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| mixed media by Sarah Fishburn |
Seven Themes of an Alternative Orthodoxy
Fifth Theme: The separate self is the problem, whereas most religion and most people make the shadow self the problem. This leads to denying, pretending, and projecting instead of real transformation into the Divine (Transformation).
Horse First, Cart Follows |
Meditation 44 of 53 |
One of Jesus’ most revealing one-liners is, “Rejoice only that your name is written in heaven!” (Luke 10:20).
If we could fully trust this, it would change our whole life agenda.
This discovery will not create overstated or presumptuous
individualists, as religion usually fears, but instead makes all
posturing and pretending largely unnecessary. Our core anxiety that we
are not good enough is resolved from the beginning, and we can stop all
our climbing, contending, criticizing, and competing. All
“accessorizing” of any small, fragile self henceforth shows itself to
be a massive waste of time and energy. Costume jewelry is just that, a
small part of an already unnecessary costume.
Most of Christian history has largely put the cart of requirements
before the “horsepower” itself, thinking that loads of carts, or the
best cart, will eventually produce the horse. It never does. The horsepower is precisely our experience of primal union with God. Find God, the primary source, and the springwater will forever keep flowing (Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 7:38)
naturally. Once you know that, the problem of inferiority,
unworthiness, or low self-esteem is resolved from the beginning and at
the core. You can then spend your time much more positively, marching
in the “triumphal parade” (2 Corinthians 2:14), as Paul so playfully calls it.
Adapted from
Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self, pp. 14-15
