There is a task, a law, and a way:
The task is redemption,
The law, to do justice, to love mercy,
and the way is the secret of being human and holy.
~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.”
~ Thomas Merton

Dear Human & Holy Ones —

I want to reiterate and add to a few key points from my reflections at our first H&H gathering two Sundays ago. I have divided them into six installments so as not to overwhelm. It is meant to read as one long reflection on WHY WE GATHER and WHAT OUR FOCUS IS when we do. These ponderings will serve as a review and expansion for those who were present for our October gathering and a helpful aid for those who were not able to be with us but will be coming in November. For others of you (The Friends of H&H) who also receive this poor-man’s blog, these six reflections might feel a bit Swiss-Cheese-like since they are offered in the context of and follow up to our monthly gathering which took place on Sunday, October 19th. Nevertheless I hope there is something here worth your time. Again, our “theme” for 2014-2015 is Embracing Life, Engaging Death.

Becoming Human and Holy

Whatever the “theme” of the year, in reality the focus always has been and will continue to be the same: “becoming human and holy” which is quoted above and comes from Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book God in Search of Man. Our deliberate intention is that we discover together, each in our own way, what it means to become human, what it means to become holy in the life that is uniquely one’s own, with each person’s specific narrative and history, particular background, struggles and victories, disappointments and dreams, failures and joys, fears and yearnings, agonies and ecstasies, light and dark.

Living More Consciously and Fully the Dying and Rising of Christ

For those of us who self-identify as Christians, that is, Christ-ones, becoming human and holy or, if you prefer, living wholeheartedly, specifically means living more intentionally, consciously, willingly, daringly, and fully into the paschal mystery which is the dying and rising of Christ. To be a Christian is to choose this kenotic movement as the ongoing, archetypal pattern of one’s life (Phil. 2:5-8). What’s the pattern? Dying, rising, dying, rising, dying, rising— you get the idea. And the pattern. It’s the pattern of a lifetime and involves what James Fenhagen called “a radical restructuring of the center of our being.” It’s called transformation. It’s also called Christening and it’s at the center of the spiritual life for Christians who do not reduce baptism to a charming ceremony.

Christian communities who use the word “baptism” would do well to borrow for a few decades the term “Christening” from their Christian brothers and sisters who belong to communities who use this word for the same ritual action. Those who use the term “Christening” would do well to restore the radical meaning and spell out the joyous but costly implications of such a transformation. Christians of all persuasions who use the word cavalierly would do well to remember that what for many has become a pro forma ceremony was once, and still is intended to be, a rite of initiation. Last I checked, all ancient Christian baptismal fonts were shaped like wombs, boats, or tombs, symbolizing the passageway to new life comes via struggle, blood, sweat, and tears, stormy seas, death, and relinquishment. As we see in indigenous cultures, all rites of initiation involved risk, danger, sacrifice, and loss. For instance, in indigenous tribes, it was never a given that a young man would come back alive from his first vision fast, the physical, psychological, and spiritual dangers being so great. And no one who comes back alive comes back the same.

Similarly, to be Christ-ened is to pass from one way of being into another way of being. Genuine Christ-ening is a lifelong and life-altering process that involves moving into a radically new identity: “You are my beloved son/daughter, on whom my favor rests” and “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Gal.2:20). It sets in motion a new way of understanding and envisioning life (what we mean by Christ-consciousness). It moves us in a new direction (“when did I see you hungry or thirsty”), and invites and commissions us to a counter-cultural way of being in the world in which our giveaway is our life and then our death for the good of all people and all the earth not just once but again and again and again.

In the bible, this new way of seeing and being, this counter-cultural life is called Basileia tou Theou, that is, the reign of God. Basileia refers not to a place (in many bible translations the Greek word basilieia is translated as “kingdom”) but rather to the way things are or the way life is lived when the dream of God is fulfilled. It is the way life is meant to be. It is the way things are in the mind or heart of God to which humans are invited to participate. It’s real, immediate, and eternal characteristics are things like kindness, reverence, peace, justice, generosity, oneness, and love. The reign of God was embodied in the life and teachings of Jesus, especially distilled in the Sermon on the Mount and even more succinctly captured in the Beatitudes in verses 1 through 12 in the Gospel of Matthew. To be Christ-ones means to incarnate here and now “on earth as it is in heaven” the principles of Basileia tou Theou that fly in the face of what is promoted, celebrated, and rewarded in the dominant culture. To be paschal people, Easter people, is to embrace life and engage death daily until Christ comes again.

╬ Dan