Remarks upon Receiving the 2011 Charles Fillmore Award

My notes say, “Be sure to thank Unity Worldwide Ministries, your family, your co-workers and students at Unity Institute, the people who read your books and columns… etc. Unity is a vast pool of spiritual wisdom and love. A lot of great people have received this award in the past; so make humble noises.”

I want to thank my students—past and present—who are here tonight. How many members of the "Order of the Tiger are here?" (Loud cheering) They’ll explain to you what that means later.

I also want to thank the members of my twice-monthly congregation at Unity of the Lakes, Warsaw, Missouri. And I promised Toni Lapp I would urge everybody to subscribe to Unity Magazine.

If you have read my column in Unity Magazine, you know I make it very clear that I do not speak FOR the Unity Movement. But tonight, I’m going to lean out this window of opportunity you have opened for me, and speak TO the Unity Movement…for a few minutes. For better or for worse, you have given this year’s Charles Fillmore award to a theologian, and I want to speak to you about the value of doing theology in everyday life.

Theology is critical reflection about spiritual ideas, especially those which originate within a community of faith. We are Unity. We believe in the One Power/One Presence, and that gives us common ground. But if we think that means there will be uniformity of thought, we have not learned the lessons of history. What religious or spiritual movement has ever been able to define itself so adequately that everyone says, “Yes! That’s who we are and what we believe!” and the next generation, and the next, and the next—all agreed?

Even when our best thinkers write their books, all they can give us is a snapshot, a comprehensive expression of the ideas current in their time. We learned about human equality from Martin Luther King, Jr., even though Jesus and the Apostle Paul proclaimed the fundamental oneness of all people two thousand years ago. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

We learned about women’s right and gay rights from folks who challenged our thinking. When we reflect on what all that means for a person of faith, we are doing theology.

The historical record shows that Unity’s co-founders reveled in theological dialogue about their spiritual goals. We actually have the Fillmores on record engaging in theological discourse in the early stages of their developing thought, even before they were married. When Charles Fillmore courted Myrtle Page late in the nineteenth century, they carried on a zesty cross-country correspondence. Today they would have exchanged e-mail and text messages. Across the miles their letters traveled, and sometimes they sparred about religious ideas.

One letter to Charles, dated September 1, 1882, contains the following eyebrow-raised retort from the future Mrs. Fillmore. Myrtle writes to Charles:

"You question my orthodoxy? Well, if I were called upon to write out my creed it would be rather a strange mixture. I am decidedly eclectic in my theology—is it not my right to be? Over all is a grand idea of God, but full of love and mercy."

I like that. “…decidedly eclectic in my theology…” Meaning she reserved the right to pick and choose those ideas which worked for her. I wonder if Charles ever questioned her orthodoxy again?

We have a glimpse of the way Charles Fillmore did theology when teaching a class. In The Story of Unity James Dillet Freeman says:

Often in his classes, a student would be answering a question and Mr. Fillmore would ask, “Where did you get that idea?”
The student would reply, “I read that in such-and-such a Unity book, Mr. Fillmore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Certainly, Mr. Fillmore, that is right out of page so and so.”
“You know,” he would say, “that is not exactly right,” and then he would go on to explain the point in a way that clarified it.”

Freeman continues:

“Often in his classes, he would interrupt his students, when they were quoting him, with the question, “But what do YOU think about it?”

James Dillet Freeman summarized Charles Fillmore’s teaching style with these words:

“The main aim of his teaching was to get his students to think Truth through for themselves. He knew that only out of free discussion would students arrive at an understanding of Truth that was in their own language.”

Mr. Fillmore stood firmly in the tradition of progressive thinkers who understood the need for ongoing theological dialogue. The great 20th century liberal minister, Harry Emerson Fosdick, challenged mainstream Christianity to continually re-think its deepest beliefs. Fodsick wrote:

"The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth."

