Tag: bible

Forbidden Fruit

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Religious tradition tells us that our struggle with sin began with the first couple, Adam and Eve. Despite being explicitly told not to eat the fruit of a certain tree, Adam and Eve still did it, leaving the rest of us to struggle with the consequences. Though people often portray this forbidden fruit as an apple, Genesis names it as “… the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:17).  

This ancient writer is not talking about gardens, trees, or any of the fruit we might find in a bowl on the dining room table. He’s answering this question: Why is life such a struggle? His answer is this: Life is a struggle because, from the beginning, man has disobeyed the commandments of God.

In Unity, we affirm that there is only one Presence and one power in the universe, God, the good, omnipotent. It is the belief in two powers—good and evil—that establishes the basis for struggle and gets us kicked out of the garden, so to speak. In traditional belief, people depict this dualism as God and Satan, attributing distinct origins to both powers. At the beginning of its account of creation, Genesis mentions light and darkness, but names only light as good. John echoes this when he writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The belief in two powers can take many forms. In the traditional religious context, people consider sin as a power that can condemn the soul to hell. In our alternative approaches to spirituality, negative thinking and the soul that is not spiritually awakened become a destructive power. It matters little how we characterize evil as a power. The consequence of embracing it manifests itself as some form of struggle.   

The importance of this entire issue comes down to how we characterize God and the possibility of a competing power. Though the subtle serpent continuously tempts us with the assurance that there are no consequences of believing in two powers, we should understand that this belief is the basis of all fear and serves as the source of most of our struggles in life.

Jesus The Rabbi

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I believe Jesus envisioned a time when religious authorities would shift from being protectors against the consequences of sin to become instructors devoted to opening the doors to the inner kingdom. As a scholar and teacher, this is the intended role of a rabbi.

A religion that is focused on saving people from sin is based on the need to protect a weakness. Here, the weakness is a distorted understanding of the true nature of God, the individual, and their inseparable oneness with God. Essentially, it is a belief in two powers—good and evil.

An educationally focused religious system will dedicate itself to developing strength. It acknowledges that God is the only power, and oneness with God is the ultimate truth. Translating this understanding into practical applications that have a positive impact on everyday life is the goal. This type of system explains the existence of evil, not as a power, but as a blockage of light, a misperception of the true nature of underlying reality. Instead of addressing the shadow, it seeks to bring light to the blockage that causes it. For instance, the practice of denial is not simply saying, “There is no shadow.” We acknowledge the shadow, but we see it as the effect of something that is obstructing the light. Denial is a deliberate act of withholding the power we give to this obstruction.

When people addressed Jesus as a rabbi, they acknowledged him as a scholar and teacher who had a unique grasp on the letter of Mosaic law. His special talent, however, lay in his capacity to shed light on the unity between man and God, and the transformative power this awareness brings to one’s life.

While religious tradition has always devoted itself to convincing people it could protect them from the consequence of their named list of sins, Jesus devoted his ministry to saving them from the greatest sin of all—spiritual ignorance. He pointed out that it is not the type of food that goes into the mouth that corrupts, but the words and actions that stem from a corrupt understanding of one’s relationship to God. Teaching this truth, I believe, was the sole purpose of his ministry.

I believe Jesus envisioned a time when religious authorities would shift from being protectors against the consequences of sin to become instructors devoted to opening the doors to the inner kingdom. As a scholar and teacher, this is the intended role of a rabbi.

A religion focused on saving people from sin is based on the need to protect a weakness. Here, the weakness is a distorted understanding of the true nature of God, the individual, and their inseparable oneness with God. Essentially, it is a belief in two powers—good and evil. I hope you can join us in Sunday’s exploration of Jesus The Rabbi, whose revolutionary approach went beyond teaching religious rules to teaching spiritual principles that could change lives. 

