"Christ is really present in us, more present than
if He were standing before us visible to our bodily
eyes. For we have become 'other Christs'.

If we believe in the Incarnation of the Son of God,
there should be no one on earth in whom we are not
prepared to see, in mystery, the presence of Christ."

—Thomas Merton

 

Through Christ we are made reflections of Christ. The mystical Christian tradition of Thou Art God conveys this simple truth in three powerful words — and they are words we should all endeavor to keep in mind. As Christians we must strive to notice Christ in every last one of our fellow beings.

Many non-Christians have a deep-seated distrust of Christianity in the modern world. There is an all-too-common tendency to confuse the secular trappings of religion with the spiritual core of faith, and it has led many to reject religion out of hand. Ultimately I think this will do immense damage to us as a species, and limit our potential to expand out on a spiritual dimension.

Religion is not about Churches, or dogma, or scripture. It is about a spiritual Truth conveyed in a simple language, and offered forth for communion. Spiritual truth may exist independent of religious lenses, but this standard form of speaking offers us the opportunity to meet in the Void and share our experiences. It is one of the great struggles of religion that it will always tend towards the creation of superficial structures — such as Churches and dogma — first as a way of simplifying the communion of ideas, but eventually a way of rigidifying power.

This doesn't make religion evil. It doesn't make it something to be feared, or avoided. We should not throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater. Rather, it places an onus on those of us who are religious, to be constantly striving towards the purification of our religion and faith. In the mystical traditions this aim can be seen more clearly than elsewhere, but even in the 'mainstream' Churches of the world there are always pockets of dissent promoting tolerance and open-mindedness over dogma and a strict interpretation of scripture.

Thomas Merton tells us we are all Christ, in the same way the Buddhist faiths tell us we are all Buddha. Merton was not a heretic — he was a respected (if controversial) Catholic of a respected (if controversial) order.

The strength of religion lies in its ability to function as a myth-structure through which to view and interpret our world and our role in that world. I find it sadly ironic that many of the most deeply spiritual people I know — and indeed, those who are such fans of myth structures a la Campbell — are those most adamantly reactionary towards religion.

The life of Christ — washing the feet of lepers, casting the money-changers from the temple, forgiving those who have murdered him on the Cross — can act as a powerful force in our own life when taken in relation to the mythic premise that we are all 'other Christs'. Denying this myth structure simply because of its historic misuse, or its continued misuse by a misguided segment of the population, accomplishes nothing but removing a potentially valuable teaching vessel from our repertoire.

All wisdom, all knowledge, and all spiritual paths have the potential to be twisted, warped, and abused. This does not invalidate the original teaching, and we must be strong enough to use the positive and recognizing it for its worth.

Christ's life — like the life of many prophets and holy men and women — serves as a testament to the power of love in overcoming adversity and bringing us beyond the assumed constraints of humanity.

I claim Christ's life as my own. I call myself a Christian, in spite of years of fear of religion. I embrace the potential of the Church as a body to unify the world as a spiritual family, though thus far it has failed miserably. I am a Christian, and that means I will wash the feet of lepers, I will cast out those who place the God of Greed above the God of Love, and I will forgive all trespasses against me, even unto my own death.

I am a Christian because I embrace Christ's life as a model by which to live my own. Everything else is secondary — be it the teachings of a Church, the Old Testament, or the ideas of some preacher. We call ourselves Christian because of this deep connection to Christ, and it is crucially important to remember that it is Christ's Love and nothing else that makes us Christian.

Many of the best Christians I know do not accept Christ into their lives in a way fundamentalists would consider valid. They don't necessarily believe in His life, or His position at the Son of God. But they accept Christ into their hearts in a fundamental way — by showing kindness to those who scorn them, by showing compassion to those less fortunate — and by this standard I can do nothing less than label them Christian, though it be a label they themselves would never choose. Conversely, so many who 'accept' Christ have never even begun to accept Him or His teachings. They treat Him as though He were an idealistic fool ("well of course we would like to turn the other cheek, but this is the real world..."), rather than their Savior. I cannot in good conscience call these vengence-thirsty masses Christian, though they may attend services and be baptized. But that's a topic for a different page.

This lens — this mythology called Christianity — offers such a pure and passionate example of sacrifice for love, that I can not accept its off-the-cuff rejection by those who claim to be spiritual seekers. A seeker must be open to wisdom from all sources, and I hope to help, throughout my life, reinspire faith and confidence in what I see as a beautiful conduit of wisdom.

Namaste.