Nine Flavors for Better Living

September 1, 2006

NINE FLAVORS FOR BETTER LIVING
Reading: Galatians 5:19-26

What I want to do this week is slow down a little…take some time to talk at length about the church and its people, all of whom have access to the fruit of the Spirit as divine power within them.

Why does the church exist?

We do fun things together, but so do the people at a country club, or the cheaper version of a country club, the tailgate party. We perform acts of service for the good of our community, but so do the Lions and the Rotarians. We help people with their problems, but so do psychologists and social workers and life coaches. We provide a safe environment for people to gather and discuss important issues, but so do the PTA and the League of Women Voters. We want to make the world a better place, but so do the Democrats and Republicans and Greenies.

Why does the church exist?

Gal 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let’s be guided by the Spirit.” I hold that the Church has one excuse for opening its doors, and one excuse only—to offer the Jesus Christ message to people who hunger for a spiritual dimension to life. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are called to practice practical Christianity, to look beyond the physical dimensions of life and see the world meta-physically. To respond as people of faith to the call of Almighty God.

When we respond to the call, what happens?

Well, among other things, we become…a little more mellow? The Apostle Paul—who nobody could accuse of being a mellow guy—laid out some elements of character which believers in Christ Jesus begins to show in their lives. He called them “Fruit of the Spirit” and differentiated them from the “Gifts of the Spirit” which he listed in his First Letter to the Corinthians.

Gifts of the Spirit

The “gifts” are very specific, and Paul goes out of his way to insist that not everybody has the gift of teaching, or prophesy, and so forth. However, the “Fruit if the Spirit” should be growing in everybody’s spiritual orchard. So, this week I'd like to take a moment and reflect with you on the nine “fruit” listed by Paul. And I'd also ask your indulgence as I try to match each of these spiritual fruit with an edible fruit available at your local supermarket. Maybe the next time you munch on an apple or peach you might contemplate the spiritual quality which corresponds, however arbitrarily, with the natural snack you are enjoying.

NINE FLAVORS FOR BETTER LIVING

Ask yourself what comes to mind when contemplating each “flavor” below. Here are some of my thoughts, and it is admittedly a work-in-process.

Love: Binding force of Cosmos
Fruit: Apples

The Greek word here is the familiar agapé, often thought to mean selfless love. Paul described agapé at length in his famous “Hymn to Love” found at I Corinthians 13. It is worth noting that the kind of love Paul advocates has nothing to do with feelings, unlike modern understandings of the word. In fact, Paul is almost Buddhist in his doctrine of love. Not a feeling but a way of relating to others.

Although I am a zealous advocate for feelings of love and falling in love, I am beginning to adopt this larger, Pauline-Buddhist model of love as compassion rather than simply passion. Our lives should out-picture love, but that doesn't mean we must feel lovey-dovey/pitter-pat for all God’s fuzzy creatures, or we’re not using the gift of love.

I think Charles Fillmore nailed it when he said, “Love is the power that joins and binds in divine harmony the universe and everything in it.” [1]

To me, the apple represents the wholeness and holiness of the Cosmos. It is the traditional gift given to teachers. It is also the most heart-warming of fruits, properly baked into a pie and sprinkled with cinnamon, its aroma almost begs you to eat and share it with others.

So, nibble an apple, or a slice of apple pie, and contemplate your world with compassion for all.

Joy: Celebrating life
Fruit: Strawberries

Interestingly, the Greek word chara which is translated usually joy in this passage, has the same root as the word for grace. It is also the same root which forms the word charis-mata, gifts of the spirit. So, by this “fruit of the spirit” (which was supposedly available to all) Paul provides a link to the special “gifts of the spirit” concept. Strawberries are like that. Both available to everybody and yet specially designed by God for me.

Something mystical happens when you pop a ripe strawberry in your mouth. A cool breeze of refreshment wafts over your face as little barbs of sweetness jab at your tongue. It is pure joy, and only the stern can respond inaudibly. Next time you devour a strawberry—they are never simply eaten, you know—meditate on the gift of joy and all those who have given it to you.

Joy is one of those forces which, when properly channeled, can power your life.

