 . Shalom Place |
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7. Encountering Christ in his Cosmic aspect: B
In our previous conferences, we have emphasized the importance of formation in Christ through the Word, and sacramentally in the Christian community. The Church, in this sense, is like a spiritual womb in which our spiritual life germinates, takes root, and is nourished and grown. This formation enables us to recognize the Christic dimension of nature and human culture--that the ministry of Christ is not restricted to religious endeavors, but literally touches and informs all aspects of creation.
“For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible . . .
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.” (Col. 1: 16-18).
We note in this poem by Paul the relationship between the Church and the creation. Although Paul recognizes that Christ’s influence extends to the whole of creation, he nonetheless affirms that “the Church is his body, he is its head.” We might think of the whole of creation as being Christ’s cosmic body, with the Church as his Mystical Body--the “place,” as it were, where through the faith and service of the Christian community, he most intensely extends his influence to the rest of creation. Where human beings were initially intended to be co-creators with God, we Christians are now entrusted with the mission to reconcile the world to God in Christ (2 Cor. 5: 20). This is not to deny the reality of Christ’s influence outside the Church, only to acknowledge that that’s where he is most intensely present and active on this earth.
If we are formed in Christ and nourished by the modes of presence he extends to us, our human nature becomes transformed in many wonderful ways. Christ does not wish to destroy our human nature, but he does raise it to a new level of participation in God’s own life--a process called “divinization” by early Christian writers. This he accomplishes through the graces bestowed on us through prayer, community, and sacrament; it is not something we accomplish by accumulating information about him, or about packing our minds with the right kinds of doctrines. The transformation of mind is also a work of grace, facilitated by our study of doctrine, but most of all, he works through the level of the will, enabling us to live a life that is less selfish and more loving. Christ shares with us the love life of the Trinity through the gift of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to love in ways that we never dreamed possible. Our service in the Church and the world is an expression of that love; sometimes it is also an act of faith, as we reach out to others, trusting that he will give us what we need. Love leads to service, and service stretches us to express more love.
I don’t think it’s too far a stretch to say that Christian love is a type of cosmic consciousness, for it is really a kind of seeing the world “in Christ,” through the lenses of his own compassion. I also suspect that this type of experience is quite common. Think about it. Have you ever experienced a deep love for others, even though there was little they could give you in return? In looking at them (or him or her), you saw them as simply creatures with needs, fellow children of your heavenly Creator, with the same kinds of struggles that you have. It may have been one of your children, a spouse, or even a group of people on TV. Doesn’t matter! In that experience of pure love, there was no thought of self, only a deep concern for the other, and a willingness to “do whatever” to help them in some way. It may have persisted for hours, or even days; maybe it was very short-lived. But the effect of it changed something inside you, enabling you to feel more authentic . . . yourself . . . courageous!
Such experiences, I believe, are a direct participation in Christ’s ongoing love for the human race and all of creation. From them, we can understand something of the love that moved him as Word to become incarnate for our sake, to forego his divine rights, and to die on the cross, thus breaking the hold that Satan and death had placed on our hearts and minds. This love is a “seeing” with him at the level of the will, awakening a perspective of universal compassion. It is seeing all things through the eyes of Christ’s love, and that’s very different from the kataphatic type of seeing Christ’s love mediated through creation discussed in our previous chapter.
Love-seeing “in Christ” is an apophatic experience; it is not mediated by word or symbol, but is a direct participation in Christ’s own loving. What is perceived is thus evaluated in a different context, which might also be described as “in Christ.” This is the manner in which Saints and many Christian mystics see things most of the time. It is almost as though they have no personal self involved in the perceiving and acting; Christ is the one who is doing the perceiving and acting through them (“I live, not I, but Christ” - Gal. 2: 20). Their individual, ontological soul is there, alive and well, and capable of asserting itself if need be, but it is so much more their will to live in Christ that they are practically like a medium through which He operates, and it is their deepest desire and joy that it be this way. That is why Saints are so important; they help us to learn more about what Christ is like and how he acts.
