At the age of 26 I find myself more comfortable in my own skin in regards to my faith as a Christian. For years I found it hard to speak to many of my friends about my spirituality other than those specific concepts that fit nicely with their religious or spiritual views. Mainly because as an artist and musician most of my closest friends have Esoteric, Agnostic or Atheist views on life and matters of a spiritual nature.
Exoteric Christianity can be very off-putting to folks who would describe themselves as open minded individuals and even as a christian there were times in my youth that I would question my faith while becoming rather fond of the outward fruits of their belief systems. However with age and earnest seeking God has revealed his truths to my heart, mind and soul time and again, often times in ways bearing significant resemblance to synchronicity, although such a phenomenon touched by the holy spirit has a specific light about it not found with its secular counterpart.
With that being said I have found that many of my fears as a teenager, such as being ostracized for my belief in Jesus Christ as the sole mediator, path and way to God and heaven, has fallen by the wayside even with the threat of loss still peaking its head into my daily life in regards to my relationships to those who disagree with such a concept. I attribute some of this to the fact that many of my friends who disagree, dislike or even abhor the Christan faith see me and my actions towards them as kind hearted and open minded. Indeed as I write this the very thought still bears the marks of personal epiphany.
What I mean to express here is that there are many Christians such as myself who exist outside of the hypocritical, cookie cutter, plastic smile televangelist fold. Sadly many folks especially those who like myself are drawn to the art and music of Psychedelia, Bohemian, or Counter subcultures view Christians as a whole, little more than clones of the character types described above.
My hope is that if anything, this post establishes the fact that not all Christians are products of what mainstream culture sees Christianity to be. As a young man of faith I can attest to the fact that at first glance you may very well assume me to be a liberal hippy. In many ways that description does fit me however I would like to point out I am also many other things including a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a Husband, a political independant, a cigar enthusiast, a lover of fine wine and craft beer, a dead head and a person who loves to discuss world faiths and believes in tolerance and respect for others, in addition to so many other things.
Interesting posts you have, though I think Christianity is dead and will be redeemed and brought to fruition and perfection through Thelema. Check out my blog at http://christianityisdead.wordpress.com/ if you will. Love is the law, love under will.
Thanks for reading CID. I see that you are disciple of Aleister Crowley. I must admit even by standards of some of my occultist friends Crowley was a wicked man. A genius? Yes! A Prophet? Of Lucifer indeed! An amazingly talented writer and poet? Of course! But Wicked above all things I must concur…
Matthew 7:15
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
I would love to discuss further, I will be in touch.
Monk
93 Monk – Thanks for your reply. Crowley was called the Wickedest Man in the World by the tabloids much like Jesus was probably called by the Romans! Check out my blog at http://christianityisdead.wordpress.com to see exactly what I mean when saying ‘Not Thy will be done but ‘Do what thou wilt!” Love is the law, love under will.
CID, I visited your site. I am familiar with Thelema and Crowleys work. As a Christian I have studied the occult from scholarly point of view (Blavatsky, Manly P.Hall, Crowley, Mathers, etc.) My Grandfather was mason and so is one of my uncles.
I do not see the logic in suggesting that using Magick to force your personal will upon the world and other people as an act of love. I think that Crowleys drug addiction, poor health, and the sorry state he found himself in near death is a testament to the back lash of the evils and self centered nature of his Magickal work. What he put out, did indeed return to him and his folly is a grand picture of his true Nature.
His life story and his relationships with other people show a man consumed by pride, hate, bitterness and addiction (again this is not to say that I am unaware of his talent, prose and incredible mind but these are tools he used for selfish returns). Now I will be the first to admit many Christians have the same and other problems. From our point of view though, healing comes from aligning oneself with Christ. I can attest to this in my own life.
I hope you don’t see my thoughts as a personal attack, I have to speak what I know to be truth. I have friends and family who follow the path of esoteric practices and or occult ideology. Please don’t think that I believe that all such people are evil many of those whom I know are wonderful kind hearted people, I just see them as blind to the truth. I have nothing personal against you, and I am glad you took the time to read my blog as I will read yours as well as sign of open mindedness. However, I must be ardent in my conviction and be honest with you, I am follower of Christ and will remain as such.
Lucifer comes as an angel of light, I don’t blame some people for thinking that is what he is. I simply pray that the scales on their eyes will be removed.
I would also like to add commentary on this quote from your blog:
Pastor Tom continues, “What happens when your god thought opposes my god thought? The strongest god thought will survive. Do what you wilt has been eliminated by the stronger willt!”
“Truly! I agree! Therefore one needs to be in harmony with the thoughts & movements of all things so that there is no opposition but a Unity of Motion.”
CID If you take a good look at humanity and try to trust it as a whole as its own god the above will never happen. That is why we have had Stalins, Hitlers, and the like and it is also why not everyone hops on board with such people.