Astronomies change, the stars abide. Biologies change, but evolution presses onward. Religious ideas change, and God—One Presence, One Power—expresses through us, and in us, and as us, in eternal truths which are eternally re-thought. That is what theology is all about. It give you the tools to re-think the great questions…and the little ones, too.

I challenge you tonight with the same words I address to my students at Unity Institute: Follow the example of the Fillmores. Be “decidedly eclectic” in your theology. Describe before you prescribe. Think critically and honestly. Turn every idea upside down to see if there is an expiration date stamped on the bottom. Learn the joy of disagreeing agreeably.

Do not seek uniformity; it is not possible.

Do not attempt to find THE Unity answer to every question, but find A Unity answer that works for you. Be "decidedly eclectic" in your theology. It is your right to be.

Express your credo with complete freedom of thought, centered in the One Presence, One Power. And remember, there are many, many ways to understand what that magnificent idea means.

We are not a set of doctrines; we are a movement.

We are not a teaching; we are a way of life.

We are not limited to our Christian heritage; yet we are under no obligation to abandon the Christian heritage just because some of the noisy friends of Jesus have decided they get to define what it means to be a Christian. Do not let the conservatives define the faith for you.

Unity is Practical Christianity, which is the term Charles Fillmore used for his work all the days of his life. I like to say we are culturally Christian, spiritually unlimited.

So, be not afraid.

Trust your gifts.

Pray any way that works for you. No one has been appointed the prayer police. Talk to God or as God or from God—whatever works is true for you.

And “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Thank you for this great honor you have given me tonight. I pray to be worthy. Amen. Shalom. Maranatha. Allah u’ Akbar. Namaste.

Turkey Worship & the Church in/of the Future

Why did people build the first towns? Seems like an easy question: they found places where economic factors made it possible to produce and store more food, safely raise their children, and carry on the shared, diversified responsibilities of village life. As these rural communities grew, walls were needed to protect small towns from human mauraders and wild beasts, especially in the night. Gods and magical spirits were invoked to guarantee fertility, enhance the harvest, and protect these proto-cities from natural and man-made calamities. The ancients believed the balance between heaven and earth must be maintained by human action to demonstrate fidelity with the divine forces. So, altars of sacrifice blossomed, and religious semi-professionals (shamans) became priests and priestesses. This led to the construction of permanent shrines and temples for this purpose.


Next question?

This is a rough outline of what most archaeologists and anthropologists have believed about the sequence of civilization. The movement toward urbanization was driven by economics and security, i.e., the need to share resources for the common good. Humans abandoned hunting and gathering after they learned how to plant and harvest grain. They settled down near a source of water because fields cannot travel with nomads. These small settlements grew into villages and towns, which required common defense and a division of labor. More complex art and pottery flourished as people had time to spare for the finer pursuits. Religious institutions and the structures to house them--shrines and temples--came later in support of the spiritual and ritualistic needs of an established community.

If you have taken a course in the history of civilization you are probably nodding... Yeah, yeah. And your point is?

Warning: Fasten your cultural seatbelts. All of the above is most likely wrong. Not just wrong, but backwards-wrong.

Gobekli Tepe: World's First Temple?

German-born archeologist Klaus Schmidt has discovered a vast and artistically delightful temple complex in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border which, according to a growing number of scholars, is older than the pyramids. No, that doesn't say it stongly enough. The complex is seven thousand years older than the Great Pyramid and six thousand years senior to Stonehenge. The ruins are so ancient they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture.

Schmidt has discovered over fifty sites buried safely beneath the soil of Turkey, where they were built about 11,500 years ago. What's more amazing is the nature of the ruins. There is no water source, no trash heaps, none of the telltale signs of human habitation. The sites were not lived in; they were ceremonial centers--temples. That means human raised temple buildings first, then they figured out how to service these religious complexes by domesticaing grain, raising herd animals, and constructing groups of family dwellings in the area.

Schmidt's thesis is that people must have been gathering at ceremonial sites for ages before they decided to formalize the place of worship with stone structures. The temple came first.

