so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost,
but may have eternal life.
. . .
and eternal life is this:
to know you, the only true god,
and jesus christ whom you have sent.'
(the holy gospel according to john, 3:16, 17:3)
i will not be looking for common threads in all religions in this blog. i think that to do so, despite the popularity of such searches in the writing of people such as, for instance, karen armstrong, belittles all the religions involved. it is a sort of replay of the last temptation of chirst, that all women are the same. the wonders of individuals, either of women, or of men, or of religions, is in their differences. to reduce them to their lowest common denominator is to reduce them to absurdity. it is in their differences that one finds their richness.
at the same time, i am assuming that the desire, the most profound end, telos, of all religions is found in jesus christ, who has been sent by the father. i realize this is a position somewhat unpopular today with many who consider themselves christians, because they find other religions somehow not just lacking or incomplete but evil, and from many who do not consider themselves christians because it assumes that christ is necessary for their religions.
to my christian brothers and sisters i offer no apologies. i merely suggest that they consider what they might learn about the one lord of us all from what others expect of him.
to my non-christian brothers and sisters i offer this apology: if you do not find that jesus christ is indeed at the center of the desire of your belief, then please excuse my looking at your belief as a way of understanding the one i consider the center of that desire. i do not expect to understand all of the complexities and subtleties of all beliefs; i only seek to see how they at least begin to enlighten my own belief.
and so, with thanks to robert lentz for his icon of the celtic christ as lord of the dance, foretold by cerunnos, i am bravely starting my search.
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