Beyond Heaven and Earth
Page 50
Entering through an open gate, he stepped into a courtyard, and noticed that the grounds were very well-kept: immaculately clean, with abundant trees, beautiful flowers and plants, and close-cut grass to provide a peaceful and serene setting. The church itself was solidly built from well-weathered bricks, but there were numerous recently refurbished touches that looked very new and modern in style. For example, the fountain in a corner was surrounded by what appeared to be a Zen-style sand garden; there were stained glass windows, but instead of Jesus and Mary, they were of the Chinese yin/yang circle, a Jewish Menorah, a Mandala, as well as a simple Christian cross. Very inclusive, thought Jobran.
He began to notice the people themselves. It seemed as if about two-thirds to three fourths of the congregation was female, with the males mostly appearing part of a married couple. (And in at least one case, a couple he saw walking and holding hands were both males.) As Jana had predicted, they mostly seemed to be nicely and stylishly-dressed, although with fewer three-piece suits and conservative dresses than you saw at a typical church, and many more stonewashed designer jeans and brightly-colored dresses and skirts.
“Jobran! I’m so glad that you made it!”
Jobran turned, and saw a familiar, smiling face: Jana, from the New Millennium bookstore. She waved at him to come join her, where she stood in the shade with two other women. “Hello,” he said, nodding at the three women, as he reached the group.
“Ladies, this is Jobran…umm…” Jana said, trying to recall his last name.
“Winter; Jobran Winter,” he said, extending his hand to the nearest female, an attractive woman (probably in her late twenties) who gently took it, perhaps holding his hand a bit longer than was necessary. (He thought he saw her eyes dart to his left hand—on which of course he still had his wedding ring—momentarily, then turn back to his face.)
“Julia; Julia Foster,” she said, in a pleasantly melodious voice.
“Jobran is the young man I was telling you about,” Jana said to the other two. “The one who is so interested and knowledgeable about life after death, since his wife passed away last year,” Jana said, emphasizing the words “passed away”—presumably for Julia’s benefit, whose eyes immediately perked up, and smile became even more welcoming.
Jobran blushed, embarrassed and even a little angry that Jana would have discussed with strangers matters that he would have preferred to keep private, but he held out his hand to the other woman; she was probably in her early fifties, but looked quite agelessly attractive, and was very nicely-dressed.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jobran,” she said. “I’m Lilith Royale.”
An electronic sound—resembling various types of wind chimes playing simultaneously—sounded clearly, yet not harshly, filling the courtyard.
“Time to be seated,” Jana said. Taking Jobran’s left arm, she said, “Come on, you can sit with us, and we’ll show you the ropes.”
Julia quickly took possession of Jobran’s other arm, leaving Lilith to walk behind them, and they made their way to the entrance to the church.
Upon entering, Jobran noticed a distinctive and pleasing flowery fragrance in the air; there was a young woman sitting at a grand piano playing softly meditative music, with synthesized sounds coming from a young bearded man sitting at a bank of electronic keyboards next to her. The church was very beautiful inside: The walls and high ceilings had all the reassurance that comes from old age, but the carpet, seats, lectern, lights, and sound system were very much modern; in some ways, it resembled a plush movie theater, more than a church.
“This is a beautiful place,” Jobran said.
Jana looked pleased. “We took over this building from an old mainline church that had been here for almost 100 years. Their congregation had diminished in size so much over the years they had had to take out a second mortgage on it, and couldn’t even afford the payments on that. So basically, practically all we had to do was take over the payments. Since the basic structure was already here, that left us plenty of funds to fix the place up as we like; and fortunately, our congregation is growing steadily.” Casting an appreciative glance at the church around her, she added, “We like to think that we’re an ideal blend of new and old; of venerable tradition, converging with the New Millennium.”
“Good morning,” said a tall woman with stylishly-short hair in a business suit from the lectern, in a powerful voice. According to the program, she was Reverend. Lyssa Fontaine, who along with her husband Bartholemew were copastors of the church.
