In Eastern Christianity they dwell on the cosmic significance of Christ
but in the West we focused too much on his saving work –
Augustine and Anselm claimed that Jesus came
only because we were ill – no illness, no Jesus
but contemporary theology believes Jesus came
to show us how to live/our true self – divine love –
repeat after me – “I am divine love”
the tremendous energy of love by which the universe
converges on itself passes through human sexuality –
the Christ comes to us through sex –
that is why Jesus performed his first miracle
at the wedding at Cana – Jesus saying symbolically:
“Before marriage/union/sex your life was water
now it is wine!”
but our sexuality is often dysfunctional
our wisdom is forever mixed up
with our craziness/neurosis/delusion/confusion
we need to wake up and accept this more and more –
this is better than constantly trying to change/perfect ourselves
peace lies in humble acceptance of our brokenness
and our need of God to put us back together
“The deadliest sin is to swim on the surface
for grace is found in the depths and death –
in falling/failing/not being in control/going down/not up”
– Richard Rohr in Falling Upward
too much security or insecurity leads to death
we need a healthy balance so we don’t become
either stagnant or overwhelmed by change
so we are not killed by the “future shock” –
the culture of constant change we live in
a prayer in Buddhism that is as common
as the “Our Father” in Christianity:
“I take refuge in the Buddha
I take refuge in the Dharma (the teaching)
I take refuge in the Sangha (the community)”
translated into Christianese:
“I take refuge in the Christ
I take refuge in the Beatitudes
I take refuge in the Church.”
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 