Almost Paradise
Rev. Christina M. Neilson
November 2nd, 2008
The earth still possesses the power of
paradise. In the early Christian time,
paradise was understood as theosis- being in community. The church is an imperfect embodiment of
paradise, but it presented an alternative to Rome. Rome represented emperor worship, and even
though they risked public execution as Christians, they still chose to come
together in community. They worked
together to sustain life for all. They
still had to deal with sin, temptation, and imperfection, but the struggle was
for the good of the whole, not the few.
Their search was for love, beauty and joy. Their hero, Jesus, was alive- the good
shepherd, the healer, the prophet, the advocate. His death was tragic, but his resurrection
assured people that death could be conquered.
Paradise was found in his example of
living. He confronted powers and the
abuses of government. He turned the
tables of the moneychangers in the temple, and fed thousands of people with a
few loaves of bread and fishes. He
healed the sick, he loved the downtrodden.
He treated all with worth and value.
He brought people who never interacted together at the table. His message was powerful and poetic, and
spoke to their hearts and minds. He was
beloved. Even after his death, his
presence was alive in their communities.
This is the vision that the transcendentalists
sought when they created Brook Farm. It
was their theology of community, sustainability and retreat. It had the best prep schools for their
children. Harvard grads sought
opportunities to teach there. Children raised in the school were pretty much
guaranteed an Ivy League education. All
members contributed to the intellectual and spiritual community. They worked side by side; they all received
equal pay, no matter the job or their gender.
People flocked to this utopia, expanding their building rapidly. Why then, did it fail?
We’ll get to that. First let me explain the evolution of
paradise in the church, and why Unitarians sought to create paradise on earth.
The early church held up the vision of the
living by Jesus’ example, but the reality of day-to-day conflicts prevented the
church from being utopia. There were warring
factions of Christians, each of whom thought they were right. Constantine, emperor at the time, had
converted to Christianity, and told the bishops to “work it out” and gain
consensus on their theology.
Fifteen hundred bishops were invited to the
Council of Nicaea, all expenses paid, but only 300 came. Many of them literally bore scars from
torture by previous sadistic leaders.
Some Christians had faced bloody and public executions because they had
dared to criticize the government. Low
turnout could be expected. Who would
trust the government, even if they claimed to be Christian? Their task was to debate the nature of
Christ- was he the same substance as God or not? Our early church father, Arius, claimed that
he was not. God was one. Jesus was the Son of God, but not God. But the opinion that won was that God and
Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the trinity, are all equal. Jesus was the Son of God, but he was also the
same substance as God.
At that time in the Roman Empire, emperors
were also seen as the “Son of God”, a common designation documented by much
architectural evidence. This gave them
status above the people, and made them closer to the Gods. The council at Nicaea decided that Jesus was God; therefore Jesus had more
status than the emperor.
Theology has always been political, but this
gave the church more power than the emperor.
It increased patriarchy in the church, increased conflicts between Jews
and Christians, and the church passed down laws that evolved into imperial
legislation.
Paradise could be accessed in two ways: through the ritual of baptism and the
Eucharist. Baptism was not just a few
splashes of water on an infant’s forehead; it was a vow to live a Christian
life. You had to apply to be
considered. The first phase the
Catechumen’s went through was an eight-week period of practicing austerities,
healing and exorcism. This prepares them
for the baptism, which is held the Saturday before Easter.
The Catechumen’s were scrutinized by their
neighbors and the bishop- questioned to be sure they were not liars, or drunks,
or worse, and that they were ready to confront their demons. During this time they had to fast, pray, pay
alms and visit the sick. They could not
shed any blood or belong to the military.
They were in a segregated space during their
preparation. They stood in a separate
place in the church, were not allowed to give the kiss of peace or bless the
food. During lent, all church members
and leaders fasted, abstained from sex and public entertainment, and could not
bathe. (Baths were public nudity, and
both men and women bathed together.)
They spent hours in physical exertion becoming athletes for Christ. They prepared for a great feast on Easter.