Peace: Inclusion and Acceptance
Fruit: Peaches

Peace is not just the absence of war, nor is a life dedicated to peace immune to conflict. But a life centered in peace finds its strength from inclusion and acceptance rather than exclusion and rejection. Edwin Markham (1852-1940), who was a frequent quest at Unity Village, wrote a poem which summarizes the path of peace by inclusion and acceptance.

"Outwitted" by Edwin Markham [2]

He drew a circle to shut me out.
Heretic, rebel; a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win.
We drew a circle that took him in.

When biting into the soft and exquisite flesh of a peach, think of those words…The circle of the peach skin takes in all the sweetness and nectar, not to exclude but to hold together.

Peach is for peace.

Patience: Trust God despite appearances
Fruit: Kiwi

The King James Version rendered the Greek word makrothumia as long-suffering, but the word patience conveys a better sense of its meaning. Sometimes things are not what they seem. The harsh event today can become the moment of deliverance tomorrow. If you need an example, I give you the kiwi fruit. Tough and brown and bitter on the outside, soft and green and sweet within. To those who exercise patience, the goodness inside the tough wrapper may yet be revealed.

When cutting into your next kiwi, think patience and trust God.

Kindness: Living the Golden Rule
Fruit: Oranges

I am absolutely convinced the universal spiritual principle allowing healthy interactions with others is an application of the Golden Rule in some variation. All versions really say the same thing in two variations, either positive (“Do this…”) or negative (“Don't do that…”). The message is quite simple:

Be nice, because you want others to be nice to you.

Kindness is so much more intelligent than its opposite, cruelty. When expressing cruelty, you generate hate and an energy for vengeance. But kindness usually returns to you in the same vein, or at the very least keeps things from exploding back in your face.

Oranges always seemed like a kind fruit to me. When I was a child, my Christmas stocking always had an orange in it, along with the mandatory candy canes and other confectionaries. My grandmother explained that during the Great Depression of the 1920’s and 30’s, people in our family were so poor they couldn't afford candy or other luxuries, even at Christmas. But they always managed to buy a few oranges for the stockings, a special treat for those who lived in northern climates, especially during winter.

To this day, I put an orange in the stocking of everybody in my home each Christmas, and I remind my kids—now all grown—that our family has come through challenging time in the past and will do so in the future, and this little ball of orange-gold, represents kindness from the heart and a belief that life goes onward to its highest good.

Put an orange in your stockings this Christmas, and pass the kindness along.

Generosity: Prosperity principles
Fruit: Watermelon

One of the most basic principles of prosperity is that release and circulating is better than hoarding, because we get back what we put out. That’s why watermelon is a prosperity fruit to me. It is meant to be shared. Not just shared, but shared generously, because it’s usually too big for one person to eat it all before it spoils.

Share a watermelon and multiply your prosperity!

Faithfulness: Perseverance
Fruit: Grapes

The word here is pistis, which elsewhere is translated faith, but has a wider meaning which the NRSV faithfulness catches. An Old Testament story from the Book of Numbers links the quality of faith with grapes. (No, really!) Moses sends a team of scouts (spies in most translations) to check out the Promised Land. They come back with tall tales of a land flowing with milk and honey, and they bring back a bunch of grapes so huge they had to cut a pole to carry them. All is lovely and fertile, except there are “giants” in the land, the spies report, so if Moses leads the Israelites in they will be slaughtered. This is even acknowledged as an exaggeration by the text. The point is, they lacked faith in their own power to face the giants ahead, so they opted for more long years in the wilderness.

The next time you eat a grape, think about the delicious gifts which God is continually trying to give you, and rather than fleeing the make-believe giants of your fears, go forward to claim your promised land of goodness.


Gentleness: Be a “safe house” for others.
Fruit: Banana

Sometimes translated humility, the Greek word prautes can also be rendered courtesy, modesty, considerateness, and meekness, although this last term is meant in the archaic sense of mildness rather than the modern word which has overtones of naiveté and weakness. A person who demonstrates this particular fruit of the Spirit is someone who can be trusted, for he or she lives by the ancient dictum of the medical profession, “Do no harm.” This person’s sphere of influence is a kind of safe-house into which all may enter and be received with courtesy and humble acceptance. There is a child-like innocence to this gift.

