Awakening

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? 

Oh, what memories that question stirs in me.  Having lived all my life in the “Bible belt” I have heard that question asked far too many times for my comfort.  And yes, there was a time in my life when I also asked that question. However, my question today is not whether you have a relationship with Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.  Instead, I ask, “Who is Jesus and what does he represent to you at this point in your spiritual journey?”

Christianity is the predominant religion in this country. Christians have a relationship with Jesus through the story of his birth, death and resurrection, the foundation for Christianity.  A recent survey by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that more than 78% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. Christianity is pervasive in our culture; therefore in America there is no escaping a connection with Jesus, regardless of what we believe about him.

My personal relationship with Jesus has evolved considerably over the years.  It began when I was 10-years old.  The minister at the church where my family was attending came to our house, and after he convinced me that I needed to accept Jesus as my savior, I did.  As I reflect back on that day now, I can honestly say that I “professed” to accept Jesus.  I was baptized sometime soon after.   “Great!  If that’s all it takes,” I thought; “I am good to go.”

My family didn’t attend church regularly, so I soon lost my personal connection with Jesus through religion even though I continued to live within the Christian culture of small town Georgia.  However, at fourteen, when I got to high school, I became involved with a group of “church-goers,” so I started going to church again.  The preacher soon convinced me that I was a back-sliding sinner, so I repented of my sins, confessed my belief in Jesus and was baptized – again!

I swallowed the whole Jesus story hook, line and sinker.  I felt guilt when I thought about anything that even hinted of sin, and since that’s about all fourteen year old boys think about, I was feeling a whole lot of guilt and doing a whole lot of praying for forgiveness. 

To make a long story shorter, I went through many years believing that Jesus was Lord and Savior and that he died on the cross for my sins.  And, I harbored a great deal of shame and guilt as a result of my belief that I was not worthy and that I could never be worthy.

Fast forward to my late twenties and early thirties when I began exploring the concepts of the New Thought movement through Unity and Religious Science; I was introduced to a Jesus that I had never before considered.  He was a brother, a way-shower, a guide.  He was grace and love. He was no longer the great exception, but the great example of the possibility and potential for me.  He was one who had awakened to the Christ – the Divine Idea of each of us.  This new vision of Jesus inspired hope for me.

I do not claim to know the truth about who the historical Jesus was, what he actually said and did, or whether the narratives presented in the Canonical Gospels or the letters of Paul in the Bible are fact or mostly fiction.  Even those who have researched the topic for years do not agree.  I have come to the decision that it really does not matter how much, if any, of the Jesus story is factual.  What matters is one’s personal relationship with the Jesus story.  My personal relationship with Jesus today is one of pupil to teacher.  My desire is to allow the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels to teach me the path to my own salvation; salvation from my limiting thoughts and life patterns.

I am currently exploring the Jesus story as the story of awakening which we can, if we choose, allow to serve as a template for awakening to the Truth of who we are.  We are the Christ. That same presence is within each of us.  When we explore the Jesus story though this lens, we see that Jesus experienced the steps of awakening that we all must take. His path was in a dramatic fashion that most of us will not experience, but there are day-to-day analogies we can learn from even in his spectacular moments.  As we explore the journey of Jesus from his baptism to his ascension, we will discover that he outlined a path for us to walk.  If we adhere to the path, we will know our truth – the Truth that sets us free. 

I hope you will join us on Sunday mornings, beginning August 18, at 10:00 a.m., as we walk together the path that Jesus walked; the path that leads to awakening.