Depth psychology, religion, spirituality, and more
IF JESUS CHRIST HAD LIVED TO A RIPE OLD AGE, AS DID SIDDHARTHA BUDDHA, I think Jesus still would have become one of the greatest spiritual teachers in human history. Instead of falling prey to a tragic and brutal Roman execution after only a year or so of ministry, Jesus would have been able to …
Continue reading "The Spirit Filling the Soul Leads to Wisdom"
IT’S AN UNCANNY FEELING, WHICH I SUSPECT MOST OF US HAVE from time to time, to wonder whether you belong, to wonder whether you might not be a stranger in a strange land. In fact, it’s a timeless and universal feeling, one that has left traces in our literary history as far back as the …
IMAGINE YOU’RE IN THE AUDIENCE AT A CHRISTMAS PAGEANT and the oh-so-familiar story is unfolding before you. It’s nighttime in Bethlehem, where a wondrous star hangs overhead. Angels watch over the birth. Because there was no room at the inn, the baby Jesus lies in a manger, in the stable, under the loving gaze of …
THE MUSES BROUGHT PAUL McCARTNEY A MAGICAL BIT OF ARCHETYPAL INSPIRATION to get him started on the song “Let It Be” — (sing along with me now) “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me …” The image evokes not only millennia of Marian veneration, but also our collective affection …
MOST PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE JUST HOW RADICAL JESUS REALLY WAS. Even most committed Christians seem to overlook this truth about Jesus. Perhaps they miss it because their churches focus on the teachings of Paul more than the teachings of Jesus. It is easier to believe in Christ, to feel justified by faith alone, than it …
Continue reading "The Spiritual Path Jesus Taught (Probably)"
MODERNITY HAS HAD A BAD HABIT OF FORGETTING ITS FORERUNNERS. Too often, in our efforts to critique the status quo and pursue progress, we have cut off our cultural roots. Ironically, this problem is most apparent in the conservative Christian insistence on biblical literalism. In their attempt to return to what they imagine were the …
A CORE CHRISTIAN TRADITION ASKS US TO RESOLVE A FUNDAMENTAL TENSION in human life. When you read the biblical texts in which it appears, however, you might not feel the full force of the tension. The core tradition I’m talking about is the so-called second great commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk. …
Continue reading "Looking Past “Me-or-You” and “Us-or-Them”"
WITH ONLY A FEW EXCEPTIONS, THE EPISODES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN ARE NOT found in any of the other three gospels. One episode that does also appear in the other gospels is the so-called “Anointing at Bethany” — and in each gospel, it’s a story that turns the status quo on its head. Each …
Continue reading "Just an Ordinary Woman, She Transforms the World"
IN A 1948 ESSAY, PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN PRESENTED his “fundamental vision” of our expanding universe in which “material arrangements” are becoming increasingly complex, consciousness is reaching ever higher levels, and Christian mysticism is the “perfect energy” for driving evolution forward. (See “My Fundamental Vision” in Toward the Future, 1975, especially the discussion of mysticism, …
IN LAST WEEK’S POST, I SUGGESTED CHRISTIANITY IS TRANSFORMING, now, and moving onto an inclusive and enchanted path of justice and deep, experiential knowing. Although I mentioned a few “old and forgotten” practices that are becoming “new” again (like meditation and contemplation), I soon realized I didn’t say much of anything about the theology of …
Soul Spirit Wisdom 