We (Catholics and others in different ways) have a tendency to lock the Universal Christ up in a tabernacle, and treat it with acts of sheer praise and honour bowing and kneeling as though nothing is or could ever be more holy, while at the same time we can refuse to do the same with each other, with those we victimise, with those we believe unworthy, with the Earth that sustains us, with the cosmos from which we have been formed from, from the Christ who has breathed life into everything from the beginning of time AND in whom we ALL RESIDE. Isn’t this distorted belief true for most of us in one way or another?
Why is it that for so many of us we seem to believe that the Universal Christ only came into being when Jesus came into being, or when we believe that God SENT DOWN Jesus to wipe away our sins. A shocking distortion. We seem to believe that the Universal Christ and Jesus are exactly the same. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Jesus came to know that he was immersed within the Christ (that already was from the beginning of time) and Jesus reveals to us that we too are immersed within the Universal Christ, but as yet we have not come to that understanding – our eyes and Hearts are not yet open. We are IN and OF THE CHRIST NOW.
When we open into this understanding, it will raise many questions for us. And we must dare to question and not run away from the questions rising within us if we are to grow in Love. We still live in a time where diversity isn’t really tolerated – each little group holding to the belief that they (we) have the truth. And yet the Universal Christ cuts right across every religion and every denomination. Love is the very Essence of Life and NOBODY has a monopoly on Love. But we can still rigidly stick to our games of separation and division. ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS HELD IN LOVE, THROUGH LOVE AND WITH LOVE IN THIS UNIVERSAL CHRIST. Yet we have such a great tendency to make everything small and to make it largely within our own image and imaginings. We have forgotten who we are.
The diversity of religions, religious and ritualistic practices is to be honoured not condemned. Whatever name we place upon our belief structures, it is the UNIVERSAL CHRIST that is at the Heart of everything. Why are we so slow to come to this? Why is it so difficult for us to believe this? The Whole Cosmos is the Tabernacle of the Christ and we reside within it regardless of what religion we belong to or even if we have no religious belief at all. “Wake up My People…” Can we hear the Universal Christ calling out to ALL OF US….. ?
I am just home from a few days’ r and r on a farm outside of Robe. It was a beautiful immersion into nature. I sat in a bay window of an old barn built in the 1850’s and watched the bees flit from one lavender flower to another on the other side of the glass. I pondered what the history of this beautiful rustic old building might have been. I watched the soldier beetles just resting within the lavender and wondered how they had evolved to become what they are today. I watched the sun rise and set with glorious splendour. I delightfully awakened in the night to see the moon smiling down at me through the sky light. I watched the little blue wrens busily about their business. I watched the fierce winds howling through the trees and swaying them to their extremes as we sat comfortably inside. I saw a lovingly cared for little vegetable garden with an array of growing foods, some ready to eat. I pondered the magnificent passionfruit flowers and their complexity. I delighted in hearing the cows and sheep in the distance. I felt such gratitude to have a cup of herbal tea placed quietly beside me (by my husband Ray) as I restfully read the books that I brought with me. We marvelled at the blueness of the ocean at Robe and the story goes on and on. We felt the sadness of watching the smoke roll in across the western sky from hundreds of kilometres away from the fires on York Peninsula and we remembered the shocking fires that have been burning along the east coast and all the heartbreak they have caused. ALL OF IT RESIDING WITHIN THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST. ALL OF IT PART OF THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST.
Within the Universal Christ we have the Creator, the Created and the Creating. It is the Eternal cycle of Life and Love – it is forever birthing and forever expanding, forever giving…. It is sheer Mystery and yet we have tried to capture it, we have tried to theologise it to suit our own purposes or tribe, we have tried to make it our own at the exclusion of others. When we realise it cannot be captured, it cannot be individualised, it cannot be captured with explanations of supposed proofs and belief systems and it cannot be excluded from anyone or anything, then perhaps we are coming close to realising WE ARE ALL RESIDING WITHIN THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST. The Universal Christ within each of us longs for this realisation.
©Annemarie Reiner