Perhaps that’s why bananas come to mind as the appropriate symbolic fruit. As anyone who has raised a child since the middle of the 20th century knows, squashed bananas are fed to babies in great quantity. We are evolutionarily large primates, related to other two-legged banana-nibblers by massive DNA similarities. Once full grown, our hirsute cousins are probably not a good example of prautes, but the babies of most warm-blooded species seem to radiate gentleness. Baby mammals—humans included—express some degree of courtesy to others of their species, at least until they grow a little older and rivalries take over. Maybe that’s why Jesus told us to become as a little child in order to access the Kingdom of Heavenly possibilities.

Let bananas with their smile-like shape forever suggest the gift of gentleness and acceptance for all.

Self-Control: Moderation and balanced life
Fruit: Plums

The New Interpreter’s Bible, one of the references I've been consulting as I dribble out these thoughts, notes that the Greek word used here—egkrateia, or self-control—is found nowhere else in Paul. This is probably because he wanted to find a strong closing word, one that would contrast with the strong closing word in his list of offensive behavior which immediately precedes the passage on fruit of the Spirit:

“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21, NRSV)

Paul ends the no-no list with a tirade against “drunkenness, carousing, and the like…” There was a time in my life when I would have argued with him on the worthiness in a night spent with a little bacchanalian revelry, but I'm sixty now, so the party has to end before Jay Leno’s monologue. Note, however, how Paul’s list of spiritual fruit closes with the opposite: Instead of riotous living, the gift of the Spirit is self-control.

Many of you know I am a retired US Army chaplain. I can recall one night when I was visiting the barracks of one of my units in Germany. It was late, and I was talking with the CQ (charge of quarters, the NCO who stood watch at night and acted as the official representative of the commander). A soldier literally crawled in the door, too drunk to stand up. The NCO grunted and called for a few other GI’s to drag the totally snookered young troop to a special drunk tank bed they had in a room on the first floor near the CQ desk.

It was like a hospital ICU without any equipment. Actually, it wasn't like an ICU at all, except that the soldier got monitored during the night. We had a young man die in the barracks of alcohol poisoning a few weeks earlier, and the commander wisely initiated this policy to save lives. He also leaned on the young men to control their drinking, but young people have their own agendas. He also command-referred (that means marched them off, like it or not) his people to drug and alcohol rehab when episodes like this occurred, so I knew this GI had some meetings in his near future.

I remember looking down at him as he lay there on the floor and saying—no unkindly, although I may have sounded a little frustrated at the time—“Had enough fun for tonight, soldier?”

How someone could go out and hurt themselves like this and call it fun was beyond me. But my friends in recovery are all shaking their heads now and saying, “Oh, yeah, Tom. Trust me. Some alcoholics do it.”

The name of the game, to me, is to find a moderate center, living a balanced life. That takes many skills, not the least of which is self-control. The good news is that self-control is one of the fruit of the Spirit, which means it lies within us if we learn how to manifest its power. To do this often requires us to plumb the depths. (Sorry…) So, now you know why I picked plums for the fruit of Self-Control.

I believe the Church exists to provide a place where people can grow spiritually, where we can learn about God and life and eternity, and where we can pass along our highest values and grandest hopes for a better tomorrow.

Anyway, these stray thoughts are meant to stir your mind a little. The church should be in the stirring business. Let me know if the ideas helped. And feel free to used the Nine Flavors in your writing and teaching—just give me a footnote and my ego will smile like a monkey with a bushel of bananas.

NINE FLAVORS FOR BETTER LIVING

Love – Binding force of Cosmos – Apple
Joy – Celebrating life – Strawberries
Peace – Inclusion and acceptance - Peach
Patience – Trust God despite appearances - Kiwi
Kindness – Golden Rule - Orange
Generosity – Prosperity principles - Watermelon
Faithfulness – perseverance - grapes
Gentleness - be a “safe house” - banana
Self-Control – Moderation/balanced life – plums

Galatians 5:22-25

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

__________________________________________________________

[1] Charles Fillmore, Christian Healing (Unity Books), p. 120.
[2] "Outwitted", poem by Edwin Markham, available online at multiple sites, to include http://holyjoe.net/poetry/markham.htm

Elijah vs. 450 Prophets of Baal

Mid-Week Message for 08-24-06
Biblical Reference: I Kings 18:17-39

But first....

