“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”—Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
I sometimes (often) have some pretty weird dreams. Last night was no exception. I’ll spare the details, but it had me (in the dream) ultimately discussing the convergence of the Spiritual (my faith and views on religion) and Physical (my understanding of biology, physiology, etc.) with my students. It was one of those dreams that had me slipping back and forth between dream and conscious thought. It had me processing a number of concepts that have been on my mind recently. I found myself stressing to the students that it is important for us to discuss these things openly and to allow people to say things that might offend us as they process and learn to articulate their thoughts and beliefs.
A central discussion in the dream (and that has been on my mind of late) was the labeling of persons and groups and the growing complexity of humankind (the sense of the evolution of humankind toward an ever-`increasing complexity and unity put forth by the likes of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Christopher S. Davis—in The Phenomenon of Man and Designed to Evolve, respectively). Labeling, I believe, is contradictory to nature and Purpose of man.
The verse, quoted above, has frequently come to mind in recent weeks. I believe the writings of de Chardin and Davis to be consistent with this. Indeed, I believe it to be consistent with a unified understanding of the Physical and the Spiritual. It is not the description of a future Kingdom of God or a view of heaven. Rather, it is a statement of what our heart should be.
The more I study human physiology, the more I find myself drawn to God (I use all caps here like Lord in the bible to suggest a God that is bigger than that of man’s religions—that is beyond my scope of understanding and ability to articulate, but is nonetheless real). The more I examine the Spiritual and the Physical, the more I see their intersections.
The details of my dream are perhaps for another time. It would require pages of writing to scratch the surface. For the moment, I just want to seize on the opportunity to focus on the goal of oneness (perhaps, better: Oneness—or what the Jewish and Christian traditions would call “atonement”). It is my hope that the divisiveness in our society may simply be the growing pains preceding a massive leap toward atonement and a “return” of Christ. It is my desire—my faith—that we are moving toward (evolving toward) every increasing complexity and unity. I hope that we become One.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!