I'm sure the title for this post may seem like an odd segue from some of the stuff I've been writing as of late, but it is my intent to draw a straight line connection. Let's see how well I do!
Like so many of my fellow Americans, I grew up under the spell of Christianity. It strongly shaped my first 20 or 30 years on this orb. While its mythology no longer shapes my life today, there is no question that it did help to shape the man I have become.
I would dare say that, before the spell was broken, my take on Jesus was far different than most people I have encountered throughout life. It certainly was different from the odd creature presented by modern day evangelicals!! I have never figured out how they can mangle a person's so-called life to such a degree.
Regardless of a person's brand of the Christian religion, all of them stress that believers need to follow in the path of Jesus. For the most part, I think too few people genuinely understand what that means. It is not the superficial path of reading the bible, attending church services or saying grace before meals. It is not hitting your knees in prayer or proselytizing in his name. No, it is much deeper and darker than that.
In my mind's eye, if a believer truly endeavors to walk the path of their lord, they must be willing to accept the burden of pain, sorrow and evil that permeates our world. They must be willing to enter the abyss of the their own soul and to walk around in its environs naked and unprotected.
Let's be brutally honest here. When most people see a report of an atrocity or a devastating natural disaster, what is their response? "Oh, that's terrible," they may say out loud before switching the channel to some innocuous reality show or flipping over to a YouTube video. We too often express only a surface sense of compassion and sorrow. It's a fleeting thought and then we return to the everyday trappings of life.
And why don't we hold onto the moment? The answer is obvious. IT IS TOO DAMN PAINFUL!! Taking on the misery of the world is to swim in abject pain and isolation. It is to go to the depths of the human psyche. It is to know evil and degradation up close and personal. It is willingly to sit in the fires of hell itself.
What kind of person would volunteer for this type of duty?
Philosophers.
Those of us who have a deep philosophical bent are the ones who accept this task. For reasons we ourselves often can't fathom, we willingly take the plunge. The way I look at Jesus today is that he is akin to Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and countless others before and after. He was a philosopher willing to look beyond the edge of his own nose, one willing to subsume himself in the abyss for the betterment of humankind.
At this juncture, I understand what some of you are thinking. "Oh my God, I can't believe it. This guy is more delusional than I ever thought! He thinks he's J-E-S-U-S!!!!!!!"
No, I don't think that at all. Philosophers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are pantheons of philosophy and others, like me, are teeny weeny little fish. My brief forays into the abyss pale by factors of a million or more compared to many others. Friedrich Nietzsche, for one, went so far down into the abyss that, ultimately, he wasn't able to climb back out! The same goes for the artist (a philosopher of a different sort) Vincent van Gogh.
The two above individuals are what, I believe, keep most people far away from this path. The fear that most people have -- and it is a well-founded fear, I might add -- is that, once a person starts down this road, the final destination can be madness and insanity. Taking on the pain and ugliness of the world, even for the briefest of moments, can so demoralize a person that they are never the same again. So, most people keep to the superficial side of the street and try to convince themselves and others that it runs much deeper than it does.
You want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, you say? Then you will have to go down this road that few people voluntarily tread. Once you've been in the pits of the figurative hell a few times, then I might take you seriously.
Like so many of my fellow Americans, I grew up under the spell of Christianity. It strongly shaped my first 20 or 30 years on this orb. While its mythology no longer shapes my life today, there is no question that it did help to shape the man I have become.
I would dare say that, before the spell was broken, my take on Jesus was far different than most people I have encountered throughout life. It certainly was different from the odd creature presented by modern day evangelicals!! I have never figured out how they can mangle a person's so-called life to such a degree.
Regardless of a person's brand of the Christian religion, all of them stress that believers need to follow in the path of Jesus. For the most part, I think too few people genuinely understand what that means. It is not the superficial path of reading the bible, attending church services or saying grace before meals. It is not hitting your knees in prayer or proselytizing in his name. No, it is much deeper and darker than that.
In my mind's eye, if a believer truly endeavors to walk the path of their lord, they must be willing to accept the burden of pain, sorrow and evil that permeates our world. They must be willing to enter the abyss of the their own soul and to walk around in its environs naked and unprotected.
Let's be brutally honest here. When most people see a report of an atrocity or a devastating natural disaster, what is their response? "Oh, that's terrible," they may say out loud before switching the channel to some innocuous reality show or flipping over to a YouTube video. We too often express only a surface sense of compassion and sorrow. It's a fleeting thought and then we return to the everyday trappings of life.
And why don't we hold onto the moment? The answer is obvious. IT IS TOO DAMN PAINFUL!! Taking on the misery of the world is to swim in abject pain and isolation. It is to go to the depths of the human psyche. It is to know evil and degradation up close and personal. It is willingly to sit in the fires of hell itself.
What kind of person would volunteer for this type of duty?
Philosophers.
Those of us who have a deep philosophical bent are the ones who accept this task. For reasons we ourselves often can't fathom, we willingly take the plunge. The way I look at Jesus today is that he is akin to Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and countless others before and after. He was a philosopher willing to look beyond the edge of his own nose, one willing to subsume himself in the abyss for the betterment of humankind.
At this juncture, I understand what some of you are thinking. "Oh my God, I can't believe it. This guy is more delusional than I ever thought! He thinks he's J-E-S-U-S!!!!!!!"
No, I don't think that at all. Philosophers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are pantheons of philosophy and others, like me, are teeny weeny little fish. My brief forays into the abyss pale by factors of a million or more compared to many others. Friedrich Nietzsche, for one, went so far down into the abyss that, ultimately, he wasn't able to climb back out! The same goes for the artist (a philosopher of a different sort) Vincent van Gogh.
The two above individuals are what, I believe, keep most people far away from this path. The fear that most people have -- and it is a well-founded fear, I might add -- is that, once a person starts down this road, the final destination can be madness and insanity. Taking on the pain and ugliness of the world, even for the briefest of moments, can so demoralize a person that they are never the same again. So, most people keep to the superficial side of the street and try to convince themselves and others that it runs much deeper than it does.
You want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, you say? Then you will have to go down this road that few people voluntarily tread. Once you've been in the pits of the figurative hell a few times, then I might take you seriously.
this post really spoke to me. i'm so glad you wrote it. this is something that i've known all along but could not express. would you mind if i posted this on facebook (with due credit of course)?
ReplyDeleteSure. "Due Credit" not even required.
ReplyDeleteAnd what kind of "figurative hell" are you talking about? What amount of pain and of what kind is enough to make a Christian life valid in your opinion? (Please do not take offense, I am simply trying to understand exactly what you are saying.)
ReplyDeletePoet,
ReplyDeleteNo offense taken. It's a fair question.
My answer would be to take on the pain and suffering of the world and then work to alleviate it. To feel it in one's innermost being and allow that feeling to transform your life. That's what Jesus supposedly did.