… the word religion is based
on the root lig, meaning “to bind or connect together”, so religion means reconnecting
or rebonding broken relationships – with God, with
neighbor, with stranger and enemy with nonhuman life, with all creation.
Brian McLaren (Why did Jesus, Moses, the
Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?)
______________________________________
Religion
It has gotten a bad rap
It, Freud suggests
A universal obsessional neurosis
(no, that is not good)
Infantile helplessness
A regression to primary
narcissism
At its best, it is a search
for something (or someone) Sacred
Something bigger than the
self
Using specific means or
methods (i.e.: rituals or behaviors)
within an identifiable group
of people
Indeed
At its worst
It is a rigid mess of
creeds, rules, and rituals
With a side of self-absorption
That makes people stiff,
cold, and even cruel
And instead of rebonding
broken relationships
It creates division
And even violence
But let’s hear it for
spirituality
A desire to commune with
something bigger than the self
And the feelings, thoughts,
experiences
and behaviors that arise
from a connection to
Sacred
Ground of Being
Love
Pick your term for that
mysterious, huge
Transcendent reality
That was the creative energy
behind all that exists,
And that now is everywhere
In everything
And in ways both big and
small
Provides we human creatures
with the desire and capacity
To connect with one another
And with all creation
Thus creating a new reality
Jesus called this reality
the kingdom of God. …
It cannot be contained in
any religion
It is far bigger than that
Eradicating boundaries and
wall
Flowing, spilling, becoming
And we
We are “to seek, to receive,
to enter, and to participate in” this reality
It is beyond us
We can’t understand it or
contain it
And it is not ours, not even
remotely
“to own, control, commodify,
or rule.”
No wonder things have gone wrong.
For that is exactly what we
want to do
Own God
Control others
Dominate and conquer as a religion
(and sometimes as a nation)
And commodify
We want to sell a pound of
grace for???
No wonder we see the abuse
of power
The hate, violence, and exclusion
by “the church”
No wonder there are wars
and rumors of wars
No wonder our faith systems
are breaking relationships
Killing love
Creating division and enmity
No wonder we are not
entering into healing relationships
with God, with neighbor,
with stranger and enemy
with all creation.
Sacred, forgive us
Have compassion on us
Touch our hearts (and souls
and minds)
So that we can love
With all our strength
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