Dear People Whom God Loves,
The resurrected state is the state to which we are all called. It is the state into which we are drawn (often kicking and screaming) by the infinite mysterious-loving energy we name God. We are drawn into it kicking and screaming because we resist surrendering to that infinite love. In this state, all of the elements of our humanness are integrated.
I believe that the core of Jesus’ mission was to give us a path that helps us to surrender to Love (God) so that Love may draw us to that resurrected state. I also believe that this state is only partially entered into in this life. I also believe that we are invited in this life to enter into the journey toward that state. The reign of God is here and still is not yet.
Why is this integration so difficult? I think that the basic problem is that all of our human elements are good but are split off from each other. We easily try to eliminate some of these elements rather than allow Love to integrate them. Remember that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit reminds us that Love is active in us to make us whole.
There is a lot of truth to the phrase – Holiness is Wholeness. We humans are spiritual and carnal. These are different energies, but they are not opposite. The mistake we easily make is to try to eliminate one or the other. Some of us are on the path of eliminating the spiritual. Others of us are on the path of eliminating the carnal. When we swing to one side or the other, we not only damage ourselves but we hurt other people.
If we are drawn to be on the spiritual journey (notice the bias in the term spiritual journey) we are more likely to try to eliminate the carnal energy than the spiritual energy. When we do this, we interfere with our growth in compassion and humility. We so easily then think that we are superior to others and this, in turn, lessens compassion. It becomes hard for us to accept that we are ordinary, flawed, and wounded human beings just like everyone else.
Perhaps it would be better to call the “spiritual journey” the “human journey” . . . that is, as long as we realize that the Spirit of God is working in us.
More next time.
Smile, God Loves You,
Father Clay
Leave a Reply