Being baptized was not for the faint of
heart. It was an intentional “peace” vow
to free yourself from your demons and renounce Satan. Baptism freed us from all sins, not Jesus’
death on the cross. It was a time to
reframe life, to respond with a spirit of love, drawing closer to God. Baptism was a life-long commitment to study
with a deep, searching and critical mind, prayer, fasting, sexual control,
voluntary poverty and non-violence, all gifts that were given to us in the
Garden of Eden.
Paradise was a communal realm, not
private. We need collective action to
take on power, over-consumption, and inequality of wealth. These social rituals transformed
community. It’s not just about belief-
but doing. “Believing” in exercise
doesn’t make me stronger- I need to get to the gym and do it. Believing in God was inadequate. Christianity was a “lived” faith, with a
living Christ.
On the day of the baptism, the Catechumen’s
rubbed their naked bodies with oil, put salt on their tongues (Jesus was the
salt of the earth) were questioned about their beliefs in the trinity, immersed
in water, anointed with oil, wrapped in white cloth and given me a small clay
lamp. They chanted the 23rd
psalm, and were given milk and honey for their first communion.
Everyone celebrated the Eucharist during
Easter. It was a bloodless sacrifice- no
meat, no wine. It was a prayer of
thanksgiving. It was a conscientious
objection to Jesus’ brutal death. The
story of paradise in Genesis was retold.
It revealed God’s creativity, providence, and industry. It bound the divine in this present
life. It was a theology of beauty in
everyday, shining the presence of the spirit.
The crucifixion was not mentioned, even
avoided. It’s not part of the liturgy,
shown in any of the art or church icons.
If a cross was shown, it was empty, with Jesus, alive, behind it,
showing that he conquered death. One
early picture shows Jesus with nail holes in his palms on small blocks of wood
but no cross. Images evoke power, and
they did not want to send negative messages.
The Eucharist and life in the church was about paradise, not remembering
Jesus’ death. Jesus said, “Today you
will be with me in paradise.”
If the baptismal vows were broken, their
penance was ex-communication, and they had to begin the catechumen process
again. The purpose of penance was to
decrease their burden of shame, humiliation and sin on their soul. They were excommunicated to protect others in
the church. After seven years, they
could return to the Eucharist. The
community guided them- it was not meant to be punishment. The community was necessary for their
survival.
The emphasis on paradise being re-lived in the
church started to decline under Charlemagne’s reign in the 8th
century. He forced baptism upon his
people, saying that their ancestor’s created the crucified Christ. He also forced people into the military, and
brought priests with the army so that they could confess their sins (killing)
to them. The cross became a symbol of conquering
Satan and death. Jesus became a divine
victim, not a symbol of power and compassion.
Christians should follow his example and suffer as well. The Eucharist
became the literal body and blood of Christ.
We still didn’t see crucifixes until 960 C.E.
in Germany. New artistic scenes appeared
in Churches detailing each step of torment, becoming increasingly bloody. Christ stood in judgment, “Behold he will
come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Congregants would be locked in churches during the service, standing
judgment before God without escape.
This was a huge shift in Theology from early
Christianity. Rather than conquering
death bit by bit, we are dying piece by piece.
Rather than being able to transcend death, death became permanent. This created an existential despair about
death, about our existence. We became
fearful, even terrorized by God’s wrath and judgment. Suffering was the key to personal piety,
trapped in a cycle of victim/perpetrator violence. We were forced to be baptized or die. Despair replaced beauty, love and joy.
To transcend despair, meant to continue
redemptive violence marked by the crucifixion.
We were no longer God’s love child- we were the killers of Christ. We were blamed for that sin. Hell was our own making. If you did not redeem yourself through
violent acts, following God’s example, you would be judged by Christ and sent
to hell- a Dante burning inferno with eternal torture. If you submitted to killing, you could have
paradise after death. The Eucharist
became a ritual enactment of death.
The Saxon’s resisted, and developed underground
liturgies with double meanings. They
feigned submission to Charlemagne, but held a dissident identity. (Like the
slaves who “Followed the drinking gourd” to freedom, singing while working so
they could spread the word to go north to escape slavery.) For years Christians had been told not to
take up arms. Now Holy war repeats
Jesus’ sacrifice and is worshipped.
Paradise in the church, in this life, was limited to the monasteries and
to those with financial means to pay for high costing indulgences.
