The two most important choices in life

[FatherAlbert]

Why I Prefer to Follow Christ Than Call Myself a “Christian”

We all have two major choices in life: to choose good or to choose evil. Are we prepared to challenge the world with the message of hope, healing, and restoration that Jesus Christ makes possible through his life, death, and resur-rection?
Has any of us attended to the meaning of our individual lives in relation to God's wish for us: to allow Him to provide what only He knows we really want and truly need? Are we committed to following the Christ to the cross and beyond: to join Him as faithful followers in the world to come?

I speak from my experiences in life and also as a priest and a Benedictine monk. Anyone can substitute another symbol for Jesus: Buddha, humanism, morality, etc. As a democratic nation and the leader of the world through our Constitution and Bill of Rights, we must respect the values upon which this, the potentially greatest nation on earth, was founded: basic human freedoms and the equality of all persons. This is the choice we make to stand firm and to speak out when any of our brothers or sisters are deprived of their freedoms and not treated as an equal. That is the choice for good. That is the challenge we all face each and every day of our lives.
At this time in the history of our beloved country, “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” I challenge all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus to consider the following.
As our nominee for president has so often and passionately stated: "We need drastic change in how we do business as the 'greatest nation on the planet.'" We must now refuse to continue with business as usual: the promotion of greed and power on the part of a few to the detriment of the welfare of the ma-jority. Yes, this is the land of opportunity; however, for much too long that opportunity has been reserved for the entitled class, the privileged minority.
I challenge my candidate, Barack, together with Senator Clinton and all other people in positions to effect change by choosing good, to create an environ-ment in which all who live in our land and who come to these shores are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their race, religion, ethnic ori-gin, or status as a "legal" or "illegal" residents.
I challenge our new government under non-partisan leadership to abolish slavery and indentured servitude in every corner of this nation before we at-tempt to "fix" what we see as problems in other lands among other peoples. Whether we follow the Buddha or Jesus, or follow basic humanitarian princi-ples without need of a "Supreme Being," we must begin to realize that war never creates peace; war creates wealth and more power for the powerful and poverty and victimization of the vast majority. There is never a justification for war, especially if you are a faithful follower of Jesus. That is why I prefer not to be referred to as a "Christian" in America. Too many of them have turned away from Jesus’ mandate to "love one's neighbor as oneself." Rather than pronouncing with pomp and circumstance, "God bless America," why not substitute the action of blessing each other which is God's will for all hu-manity! Yes, let us bless one another! Let us transform this wonderful nation to truly reflect the best that democracy can offer to the world: freedom from greed and the acceptance of personal freedoms for all who have come and for all who will come in the future. The one requirement is that one must choose good over evil to be welcomed.
This is my personal view garnered from all of my life’s experiences. Am I idealistic? Definitely! Quixotic? Maybe! However, I firmly believe that we are here on this planet to learn how to love one another and to accept the many differences that exist among us. As my mentor, Joan Chittester, says: “Noth-ing we do can change the past; everything we do can change the future.” One by one we can effect change by choosing good over evil. I have all hope that good will overcome evil if we accept the challenge to see each other as broth-ers and sisters, all potentially doers of good in this world.
Blessings in Christ and Benedict to all my brothers and sisters whoever and wherever you are,
Father Albert OSB

[Zerbie]

Ooh, this is nice! Had to skim it, but will be back in a few days hopefully. (Midst of a whirlwind travel schedule these couple weeks, but maybe will have a chance to come back to this later this week.)

Thanks for this good thread. Seems we have a lot of values in common, too.
Thank you for messaging me. I look forward to being back to enjoy this more when there's more time, and I know the others will appreciate what you have to say as well.

[Gennee]

Great post! I share the point that there's the American brand of Christianity and then there's biblical Christianity. The former is much to do with power and might while the latter has to do with following Jesus. I agree with everything you have said.

Gennee

[BruceChris]

She loves,and is loved by many people, some of them Christians, it's just the label she can't stand.