The need to worship drove people to find stable food sources and create permanent settlements. Writing in Newsweek, Patrick Symmes observes:

"Religion now appears so early in civilized life—earlier than civilized life, if Schmidt is correct—that some think it may be less a product of culture than a cause of it, less a revelation than a genetic inheritance. The archeologist Jacques Cauvin once posited that 'the beginning of the gods was the beginning of agriculture,' and Göbekli may prove his case." [1]

Lyceum 2012: The Church in/of the Future

It is worth noting, when considering the Lyceum 2012 theme above, that people have been predicting the downfall of organized religion since writing was invented. But the temples at Gobekli Tepe predate writing by thousands of years. There appears to be something hardwired into humanity which requires us to give thanks, to offer gifts to the divine--first fruits of the field and flocks, devotions of our minds and hands, acts of service in support of something immeasurably greater than ourselves. It was not simply the whimpering of frightened people in a thunderstorm when our ancestors cried unto their gods for deliverance; it was faith that a moral order exists in the cosmos, and that something like justice must eventually prevail. Klaus Schmidt is under no illusions that humanity has gotten religion right through time, but he does seem to believe in the evolution of collective consciousness when he asserts that new ways demand new practices. The people who managed the Gobekli Tepe complex decided to bury the site with dirt, which makes it one of the best preserved Neolithic sites. "When you have new gods," Schmidt says, "you have to get rid of the old ones." [2]

It sounds like theological reflection is at least as old as civilization itself...
______________________________________________________________

[1] http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/18/history-in-the-remaking.html
[2] Ibid.

God and the Quantum Clematis

These pretty blue blossoms are the result of Carol-Jean's dilligent work outside the Shepherd Estates on Trailwood Street in Lee's Summit.

I looked at them and displayed my vast store of botanical knowledge by asking, "Honey, what's this?"

"They're Clematis," she told me.

I said, "Nice flower."

"Vine," she said.

"Yes, divine."

"No, Clematis is a vine."

"Hmmm...still looks like a flower to me."

"Theologians," she muttered.

I began pondering the nature of Clematis as she returned to gardening. It has been a fertile Spring, for flowering vines and great student discussions at Unity Institute.

During my Unity Institute course HTS 552 Metaphysical Theology II, students divide into small teams to lead their classmates in a theological analysis of the seven basic books written by Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore. Each team gets two class periods (five total hours) to present the essence of the Fillmorean book assigned to them, a daunting task when you consider that whole courses could be taught on each book. And this is professional theological education, not a church discussion group on Thursday evenings, so the methodologies employed must reach graduate level standards.

I have taught this course for several years, and the pattern has been remarkably similar. The students have great reverence for Mr. Fillmore's accomplishments, but they often wrestle with his methods and conclusions like Jacob and the angel. That willingness to explore and critically analyze marks the boundary line one must cross to become a true professional in any field.

I repeatedly urge them to let Mr. Fillmore be who he was, without feeling the need to prove their loyalty by rescuing, rehabilitating, or repairing his ideas if he goes somewhere they cannot venture. Charles Fillmore was a 19th century man who lived in a Newtonian universe, a spiritual teacher-healer whose practice was located deep inside a conservative Christian world. I often find myself agreeing with him when he says what works but disagreeing when he tries to explain how it works. He is extraordinarily consistent throughout his writing, from the early years to the end of his life. He unwaveringly taught certain ideas--like regeneration and the dangers of sensuality--which are problematic for many people today. Despite this steadiness throughout a long life, he actively encouraged his own students to find answers which worked for them.

"Do not dogmatize in creed, or statement of Being, as a governing rule of thought and action for those who join your organization. These things are limitations, and they often prevent free development because of foolish insistence on consistency. The creed that you write today may not fit the viewpoint of tomorrow." [Twelve Powers, pp. 111-112]

I think one of the greatest examples of his spiritual genius shows itself in the inconsistent way Mr. Fillmore addresses the nature of God.