“Good morning,” answered the congregation.
“And a very beautiful morning it is,” she added, with a radiant smile. There were murmurs of acknowledgment and a few scattered handclaps from the audience. “Of course, I think that every morning is blissful and beautiful; that’s why they call me, ‘Blissa Lyssa,’ I suppose,” and the congregation gave a friendly laugh, as she continued, “Thank you so much for sharing your presence with us today. We’re going to open the service with a meditation from Orinda,” and she stepped aside to allow a young black woman to take her place. Jobran heard a recording of what sounded like a bubbling brook, playing softly in the background, as the young woman read the following:
“God, we know you are the All In All;
You are the One in the Many, in whom the Many are One;
You are the Infinite, the All-Encompassing;
The one true Presence, the one genuine Reality; We can feel your Spirit within us today;
In our souls, in our minds, and in our own Spirits;
We can feel your Spirit within us today;
In the spirit shared within this joyous congregation;
We can feel your Spirit within us today;
In the living manifestations of your beauty, that are all around us;
We can feel your Spirit within us today;
In the unfolding of our sacred consciousness.”
Then, addressing the congregation, she asked, “Please repeat the affirmation with me: ‘We feel your Spirit.’” Then, turning back to her text, she read, “In the glorious rising of the sun…”
“We feel your Spirit,” the congregation responded.
“In the life manifested by singing birds…” she led…
“We feel your Spirit.”
“In the fragrance of a lovely flower…”
“We feel your Spirit.”
“In the gentle flowing of a breeze…”
“We feel your Spirit.”
“In the glorious uplift of sacred music…”
“We feel your Spirit.”
Then, her voice rising with emotion, she said, “From the smallest atom to the largest galaxy; from the deepest ocean to the highest mountain; from the beauty without to the beauty within; in all of these things…”
“We feel your Spirit!” the congregation thundered, followed by general applause.
At this point, the choir (about 40 voices, with a surprising balance between males and females) sang a song, that actually began like an Eastern sitar piece (although the sitar sounds were coming from the bearded man at the synthesizer keyboards). The choir leader sang one line, which the choir repeated, and this pattern continued, the tempo gradually growing faster and faster. Several musicians began to join in on eastern-style drums, until with a frenzy, the piece suddenly ended at a very fast tempo. It was very emotionally stirring, and gave an “Eastern” flavor to the service, nicely counterbalancing the “traditionalism” of the church setting.
Lyssa’s husband Bartholomew then came forward for the “Announcements and Congregational Business.” These formed a rather dry and plebeian contrast to the “otherworldly” spiritual atmosphere that head been cultivated up to that point, and frankly sounded about the same as similar announcements in other churches: committee meetings, special programs upcoming, stewardship pled
ge forms needed to be turned in, the first benefit dinner for the new choir robes was next week, and so on.
Next, the congregation sang a song (the words were printed in the program, rather than from a traditional hymnal). Jobran was unfamiliar with either the words or the tune, but it seemed to be in rather a traditional (and somewhat boring) “hymnic” style, with metaphysically-oriented words about Father-Mother God, the Divine Spirit within, and manifesting the Christ in our own lives.
Next, a teenaged girl read a poem by James Dillet Freeman, “who was transitioned in 2003.” (“Transitioned” meaning “dead,” Jobran presumed.)
Next, an older man read a humorous story of a Hasidic Jewish rabbi attempting to give a lesson to some unusually hard-headed students, which brought waves of laughter from the congregation at the punchline. (Too bad Abraham isn’t here, Jobran thought ruefully. He would have appreciated that one.)
Reverend Lyssa returned briefly, to introduce a beautiful young blond-haired woman. “Miyara has just finished sending off a demo tape of this song to an interested record company, but this the first time that she’s performed it in front of a large group!” she said enthusiastically.
