"Jesus is the Answer" proclaimed the notice outside the church. Someone had written underneath, "The question is: 'What do you say when you hit your thumb with a hammer?'"
"They crossed the wood and hanged him, long time ago. They still misunderstand him..." Cat Stevens
"Unnoticed, the money-box loudly endorses the shame,
as the world that Christ fought is supported by using his name." Roy HarperSo, when was the last time you had a browse through the gospels? We have wonderful old annotated King James Bible that we picked up in a junk shop for a few pennies, decades ago. When I finally got round to reading it, I was drawn into the life of this man whose works led him gradually towards the ignominy of crucifixion. I was left wondering "What next?" as each of the four accounts of his life seemed to be just cut off immediately after the Resurrection.
Coming from no big-deal Christian tradition, having never been inculcated into believing that 'acts of faith' were necessary, I read the Bible straight. Jesus was alive, as we know it, a few days after his ordeal on the cross. He was obliged to leave the country shortly afterwards, understandably enough, but I was left feeling frustrated that these accounts of his life had been so obviously tampered with by early editors! Well, I've read a few books since then, especially a wonderful translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls called Jesus, The Man by Australian writer, Barbara Thiering, She filled in many of the missing bits in Jesus' life for me and confirmed that the story did not actually end there, but went on to tell of his later exploits.
So, why is it so important to so many Christians to stay with the myth of death on the cross and Resurrection in a purely spiritual sense? Sure, in the early days, his followers were probably obliged to go along with the story, but after his actual death, what difference would it have made to tell the Truth?
Shall we put aside the gentle Jesus we were expected to blindly worship, and have a look for the real man behind the propaganda? Peeling back the layers of deceit and finding the kernel of honesty, I see a man born into troubled times. Conceived too early, before his parents had completed the second part of their betrothal ceremony, he was known in his own lifetime as 'the Bastard' by those who chose to see his younger brother, James, as the messiah they were waiting for. Tracing their lineage through their father Joseph, who was directly descended from King David, the Essenes of the time were about to celebrate their own 'millennium.' Herod was not unaware of all this, so the slaughter of the baby boys would have probably taken place even without the intervention of the Wise Men.
Where did he grow up? He is called 'the Nazarene' in the Gospels, though the village of Nazareth did not exist during his lifetime. The Nazarenes were a religious group which Jesus presumably belonged to. Many of the practises and teachings with which he started his ministry owe much to the influence of Buddha.
Was Jesus a Buddhist? Was Buddha a Pagan? What did they both teach? That we don't need Churches to reach our god-head. That we certainly don't need the intervention of priests: "Pray not as the Heathens pray, with vain words and repetitions," Jesus implored his listeners at his first real gathering. Then he gave them a prayer he might use himself as a way of centering on the Energy.
The so-called 'Lord's Prayer'. But, somewhere along the line, it got misinterpreted and became the vehicle for more vain words and repetitions than possibly any other piece of doggerel of comparable length.
And yet, despite all, his life continues to shine through as an example of how we can all better make a worthwhile use of our short time here on this plane. He tried to tell the people of his time that Moses' Ten Commandments were up for revision. The only Real Commandment, he said, was 'Love your neighbour.'
Is even this concise little sound-bite too much for humanity to grasp? Can it really be that simple? Yes, it can! Stop War. Stop bickering. Stop hating. Love your neighbour. It's really the answer to everything, isn't it?
If we could have taken up on this simplest advice two thousand years ago, the world would be a very different place today. But the priests and elders in Jesus' time didn't want this kind of undermining of their self-importance, and so he had to be stopped. His message, already out in the world from his three years of teaching, had to be driven underground, discredited, alongwith the man himself.
Paul's 'Road to Damascus Revelation' was probably along the lines of "Hey, I could reinvent the message and put across a more acceptable version!" Paul's various letters formed the basis for the Christian Church as we know it. But surely even he could never have envisaged the in-fighting that would occur. Try explaining the situation in Northern Ireland to someone from Jesus' time. Or try explaining it to me!
