Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Seeing The Sacred Spirit

Until we stop worshiping a "god' of war and blood-lust, I don't see our earth becoming what we envision as heaven, nor do I see the Israelites ever being at peace. Jesus said that the men of the bible were hard-hearted toward women, and yet we still justify our actions by following these men. Jesus exemplified compassionate friendship with women and men from all religions and walks of life. He treated them with respectful compassion, as he did those who were his friends.

Jesus is portrayed as a real man, with a special respect for his mother and father, even as a teenager. He is also portrayed as having a special relationship with a woman of flesh and blood, kissing her often. Perhaps he never married and bore children in compassion for how persecuted his family would be because of his actions and beliefs.

Jesus had a real legal father, whether by adoption or sex is unimportant in appreciating the example that Jesus set for compassionate community. I choose to believe that Jesus was especially enlightened by The Sacred Spirit nurtured by his earthly Jewish family and community in which they brought him to adulthood. I choose to believe that nature, as well as nurture, endowed him with a marvelously strong and Sacred Spirit that burns to this day in the souls of those who live lives of respectful compassion for all of creation.

I believe that our understanding of The Sacred Spirit must evolve with the nature of humanity. We should not limit our seeking to only the manifestations passed down by our ancestors. Ancient man was the most powerful human form, with his greater physical strength and his ability to reason. In seeing the spark of The Sacred Spirit in man, man began to worship himself by putting his own face on "god." Was this a reaction to the awe that man experienced at the power of woman to "create" human life?

Isn't it time that we stop fearing feelings of awe that make us feel vulnerable? Isn't it time that we celebrate and embrace that which makes us wonder, without attempting to bring everything down to our capacity to identify everything, physical and spiritual, with absolute precision? Even science understands that what we accept as truths are only what existing information allows us to see today.

We must all embrace our own vulnerabilities and those of others. Vulnerability is the only way that we bond with the spirits of others. It is wrong to ridicule and otherwise abuse vulnerabilities instead of looking for ways that we can complete each other. It is wrong to hand absolute power to any one person, whether in governments, religions, or families. All manifestations of The Sacred Spirit are, by their very natures, interdependent. Religions teach that all manifestations of The Sacred Spirit return back to their source for renewal and resurrection. And scientists know that all energy continues; it simply transforms from one manifestation to another.

I believe it is time that we shake off the shackles of fear of the unknown and immerse ourselves in celebratory compassion for what we experience as enlightening. I am not afraid of burning in hell; I am afraid of being so afraid of making mistakes that I forget to embrace life and love. While I live, I will continue to attempt to share a bit of my view of how to see and live "heaven on earth" and be a devoutly respectful Israelite (one who struggles with The Sacred Spirit in creation and tries to remain faithful).

I am one woman, born of Judeo-Christian man and woman, seeking to see The Sacred Spirit in all I encounter on earth.