Peace and Love, Bruce Chris

[labguy22]

I like your Christ.
I do not like your Christians, for they are so unlike your Christ.
--Ghandi

Very nice reading, thank you.
As my partner and I look forward to our wedding on Friday we also see all the "Christian" protesters preaching their bigotry and hatred all in the name of God. They are so misled I honestly feel sad for them. Christ taught we should pray for them that curse us, love those that hate us and as you said: "love one's neighbor as oneself." They just don't get it!

[FatherAlbert]

Dear Nick,

Thanks for the kind words! I don't know where you are located, but we have many United Catholic Church fellowships throughout the United States. You can check out the website for United Catholic Church and learn everything you need to know about our post-denominational fellowship. Like the United Church of Christ, we are open and affirming, but we also "catholic." You can find out what that means for us on the website.

I prayer for a successful union for you and your partner. I hope that you'll be able to have a religious ceremony in an accepting community. I think that for us who follow the Christ, the blessing we receive from the Holy Spirit in matrimony is powerful and transforming. Remember that all marriages are difficult because it is not natural (in my opinion) that two people can live together under the same roof without lots of bumps along the way. That has been my experience after my first and only marriage which is still intact after 36 years.

Love and blessings in Christ and Benedict, especially as you and your partner enter into the most sacred and intimate of unions, holy matrimony.

Father Albert OSB

[FatherAlbert]

Dear BruceChris,

Thanks for the support! I've got lots more ideas to post concerning the state of Christianity in the 21st century. I'm so pleased to find so many other like-minded followers of Christ and seekers of the Truth! I'd love you to learn more about me and my journey by connecting to the web site of our post-denominational fellowship, the United Catholic Church. We are not numerous, but that is for a very good reason. We don't want leaders (clergy) who are attempting to join us and then try to change the rules to satisfy their own idiosyncracies. We've been there, done that. We want people who fully accept our mission and our canons as they have been written and revised. We don't ask (as you will read) that those who choose to come to our services and seek our counsel to abandon or renounce the denomination or fellowship to which they are connected. We do allow and even encourage dual membership unlike most other religious groups.

I await Zerbie's postings and anticipate some really meaningful exchange of ideas and resources.

Again, thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Love and Blessings in Christ and Benedict,
Father Albert OSB

[Jamie McDaniel]

Just a note... I merged the two duplicate threads. (That's why it makes BruceChris' post look funny.)

[scott snedeker]

Originally Posted by FatherAlbert

Why I Prefer to Follow Christ Than Call Myself a “Christian”

Whether we follow the Buddha or Jesus, or follow basic humanitarian princi-ples without need of a "Supreme Being," we must begin to realize that war never creates peace; war creates wealth and more power for the powerful and poverty and victimization of the vast majority. There is never a justification for war, especially if you are a faithful follower of Jesus. Blessings in Christ and Benedict to all my brothers and sisters whoever and wherever you are,
Father Albert OSB

I just love what you said. In a short story I posted here I created a fictional monastery named "Stewards of the love of Christ" That sounds much like your order.


http://www.soulforce.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3925


I am a Druidic pagan who embraces the teachings of Christ. Druids feel the sentience in all living things. We sense there is interconnection of all sentience. I believe awareness of this by humans is felt as love. Many label this "God" or Goddess" or "Christ" or the "Forest Spirit".....etc. The list of labels is endless. We believe Intimate sexual and spiritual love-making creates the most intense connection and awareness to "God."

I would be curious if members of your order live in the French Pyronees like my fictional monastery. That would be just too specific for me to accept as coincidence!

[loysten]

hi,

By having the salvation experience by Lord Jesus Grace,

i really don't want to be a label or name sake christian,

i want to be "christ in" christian.
-------------------------------------------
loysten,

Christian Drug Rehab


Christian Drug Rehab

[BishopIoan]

Nice post, Fr. Albert with much to think about. I have long said, "The biggest problem with Christianity is Christians." You are right...American Christianity has little to do with Biblical Christianity. It is so sad that the view of people like the Apostle Paul has so often prevailed over the centuries. He was a narrow-minded, mean-spirited JERK, IMO, who chose to work out his issues on women. GLBT, to name a couple. Had the more nuanced Gnostic version won out, there might not be the ingrained homophobia and sexism displayed by so many in what I fondly refer to as "state church" Christianity.

I look forward to seeing more from you on this topic.