Part III
page one
Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in Heaven, and on Earth, and under the Earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NAS
This one is powerful. First off, semantics are significant to human understanding. What a word connotes is more powerful than its sterile definition. Some words which have lost the glory of their formal definitions are, God, Jesus, Christ, Lord and Father. I know; everyone goes beady-eyed and gasps when they hear this! They cross their forefingers and back away. I should always have an oxygen tank with me. But, these words are now so burdened with a crusty mold of distorted connotations, they have no chance of communicating the pure essence of their reality. To one tradition they mean one thing and to another tradition they mean almost the opposite, and that's only two traditions! Somehow, we need to cut to the quick. Eliminate the moldy crust and reach the point of sterile communication.
These words are only letters and sounds. They are pithy little ceramic handles that assist us in our understanding of just the minutest fragment of their reality. The Creator isn't set on keeping these ceramic handles intact. Really! It won’t get all upset and throw a hurricane at us if we just do away with them. Honest. It won’t.
Let’s examine the, Father, one first. Try to be open-minded. Think of the stories you’ve read telling about the cultures of the Middle East. Think about all we have just recently experienced. They chop off heads over there; hands and feet, ears and noses, too! Now, don’t get too proud and haughty. We fry them over here, or stuff them full of poisons, put them in eight by ten foot cages until dead, or simply dangle them from a stick until they stop breathing. Man is a rather gruesome, odd, strange sort of thing. Not women, usually, but that's changing.
Anyway, it is a male dominated society over there. It always has been. Not simply a male dominated society, a dysfunctional male dominated society. That’s the historical Judeo-Christian culture, which we, ourselves, have not escaped. I am always accused of, making God in my own image. I believe it is a rather natural tendency. It seems to me, it is also quite natural for the dominant force in a culture to perceive their deity according to their cultural experience, in terms they consider significant. So, it was quite predictable a male dominated society would establish their deity as, a male. That was bad enough. Correct me if you have information contradicting this, but, they not only made their deity a male, they made their deity a dysfunctional, insecure, egomaniac male, to boot.
My experience speaks to me in terms of a dichotomy; neither completely male, nor completely female, but both, and probably more, minus the dysfunctional parts. For me, qualities contained within each gender are appropriate attributes for giving shape and form to what is an infinitely incomprehensible entity; for providing a not very smart species with a manageable handle when communicating about an entity capable of programming every miniscule cause and effect relationship throughout an entire universe over billions of years and then sitting down to a rum and coke, a bit of a rest and an afternoon of NCAA quarterfinals. Of course, my twenty-first century waspish experience is no more valid than any others. In its defense, it is no less valid, either. I mean, how stupid are we, thinking things that describe us can describe “It?” What part of a pendulum describes time? What part of a Model-T describes Henry Ford? What part of a light bulb describes Thomas Edison?
I cringe with the traditional use of the term, Father, when this deity is being addressed. I believe the term, MotherFather, gives a broader and therefore more appropriate scope to the noble, but never-the-less, impossible task of naming this unspeakable entity. Perhaps, simply using the word, Love, would be best appropriate.
Use of the term, Father, alienated about half the Earth’s population. Use of the term, Jesus Christ, alienates closer to eighty percent. The Moslems, Native Americans, certain Hindu and Buddhist communities and all “heathens” in general have painful memories of the red-cross on a field of blue contained in a field of white. Subjugation, persecution, discrimination, murder and pillage; atrocities committed in the name of Jesus, pretty much demolished any potential use of those five letters to promote Love and reconciliation. Ain’t no way Osama Bin Laudin is going to bow down and praise the letters and sounds represented by, “Jesus Christ.” I suppose if the powers that be want to wiggle the lips of dead men and do a little ventriloquism, it might get a headline in the National Star. No thrill in that. Besides, it would be a little mean spirited to get all those heathen to bow down, worship and declare Jesus Lord, and then say, sorry guys, you’re too late. Your body is already dead, so, you go to Hell.
Funny. Strange. So human. When the Temple Veil was rent from top to bottom, I always thought it was neat that MotherFather did the renting, the tearing, from top to bottom and everything. But, I was always of the mind this renting gave people access to MotherFather. It might be more accurate to view the renting, the tearing, as giving MotherFather intimate access to their creation. Whatever, from what little I know of my Brother, Jesus, I don’t think he much cares who gets credit for ripping the curtain, busting down the door and all. Hey! The curtain’s ripped, the door is in splinters, not only is the gate off its hinges, but the wall is smashed. It’s a holy free-for-all. Who’s gonna pay for a ticket when their ain’t no door and the wall has been destroyed? Saint Peter has better things to do than stand by a busted down gate asking for tickets!
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