Stupid, but True, Published Headlines:

"Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says"

"Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers"

"Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over"

"President Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead"

"Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim"

"Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe"

"Stolen Painting Found by Tree"

"Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge"

"Sex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training"

"Prostitutes Appeal to Pope"


Elijah vs. the Baalists

I envision the biblical story of Elijah and the 450 priests of Baal, cited above from I Kings 18:17-40, earning a “stupid headline” in the MMSCV translation (Medieval Monk’s ‘Sloppiest Copyist’ Version) of the Bible:

"Elijah Fires Up Mount Carmel"

The story, of course, is about the confrontation between Elijah and the 450 priests of Baal. Elijah’s name represents the battle he is fighting. Eli – jah = The Lord (Yahweh) is God (Elohim). You probably know the details…it’s a great tale. (NRSV text is reproduced below, at the end of this Mid-Week Message.)

Now, there are some difficult elements in this story. First, there is the miraculous blast of fire from heaven. Not a big surprise to some ancient religions. Thor had his hammer; Zeus and Jupiter tossed thunderbolts. Later, the Apostle Paul will be hit by lightning and survive, according to the Book of Acts.

But the circumstances of this particular fire bolt make us suspect mythology rather than meteorology is at work here. I’ve often wondered if Elijah might have doused the offering three time with some kind of accelerant…but kerosene, gasoline and other inflammatory liquids were thousands of years in the future, and oil would not have fooled anyone.

Looking at the story as the ancients must have seen it, the narrative compels the listener to consider four factors:

1) The supremacy of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to Baal, the god of the Canaanites.
2) The non-existence of Baal and, by inference, of all other gods but Yahweh.
3) The demand that Israel serve NO OTHER god, because the Lord is the supreme God.
4) True prophets produce visible results. False prophets don’t.

Metaphysically, this is a battle playing within every one of us. Shall we serve the Lord?—which means knowing the Truth about our indwelling Christ, the God within each of us—or shall we serve Baal, the counterfeit god of man-made religions?

When you look up the elements of this confrontation in Charles Fillmore’s Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, you find that Baal takes quite a beating in symbolic terms. Over 75 years ago, Mr. Fillmore wrote about the dangers of all the pop-fad spirituality in which American Truth students love to dabble. And I’ve got to tell you, I was frankly shocked when I first discovered how explicitly Charles Fillmore condemned, by name, a lot of practices which are still popular to this day. As you read this, please remember that Mr. Fillmore was the soul of civility, a kindly, affirming, inclusive, supportive man who seldom criticized anyone and who certainly believed that Truth can be found in all the religions of humanity:

“Baal…represent(s) nature in its various sensuous aspects…When we fall into the evils…we think that the planets and stars rule over us and that it is necessary to pay them a certain degree of homage because of their influence. Some people to this day have great faith in their ‘ruling planets,’ and think that they are bound to certain traits of character because they were born when those sidereal bodies were in the ascendancy. They are forgetful of the God power within them, and so they are brought into condemnation.” [1]

Ouch! Strong words. The Co-founder of Unity, talking about “condemnation”? Surely this must be a mistake. Listen as Mr. Fillmore continues:

“Luck, chance, sorcery, familiar spirits, and wizardry are some of the avenues through which (Baal consciousness) attempts to regulate…(us). Astrology, palmistry, the guidance of spirits, mesmerism, hypnotism, are some of the many modern forms of denial of God. Indulged in for a time they lead the negative mind into deeper and deeper bondage, until the transgressed law reacts upon the transgressor and he is put ‘in chains’ and bound ‘with fetters’ and carried away to Babylon, or utter confusion. The way to escape is through prayer to God and return to His ‘city of peace’ within the soul, Jerusalem.” [2]

Mr. Fillmore is castigating the spiritually promiscuous attitude which, in Glimpses of Truth, I have called pop-fad spirituality, something akin to the lackadaisical religiosity which Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the WWII Protestant martyr, called “Cheap Grace”.

