George Bernard Shaw is famously quoted as saying, "Some people see things as they are and wonder WHY, others see things that never have been and wonder WHY NOT"? Looking back on my life, I have generally been of the WHY NOT segment of society. If you've been in church very much of your life you've probably noticed that the latter paradigm isn't lovingly embraced.
Thus it is no wonder that I find myself being some sort of spiritual guide to a group of people who used to once call themselves a CHURCH, but now the label is more akin to a spiritual COMMUNITY. I guess the only question is why it took so long for me to BESTIR myself into action to get from there to here?
As a good and faithful church-going denominational member, I didn't rock the boat.
One has to wonder how a person who calls themselves a Christian wouldn't be like the man Jesus? Jesus challenged the strict rules, the legalism, and formal structures in his own Jewish religion. Of course, he also incurred the wrath and hostility of the loving fellowship. The Sanhedrin took no pity on Jesus as we know. Look at the church historically speaking.
Scotus Erigen, Clement, Origen, and even St. Augustine took their allegorical clues from Philo and interpreted the ancient writing and manuscripts much differently than we're being taught today. We need new eyes, new ways of interpretations, and new loving attitudes towards those who do not see things just as we do.
So much of Christianity was borrowed from Egypt and other previous religions. Therefore Philo and other theologians and philosophers of the time saw the allegorical methods being employed and found themselves marked as infidels and heretics for not going along with the more historical fundamental interpretations. But, for at least a couple hundred years Christianity was a wild seed, rich in depth and compassion.
And then Constantine took the Christian corporation public. It wasn't the New York Exchange, but the Roman Catholic Exchange. The event took place in Nicea around 325CE. Maybe you've heard of it. If only we hadn't, maybe that child like love and CAN DO spirit would still be alive in well: en mass instead of in just a few.
But, the times- they are a changing!
Why can't we just live, love and let live?