Now what I just described about Saints is really what the Church as a whole is supposed to be as well, and what it will, in fact, be one day after the general resurrection. We’re not there yet, of course; many of us still have very much of an independent, self-assertive mind and will, which makes us an imperfect vehicle for Christ’s ongoing work. We love him and want to serve Him, all right, but we also want to have our cake and eat it, too. That’s just the way things go for awhile, maybe a long while. Christ never gives up on us, however, educating us through the school of hard knocks to learn ever more deeply how to surrender our lives unto His care. Even those outside the Church are on this “spiritual journey,” although I’m convinced that things go much better when one is more explicitly committed to being nourished by the channels of graced made available by the Church.
Cosmic love/compassion is not the only way we might experience all things in Christ. As a living Being, Christ possesses intelligence and awareness as well, and sometimes our knowing or awareness might also seem to be eclipsed by his. When we are blessed to share so deeply in his intelligence, we are in possession of divine truth and wisdom. How this works is beyond the comprehension of the human mind; it is as if the mind participates in a larger Mind, and knows what that Mind knows without studying or reflecting. You have only to think of a question and the answer is given; you shift your attention to problem, and the divine’s own “solution” presents itself. You know without knowing how you know what you know, but there is nonetheless no denying that you do know what you know, and with a certainty that often escapes us in our human studies in deliberations. What’s truly amazing is that it can sometimes seem as though God is granting this blessing not simply as a charism for the building up of the community, but simply for your own enjoyment. And as with cosmic love, it seems that such experiences are not limited to Saints and mystics. Many members of Christ’s Body are graced with this kind of knowing at times, even though briefly. Can you relate to this?
A most beautiful type of cosmic consciousness comes through yet another channel, that of awareness. Where cosmic love works through the will and feels compassion for the whole universe, and cosmic wisdom works through the mind to enable comprehension of the ways of God, cosmic awareness seems to be a special kind of “seeing” or perceiving through the senses. By “seeing,” here, I am referring not to the eyes or even the senses, but to the subject of perception, the “I” or “self” that observes, thinks, and chooses. In cosmic awareness, it is as though our small human self becomes the means through which a larger Self or “I” looks out at the world. Our little self becomes transparent to Christ’s Self, but is still able to note what is happening. What is seen is the very same creation beheld before, but in a different way. It is no longer a matter of a subjective human self looking out of sensory eyes at, say, a bird (which is the object of consciousness); subject-object dualism breaks down, enabling a deep and mysterious sense of oneness between the See-er and the seen. The bird still exists as an independent entity, but it seems to be part of one’s own body: when it flies, it is as though it flies within you, and when it sings, it sings in your own heart. Biologists and physicists have pointed out our interconnectedness with all of creation, but what I am describing goes deeper. It is as though Christ himself is the one looking out at creation, with one’s senses serving as openings through which he can observe the world through the limited vantage point of one’s individual body. The small human self knows that it is still there, but is able to “tune in,” as it were, to Christ’s seeing and to be transformed in the process. This kind of Christian enlightenment or cosmic consciousness isn’t often described, but I am convinced, again, from my own experiences and in journeying with others in spiritual direction that such times of presence and clarity are given to many.
What I have been describing in this conference seems to me to be small tastes of what heaven will be like. Theologians tell us that those in heaven experience the “beatific vision.” This means that they are privileged to participate directly in the life of the Trinity, enjoying God’s own knowing, loving, and awareness. As members of Christ’s Body, we, too, already stand with Him in the Trinity, and are sometimes blessed with foretastes of the beatific vision. Through such experiences, we come to know that Christ really is present to and within His Mystical Body, renewing and transforming all who are connected with His Body. He wants us to become as He is, not out of some divine grandiosity and arrogance, but that we might enjoy the sublime joys that are the mainstay of divine life. That is why He came, and why we go to meet Him in the modes of presence he offers us.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
1. What questions or comments do you have about this conference?
2. Have you ever experienced times of deep loving, wisdom, or clarity of perception? Can you see how these could be understood as cosmic experiences of Christ?