The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.
Chapter 1 of Tao Te Ching (written by Lao-tzu)
I have let go of the bright lights and frill that folks pull out of their hats to paint a picture of comfort, ease and healing when it comes to god, religion and faith. It is within our self interest to think of god as bridging our weaknesses and sinfulness. By thinking of god or religion in this way it allows people to pass over their faults, flaws and sinfulness. It allows people to think they are right or understand something that others do not. It places people; organizes and sorts them.
It also re-creates sin into something that should be avoided; something that can be avoided. And so we organize our beliefs (whether consciously or unconsciously) around this tenant. Faith and salvation become something that can be found at Barnes and Noble in the ’spirituality’ aisle rather than a recognition of what, in my opinion, really makes us children of god; the recognition of our sinfulness. To even begin to believe in the light of and comfort of god, in my eyes, involves the absence of such things in my faith. When we anoint ourselves with god’s comfort, peace and ease and we take away his power to provide these things for us.
Contemporary christianity seems consumed by the idea of a comfortable faith where god’s role is the bringer of light, victory and salvation. There now even exists a theology of monetary return, the more you give to the church the more god will give to you – a quid pro quo faith.
Maybe, in the end, I am realizing I am less of a ‘christian’ than I originally figured…mabye it would be best to leave this title alone, to forget it exists; I do not want its connotation, I do not want to waive its flag. I cannot believe that god wants me to waive it either.
If you overesteem great men,
people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.The Master leads
by emptying people’s minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.
Chapter 3 of Tao Te Ching (written by Lao-tzu)
1 response so far ↓
Philip // September 29, 2008 at 7:41 pm |
i’m a little surprised. have you considered the “and or” possibility. that there is a tension between the knowingness of our own sinfulness and a faith in that which is unseen. i can only speak from my own experience that at the hearing of the gospel and the breaking of body there are even measures of both sorrow and joy. there is a mourning for a life drenched in both willful and unintended crimes, there is a hollowness to God that feels nothing like the touch of a friend or a parent. there is homesickness and heartache, but there is also something stiller than a whisper, and there are the words “broken for you, and shed for you.” it could all be just one big advertising campaign started thousands of years back, one more peddler creating need where there is none, in order to sell just another self help book. one more charlatan giving us a hoop of promise that we are all shit at jumping through. or maybe just buried under all the silly caricatures, bad spinoffs, holy wars and author royalties there actually stands the very Son of God doing only what he said he would. i hope what ever faith you find yourself willing to confess that Christ remain with you in however his Spirit pleases to remain with any of us.