During the course of student led seminars this year, a new emphasis emerged. Students became engrossed in the historical-theological question about whether Mr. Fillmore taught that God is personal,--i.e., a Supreme Being to Whom one can and should pray--or impersonal, understood as Divine Law or Principle. (Hint: If an easy answer comes to mind, you probably haven't spent a lot of time studying the problem.)

Sometimes, Charles Fillmore speaks of God as impersonal, almost a like a Platonic philosopher discussing concepts like truth, beauty, or goodness:

"When we pray in spiritual understanding, this highest realm of man's mind contacts universal, impersonal Mind; the very mind of God is joined to the mind of man. God answers our prayers in ideas, thoughts, words; these are translated into the outer realms, in time and condition." [Christian Healing, p. 78]

Other times, he begins to sound like a mystical Catholic, like Meister Eckhart:

"Prayer is the opening of communication between the mind of man and the mind of God. Prayer is the exercise of faith in the presence and power of the unseen God. Supplication, faith, meditation,silence, concentration, are mental attitudes that enter into and form part of prayer. When one understands the spiritual character of God and adjusts himself mentally to the omnipresent God-Mind, he has begun to pray aright." [Atom-Smashing Power of Mind, pp. 11-12.]

Here he describes God as both impersonal and personal, capable of creative action (personal) yet functioning uniformly (impersonal):

"God is Mind, and man made in the image and likeness of God is Mind, because there is but one Mind, and that the Mind of God...This one and only Mind of God that we study is the only creator. It is that which originates all that is permanent; hence it is the source of all reality." [ASPM, 93.]

And again:

"Being is not only impersonal Principle as far as its inherent and undeviating laws are concerned, but also personal as far as its relation to each of us is concerned. We as individuals do actually become a focus of universal Spirit." [Revealing Word, p. 22]

One last quote:

"Our Bible plainly teaches that God implanted in man His perfect image and likeness, with executive ability to carry out all the creative plans of the Great Architect... God is free to do as He wills, and He has implanted that same freedom in man."

In the midst of their spirited discussion, I asked the class whether they heard Charles Fillmore describing God as an impersonal Principle or personal Supreme Being. Some said impersonal, some personal. Some said both. Both? How could God be both personal and impersonal? And then it hit me--quantum physics explains both the nature of the Clematis and the Fillmorean view of God.

Quantum theory holds that the observer literally shapes that which is observed. For example, if scientists try to determine whether light is a wave or a particle, the answer will depend on which phenomenon they study. Look at light as a wave, and it's a wave. Look at light as a particle, and--lo!--it's a particle. Except it can't be both; they are mutually exclusive. Yet it is.

When I look at the blue plants outside my house, what they are is determined by what I'm looking for. The Clematis climbs on my wife's white metal trellis, and therefore it is a vine. But it has big, star-shaped blooms, and that makes it a flower. (I know; it's actually a flowering vine, but I can only do the equation one way at a time. I'm Pennsylvania Dutch.)


The observer shapes what he/she sees. When I look at God as One Presence/One Power, the Principle of Being-Itself, then God is impersonal. Fillmore quotes an excerpt from Robert Browning: "What I call God...fools call Nature."


But when I stand under the night sky and look into the Cosmos and feel the Presence of Infinite Love, when I am in need of what Jewish theologian Martin Buber called the I-Thou relationship between myself and God, when my God-within reaches out and speaks to the rest of the Divine Mystery--then I recognize God as not merely personal or impersonal but transpersonal. More than impersonal and personal combined. I look at the flowering Clematis vine and celebrate the Creator-God and the Principles of Nature which produced this blue blessing by my front door.