The Natural Prayer

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During my talk last Sunday, I discussed the topic of prayer and its perceived failures. After the service, a friend raised an interesting question regarding the purpose of prayer altogether. Raising such a question can help us reach a better understanding of prayer. If we treat it simply as a formula intended to invoke spiritual forces that we hope will influence outcomes in our favor, we miss the fuller scope of our involvement. We are, in fact, constantly in a state of what we might call a natural prayer, with our overall mindset as the primary influence. While we may use the tools of affirmations and denials to bring about change, it is ultimately our state of mind that determines the course and overall condition of our life.

The two main faculties we employ in natural prayer are faith and imagination. Here, faith is synonymous with expectation. The influence of expectation runs in our mind like a background program on our computer. It’s always working, but we don’t see it. What we see at the mental and emotional level are the images our faith generates through the faculty of imagination.

In his novel, The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho makes this observation:

“When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.”

This attitude is the mindset that we want to pay attention to. When we expect each day to be the same as the next, we are training the creative power of our imagination to match our level of expectation. All things considered; this may seem reasonable. And, if we are content with the monotony of each day being the same as the next, why bother investing effort in fixing something that isn’t broken? If we are restless and dissatisfied with our life, it will be advantageous to recognize the good things that present themselves and raise our expectation and appreciation for these gifts that each new day brings.

Natural prayer does not center on a single aspect but encompasses our overall quality of life. It directs our awareness to each present moment, every individual we encounter, and any circumstance that calls for a creative resolution. We naturally raise our own expectations and the imaginative visions that these inspire.

What if God was One of Us?

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To the Jewish mind of Jesus’ day, claiming oneness with God was a crime punishable by stoning. That the foundation of his message was oneness with God probably contributed to his conviction in the Jewish court.

With her 90s hit song, “One of Us,” Joan Osborne met with similar resistance from mainstream Christian groups. While the song takes a rather anthropomorphic view of God, it has the effect of bringing the abstract notion of God into the human experience. This is what we want to do. Many people picture God as having an existence somewhere in a distant realm. We want to think of God as the creative life force, the vital essence of every living thing. Most importantly, we want to think of God as centered at the core of our being.

If God was one of us, that would again put us in a place of separation. If God becomes a stranger on the bus, and I’m not on that bus, then I’m here and God is not. However, the purpose of engaging in such reflections is not to run aground in problems with literal interpretations. I consider the idea of God being present in my life at this moment, actively involved right on my level. How would I think of my life if this were true?

One near-death experiencer said he met a being of light whose telepathically transmitted voice he instantly recognized as the intuitive voice he’d heard all his life. What if we acknowledged the countless ways through which we are connected to God’s guidance and inspiration? Might we not pay a little closer attention to that stranger on the bus? This thought is a powerful point of contemplation: I am in God, and the full light of God shines through me and through all people and things in my life.

I did not ride with strangers on a bus this week, but I sat with some in a waiting room at the Social Security office. It occurred to me that each one had a unique story to tell, a journey that had brought them to that moment. As I waited for my number to be called, I thought how interesting it would be to have everyone share their story. While I refrained from suggesting this idea to the group, I silently offered each person a blessing, wishing them peace and success in their ongoing journeys. I will never know if this simple prayer had any impact. What I know is that the exercise prompted me to ponder a different question: What if God was all of us?

The Power of Righteous Judgment

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According to Jesus, our judgment is measured by the level of judgment we give. Using judgment in a righteous manner means being aware of our own biases, prejudices, and emotional reactions. It requires us to pause and reflect before making a judgment, ensuring that our perceptions are not clouded by external factors. Instead of reacting impulsively or with negativity, we strive to respond with compassion, understanding, and fairness. This involves considering the bigger picture and recognizing that everyone is on their own unique journey with their own challenges and circumstances.

We have all experienced someone’s anger directed at us, not because of anything we did, but because their attention was elsewhere. When we snap at others, we lose our power. Our judgment is influenced by the perceptions we project onto our present experience, shaping our reaction and diminishing our quality of life. 

