Last night, Michael and I made Pad Thai for the first time. It’s not a particularly difficult dish to create, and the two of us worked together gathering our ingredients while he chopped the peanuts in our coffee grinder (very effective!), and I chopped green onions in the more conventional method using knife and cutting board. We rather effortlessly created what turned out to be a scrumptious dish. We even made rice stick noodles which I had only eaten in a Chinese restaurant once or twice. When the Pad Thai was done, we put it in bowls, took out the chopsticks, and sat in front of the television to watch a DVD of Law and Order.
Since that kitchen experience, I've been reminded of how world culture can infuse our own "American" culture making it richer and "tastier." I am a teacher of AP and World Literature, and I revel in the stories of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel. There are stories I also enjoy from India, poetry from China and Japan, and the wonderful tales from the tribes of Africa are often very funny and teach rich lessons about living life to the fullest.
When one studies these cultures, the "spectre" of religion often comes up. I say spectre because in many, many cases, discussion of and thinking about other religions is seen as taboo and dangerous, especially by many Christians. After all, Christianity is called "The Way," and many Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to an eternal afterlife. Does that mean that no Jew will ever be in Yahweh's presence, no matter how devout he or she may have been in life; that no Muslim will ever see Allah, and that certainly no Hindu or Buddhist will ever arrive at his or her own understanding of the state of bliss? Taken to the extreme, it means that reading the poetry of Saadi or Rumi is anathema; that sitting meditation (based on Buddhist thought) or contemplative prayer is a questionable practice, at best, and that exploring archetypes from psychology based on the ancient Greek religion is foolish.
Jesus came to earth to teach us how to live. In that teaching, he lived a full life which ended in the ultimate sacrifice. That's an important key to the way I read holy scriptures. I think something very different goes on in the Gospels and especially during the Triduum than apparently most people think happens. If we look closely at his life, Jesus modeled so many practices that are holy and loving. He fed people; he blessed their lives with presence; he healed; he prayed. Very often, we just don't get it, and if there was atonement on the cross, the atonement was for our stupidity in not seeing how we are supposed to walk this labyrinth we call life.
But Jesus wasn't the only great person who has shown us how to live a sacrificial yet full existence. I have a friend who says, "Jesus was a person and Christ is the process he taught us. The spiritual life is about becoming en-Christed, not re-Jesus'd. We don't even know who Jesus is, but we do know what he taught us about becoming Christ." Jesus didn't have the market cornered on holiness, but he did call all people to be holy. In their own ways, so did Muhammed, Ghandi, Prince Sidhartha, and others.
Just as we can receive nourishment from the food of other cultures, and be entertained by their stories, so can we learn from the wisdom of both east and west--cultures close to our own, and those that seem very foreign. Having an open mind and an open heart can delight the senses and draw us closer to holiness--and to God.
Since that kitchen experience, I've been reminded of how world culture can infuse our own "American" culture making it richer and "tastier." I am a teacher of AP and World Literature, and I revel in the stories of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel. There are stories I also enjoy from India, poetry from China and Japan, and the wonderful tales from the tribes of Africa are often very funny and teach rich lessons about living life to the fullest.
When one studies these cultures, the "spectre" of religion often comes up. I say spectre because in many, many cases, discussion of and thinking about other religions is seen as taboo and dangerous, especially by many Christians. After all, Christianity is called "The Way," and many Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to an eternal afterlife. Does that mean that no Jew will ever be in Yahweh's presence, no matter how devout he or she may have been in life; that no Muslim will ever see Allah, and that certainly no Hindu or Buddhist will ever arrive at his or her own understanding of the state of bliss? Taken to the extreme, it means that reading the poetry of Saadi or Rumi is anathema; that sitting meditation (based on Buddhist thought) or contemplative prayer is a questionable practice, at best, and that exploring archetypes from psychology based on the ancient Greek religion is foolish.
Jesus came to earth to teach us how to live. In that teaching, he lived a full life which ended in the ultimate sacrifice. That's an important key to the way I read holy scriptures. I think something very different goes on in the Gospels and especially during the Triduum than apparently most people think happens. If we look closely at his life, Jesus modeled so many practices that are holy and loving. He fed people; he blessed their lives with presence; he healed; he prayed. Very often, we just don't get it, and if there was atonement on the cross, the atonement was for our stupidity in not seeing how we are supposed to walk this labyrinth we call life.
But Jesus wasn't the only great person who has shown us how to live a sacrificial yet full existence. I have a friend who says, "Jesus was a person and Christ is the process he taught us. The spiritual life is about becoming en-Christed, not re-Jesus'd. We don't even know who Jesus is, but we do know what he taught us about becoming Christ." Jesus didn't have the market cornered on holiness, but he did call all people to be holy. In their own ways, so did Muhammed, Ghandi, Prince Sidhartha, and others.
Just as we can receive nourishment from the food of other cultures, and be entertained by their stories, so can we learn from the wisdom of both east and west--cultures close to our own, and those that seem very foreign. Having an open mind and an open heart can delight the senses and draw us closer to holiness--and to God.
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