The Journey of Man

To understand Jesus in a whole new way, you must first know that Christ is not his last name, but the pre-existent Christ Consciousness that existed from all eternity (Colossians 1:15-20) and his omnipresent identity after the Resurrection—which now includes humanity and all of creation along with it (Ephesians 1:9-11). Jesus became the Christ (Acts 2:36), by his own process of transformation, and now wonderfully includes us in this sweeping, historical, and victorious identity!That’s why Paul will then create a new shocking term “the body of Christ,” which clearly now includes all of us (1 Corinthians 12:12-30) and all of creation too (Romans 8:18-21). What hope this offers everything!So think of the good Jesus, who has to die to what seems like him—so that he can rise as the larger Christ. It is not a “bad” man who must die on the cross, but a good man (“false self”)—so that he can be a much larger man (“True Self”) or Christ. Jesus dies, Christ rises. The false self is not a bad self; it is just not the true self. It is inadequate and small, symbolized by Jesus’ human body, which he readily lets go of. Adapted from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 191

The past week and next week a group of volunteers are in Bascobel, Jamaica on a "literacy" mission. Most of the people here are very service and stewardship orientated which in a very real way is living out what Richard talks of regarding letting go of our past structure and moving forward in service to others, especially the poor, and Christ. In these schools we are serving they do have a "Christian" focus and devotion as part of the program. Very comforting to me and thought that I'd include one of Richard's reflections of the day I found fraught with quotations from the Bible. I am finding a melding in this country of the "natural" basis of society here, One Love, and the "Christian" structure of our colonial and more recent past. This "melding" is not so obvious at all times. There is very much a part of the culture who stand firmly on the "Christian" past and can have a tendency to be just as fundamental and judgemental as any other persuasion in any other part of the world. The same could be said for those who take the "Natural" position of a minimalist existence very much judging all they perceive as "Babylon". Those who have found a way to hold both concepts in balance are blessed indeed. Having taken a fair amount of time to study Jamaica prior to this visit I believe there are many blessed people on this island. One of the most well known would be Bob Marley. Although he did have a fair amount of human weakness when one listens to his work, compiled in a very short period of years, you feel you are not just listening to a talented musician but also a philosopher, peace and social justice activist, and an advocate for Love among All Gods creation. The movement which came out of Jamaica and spread throughout the world had a very interesting background and an even more interesting destination. The 1930's and as a reaction to a post colonial tension the world saw the birth of essentially a "Black Power" movement in Jamaica with links to Africa and specifically Ethiopia. Bob Roskind's "Rasta Heart" is worth the read to get a good overview of this movement. The ability of people like Robert Marley to morph this movement into a forgiving and loving "One Love" global concept is a testament to the power of positive change. Arguably Jamaica has been one of the most abused and exploited countries in the world. IF they can find a way to rise above bitterness and hate to truly become One Love that is quite an ideal. There national motto is "Out of many, One people". Probably a pretty good motto for the rest of us as well. Of course if you look at this motto in Latin then you have ours as well, "E Pluribus Unim". It seems to be easier to write a motto than to live one. Thanksgiving Blessings to all! Pax Christi! RV