God In a Box

For the past several weeks I have been reflecting on the theological issue of the centrality of Jesus Christ in our faith. When Jesus is central in a person’s theology and heart, then like the labyrinth, the path radiates and spirals inward toward the heart and outward toward the world. Journeying on this path provides growth and transformation. According to Caroline Adams, this journey continuously expands our vision of what is possible, stretching our souls, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to our intuition, [and] taking courageous challenges at every step along the way (http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm). On this journey believers become pilgrims who grow more and more into the likeness of Christ. Additionally, symbols become richer and more useful in our prayers as we begin to include the wisdom of those who call God by other names. This idea is the story of Pentecost, a story that takes us beyond our own borders to the fertile ground found in other nationalities, languages, and cultures.

To deliver his message effectively, Jesus used such symbols as sheep, fig trees, and lost coins. Not only our culture, but many world cultures are rich in symbols. As one of my friends says, “A Buddha [symbolically] reminds me to ‘choose peace’ which leads me directly to ‘the peace that passes all understanding’ and ‘Be still and know that I am God’.” Writing in the first century, Saint Paul said, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8, NIV).

Can we find Jesus present in places that are outside the four walls of the church? In his book, Christ of the Celts, J. Philip Newell describes the Celtic pattern of worship that included gathering around “high standing crosses in the context of earth, sea and sky. The emphasis was that the creation itself was the Sanctuary of God” (Newell 110). Besides the natural world, I find Christ present in the poetry and novels that I teach in my high school classroom. I find God present in the community that forms around the preparation and sharing of good food. I even find Christ present in principles I learn from philosophy and the practice of yoga.

Let me illustrate with an example. In the fall I had a student with whom I had several conflicts. During this time, The Center for Spiritual Development sponsored a retreat that included a presentation on Akido, a Japanese martial art. One of the principles of Akido is that when people are engaged in conflict there is wasted energy because the two parties are pushing hard against each other. Instead of engaging in the conflict, one should attempt to turn the opponent in the same direction. In Akido, this turning is done physically, but after hearing the presentation, I realized that I could end the conflict in my classroom by turning my student in the direction I wanted him to go. A few days later, I talked with my student, and it wasn’t long before other students in the classroom were commenting on how much more enjoyable class was since that particular student had stopped acting out. To put this scenario into a Christian context, one can remember the words of John of the Cross who said, "Where there is no love, put love, and there you will find love."

Being confident in one’s own standing with Christ allows a person to color outside the lines. Spiritual growth results from being challenged and provoked by new ideas—or even old ideas that have to be rediscovered. These ideas lead to connections and revelations that if grounded in prayer and discernment will always return us to the Trinity. With Carl Jung we can affirm, "Summoned or not, God is present.”
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Newell, J. Philip. Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation. San Franciso: Jossey-Bass, 2008.