We Are All Christs

What if Christ is the name for the transcendent
within every 'thing' in the universe?
Fr Richard Rohr

At the moment, I am reading several books that provide three interesting intersecting views on the nature of God and who Jesus was in history. They include the Masks of Christ by Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, Meditations with Teresa of Avila by Megan Don, and Arthur Green's book, Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology.

The three books remind me the belief that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, who came to save us from our sins contains a lot of wishful thinking. Christ was never Jesus' last name. The origin of the word 'Christ' means 'one who is anointed by God' – and Jesus was anointed by God – but the Bible is full of people who were also anointed by God's indwelling presence. I believe the Good News of the Gospel is that the same Divine Life as seen in Jesus is also present in every molecule that exists, and has existed throughout the entire universe! As Colossians 1:17 records: 'Christ is before all things, and in Christ, all things hold together'. The anointing of God's presence is already in you and me and in every person that has existed. It is our birthright as it was for Jesus. Walt Witman expressed this insight so simply in the following poem:

I have seen God face to face
I hear and behold God in every object,
yet understand God not in the least...
I see something of God
each hour of the twenty-four,
and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women, I see God,
and in my own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropt in the street,
and every one is sign'd by God's name,
And I leave them where they are,
for I know that wheresoe'er I go,
others will punctually come
forever and ever. (1)

So in one sense, each one of us is a physical, emotional, and spiritual expression of Divine life in embryonic form. What we may have lost, is the openness and awareness of this indwelling Presence and life within us, and in the world around us. Megan Don, the New Zealand born Mystic, Author, and Feminine Mentor reminds us of this when she invites us to begin our journey into realizing and becoming the mystery of who we are.

So rather than using repetitive prayers, or focusing on confessions of faults as promoted by most Church's, I find it is easier,for example, to catch a glimpse of the Divine life in the beauty of creation that surrounds me – in the colours of a sunset or a flower, or in a person I love dearly. Then to begin to spend time consciously opening myself to sense this same beauty, life, and energy within myself. To actively learn to engage with the ever-present indwelling Divine Life by involving my thoughts, my feelings, and by the way I live my life each day.

The Indian spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy encouraged something very similar when he wrote:

Do not try to approach God with your thinking mind.
It will only stimulate your intellectual ideas.
Try to approach God with your heart,
it will awaken your soulful spiritual consciousness. (2)

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

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1 Walt Witman Leaves of Grass, Stanza 48.
2. Chinmoy, Sri , God is... ' Aum Publictions NY,1997
Don, Megan. Meditations with Teresa of Avila: A Journey into the Sacred (p. 40). New World Library.
Green, A, Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology, Jewish Lights Pub, 2012.