War on Terrorism is Not a Sporting Event

All right, ten years later we finally got Osama bin Laden. The US intelligent assets who pinpointed him and the valiant troops who surgically removed him the deserve heartfelt thanks of peace loving people around the world. Osama bin Laden hijacked a radicalized Islamic theology to further his political and social agenda, even while killing lots of Muslims who stood in the way of his self-righteous rampage. Did he deserve a proper trial before a jury before suffering the ultimate penalty? Probably so. But this was contact with the enemy in war, not a police raid. Although kicking down the door at a meth lab is potentially as dangerous as warfare, the safety tolerances allowable in actual combat are far narrower than possible in law enforcement situations. In the midst of a firefight with the bodyguard forces of the number one terrorist in the world, the Navy Seals can be forgiven for failing to properly Mirandize him.

I recall the surprising words of don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec master and bestselling author, who back in 2001 spoke to a group of Unity ministers in California soon after the attacks of 9-11. He asked what we thought of the tragedy. Many ministers' opinions were filled with words of forgiveness and peace. After listening to our views on the situation, don Miguel Ruiz startled the room when he said in his thickly accented voice, "If a mad dog comes at you, you have to do what you have to do. It isn't personal."

So, I say--just for myself, not for any institution or religious perspective--this was a good thing our soldiers did.

However, I was disappointed in the jubilant reaction from some of my countrymen. Cheering and chanting, "USA! USA!" trivializes the tragic necessity of deadly force and makes wartime killing a gold medal event in the fantasy Olympics. I have been shot at in war, and it is definitely not a sporting event. Soldiers need to pump themselves up sometimes, but that's before combat. Afterward, there is gratitude for survival, grief for losses and injuries, and usually a reflective, weary silence. I never heard soldiers fresh from battle cheering the events of the day. More likely, it was a quiet, "Thank God that's over and I'm alive..."

Killing a "bad guy" in war is not like Dorothy dropping a house on the green lady with the ruby slippers. Yet, I felt like the immediate reaction of too many Americans was something like the Munchkins singing, "Ding, Dong, the Witch is dead." As Dorothy finds out, there are other witches out there. Some of them equally wicked, some positively angelic. The death of any person detracts from humanity. And the Unity minister in me has to constantly remind the ex-soldier in me that even someone who so richly deserved a bullet in the head as Osama bin Laden--yes, even that murderous perverter of the great faith of Islam--had within him the image and likeness of God.

The only way you'll ever eliminate all the bad guys in this world is for everyone to agree that killing and violence is not the answer. Transform an enemy into a friend, and you "kill" an enemy and gain a friend. However, as I look out at the world in which we live, it is clear that realization is later in the program. I will affirm peace on earth and the long-term goal of a world without violence, even while giving thanks for the brave ones who stormed that compound and ended the violent life of Osama bin Laden.

Thanks, Kate & William

May I engage my hyperbole thrusters and declare, on behalf of a weary, beleaguered humanity: We needed that royal wedding.

The April 11 cover of Newsweek magazine said it with words I wouldn't have chosen, being a Unity minister, but I couldn't help cheering at the sentiment: "In a world gone to hell--thank God, a wedding."

What drove millions of Americans to rise in the dark before dawn or set their TV's to record this event? Why did an estimated 2 billion people worldwide--people from all faiths, representing over 1/4 Earth's population--watch some kind of coverage of this church ritual in England? Not everyone was happy with the unprecedented attention given to a couple's nuptials in "a world gone to hell."

Hari Sreenivasan writes on the PBS website: "According to the World Health Organization about 2.6 billion people lack an improved latrine, and 1.1 billion have no access to clean drinking water...Someday perhaps as many people will pay as much attention to them as to a guest list, a wedding, a carriage, a kiss." [1]

I concur with Mr. Sreenvisan's sense of urgency about the needs of an overpopulated, under-fed world. However, while working to make conditions better, all people need to take every opportunity to celebrate the good of this life. Rites and festivals of season, harvest, fertility and new growth are so deeply woven into the structure of human life that we clergy are sometimes shocked when absent parishioners--folks we haven't seen on any regular basis, or perhaps complete strangers--show up at those moments for a blessing at key events like baptisms, wedding and funerals. Even non-observant, empty-church Europe needs its cathedrals for rites of passage.

