Nobody ever gets to the place they’re going by continually looking backwards. Even in a church service.
Back in the days before there were cars, people who built roads which connected the various communities always laid out the road in a winding fashion rather than in a straight line. Today this seem rather ridiculous with our wide swathes of freeways stretching into the horizon and the knowledge that the shortest distance between two points is in a straight line. However, back then, when the propulsion of a wagon was by horse, mule, or oxen a straight path was a invitation for the animal to fall asleep “at the wheel” so to speak. A long windy road kept the animal alert to dangers which might be lurking around the corner.
Our lives are not lived out in a linear manner. Rarely do we ever get from point A to point B without going through point X first. Despite all of our planning and efforts to make the journey go quickly and smoothly, the path through life resembles more of a plate of cooked spaghetti rather than dry pasta right out of the box.
What am I trying to get at here? Life is not the destination: it is the journey; or more succinctly, where you are right this moment in the journey.
When you go on a road trip these days, often people stop at rest areas, which kind of a funny name for a place where human waste is deposited, and resting is often prohibited during certain hours of the day. Stopping at one of these locations, beside relieving the bladder from too much drinking and stretching cramped muscles, gives most an opportunity to notice the countryside which has been whizzing by them. There might be a breeze which isn’t conditioned by a manufacturer somewhere else; there are often smells which no car freshener dangling from a rear-view mirror can replicate; there is also a community of travelers, who share some part of the journey which is unfolding before you. Everyone knows their destination and recognizes how this stop is merely a temporary pause and not where they intend to be planted at the end of the day. In some ways, it is a resting place from where you’ve been to where you’re going, and yet, most fail to rest in the moment.
Most western religious experiences today are what the title of this post claims: rear-view mirror drives home. Yes, this claim is a paradox; how can one move forward when looking at the past? You can’t, obviously. This doesn’t stop leaders from their agenda of reminding you just how unjust you are and the compelling need for you to seek forgiveness for your past so you’ll be able to experience the rewards of God’s heavenly mercy in the future.
Church should be a rest area on your spiritual journey. You should be able to relieve your bladder from the propaganda Kool-Aid you’ve consumed throughout the week; stretch your spiritual muscles which have been cramped into the bucket seat of a world agenda hooked on crack; even reestablish the vision of a divine purpose and experience the breath from the rarified air of divine worship in a community of oneness with other travelers.
Paul recognized the propensity of humanity to devolve into the realm of the “would a, could a, should a” mindset when traveling on the path. He instructed the people in Philippi to think on the good things which lay about you and are off in the distance. Keep your target in mind – not how far short you are from it.
I was recently asked what I saw as the biggest failure the western church has committed against its congregants. While I recognize how there are many issues which could have been mentioned, I recognize whatever transgressions have been made, they only came because the perception of what the institution of church is supposed to be has been replaced by an authoritarian model designed by the will of man to keep people suppressed from the revelation of their true divine nature. If leaders across the expanse of western church began to focus solely on the meaning of the teaching Jesus gave about being one with the Father, it would turn the gaze from the rear-view mirror towards the destination of all humanity.
I have been writing about the grace message on this platform for at least the past eight years. I have been attempting to unfold this message in a number of ways in order to adjust your perceptions about your true divine nature, not what you have been force-fed from the pulpit of one whose purpose is to control you. Some have caught the vision I have been trying to uncover while others are still looking at their rear-view mirror trying to make a journey with no clue of what it looks like right in front of their nose.
The following are some of the writings I have made over the years to help in our journey. Take a moment to rest and read what the territory is like. May they be a reminder of where you’ve come from as well as fuel for what lays ahead. We’re all in this together and the last thing we need is a compass which only points south.
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