There are many notable figures within the Christian world who lovingly question the established and institutional Church. There are many like them in the world of institutional Judaism and Islam who lovingly question the narrowness of their respective faiths.
A number of names or groups come to mind from today and years gone by. Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, John Philip Newell, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Interfaith Council of Washington DC, Rabbi Joshua Abraham Heschel, Howard Thurman, Carl Lugn (my father), Arnie (my oldest and ear Friend), The Ba’al Shem Tov, Elizabeth Johnson, Mother Teresa, indigenous traditions, Thomas Merton, Jesus, Thomas Keating, Marjorie Thompson, Rumi, Cynthia Bourgeault, Carole Crumley, Alessandra (my wife), my Rabbi Mark Novak, Marc (my friend), David Canada (my dear Friend and Mentor), Beth (my Spiritual Director), and others.
Jesus is a revelation of God’s love. Incarnation. We each have the opportunity to be a human revelation of God’s love.
Some phrases and words which touch my Heart and call to my attention:
Listening to the heartbeat of the Divine.
New birthing – New beginnings – radical humility – looking at other
Earth and the cosmos are spiritual worlds, creations of the Divine
Non creedal
The earth, the whole cosmos was and is a physical and spiritual embodiment of God, the Divine presence.
Wholeness, Shalom, Divine
Going forward, newness, vision, sacred earth, sacred ground
Awe, wonder, curiosity, relational, listen to the earth, to the sounds of the earth, pay attention, inspiring, listen, community and yearning
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I find Beauty in the Creation. I need to find the Beauty which lies in places seen and unseen. If I do not find this Beauty, even in small doses, I fear I might fall and lose my inner soul. I will be consumed with absence.
Beauty lies within the vastness of the universe. The stars draw pictures that ancient human beings named. Giving names to stars and imagining that clusters of stars bear a resemblance to living things on earth helped us to make that which is unattainable a bit more familiar. They represented connection for us with the cosmos. We are perhaps significantly insignificant. (see The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon by Colin Fletcher)
The greens, browns, blues, yellows, and reds in the Universe and on the Earth, our home, nurture us. The walking and swimming and flying creatures, large and small, are a wonder. And we, Humanity, homo sapiens, are new creatures in the unfolding of our Universe, which includes our small place in the Universe.
All of life from the Breath, the Sound and the Word emanates forth from the Energy we call God, Allah and YWHW. This Energy is unfathomable, and we humans are drawn to keep trying to understand this Holy Entity. As we are discovering, this boundless stream of Energy cannot be explained, it can only be experienced.
This Holy Energy is connected to all that is and all that was and all that will be. It cannot be contained within the walls of doctrine and creed. My Christianity follows the teachings of Jesus, a man of the 1st century, born into the Judaism of that day in a rather small area on this Earth, our Home. He knew God, Eloheinu. He grew up with the sounds and smells of the Temple, the synagogue, and the village. But even in his day there were boundaries. Curiosity and imagination were inhibited.
Yet, Jesus found the Beauty of his Judaism. In it are the stories of Creation, of the Prophets, of family and community dysfunction and connectedness through Love and warmth, through the misguidedness of some and the togetherness of many.
Jesus taught from these stories. And Jesus chose, for the most part, the stories of love of neighbor, love of self and love of God, YHWH, Father, Creator and Maker, mover of the Spirit.
Jesus was able, like some before him and many who followed, to cruise the Universe of Beauty, Sacred, and Holy. Jesus seemed to be aware of the Ground of our Being (thank you Paul Tillich for this attribute of God).
I have grown to love a religion that is not boxed in with walls, creeds, or closed doctrine. I believe in a Christianity which encourages curiosity and imagination of the heart and that flies beyond any rules set forth by humans. A Christianity that seeks Awe and Wonder, Love and Connection. A religion that flies on Eagle’s wings. A Christianity that finds a home in Jewish Renewal, in Sufism, Buddhism, Taoism and others that are aware of the Holiness of all that is and all that was and all that will be.
The great 20th Century Mystic and Christian writer, Evelyn Underhill wrote: For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the center, where we are anchored in God: a life soaked through and through by a sense of God’s reality and claim, a self given to the great movement of God’s will. These words speak to my heart, my yearnings.
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My ordination was and is a tremendous richness of my heart. A great fondness and love to what is Good. I love Jesus, his teachings, his humility, and devotion to the Divine Presence. He sets an example for all persons regardless of faith traditions or no faith at all. One of my deepest commitments is to be a pastor to the people I serve. To be with them where they are in sickness and health. In their doubts and certainties. To pray with them, to speak with and to them, to listen to them. To shed tears and to laugh with them. I do these things with my heart. The God of Moses is real to me. The God of Jesus is real to me. I am in love with God.
My heart and being feel close and enriched by the teachings of the Buddha, the Tao and others that express a love of the Divine from their heart.
Last summer (2024) I walked the Unity Walk in Washington, DC. I walked a significant part of it with 5 young Muslim men and women. Our conversations were friendly, warm, and instructive. I very much appreciated that experience. It gave me a good look at their expression of Islam.
Jesus and the Prophets tried to drill into our inner Beings that Love, Justice, Hope, Joy, and Peace are the inner and outer principles of life on Earth. The Prophets and Jesus taught us through many stories that we need to live in this fashion, or we shall suffer and be torn. We shall lose community and connectedness which will lead to losing Love, Justice, Hope, Joy, and Peace. Even the Beatles told us that Love is the answer.
Books I have read that have touched me: The Great Search by John Philip Newell; Jewish with Feeling by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi; Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson; What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman; The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness by Rabbi Rami Shapiro; Life of the Beloved by Henri J. M. Nouwen; Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh; The Souls of Black Folk by W.E. B. DuBois; The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill; The Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness by Eugene Peterson. Also listen to Woody Guthrie’s hymn, Holy Ground https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=woody+guthrie+holy+ground&type=E211US105G0#id=2&vid=02bb3842a50be2d2d82ea26e3c5b4b84&action=click.
Thank you. Many blessings. Much Peace. Though it may seem difficult to see a wholeness of self and community in today’s climate of division, we need to make room for Joy and Beauty, it is all around us.
Hearing the Divine 