From Glimpses:

“Metaphysical Christianity has fought long and bravely for recognition of its status as a legitimate expression of Christian faith. Charles Fillmore realized that a movement so open-minded was bound to attract the lunatic fringe, so he repeatedly called for his branch of the Christian Truth movement to remember its roots deep within the Judeo-Christian heritage. He would brook no compromise with those who wanted to move ‘beyond’ Christianity into either the normlessness of syncretism or the netherworld of dependency to psychic phenomena.” [3]

People should explore new thoughts…that’s what New Thought is all about. However, when the Baals of life come knocking on the door, a healthy response might be to greet them with a smile and ask them for credentials: “Mr. Baal, sir, can you show me some good ideas which outpicture as spiritual benefits in the real world?”

It’s okay to question one’s religion; as noted, the Baalists Elijah was addressing were fellow Israelites. It’s okay to ask for clarification; it’s even okay to say, “No, that doesn't work for me.” Critical thinking can be accomplished without arrogance, condescension or condemnation. The objective is to focus on what works and doesn't work for you, not what’s good and evil.

Elijah was not condemning the religion of another people…these were Hebrews, followers of King Ahab. He’s the King who married Jezebel, and very few mothers name their daughters after his wife to this day. The Bible also records that, “Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.” (I Kings 16:33)

That’s quite an achievement, to be the worst King in the history of Israel. They had some real stinkers. Let’s not forget, this was a battle for the soul of a nation. If Judaism was to become a light to the gentiles and a beacon for the yet unborn faiths of Christianity and Islam, the Hebrew faith had to outgrow its pagan past and become a truly monotheistic religion. Judaism was built on law, but it was steeped in compassion for the poor and the helpless. Baalism was a wild ecstatic cult which practiced sacred prostitution, sympathetic magic, and bizarre rituals that included slicing yourself until the blood runs during their fits of frenzy. Not exactly the kind of doctrine that makes a good platform for religions of tolerance and forgiveness. Spirituality in Judaism has always been linked to works of good will, moderation and kindness, even among the most fervent Jews.

The question is, how do you question without condemnation? The common element in the test of faith employed by Elijah and Charles Fillmore seems to be this: Does it work for the benefit of people in the real world? To use an anthropological term which I've introduced to my students at Unity Institute, is the idea or practice adaptive or maladaptive?

Adaptive beliefs and behaviors contribute to the health and well-being of the individual and the group. Maladaptive traits work against individual and group wholeness and prosperity. This is a useful tool which can help people evaluate spiritual ideas and practices.

So, what can be learned from the confrontation between Elijah and the Priests of Baal….at the risk of sounding like I might be taking a stand…let me suggest that there ARE some places where people must take a stand. There are fences beyond which a sensible, God-centered person cannot venture without departing from reason and moderation. It is okay to look at Osama bin Laden’s insane Islamic fundamentalism and say, “No way…that is not worship of the true God, it’s blood-letting Baalism.”

It’s okay to read horoscopes, but you are not bound to the stars’ decrees. It’s okay to explore exotic ideas and read esoteric literature, but you do not need channeled messages from exalted, departed masters, or crystals to empower you, or secret rituals to heal you, or UFO abductions to transform you, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to make you more spiritual. You ARE the Christ. You have all healing power within you. And you can call down fire from that heaven of consciousness and light your life. You don’t need guru’s, pop psychology icons, motivation speakers, or hidden knowledge. Truth is obvious. God is good, Life is good. God has everything under control.

God is not somewhere up there beyond the clouds; God is inside you. To find God, don’t look up—look inside! Fearlessly sweep away all the false gods and their prophets within your consciousness… whatever keeps you from realizing your divine potential. And then make way for the God Who answers with the fire of love and the force of power enough to make your dreams come true.

1 MDB, 87.
2 Ibid.
3 Thomas W. Shepherd, Glimpses of Truth (Miami: UFBL Press, 2000), Ch.19.

_________________________________________

I Kings 18:17-39 (NRSV)

17 When (King) Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

20So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.”