The wording of the baptismal peace vow was
changed from, “do not kill humans,” to “do not kill Christians.” Killing non- Christians became a service to
God. The church even had it’s own
soldiers to enforce this. Now crucifixes
were everywhere, life-size. Some people
thought killing others was not enough, and engaged in self-mutilation as
penance so that they could suffer like Jesus did. (2-4-6-8- everybody
flagellate!)
There was a call to free the Holy Church, and
people underwent arduous pilgrimages to Jerusalem. They discovered wealth, art and advanced
culture that the Muslims had protected.
Whoever went to free Jerusalem could substitute the journey as penance
for all of their sin. The slate was
wiped clean. Pope Urban endorsed warfare
as a form of love, devotion and prayer.
They recruited people who were murderers, thieves and faithful
Christians who were strapped by debt, willing to die for their salvation. This formed the foundation of the crusades,
whose motto was to “Convert or Kill!
Peace by the blood of the cross!
St. Anselm took this theology one step
further. He said that God repaid all
debt of sins, including original sin, through Jesus’ death. This is what is known in the biz as “Substitutionary
Atonement.” Jesus died to save us from
sin. The resurrection became irrelevant-
the tomb was not empty.
Christian Soldiers traveled town to town to
preach the crusade. It became
increasingly apocalyptic- the final battle, the battle to end all battles, Armageddon,
building the New Jerusalem, a new heaven and earth. They had nothing to lose, everything to
gain. A new breed of monks was created
who killed for God. The bloodiest battle
yet killed thousands of Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, and many other diverse
religious people who were represented in that region, until they were wading in
blood up to their ankles as they scaled the wall and took over the town. This “Hour of Power” brought them the riches
they felt they deserved as they robbed the temples, trashed the mosques, and
robbed the treasury. Their blood money
created a middle class, built beautiful churches with no expense spared, and
triggered a great renaissance of gothic architecture. The Crusades, and the Inquisitions to follow,
were the bloodiest and most horrendous times in church history. The people were habituated to torture.
It’s hard to find the hope in this. As I was reading Rebecca Parker’s Book, I
kept thinking, “I am so NOT Christian.”
I don’t want to be subject to leaders controlled by the church, church
leaders manipulating and exploiting their followers- holding their livelihoods,
survival and soul in their hands.
But the parallels today kept coming to me-
fighting holy wars and evil-doers, being granted paradise in exchange for
military suicide missions and holy martyrdom, an apocalyptic vision, judgmental
Gods, politics of fear and terror, economic exploitation and extremes in
wealth.
And I wonder how we can move past this
craziness, and why people are voting for more of the same. Don’t people watch the news or read the paper
or ever pick up a book? I can understand
the worldview with a tyrannical leader, a mostly non-literate populace with
conditions of extreme poverty. Heretics
were subject to extreme torture and death throughout history, but now? But us?
The most educated and wealthiest country? Why aren’t we screaming for change? To end this war, to bolster our economy, to
give basic shelter, food, healthcare to all people. I understand abortion is controversial, but
basic needs? Are we really that morally
bankrupt?
Thank God the printing press was developed so
that people could get the facts for themselves.
And that brave and bold leaders started a revolution to change the power
structures and reform the church.
Abelard rejected original sin and said that selfless love and suffering
was impotent. Suffering martyrdom cannot
repair or resist harm and create beauty.
Luther nailed his 99 theses to the church door demanding change. Humanist writers satirized church and
state. Calvin and other theologians
reformed the Mass, simplified its decadent opulence, involved lay members in
church rituals (including the Eucharist), rejected the theology of
transubstantiation (that the bread and wine were literally the blood and body
of Christ), and opposed icons in worship.
The bible was made accessible to people in their own language, not
Latin. Peasants revolted against
indulgences and economic exploitation by the church. Communion returned to represented grace, not
death. Priests lost some of their power,
and the pope was absent from the Protestant church structure.
The Puritans focused on restoring paradise by
destroying Satan. Our work in this world
was a consuming process- women’s rights, voting, abolition of slavery,
temperance, public schools and public health.
They were idealists, covenanted to live in a righteous way.