Stroking the long blond hair from her eyes, the soloist waited for her background tape to begin. The tape began, in a soft-rock style, with a curious dissonance in the trumpets, which was exciting rather than unpleasant. The song was a pop-sounding song (which sounded like it could have been from a movie soundtrack) entitled, “Teach the Sky,” whose lyrics were printed in the program as follows:
Parents, teach your children,
Tell the children of our world’s joy,
Children, teach your parents,
The beauty here for every girl and boy.
The seasons are our hymnal,
The heavens are our choir,
The Earth itself will be our sacred text,
Teach the sky!
Teach them of the rain that fills the oceans,
Teach them of the sun that guides the day,
Teach them of the hills that ring the valleys,
Teach them of the moon that lights our way,
The seasons are our hymnal,
The heavens are our choir,
The Earth itself will be our sacred text,
Teach the sky!
Though life may have its heartaches,
And clouds may dark the day.
But this world; our lovely Mother Earth;
Leaves a message for us all to read,
That this world, as beautiful as God,
Can be all the Heaven we ever need;
Teach the sky!
Teach us of the spirit of the forest,
Teach us of the mighty ocean’s birth,
Teach us with the blooming lotus flower,
And we will teach the Goodness of the Earth.
The seasons are our hymnal,
The heavens are our choir,
The Earth itself will be our sacred text,
Teach the sky!
In our minds and hearts, we’ll always
Teach the sky!
Yes, teach the Sun,
Teach the Earth,
Teach the wind,
Teach the rain,
Teach the sky!
There was a great deal of enthusiastic applause after this song from the congregation, who gave the singer a well-deserved standing ovation.
After the crowd returned to sitting down after the music, it was time for the “message” (I guess they don’t call them “sermons” in these kinds of churches, Jobran thought), so Reverend Lyssa returned to introduce the speaker: Dr. Michael Essene Naibaum, who she said had a doctorate degree in psychology, but was presently engaged in research about transpersonal consciousness at some unnamed “think tank” back east. Motioning for him to come forward from where he was sitting in the front row, the congregation clapped warmly.
Dr. Naibaum strode up to the lectern confidently. He wore an expensive suit and was impeccably groomed, with a lightly-graying beard and full head of wavy hair. He reached for a Bible that was sitting next to the lectern, and opened it with familiarity. Quickly finding his place, he read, “In the fourteenth chapter of the book of Job, the question was asked, ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’” He then closed the Bible, returning it to its normal place, then smiled and said, “Of course, these days, we would also want to know the answer to that question with respect to women,” and received a good-natured laugh, and scattered handclaps, before he finished with the punchline, “I can think of quite a few men that I’d just as soon didn’t live again,” which generated a hearty round of laughter and general applause. “But that’s a problem you encounter with the Bible; it was written within a particular cultural context, and outside of that cultural context, it may be misunderstood. For example, in First Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 9, the Apostle Paul said that the woman was created for the man, and not the man for the woman; but scientists nowadays believe that life was not created but rather evolved, and that the original gender was female. In the same chapter, Paul also said that it was a ‘shame unto him’ if a man had long hair.” Dr. Naibaum shaded his eyes, and pretended to be scanning the congregation for men with long hair, then said, “I suppose that Paul had never seen any of those Hollywood Biblical epics of the 1950s, all of which portray Jesus with long hair,” and the congregation laughed. “Paul also said that it was a shame for a woman to pray to God with her hair uncovered, and that her long hair was given her as a ‘covering.’ So I presume that Paul would not approve of the many beautiful women with lovely short hair styles—including Reverend Lyssa—that we have among us this morning,” and he waved his hand to indicate the entire congregation, adding, “But I presume that Paul would be in favor of women who wear extensions,” and this drew a roar of laughter from the congregation. “And as far as what the Apostle would say about a woman who’s gotten herself a weave…Lord only knows…” and the congregation roared again, even louder. After waiting for the laughter to die down, he said in a more serious tone, “Anyway, we need to be very aware when we read the Bible—to separate out that which is culturally-conditioned, and temporal—so that we don’t miss the part that is wonderfully spiritual, and eternal.”