In the words of 'Saint' Michael, who manages to say in a few short lines all that I could hope to put across:
"I can't say that I love Jesus, that would be hollow claim.He did make some observations. Can I quote him then today?
'Judge not lest ye be judged,' what a beautiful refrain.
The studio audience disagrees.
Have his lambs all gone astray?"
Later in the song he suffers further indignity:
"When I tried to tell my story, they cut me off to take a break,I sat silent, five commercials..
I had nothing left to say."
('Test Card Leper', from New Adventures in Hi-Fi. REM)
No-one is listening. Guess they never did.
So, what am I doing Defending Jesus?
I have lived for over thirty years on the fringes of society, walking that tightrope that has somehow managed to keep me just outside the reaches of the Long Arm of the Law.
"I don't need your heaven,I don't need religion,
I am in the place where I should be..."
Paganism. Surely it's the default setting? We're all Born Pagan, we have to learn the other religions. Without actual Instruction, we would all see ourselves as a part of this wonderful world, naturally connected to the good earth and as-one under the infinite bowl of the sky.
Seems like there were power-hungry priests around from the Beginning though. How far back can we trace Religion? Control. Power-Over.
He wasn't the first, and there have probably been a few since him, but Jesus only wanted people to break out of the yokes imposed by the Church and make the most of their short lives. To seek the godhead within themselves, and just stop the bloody wars!
Too much to expect then, or now, it seems.
We were Travellers. And let me tell you, the Good Samaritans were few and far between. We met people who helped us along our way. People who, though they saw us as different, never-the-less went out of their way to share what they had with us. In our times of adversity and hardship there were people who extended the hand of friendship. Not all of them would have called themselves Christians.
It's easy to remember the bad times. When we humbled ourselves in our poverty to beg charity from the Religious Organisations. Only to be turned away empty handed by the supercilious, and self-righteous, the Saved.
So, no, I don't generally call myself a Christian. It's open to too much mis-interpretation. My relationship with Jesus is a personal thing. I respect him for the changes he tried to make in his own lifetime. If I thought it were still possible to implement those changes, then I would gladly take up the Banner in His Name. But I'm much too cynical for that sort of crusade.
And no, I'm not a Follower. Not even of Jesus. If the man himself walked in here now, he'd receive the same welcome as any one else who comes to our door. Come in! What would you like to drink? You'll stay and eat with us? A bed for the night? Tomorrow.. will you stay and work with us?
So much still-to-do.
Jesus, in Two Thousand years, your work has not-even begun.
and I click the link at the end of Del's Jesus story to find myself
here...
I think the page is well considered and well written. It ends with the author telling Jesus that in two thousand years his work has not even begun. I am not so sure I agree. True enough, that in all that time the work is far from finished, and perhaps even farther now than in Jesus own time as the task has gotten more complicated in that time, but I see that it has indeed been started. I see that it is no longer recognized as Jesus work. I see that many have been able to do his work by distancing themselves from him... they call themselves anything but "christian" and it is good because it sometimes allows his message to be heard away from the deafening roar of history associated with his following which might otherise drown out the truth buried within. What matters the form that delivers the message, internet or papyrus, and the name of the bearer, rainbow warrior or witch... as long as the content remains the same?
Do you truly doubt that the work has begun? After wandering about "the hag's bed" website for the last hour, your statement strikes me as ironically amusing... as YOU are one among many who is doing that work
in this time. I thank you.
Blessings of Love & Light to you,
Val
>Dear Del,
>Thank you for saying something which desperately needed to be said. A few years ago I began my search for the truth, and discovered exactly what you have so eloquently described....... that the Christian church is a church designed to serve men, not the Gods.
>http://www.peg.apc.org/~nexus/holygrail3.html
>Above is the address of a website which may be of interest to you. It is an extract from Sir Laurence Gardner's book,
Bloodline of the Holy Grail.
It is well worth a read.
>Hope to see you for the Gathering!
>Blessed be,
>Freyja.
Always glad to continue this debate about one of my favourite men!