Beyond the Third Mansion: Don't blame Oprah

            When I heard a Christian speaker refer to the Oprah-brand of Christianity, I didn’t have to wait for the explanation. I already knew what he meant.  He was talking about the wave of eastern mysticism washing over our bookshelves. He was talking about Buddhism, Taoism and an it’s-all-good teaching that says, if you like Christianity, that’s fine, too.

            Don’t blame Oprah Winfrey for giving people what they’re craving. Her book club selection, “A New Earth,” by Eckart Tolle, sold nearly five million copies. Oprah XM (radio) carried Marianne Williamson teaching “A Course in Miracles,” by Dr. Helen Schucman, a book that has sold over a million copies. Books by her friend and guest, Wayne Dyer, have sold in the millions.

            These writers and speakers met people where their craving lies. We tell ourselves God meets us where we are, but when I turn to Christian media, I hear the same message over and over, writing and speaking geared at the most basic of Christian teachings.

            St. Teresa of Avila wrote of the mansions in God’s castle. In the first house is humility, the place where forgiveness first takes root. By the third house, the soul has glimpsed real communion with God. By the fourth house, or mansion, God begins to flow freely, and intense, spiritually-guided prayer becomes routine. In the center, the interior castle, resides a place of complete union with God.

            These eastern-bent authors and speakers are meeting people in the third and fourth mansion and beyond, while Christian communicators are often still in the first or second house. We might argue it’s foundational and people aren’t getting it, but the masses tell us different. Millions of people are telling us they’re looking for that deeper walk.

            This is a call to action to my fellow writers. If we believe God meets us where we are, then let’s do no less as writers. Let’s meet people where they are. Let’s take our writing into the third and fourth house and beyond.

            If you haven’t read “The Interior Castle,” I encourage you to. But be fairly warned. What you’ll find in our community of Christian teachers is there are some preaching from the first mansion, because that’s all they know.  We’re only capable of teaching at our own level and below. We might recognize a higher level, but can’t teach it until we’ve reached it.

            Christianity is alive and vibrant, a beautiful truth filled with hope, joy and a deeper path than many imagine, a path many now think exists only in other religions. As writers, let’s take the deeper walk to our friends and neighbors. Let’s answer the craving and fill the need for teachings on the deeper spiritual path they’re seeking, and let’s do it from the Christian viewpoint.

The Trinity Twist

A month before a tiny Kentucky church voted to ban interracial couples, Christian scholars warned that a growing twist on the holy trinity would lead to sexism and racism.

The pastor of the church reversed the voted-in policy when the news swept like wildfire across the national media. Not to be harsh, but that is what it took. If I read it right, it appears there was some bullying going on, some hard-headed church members who bullied the rest into submission and rammed a vote through. What’s disturbing is that they felt empowered to go public with their racism.

Before that, on November 7, 2011, bible scholars published “The Trinity Statement,” which sounded way too weighty for me. But I’m always intrigued by subtle twists on Christ’s real message for us, because we are loaded with them. The Trinity Statement was penned by Dr. William David Spencer, editor of Priscilla Papers, a journal focusing on biblical equality (the heck you say!). “The Trinity Statement” has this radical premise, that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. Not so radical, you say? A growing trend distorts that basic building block of our faith. This trend says that God is the king and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God.

The first time I heard it a few years ago, I did a mental head wobble and dismissed it as not worth arguing over. But Dr. Spencer and a list of other bible scholars warned that the twist leads to sexism and racism.

I got notice of the statement from the Evangelical Press Association via email. What it comes down to is this:

A hierarchy in the Trinity leads to hierarchy among human beings. If the Trinity contains ranks, humans must also display a ranking as they reflect the image of God. As Spencer says, this teaching has been used to argue that "some gender (usually the female) is ranked below the other (usually the male) and some "races" may be ranked below other "races." This conclusion not only undermines monotheism but also the equality of humanity as created in God's image."

If you think this trend is dangerous, there’s a place to sign “The Trinity Statement” at www.trinitystatement.com. Think about it.

Blessings on you all,

Jennie

Stay A while

This contest brought an amazing caliber of entries. Seriously. The stack of entries considered to the very end was a couple of inches thick and carried from one room to another, to a restaurant to be discussed over dinner, some even sent to a back-up judge for an opinion. Some were off-the-hook creative. Some were so inspired. We were honored by the writing and thought that went into these. More than a few non-winners brought tears or peace or made us smile.


Ironically, I’ve sworn off contests. At that same time we ran this contest, I entered another contest and didn’t win. In the past, my responses to not winning ranged from anger (Oh, my gosh, my entry was much better!) to disappointment (I’m giving up. Who am I kidding? I can’t write!) to inspired (Wow, I can see why they won. That was good.). But this contest I was in finally made me realize something. For me, contests are a distraction from actually writing. I focus so much on what they want that I lose my focus on what I’m supposed to be writing. The creative flow is blocked. If I’m disappointed, I give up writing for at least three days while I nurse my wounds. Since writing is like breathing for me, that’s a long time. It’s even harder on Ron ---husband, co-publisher and co-editor--- because apparently, I sulk.

This year has two projects: The Jesus Climate (my book in-progress) and an Echoes of The Right to God book ---your stories. We hope you’ll consider submitting for the Echoes of The Right to God print compilation planned for this year. We’re open for essays mostly, but will consider appropriate short fiction and poetry. We’re looking for works that reflect our original purpose. Echoes online journal has expanded to include many sides of God in our lives.

But The Right to God is about seeing relationship with God in a new light, and that’s what we’re looking for. At the risk of being rebuffed, we’re going to pull out some previous non-winning entries that hinted there was more to the spiritual side than the story told.

If you’re interested in what we won’t consider, here are a just a few points.
• Anti-Christian works. I mean, really? We’re open to a range of backgrounds, but nearly every contest draws some anti-Christian writing, which surprises me. The first person to tell us they loved The Right to God was actually Muslim ---he borrowed his Christian wife’s copy before she had a chance to crack it open. We love that. We’re bridge-builders and ask the same in return.
• Works that use foul language. We’re not being prissy. We want an online magazine that anyone can read and enjoy. Can you find another way to say it?
• Works that have nothing to do with God. It can be brilliantly written and a fantastic concept, but works written around God go to a deeper level and the sense of God infuses it.

Diana Santelli wrote a blog about how writers are hard on each other and can fall into resenting each other instead of supporting each other. A friend of mine has an art gallery. His artist friends rave about his work and support him every step. They seem to recognize that different doesn’t imply better or less. It’s just his time. Perhaps tomorrow is your time.

So, will you stay a while and read the rest of Echoes of The Right to God online? Will you consider submitting for the Echoes book? We hope so. We love our readers. We love our writers. We love God and hope this work helps people come closer.

Blessings on your writing,
Jennie

Link to Diana’s blog: http://www.writerabroad.com/2010/07/jealousy-and-writing.html