yet another silly metaphor

[Guest guest]

Hi Greg and Lynette,

 

I think Greg is pointing to a wonderful way to view things. The

metaphor I use for the role of church in spirituality is this.... When

you are four years old, a very useful commandment is "Thou shalt not

cross the road unless thy hand is firmly placed in thy Mother's" It's a

pretty sensible rule. When you are 24, such a rule is silly. A much

better version of the same thing is "be careful crossing the road so you

don't get hit by a car". At some stage in our development, strict rules

about behavior can be very comforting and we want to share them with

others in similar need of such rules. As we grow, the underlying truths

behind the rules become apparent, and the rules themselves lose their

interest. I believe Scott Peck has written about this. (I forget

which book, but if you like I will hunt for it.)

 

Love, Mark

ps I don't mean to imply that your conversation is just about the

"rules", but I think this a metaphor that is more general than that. At

some point we have expectations about love, and later we extend it even

to those who are stuck in their expectations. (albeit possibly not in

the form that they demand) (So the rule "thou shalt not cross the

street..." derives from the Mother's love for the child, and the

loosening of the rule for the 24 year old derives from that same love,

and the generalization of that love (i.e. the love of the 24 year old

for herself) Does this make sense? I'm still struggling to find the

words to convey something I intuit here about the nature of God and

reality.

 

 

 

 

So follow your heart, go where spirit draws you. You

might find yourself being judged and rejected by people, but you don't

need to close your heart to them

or reject them. You can understand where they're coming

from...

 

With love,

 

--Greg