Friday, January 3, 2014

Spiritual multilingual

When talking about spiritual matters, I realize I speak a different language from the majority of my friends and family.  And speaking a different language is really the best way I can think to describe it.  It's like I'm spiritually multilingual.  Christianity is my native spiritual language and the one I know best.  I've read the Bible in various English translations many times and studied it with Methodists, Church of God, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals and even Jehovah Witnesses.  They all talk a variation of spiritual Christian language.  I've studied the history of the Bible and how/why it was edited and translated.  I've loved learning about the context of the times of the Bible and various stages of the church.
There came a time that it seemed the main Christian spiritual language was so focused on hell fire and condemnation that I felt I needed to step away.  It sounded like hearing the English language spoken by a bunch of drunken cursing sailors.  It sounded crass and sure wasn't my mother's Christian spiritual language or the language of the church I knew as a little girl.
As I traveled and met many people from many places I heard other spiritual languages that spoke more of the truths I believed in my early life.  I learned other spiritual languages and they are filled with great beauty.  At the core of all of them are similar teachings and values.  They all speak of a greater power with which we can commune with discipline, love and awe.
Knowing this, how can I look at these people speaking other spiritual languages and say they are not chosen by God?  How can I condemn them?  To me, condemnation is the same as cursing them.
How can any of us believe we have exclusive rights to God?  I cannot see it that way any more and it's the one part of the Christian spiritual language I can't embrace.
I'm happy to be re-discovering the true beauty of Christian spiritual language through some very beautiful people in my life.  They are not focused on condemnation but rather the love that Jesus taught.  I can fully embrace that!

3 comments:

  1. Very well said. I cannot believe God is a punishing God nor an exclusive one. He can only be unconditional love.

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  2. I have always felt this way. I feel God is a kind and loving God and wants us to love and uplift each other. He wants us to respect our differences/individualality and to learn from each other and to help each other.

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