Do you follow the rules? If you were raised in the late 50s to early 70s, the rules were a big deal. You obeyed your parents, your teachers, your government and your church. There was little self-determination in all of those situations. You did as you were told. Then this thing called Vietnam happened and suddenly, we no longer wanted to trust authority.
This change started to put an end to blindly following rules or people or governments. It was (and is) a good thing. If you are going to do something, do it knowingly. But, be forewarned, it is a more difficult path, this one of making your own choices. This path requires you to think, to be fully engaged and that is much more challenging.
Let’s face it, it is just easier to do as you are told. And this is how the Christian church has operated for centuries. The pastor or priest told you what the rules were and that God expected you to follow them. If that sounds like how you treat sheep, you are correct. The assumption in so many churches is that we are all sheep. We don’t know any better and we cannot be trusted to make our own choices or go our own way.
This is also why the Christian church has become so good at condemning other ways of knowing God, like for instance Judaism or Islam. It is a matter of control and that is just like the 50s and 60s. It is sad that rules have become more important that mysticism. It is sad that being rational is prized above having emotions. God did not create us to be automatons. We were intentionally given free will, but the Church wants to always remove it from us.
I have a dear friend, who is brilliant. Brilliant as in perfect recall of anything she reads. She does not forget things. This eidetic memory means if she ever reads it, she will always know it. My friend, at age 12 asked questions at her church that stumped the adults. She did it enough times to be asked not to come back to Sunday school. She sought out a spirituality that honors thinking and questioning and, big surprise, it isn’t Christianity. Her spiritual path honors choice and thought and self-examination.
My question is this: is that not exactly who Jesus was? He said, over and over again, following the letter of the law blindly will always lead you away from Grace. The Beatitudes, those are the utter exposure of legalism. Is that not what most of our churches expect of us? To be legalistic? To just follow the rules? To never ask the hard questions?
As I have grown as a mystic/contemplative, I have discovered that so much of what Church taught me is intellectual and behavioral legalism. I still have to let go of some of those faulty teachings from time to time. We are called to a higher path, one that says it is not about rules but about love. It is about us making a choice, using our own volition to follow God or not; using our own volition to enter into a relationship or not. The commitment is much greater if it is by choice, freely given.
So, today, let’s take that “road less traveled by” and choose free will. Let’s stop being sheep and start being what we are created to be, unique creations of a loving God. It is a harder path, it means you have to think, emote, choose, and experience things that you might rather avoid. Don’t! Take the narrow path and truly live.
TMM