LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

Say what?

I know, it’s really troubling isn’t it? In religion, transcendence is a condition or state of being that surpasses, and is independent of, physical existence. In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence are derived from the word’s literal meaning (from Latin), of climbing or going beyond. I should probably be writing this column under the Beyond Theism (click here) site. However, we all need to be stretched from time to time. so count this as one of those! It really won’t hurt that much.

Most Christians are quick to point out that the Holy Spirit is the writer of the Bible; however, they fail to realize that how a thing is put together is how a think is taken apart. Translation. That which was written by the Spirit must be translated by the Spirit. Well duh! So why is it that we spend so much time trying to intellectually figure out that which was spiritually developed? Tell me why!

In other words, way too much of the teaching of the Bible is done wrongly- intellectually.

I know, because we’re trained in the Greco-Roman mind!

I’m not advocating being stupid, turning off your brain; but, at some point allowing faculties other than the brain to rule. In essence it takes a transcendental consciousness to truly mine the jewels of the Spirit. Hear this! Words hide the meaning of the Bible. Arguments distort the truth the Scripture. Mystics understood this. St. Francis of Assisi got it. While the Bible is invaluable to me, I cannot live on the “quotations” of the past.

Nor can you!

I received an email Wednesday from someone throwing out “verses” from the Bible to support her contention that I could not go to heaven and also drink wine. Help me Jay-zus! Listen, you can make the Bible say anything you want it to say. You can make it say there is a hell, there is no hell. Sodom was bad, and Sodom wasn’t all that bad. Yada, yada, yada! Name a hot potato and pick some verses to defend it. Do that frequently and soon you’ll be known as an intellectual snob who no one wants to be around. The Bible doesn’t lie, but instead of the person living by the Spirit and allowing Him to reveal the message in a verse, they have the verse but not the writer or interpreter of that verse. Big, big difference!

Memorizing a verse has little to do with comprehending what the Spirit meant when it was written!

I can find the meaning of those Scriptures (giving life) when I leave my world and join the Spirit in resting. In some ways we’re living in that 7th day of rest and have been for thousands of years. We just don’t know it. We’ve lived off of the tree of knowledge so long that we think that somehow we’ll find the answers to life that we’re looking for if we’ll just read one more book, study one more verse, or repeat seven more Proverbs.

We’re not even aware of the distinctions or definitions of the metaphysical or mystical, so why would we think we could opt out of one for the other? Somehow though we must get off the religious treadmill and get on with living life as we’ve beeen called and made to embrace. This Friday, I will try to get across the fact that we must move on, get past where we ARE, what we KNOW, and move into the UNKNOWN, where the Spirit calls.

In essence, transcending our consciousness!