems from anxiety, and anxiety and fear are interchangeable. Granted, anxiety is hard to manage for everyone, and much of it isn't our fault - it's a genetic inheritance, or fallout from unprocessed trauma, or even the result of a lack of amino acids in our modern refined foods leaving us with nothing to convert to GABA in our brain. One kind of fear can save our life, the kind we've developed over eons to avoid things like an attack in a dark alley. But non-body-based, mental anxiety can't coexist with love, not in the same moment and space. We have to be careful about creating rigid rules and fearful theology (or political policies) in the pursuit of illusory and ultimately unattainable safety. We're going to get hurt, and our loved ones are going to get hurt, many times during our lives. "The only way out is through" - healing comes as we are brave, facing and experiencing suppressed emotions. "The truth will set you free," including heart truth: I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm hurting. It would be great if there was a Father-God who could fix us instantly if we "just believe," but that theology is another very sneaky form of spiritual anesthesia/escape.
That's one way the archetype of crucifixion still makes deep sense to me - it's the willingness for love to take us to a place where we feel everything we want to numb ourselves from. "Mourn with those who mourn" - including yourself - is a very challenging Scripture verse. (Or maybe it's just challenging for stoic Scandinavians like me.)
So lastly, "God is love." !!!!!!! Whaaaaattt!!!!!! This is crazy, and those are the best three words. Not God is loving, which is the traditional Christian spin. God IS love. That means monkey mamas mourning over the bodies of their dead babies for days has God at the center of it. That means God is already everywhere, because love shows up everywhere, on every level of existence. God is in your golden retriever's loyalty and your grandma's pillowy hug and "love-making" with your partner. I know the word God has been destroyed for a lot of people, it means "puke" or "rape" or "asshole." That is perfectly okay, and I'm sorry if it's infuriating to even see those three letters in succession here. Just try to empathize with me for a sec and know that semantics are always limiting.
The Bible says, for instance: "Everyone that loves is born of God and knows God." That pretty much does away with all concepts of handing out tracts, "four spiritual laws," Calvinism, evangelizing, and most doctrinal interpretations of original sin. But there it is, one of the most beautiful phrases in the whole Bible. You don't require "being born again" to know love; simply by loving you know God. (That truth does not lend itself to spreading a religion and taking over other tribal territory, though, and we humans seem compelled to do such things.)
Or "there is no fear in love." Sometimes I feel like a vast majority of popular Christian teaching stems from anxiety, and anxiety and fear are interchangeable. Granted, anxiety is hard to manage for everyone, and much of it isn't our fault - it's a genetic inheritance, or fallout from unprocessed trauma, or even the result of a lack of amino acids in our modern refined foods leaving us with nothing to convert to GABA in our brain. One kind of fear can save our life, the kind we've developed over eons to avoid things like an attack in a dark alley. But non-body-based, mental anxiety can't coexist with love, not in the same moment and space. We have to be careful about creating rigid rules and fearful theology (or political policies) in the pursuit of illusory and ultimately unattainable safety. We're going to get hurt, and our loved ones are going to get hurt, many times during our lives. "The only way out is through" - healing comes as we are brave, facing and experiencing suppressed emotions. "The truth will set you free," including heart truth: I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm hurting. It would be great if there was a Father-God who could fix us instantly if we "just believe," but that theology is another very sneaky form of spiritual anesthesia/escape.
That's one way the archetype of crucifixion still makes deep sense to me - it's the willingness for love to take us to a place where we feel everything we want to numb ourselves from. "Mourn with those who mourn" - including yourself - is a very challenging Scripture verse. (Or maybe it's just challenging for stoic Scandinavians like me.)
So lastly, "God is love." !!!!!!! Whaaaaattt!!!!!! This is crazy, and those are the best three words. Not God is loving, which is the traditional Christian spin. God IS love. That means monkey mamas mourning over the bodies of their dead babies for days has God at the center of it. That means God is already everywhere, because love shows up everywhere, on every level of existence. God is in your golden retriever's loyalty and your grandma's pillowy hug and "love-making" with your partner. I know the word God has been destroyed for a lot of people, it means "puke" or "rape" or "asshole." That is perfectly okay, and I'm sorry if it's infuriating to even see those three letters in succession here. Just try to empathize with me for a sec and know that semantics are always limiting.
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