All the people answered, “Well spoken!”

25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”

26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.

27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

28 Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; 32 with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.

He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, 35 so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water.

36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”

Lessons from a Stucco Buddha

by Thomas Shepherd

In Thailand there are many, many Buddha’s. All over Asia, for that matter. There was one particular, Buddha which had sat outside the grounds of a Wat, or Temple. He was stucco, about 15 feet tall. Buddha sitting in the lotus position, eyes open, with a little half-smile on his face. Nobody knew how long this stucco statue had sat there in the courtyard outside the Temple. Just like the presence of the divine in the midst of life, the Buddha withstood Thailand’s political and social changes just like it weathered monsoon rains for generation after generation. In modern times, tourists posed beside the sacred image. Sometimes they put their hats on his head, or threw an arm around the sacred figure, like he was a Buddha buddy—a dangerous action, which can get you arrested in some countries. Kids left candy wrappers in his lap. Sometimes people brought flower and fruit offerings to the Buddha. Sometimes people paused to meditate before the image of Gautama Siddartha, the Enlightened One. And the Buddha kept smiling, as though guarding some secret. The Divine Presence, right in the midst of life.

Some of our conservative Christian friends might see the stucco Buddha as a heathen idol. But they, too, have no poetry in their souls.

The city fathers of Bangkok decided to build a highway right through the courtyard where the Buddha sat, so he got an eviction notice. Well, actually, the government was very nice about it and offered to provide heavy-lift equipment to move the stucco Buddha indoors. This would be good for the statue, too, because inside the Wat the Buddha could be venerated by the monks and photographed by tourists in a more controlled way. After all, even though it was poorly constructed, the Buddha was centuries old and deserved to retire with dignity.

Isn’t that remarkably like the Christian faith today? To become a center of spiritual life again, Christianity has to get moving, to quit lurking in the courtyards of the past. John Shelby Spong is a former Episcopal Bishop whom many Unity people admire greatly. Myself included. Bishop Spong wrote a nice endorsement about my new book. I had it framed; it hangs in my office. Anyway, Jack Spong wrote a lot of books that Unity and other New Thought churches really love—Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, The Hebrew Lord: A Bishop’s Search for the Authentic Jesus, and his most provocative title: Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile.

That’s my point. Just as the stucco Buddha had to move as times change, so does the Christian church in general and every church in particular. But amazing things happen when you take action in faith.

Now, here’s the rest of the story about the stucco Buddha. A group of monks from the monastery had to relocate the clay Buddha from outside their temple to a new location. “The monastery was to be relocated to make room for the development of a highway through Bangkok. When the crane began to lift the giant idol the weight of it was so tremendous that it began to crack. What is more, rain began to fall. The head monk, who was concerned about damage to the sacred Buddha, decided to lower the statue back to the ground and cover it with a large canvas trap to protect it from rain. We pick up the official record of what happened next:

“Later that evening the head monk went to check on the Buddha. He shined his flashlight under the trap to see if the Buddha was staying dry. As the light reached the crack, he noticed a little gleam shining back and felt it strange. As he took a closer look at this gleam of light, he wondered if there might be something underneath the clay. He went to fetch chisel and hammer from the monastery and began to chip away at the clay. As he knocked off shards of clay the little gleam grew brighter and bigger. Many hours of labor went by before the monk stood face to face with the extraordinary solid gold Buddha.”

A solid gold Buddha. Fifteen feet tall. Weighing 5.5 tons!

“Historians believe that several hundred years before the head monk's discovery, the Burmese army was about to invade Thailand ( called Siam). The Thai (Siamese) monks, realizing that their country would soon be attacked, covered the precious golden Buddha with an outer covering of clay in order to keep their treasure from being looted by the Burmese. Unfortunately it appears that the Burmese slaughtered all the Thai (Siamese) monks and the well kept secret of golden Buddha remained until that fateful day (in 1957).”[1]

Today it sits in Wat Trimitr (Temple of The Solid Gold Buddha). The Gold Buddha, which is the most valuable sacred object (and largest gold statue of Buddha) in the world, dates back to the 15th century. It weighs approximately 5.5 tons and stands 15 feet high. It was encased in stucco in the 18th century to prevent its plunder by the invading Burmese army. When Bangkok was built, the statue was moved there and left outside a deserted temple.