So, two billion souls witnessed the full spectacle of a high church, Anglican wedding, complete with King James language and angelic choirs. It was like sneaking into Mecca during the Hajj, or celebrating Diwali with Hindus in India. Rites of passage give even the ultra-self-sufficient among us an excuse to remember the heritage: We come from people who gathered around the fire and danced the hunt; people who sang prayer before they spoke it; people who hadn't the sophistication to know what they were doing, but it didn't matter because doing always precedes and transcends explaining.

And, yes. We need fairy tales to promise a brighter possibility for the future. Just because people sometimes fail to meet their own highest expectations does not make the effort less noble, less divine.

So, I saith unto thee--Hooray for Kate and William. They remind us that young people are standing in the wings, ready to take up the management of whatever world we deliver to them. I, for one, hope it comes with clean drinking water and better latrines for all God's children, and fairy tale weddings, too.





[1] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/04/2-billion-royal-wedding-viewers-really.html

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

A man was walking on the beach on Easter Sunday, deep in prayer. Then God spoke to him saying that because it was Easter, and he had always been faithful, one miracle would be granted to him. “Great!” The man said, “I want a bridge to Hawaii, so I can drive there whenever I want.”

God said, “Too materialistic, too difficult, and it would take too many natural resources. Think of something else.”

The man thought for a time, then said, “All right, Lord. For my miracle, I want to be able to understand my wife, know her feelings and read her mind. I want to know what she wants without her telling me. And I want to know what’s going on whenever she gives me the silent treatment then insists that nothing is wrong.”

The Lord was silent for a moment, then replied, “You want two lanes or four lanes on that bridge?”[1]

Easter is the day that Christians around the world celebrate the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want reflect with you about this Easter is the concept of miracles in the New testament, and how it relates to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Some miracles are easy to understand, like coincidences which bring positive results. Who hasn’t had that experience? You need an answer to prayer, and it appears from a source you never imagined. Unity people call that Divine Order, also grace. Sometimes healing occurs when medical science says it can’t happen. Sometimes people forgive and forget. Sometimes old wounds are finally healed. Miracles are unexpected events which cause a surge in faith.

The New Testament has three Greek words which can be translated as miracle: terata, dynameis, and semeia. Each word conveys a different sense of the miraculous.

The word terata literally means “wonders” and suggests feelings of amazement caused by the event. Terata is the word used to describe the amazement of the crowds when Jesus spoke his wisdom, or the amazing conversion of Saul the persecutor into Paul the great Apostle to the gentiles. It doesn’t require a supernatural event. Just something astonishing which shows the presence and power of God.

Do you remember the lyrics from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song? ..

A hundred million miracles are happ’ning ev’ry day,
And those who say they don’t agree
Are those who do not hear or see.
A hundred million miracles are happ’ning ev’ry day. ..

In ev’ry single minute so much is going on,
Along the Yangtse Kiang or the Tiber or the Don.
A hundred million miracles! ..

A swallow in Tasmania is sitting on her eggs,
And suddenly those eggs have wings and eyes and beaks and legs!
A hundred million miracles! ..

A little girl in Chungking, just thirty inches tall,
Decides that she will try to walk and nearly doesn’t fall!
A hundred million miracles!

Are happening every day.[2]

That is the sense of terata—everyday events which, when properly noticed, show the miraculous nature of life.

