Why I Am/Not a Christian: On the 2nd Commandment

 

Why I'm Am/Not a Christian 

Thoughts Moses' 2nd Commandment

Adapted From Correspondence

 I enjoyed our conversations and have always found your sermons to be thought provoking. In a TV show Vincent and I were recently watching one of the characters said to another with whom he was in some disagreement that nothing one says before the but matters so... but:

 I'm really not a traditional Christian anymore. I've been wracking my brain for several weeks to try and figure how to address this issue in a manner that suggests respect and fondness for the traditional church.  I find the doctrine professed in traditional christian churches no longer relevant to my spirituality. I've thought about this when I've attended churches in the past. For example, if I take communion I have to remind myself that the spirit behind what I'm doing is what's important, not the form. I have to remind myself when I profess the Apostle's Creed that I do believe it in metaphorical sense. 

I do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Apostles creed: I believe in a form of the trinity. My studies have led me to conclude that the process of creation goes thru three stages similar to the Hegelian dialectic :1 )thesis, 2)antithesis, 3)synthesis. This is a self-referential process which iterates as the system of human creative thought in the manner that medieval Hebraic mystics called the tetragrammaton. Indeed, YHVH, for the four Hebraic letters yod, he, vau, he, is the name used to refer to the Divine as process. It is not, and never was "Jehova"{1}. 

This poor translation brings me to another problem in Christianity: the poor translation assumed in traditional churches is terrible scholarship. Let me give just a quick example: the use of the name Jesus, and it's English  pronunciation "jee s us". At the very best a translator might use "Joshua" as the name of Yeshua of Nazareth was the same as that of the Biblical character who "fit the battle of Jericho". For me use of the word "Jesus" is very disrespectful of one of the greatest men of all time. If he actually did rise from the dead then we can safely say he is the greatest man of all time but I don't like repeating rumors unless I label them as such. If the disciple St. Thomas can be sainted after expressing doubt, and he was a spectator of New Testament events, I think I can be sceptical. Especially, as it's been shown, the scholarship has been sloppy.

But: "Make a joyful noise." At least 75% of the churches I attend make the attendance to the service an onerous task. Uncomfortable seating, up and down like a yo-yo, hymns which often fail to qualify to the standards I call music. Surprising since much of the greatest classical music ever written was for churches. With all the genuflecting & its equivalent I feel like I'm at a bizarre sporting event. Stand up, Sit down, - yeah God. Further, though the fellowship is joyful, I personally am a night person. Do I have to begin the Sabbath in a half groggy state having slept poorly the night before worried about dragging myself out of bed early? Where's the joy? 

But: . I not only don't need an intercessor, I'm convinced that having someone tell you what to believe, anyone, is a form of spiritual death. By grace and grace alone ...not by belonging to a church, not by good works,  not by following someone's advice. The corollary here is that grace is available simply for the asking and all that requires is a little humility.

"Remember the Sabbath & keep it holy". I often find that I need to re-interpret scripture for myself (a form of the living word) and I've been thinking about what this dictum means lately.

 The Episcopal Sanctuary in San Francisco provided me shelter and assistance when I first came to S.F. over 20 years ago in a search to implement a computer meditation program I was developing. I found the pageantry of  services at Grace Cathedral to be beautiful and the sermons of Alan ? to be interesting. Another Episcopal church in S.F. provided weekly grocery handouts to those of us in the highly financially challenged income brackets and had interesting services that incorporated dance reminiscent of the Sufi dervishes.

 I've been interested in different forms of worship for some time. "Seek and ye shall find". I've attended Buddhist ceremonies, Hindu Ceremonies and many varied ceremonies of Christian sects. Everywhere I found sincere seekers. Everywhere I found glimpses of the Truth. I concluded that the phrase the "Living Word" is not a metaphor. That the Divine did not create the universe as a fait accompli but as a work in progress in which we are all participants. I'm a follower of Tielhard de Chardin (The Phenomenon of Man) for an unchanging Divine is a dead divine.

 It seems that the traditional church may be in trouble with drops in attendance (at least here in the U.S.). For myself, I find sharing my faith with others does strengthen it but I have difficulty finding groups where doctrine doesn't interfere with substance. And, I want my spirituality to walk hand-in-hand with rationality.

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy? I think I'd rather remember every day as holy.