Now…the question I ask is this: How many people do you pass on the street every day who are, in reality, solid Gold Buddha’s in disguise? And the answer is—class?—EVERYONE!

[1] http://www.ppsnabha.net/tour-3.htm

Hummingbirds and the Afterlife

About a month ago Carol-Jean displayed an array of hummingbird feeders on the deck behind our house. She deftly placed them next to hanging baskets of flowering plants so the little buzzing critters would feel some security, if they ever showed up for a drink. Well, happy hour came and went for weeks with no tiny birdies hovering in the vicinity of those mini-resevoirs of red sugar water. Then one day one of nature's two-inch helicopters materialized outside the window. No red throat, so we had attracted a female. She paused in the air as if sniffing for danger, then dipped her drinking beak into the feeding tube. We were now a station on the hummingbird express.
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They have come in rapid succession since that first exploratory visit. Brown and green with wings which beat so fast they cannot be detected except as a blurring of the air, the little hummers like to perch on the wire rim which supports my wife's potted tomato vines, leading us to speculate about how their tiny feet must like the cool metal frame. I understood they are the smallest birds, so I did a little research on the specifications of your typical Ruby Throated Hummingbird.
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Their average weight is only 1/8 ounce (3.1 g), yet their body temperature ranges from 105°-108°F (40.5°-42.2°C). Those supernaturally fast wings beat 40-80 times per second, and their little hearts beat from 250 per minute at rest, to an astonishing 1200 beats/min while feeding. And they are fast--from 30-60 mph (48-100 kph)!
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They don't live very long compared to humans, but can survive up to twelve years. It was at this point when I began wondering what hummingbirds believe about life after death.
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An innane thought, you say? Any creature who can hover and fly backwards deserves some kind of metaphysical consciousness, I say. And so my hummingbirds held an immaginary gathering at the tomato frame and rested at 250 heartbeats per minute while debating the possibility of immortality. I have a transcript of their deliberations which because you are my friend I will share with you. There were three of them--two females and a male. They never identified themselves, so I assigned them appropriate character names befitting the tiniest and most graceful of birds: Tina, Gracie, and Red.

TINA: I was telling Cora the crow just yesterday, birds must have an afterlife.
GRACIE: Cora always says we're here today and gone tomorrow. She's an extinctionist.
RED: Well, she knows the answer now--last evening the old crow got eaten by that butterscotch cat on Misty Lane.
TINA: Cora? No!
RED: He's been roaming the neighborhoods. Thinks he's a tiger. Told Cora to quit napping on the trash cans, but she never listened to anybody.
GRACIE: Do you think Cora is...well...still somewhere?
RED: Sure. She's inside that butterscotch cat.
GRACIE: No, Red, I'm serious. Do you think her consciousness...her self-awareness...goes on?
TINA: It must go on. She had such a life-force.
RED: She caw-cawed too loud and she liked to dump on Hyundais. My kind of bird.
GRACIE: Don't you ever wonder what happens after our wings stop beating?
RED: We get eaten by the cat.
GRACIE: All right--eaten by the cat, whatever. What happens to our thoughts, our minds, our separate selves?
RED: Way I see it, when you're dead, you're dead. The party's over, lights out.
TINA: What a terrible thought!
RED: It's just real, that's all.
GRACIE: You don't know that. For all you know, we might have an immortal soul.
RED: Yeah, and I might fly to the moon if I had a booster rocket.
TINA: You are awful.
GRACIE: He's in denial.
RED: Oh, right. And we're dysfunctional hummingbirds. Go find a wise owl and get professional help. Oh, wait. Owls eat hummingbirds, too, don't they?
GRACIE: Don't you want to live forever, Red?
RED: Sure. I want to fly to the moon, too. But I am what I am, a limited expression of biological life, passing through consciousness.
TINA: What good is it to have consciousness if all you get to do is surrend it to darkness in the end?
RED: Don't ask me. I didn't create the Cosmos. That's the Great Gull's job.
TINA: The great who--?
GRACIE: He's been reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull again. Look, Red, fact is nobody knows. We hope, we pray, we decide to believe. We talk to birds who claim to have had visions or near death experiences, but nobody really knows for sure.
RED: My point exactly.
TINA: So, if nobody knows for sure, it could go either way, right?
RED: I...well, I guess so, yeah.
TINA: Then what do I have to lose by hoping for eternity?
RED: Whoops....butterscotch cat at eleven o'clock! See you at the feeder at sunset.
GRACIE: See you--we're not done with this conversation!
TINA: I wonder if that cat believes in immortality, or just nine lives?
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[They zoom to separate treetops and are lost among the leaves.]
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Okay, that was fun...now it's your turn. Do you believe in eternal life or immortality of the soul? Do you know the difference, theologically? Traditionally, the word immortality has connoted a state which the soul has as part of its nature, whereas attaining eternal life requires some kind of action by humans and a response from the Divine. Another way to say it is immortality is something we have regardless of what happens (although existing forever does not guarantee a fulfilling experience); eternal life is something given to us by God. Anyway, the floor is open for your responses...