The second Greek word, dynameis, means power. You can hear it in the word itself—dynameis, sounds like the English word dynamo. This is the classical understanding of a miracle as a mighty act of divine power. Jesus calms the sea. Jesus curses the fig tree, which withers. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. By choosing a form of the word dynameis, the author of the passage wants you to know that “no natural power could bring it to pass in any manner or form whatsoever, as e.g., the raising to life of the widow’s son (Luke 7), or the cure of the man born blind (John 9).”[3]

Modern scholars are skeptical of the historical basis for events which present dynameis. It all began with Ralph Waldo Emerson. In July of 1838 Emerson, who was a Unitarian minister, was asked to speak to the student body at Harvard Divinity School. He arose that warm summer night and delivered a devastating blow to orthodox religion by challenging the idea that Christianity is built on miracles. Here is Emerson describing the message of Jesus:

He spoke of miracles; for he felt that man’s life was a miracle, and all that man doth, and he knew that this daily miracle shines, as the character ascends.  But the word Miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is Monster.  It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain.[4]

That has been the one of the critiques of thinking people since the early years of Christianity. Does the faith of Jesus rest upon a series of super-natural events, or, to borrow Emerson’s poetic phrase, is it, “one with the blowing clover and the falling rain”?

The New Testament authors struggled with this question, too. Listen to Matthew’s description:

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ⁴²’He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, “I am God’s Son.” ’ ⁴⁴The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

Most commentators today are more comfortable with miracle as terata, meaning wonder, than as the suspension of natural laws by dynameis, or power, which requires the action of a super-natural God. There is something about the suspension of the natural order which smacks of magic. Even though we laughed at the story about the man who wanted a bridge to Hawaii, God is not a genie granting wishes. Metaphysical Christianity does not attempt to get God to do anything which the divine power would not ordinarily do. We attempt to open ourselves to the good which God is continually showering upon us.

The final Greek word used for miracle is semeia, which means sign. Not sign like “Do Not Enter” or “Yield Right of Way”, the word semeia as sign is “an appeal to intelligence, and expresses the purpose or final cause of the miracle.”[5] However, far too often the demand for a sign from God leaned toward a requirement for a miraculous event. The Apostle Paul complained:

Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Miracle, as understood by the word semeia, points to a meaning beyond itself. Not just raw power or astonishment, the miracle says, “This is what God is like.” It is less like magic and more like metaphysics.

Now we come to the empty tomb and Easter. And all three words come into play. Surely there is great astonishment, there is the revelation of great power, and the sign of God’s handiwork. But what happened? I think we can link three possibilities to the three Greek words.

o Terata – It was an experience of wonderment.

§ Visionary experiences of resurrection

§ Encountering Jesus in dreams, meditation, prayer, and personal encounters.

o Dynameis - It was an experience of divine power.

§ Physical Resurrection—perhaps so.

§ Angelic testimonies…who knows for sure?

o Semeia - It was an experience of signs from God.

§ Spiritual/psychological resurrection

§ Disciples gathered their strength and courage and saw in the events of the crucifixion the presence and power of God despite appearances to the contrary.

§ The community rose from the dead; they knew Jesus was eternally alive in their hearts.

Actual historical truth? We’ll never know. But we do know that the small band of powerless disciples went forth with utter fearlessness, and within four centuries they had conquered the Roman world. Mark’s gospel records it simply, and the old ending to the oldest gospel leaves everything up in the air.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ “ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Mark 16:1-8 (NRSV)

If a miracle is an unexpected event which causes a surge in faith, whatever happened that first Easter certainly qualifies. Perhaps even Emerson would agree. “I can find my biography,” he wrote, “in every fable that I read.”[6]

---

[1] Paraphrased and adapted from “The Lighter Side of Talking with God” at http://halife.com/laughs/church.html.

[2] “A Hundred Million Miracles” excerpted from Flower Drum Song by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/flowerdrumsong/ahundredmillionmiracles.htm (accessed 04-22-11).

[3] Catholic Encyclopedia online, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10338a.htm (accessed 04-22-11).

[4] Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Divinity School Address,” July 15, 1838, http://www.historytools.org/sources/Emerson-Divinity.pdf (accessed 04-23-11).

[5] Catholic Encyclopedia online.

[6] Ralph Waldo Emerson http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/ralph_waldo_emerson_quotes.html