People converged on America to create the
Promised Land, but it was not a harmonic convergence. Native Americans were not recognized as
people- guns were used to coerce, there were massacres and epidemics. They couldn’t get remnants of the apocalypse
out of their system. They were still seen as heathens, not real people.
The Puritans became our early Unitarians in
this country. The Unitarians studied all
the great scriptures, not just Christian texts.
They were engaged in social justice issues, and in living the vision of
Jesus that the early church promoted. To
see paradise on this earth, to envision a community where all were equal, all
were valued, and the rich and poor lived side by side. The transcendentalists had abandoned both
baptism and communion rituals, and searched for paradise when they purchased
Brook Farm to create their utopian community.
The ideal was to live a natural life close to the earth, to embody a
deep spirituality, social reform and leisure.
They wanted to live their principles of love, justice and harmony.
And for a while it went well. The school was the best in the area. People loved to work the land and relish in
feeling the dirt in their fingers. They
loved the beauty of the wilderness.
Traditional roles were set aside.
They built houses side by side, engaged in great philosophical
discussions, wrote long spiritual entries in their journals. It all seemed perfect. It felt like Utopia.
But after a short while, the romance wore
off. They ran out of money, as not
everyone was required to pay a full share. They went bankrupt living their
ideals of the rich and poor being equal.
They were all intellectuals, no one had a bit of farming or business
experience. They learned the hard way
what hard work farming was. They like to
eat food, but not slaughter chickens and cows, grind wheat for flour or chop
wood. Their romanticized ideal of hard
work left when they had no time for lengthy discussions or journaling. People
started to leave, eventually even the school closed. They merged with a group who followed the
Fourier’s model, to try to settle their financial woes. But their vision of
Utopia was completely different, and their rules and regulations were far from
their ideal of shared community.
Unitarians were upper class intellectuals with a liberal theology who
liked the idea of community, but had no idea what that really meant.
Emerson wrote his classic essay,
“Self-Reliance,” but with no acknowledgement that he was far from
self-reliant. Cornel West writes, “that
Emerson relied on his wife, his wife’s money, his mother in law, three servants
and a gardener” in order to be “self reliant.”
It’s as if he didn’t even see their contributions. Living on the farm, (Emerson was not one of
them) brought the reality of everyone’s contributions to the forefront, and
they learned what it really took to live their privileged lives. Other people’s contributions to their lives
really weren’t seen, until they truly only had themselves to rely upon. It was too hard to maintain.
Paradise can
be celebrated on earth. It happens when
we look through the lens of beauty, but don’t shy away from reality. It happens when we engage our life work while
we seek peace and justice. Paradise is
present when we stop racing past the heart of life, and look for the miracle in
every day.
I believe that there will be struggle in life;
it takes a lot of hard work to live our fullness and let go of our fears. But
struggle and work is only a part of our existence, and to focus solely on this
is to miss so much else. To focus only on the struggles in life doesn't lead us
to the wholeness we seek. We need to build a new way- a life free from
violence, free from oppression,
There
is a world beyond a reactive, violent Christianity- it happens when we live our
faith with authenticity. There is a
world of beauty- in nature, in our moral struggles, in our questioning and
critique. We ache for our lost
innocence, and get lost in consumerism and destructive patterns of violence in
our search for what is true, but romanticism keeps us from noticing patterns of
escape rather than solution. We need
integration, interaction and exchange.
We need to live the example of Jesus, who lived as advocate, teacher,
prophet and healer. To express our outrage and raise our prophetic voice and
vote. Our churches can be places of
healing, recovery and sanctuary where deep lament and grief is allowed and honored.
Paradise
happens when we are present to our community.
When we open our hearts to the horrors, and don’t anesthetize
ourselves. Paradise is the arduous task
of right living. With sharing our
generosity, living non-violently with transformed awareness. It may not be utopian, but it’s a radical
embrace of love for this life. We can’t
afford to lose hope. There is too much
at stake.
I’ll close with a prayer for our country. May our future leaders be guided with calm
and with reason, with vision and strength.
May our country focus on important issues, and not get distracted by
minor ones. May we as a people find
common ground, and work with a radical embrace of love for this world. May we live non-violently, with transformed
awareness, for the good of the many, not the few. May we all get out and vote, and be engaged in the process.
Blessed be.