Launching Theo-Blog One

Welcome to Rev Tom Shepherd's Theological Blog

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This space may be some of the best and worst work I've done, because the nature of a Blog is by definition a hurried affair: Slam-jam-get-it-on-the-Internet-wham! So you get unfettered and relatively unedited remarks from the murky mind of a Unity theologian (may our tribe increase!) at moments of interlude when communication with the cyber-Cosmos seems a necessary endeavor. I also declare forthwith that these remarks represent the opinions of no other institution, religious perspective, 0r organization but TW Shepherd, Inc. (And there ain't no Inc.) Although theological in premise, they will doubtless spill over into many other categories. So, without further weaseling and warning, let's play Theo-Blog!

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We'll start with something non-controversial, like...oh, how about politics?

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Theology of Deception: George W. Bush

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In my best theological opinion, George W. Bush is a hypocrite and a terrible president. His rigidity is not a virtue but a fetish, and he has lied and obfuscated to the American public from the beginning. Can anyone fail to see that the reason he invaded Iraq had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction but was a manifestation of his missionary zeal to transform the world into his neo-Con, Christian Right image? His goal was to bring democracy to the Middle East, but democratic government must be freely chosen and must include respecting the rights of minorities within the greater social order. Muslims aren't just educationally deprived proto-Christians; they are proud and well-educated people with an ancient cultural heritage and deep faith tradition. Some of those traditions run afoul of Western-style democratic ideals, and it will take generations of self-discovery before some Arab countries evolve theologically and politically to a place where full equality is attainable.

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Movement in consciousness is an inside job. Although studies in social anthropology tell us that massive upheavals can alter belief patterns--seacoast tribes driven inland will eventually worship forest gods--nevertheless, those changes are dangerous to the health and well-being of the group. Some cultural shifts mean the end of an ethnic or religious identity. Well-meaning Christian missionaries, who wanted to help natives attain salvation and civilization, in fact gave them neither, imparting disease and cultural dissolution instead. The gospel according to Gene Roddenberry should be heeded: Thou shalt not violate the Prime Directive--when you mess with the natural evolution of other cultures, you do so at great peril to their very existence.

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After twenty years as an American soldier, I feel comfortable speculating about the frustration which our troops must be experiencing in Iraq today. They genuinely want to help the Iraqis, but it's like setting up a soccer match in a mine field. We owe them our prayers and our supportive thoughts, but more than that we owe them a speedy departure to duties less hazardous for causes more noble. They did not sign up to be martyrs; that's in the current enemy's job description and resume.

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Theology can give us tools to look at life through the eyes of faith. As I look at the mess created by the most theological president in recent history, I find myself praying for a sensible agnostic to take the reins of state and steer us away from the Edge of the World, toward which the Rev. Mr. Bush is galloping with apocalyptic glee, even as the climate warms and the villagers we hastened to aid are crushed under the wheels of our chariots of war.

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Your comments and replies are invited.