Referring to some notes he had, Dr. Naibaum said, “It used to be widely reported that ‘We humans only use 10% of our brain.’ Any of you ever heard that?” He paused and looked at the audience, quite a few of which had raised their hands. “Well, it turns out that this statement is incorrect. The fact is that the scientists making this pronouncement only understood 10% of what our brain was doing—so they assumed that whatever parts of the brain they didn’t understand, didn’t do anything. Now I ask you, is that a scientific attitude?” There were shaking heads and murmurs of agreement from the congregation. He then read a series of quotations from famous scientists specializing in brain research, where they admitted how little they really knew about the functioning of the human brain. He then related to the congregation, “Einstein once asked a group of scientists—apparently mostly atheistic—how much they thought they knew of the total possible knowledge about the universe. They estimated that they knew maybe 5% of the total. Einstein then asked them, ‘Isn’t it possible that God exists somewhere in that 95%?”
Putting aside his notes, he gripped the sides of the lectern and said, “But what about Job’s question: ‘If we die, shall we live again?’ In the context of the Old Testament, Job was probably wondering if there would be a resurrection of the dead to life, which is the traditional Jewish teaching that was carried over into the Christian church. Sure, there are some Christian sects such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses that teach that after death we pass into a state of unconsciousness, until and unless we are physically resurrected from the dead. But is this the concepti
on that we should have?” He shrugged his shoulders for emphasis, then said, “What about people who have lost body parts in explosions, or through amputation? And what about people who were completely incinerated in the gas ovens of Auschwitz? What about people that were consumed by cannibals? Is the real ‘hope’ for all of these people that God will somehow resuscitate their minds, reconstruct their bodies, and restore their souls to a vital life?”
He continued, “You may have heard about the ‘New Quest for the Historical Jesus,’ often called ‘The Jesus Seminar’ in the mass media. These biblical scholars are trying to uncover the actual words that Jesus spoke, and the actual deeds that he performed while here on earth. But is that really the ‘hope’ for those of us who consider ourselves to be following the example of Jesus?” He paused after his own rhetorical question, then added, “My friends, it’s a big universe out there! Not only is our sun not the center of the universe, but it isn’t even a very big or important star; our Milky Way galaxy is not in any way ‘superior’ to other galaxies.” He paused, then said in a lower tone, as if speaking one-on-one with a member of the congregation, “Now, when I get some fundamentalist who’s in my face and screaming, ‘Show me where in the New Testament Jesus said what you’re teaching!’—I get a lot of these types, when I lecture at colleges and universities—I don’t argue with them; I just say this: ‘You’re focusing too much on Jesus of Nazareth,’ I tell them, ‘Whereas I am following the Cosmic Christ. I’m afraid that your Christ is too small for me!” and this brought up scattered applause.
Pausing before he continued, he said, “For most of us in our culture, Jesus is our prime example—and he is. He has truly been called ‘the Great Metaphysician,’ and Jesus illustrated his true nature—and thus ours—by his resurrection. Many people, including sincere Christians, misunderstand the nature of the resurrection—they think that its significance is that a man was unjustly crucified, was buried, then was physically resuscitated and raised from the grave in a physical body, leaving behind an empty tomb and some confused Roman soldiers. But what’s so important about that? People are unjustly killed every day. Even supposing that Jesus was physically resurrected from the grave—and the many contradictions in the biblical narratives themselves make this doubtful— and on the 40th day his physical body went flying up into the air until it disappeared from sight as the Book of Acts says, how is this relevant to us? Have you ever heard of anybody else being physically resurrected, and flying up into the heavens? Did this happen to Paul, or Peter? No! To think in this way is to miss the whole point of the resurrection story. We must go beyond the ‘quest for the historical Jesus,’ to discover the deeper meaning of his words and deeds.”