If people begin to believe they are gods their personal agenda will surface beyond any sense of unity. This has been proven through history and its madmen, dictators, and gurus time and time again.
Christ does not impose his will, he offers you a free gift and if you choose he gives you the freedom to reject it.
93 Monk – I appreciate your thoughts, and I would really appreciate it if you left these comments on my blog also. The problem is that others thought themselves God to the exclusion of others. We acknowledge “Every man and every woman is a star” and every star is in the company of Heaven. Rejoice and do what thou wilt! http://christianityisdead.wordpress.com
CID, as long as you use my full responses Feel free to use the above for a blog post. I simply ask that you alter nothing I wrote/write. If you would like we can continue such discussions at your blog. Although I do invite you to stop here form time to time, And if interested speak on other topics other than religion as well.
Do you like sushi? If so check out the newest post!
Monk.
[...] “I see that you are disciple of Aleister Crowley. I must admit even by standards of some of my occultist friends Crowley was a wicked man. A genius? Yes! A Prophet? Of Lucifer indeed! An amazingly talented writer and poet? Of course! But Wicked above all things I must concur…” (dubi0usmonk) [...]
crowley was a man. His olny fault was his addictions and, in his time, his sexuality. Instead of spouting verse, put some effort into it and actually put forth your opinion. Any comments welcome. You can’t look at him as if he was alive today. You have to take the time he lived in to actually understand him. Just like the Jews, which is the beginning of Christianity. If Christ was still around he would be Jewish, not Christian. And he even had problems, but there is no way of actually knowing what he really did or said or was really fighting for other than the books ordained to be in the Bible. Who told these men they where right and all the others wrong? Why was everything burned and the cult of Mithras killed off worse than the christian prosecution and all temples destroyed. It was man’s will, not your god’s. It was written to control the broken tribes into one group. Crowley was just like you with his doubts, fears and devotion. Ha. Monks throwing stones. Good one.
David, thanks for reading. I don’t think you can blame Jesus for the failures and problems of those who try to uphold what they believe to be the “Christian Religion” which is something that is very different from truly following Christ. Many who call themselves Christians do terrible things and are very much hypocritical (I think we are all guilty of something at times though, including said Christians, which is why the concept of grace is so huge in regards to the divine forgiveness as it pertains to those who understand it). These actions are not the fault Jesus. Now I can tell you do not believe in the divinity of Christ. So although we probably will not meet eye to eye for the most part, I thank you for stopping by and offering your commentary. Also I was not throwing stones, everything I said about Crowley came from accounts from his own life. Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow and I am willing to bet near his death he thought the same. Regardless I was not judging him, he even considered himself wicked and on many levels evil. He personally did not see anything wrong with that. I certainly do not feel I was attacking him by restating the very things he thought about himself.
I would just like to say that it is very refreshing to hear your words about your faith. Although I grew up going to church most Sundays and have a grandfather who is a retired minister, I never felt drawn to Christianity. I was bored by it…it just didn’t resonate with me. In college, I started to explore spirituality in my own ways, whether it was through nature or psychedelics or music or books…I realized that I did believe in something, and it felt good, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it all meant to me. I also was afraid of labels, and would never have labeled myself a Christian.
However, a few years ago I dated a guy who was a Christian, and had a strong need for faith in his life. He sort of reintroduced me to it, and at first I struggled. For so long I had put myself in a category that was liberal, open-minded, educated, scientific, and even slightly spiritual…but I had not put myself in the Christian category. I started to go to church with him, now and then, because it was important to him…but basically I started to open my heart and mind to it. At first I really struggled with how to make sense of concepts such as evolution (that I completely believe in), abortion rights (I am pro-choice), and things of that nature that I had for so long separated in my mind from what or who Christians were.
Long story short, I have come to realize that God can be who you want him to be. And I have found him. Maybe again, or maybe really for the first time in my life. I have realized that I can believe in evolution and support pro-choice, and still be a Christian. Because just as you said, there are those of us that are faithful and love God and know he is actively in our lives…but we are not the “cookie-cutter, hypocritical” kind. I am still open-minded, I am still liberal, I am still very fond of science and nature…but it all is beginning to make so much sense now. It is all part of this greater force. And I have peace in that.
The one challenge I now face, is that many of my friends, as you said, are of the agnostic or atheist view and cannot relate with this experience and the new found love in my heart. It has been sort of a challenging journey so far…and one that I hope to one day be able to share with a significant other and friends…to grow with this love and experience even more that God has in store for me/us. And I hope at the same time, I can drink some dank beer, go see some live Phish or bluegrass or jazz music, and really just BE.
What you wrote resonated with me, so I wanted to share my story. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for listening! Peace.
Thanks for reading and commenting MplsGirl. I am glad you could relate to my spiritual journey and I enjoyed reading about yours.
Thank you for stopping by, hope all is well. God bless.