Jesus recognized the significance of exercising judgment. He compared it to fishermen gathering different types of fish in their nets and separating the valuable ones from the undesired ones. If they don’t make a decision, they will be burdened with unnecessary fish.

Instead of fish, we are working with ideas. Do our thoughts and emotions enhance or diminish our quality of life? Our choice is not dependent on another, or on external situations. Our self-perception plays a crucial role in our decisions. A negative reaction shows vulnerability or defensiveness, indicating that we have moved from our center of power.

As we discussed last week, judging righteously means finding and returning to the steady state of our soul. We become upset because we have moved from our center of power. Instead of criticizing ourselves for making unfair judgments, we actively work towards returning to our stable core. By aligning our judgments with spiritual principles such as love, forgiveness, and empathy, we can contribute to a more harmonious and compassionate world. It is an ongoing practice that requires self-awareness, self-reflection, and a commitment to personal growth. Ultimately, by using our judgment in a righteous manner, we can cultivate a sense of inner peace and contribute to the greater good of ourselves and others.

How To Win the Waiting Game

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When Jesus told Pilate that his kingship was not of this world, the average reader assumes he was referring to the coming of the long-anticipated kingdom of God. To the mystic, he was referring to a different way of experiencing life here and now. Those who were waiting for the Messiah envisioned a fundamental change in the social and political world order. Jesus was talking about a change that could happen within one’s normal life. The key to his intended meaning is embodied in this verse:

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20).

This passage is typically interpreted as Jesus pointing out that earth is not his true home and that those who follow him should not expect much in the way of earthly comforts. The mystic, on the other hand, understands that, unlike the fox or the bird, the human being is not bound by the strict parameters of instinct. There are no set outcomes, no place to lay our head. This is not a negative statement, but one intended to free the mind of restricting preconceptions.

The Jews of Jesus’ day were anticipating a Messiah, someone to dramatically change their life in ways they could not possibly do themselves. Jesus was telling them that their hope for a better life did not depend on divine intervention, that they could open themselves to new possibilities of experience right in the midst of their present life.

The Way that Jesus taught suggests that positive changes can come about in the most mundane of daily tasks. One can learn to find adventure in fetching the daily supply of water, plowing the field, or doing the wash. He had observed that those who constantly anticipate a better life rarely achieved it. The good is never good enough. The better life one imagines never quite arrives.  

We win the waiting game by realizing we do not lay our head in any anticipated better condition, but it is within all conditions that our highest good awaits. Jesus encouraged his listeners to lift their awareness to the miracle of the Presence of God found in every new moment.

The Trinity Revisited

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On occasion people will ask me about the Trinity. They usually say they understand the ideas of the Father and the Son, but they aren’t so sure about the Holy Spirit. Though a formal presentation of the Trinity is not put forward in the Gospels, John opens his Gospel with this important trinity of ideas: 1. God, 2. the Word, and 3. the creative ability of the Word. “… without him was not anything made …”  Think of the Holy Spirit as the creative aspect of God, carried out through the Word, or the Soul. 

Those of us who accept God as an omnipresent field of life, love, power, and intelligence wonder how this unseen Presence translates into the visible realm. John tells us that it is through the Word (Logos) that this universal presence expresses as individual forms of creation.  “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This is a clear example of the paradigm of oneness.

Think of the Holy Spirit as the desire in you to be and express more. It is an inner prompting that tells you there is more to life than you have experienced thus far. We often know this pressing out as dissatisfaction, a feeling of unrest that we cannot quite pinpoint. It often drives us to acquire and accomplish more with the hope that something we achieve will satisfy this unrest, that will signal that we have finally found the thing we seek.

Some who fail to find satisfaction in their acquisitions will denounce material gain altogether. This, however, will not cause the desire to subside. The Holy Spirit just keeps saying, “Come up higher. You hear and feel me speaking. Now, lift up your spiritual eyes and know your unity with God.”

Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a major spiritual breakthrough, the joyous experience of knowing your oneness with God. This is very different from contemplating the possibility of oneness. It is knowing without question that you are in God and God is in you.  

If you are aware of this feeling, set aside time to sit quietly and listen with an open mind.  “Here I am Father. Show me what I need to see.” Be still and listen.

Healing Light

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This week, the subject of healing has been raised a couple of times, a signal to me that it’s time to revisit this topic. Healing, like prosperity, harmony in relationships, peace of mind, or any desired condition, begins at a specific point that engages all our executive faculties, beginning with imagination and faith. Judgment, will, and elimination also play important roles, but imagination and faith are where we begin.

For many, the thing that occupies the imagination most is the problem we are experiencing. If we have a health challenge, we are likely to hold a picture of what is wrong. With the spiritual approach, we start with a picture of wholeness. At the soul level, we are whole. The soul, being energy, is not subject to physical illness of any kind. We can visualize the soul as a radiant light of wholeness shining through our body, permeating every cell from within. We imagine this light doing the work of love, dissolving that which is not for our highest good and attracting that which is.

We turn our faith to the truth of this picture by affirming something like this: The healing light of my soul is now cleansing all impurities from my body. This is where your judgment comes in. Declare that in truth, this healing process is indeed taking place. This is a true judgment.

What about your faculty of will? Do not try to force healing with your willpower. Simply be willing to accept that healing is now occurring. How do you engage your faculty of elimination? You engage this faculty by releasing all negative thoughts and images concerning this process.

You will benefit by setting aside a special quiet time to do this prayer exercise. You can also do it anytime throughout the day, even when you are busy doing other things. You do not have to memorize the affirmation to invoke your healing vision. In truth, your vision is the affirmation. Jesus said to believe in your heart that your desire is coming to pass, and it will be done for you.

Give thanks that your healing vision is now manifesting throughout your body.   

Who Inspired Jesus?

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It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

John 6:45

When we look at the biblical footnote associated with this passage, we see that Jesus is quoting from the prophet Jeremiah.

“I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow or everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34

This passage, clearly based on the paradigm of oneness, could easily have served as the inspirational model that Jesus followed.  

Jeremiah: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Jesus: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Lk 17:21). “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:6).

Jeremiah: “And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord.”

Jesus: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me” (Jn 6:45. Direct reference to Jeremiah 31:34).

Jeremiah: “… for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jesus: And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The son of man (the human being) has the power on earth to forgive sin. The father of the prodigal son did not acknowledge the obvious sins of his son.

The Beginning of the End

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The event we celebrate as Palm Sunday is the time when Jesus made his final entrance into the city of Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In addition to participating in this important observance, the synoptic gospels report that he drove the money changers out of the Temple. This would almost certainly be considered an act that prompted the Jewish leadership to turn him over to Pilate to be crucified. In other words, his final entry into Jerusalem was the beginning of the end of his earthly ministry. It also represented the beginning of the Christian era.

The Gospel of John has Jesus foretelling this event using this parable:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

In its original context, Jesus the mystic would not likely have used this parable to refer to his own execution. He was illustrating the need for a rebirth in one’s self-perception. Most people saw themselves as a physical body with a soul that is presently separate from God. The mystic would teach people that all people are primarily a soul with a physical body, but existing in a state of absolute unity with God. The grain of wheat dropped into the earth and dying represents a major paradigm shift from separation to oneness with God.

This paradigm shift is graphically illustrated in the crucifixion account of Matthew:

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split (Matthew 27:5).

This curtain shielded the inner sanctum of the Temple, the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter, meaning the public could not access the presence of God. The tearing in two of this curtain is symbolic of the truth that all people, not just the priesthood, have access to the presence of God. In other words, on our personal cross, the thing that must die is our belief in the paradigm of separation. Affirming our oneness with God is the beginning of the end of our imagined separation from God our Source, and the promise of a spiritual life that is certain to bear much fruit.