Intersect

Throughout Advent we’ve been studying  Gnosticism *, an ancient wisdom philosophy. We’ve learned that: In the 1 st  Century, CE, there were at least as many, if not more, Gnostic schools calling themselves “Christian” as there were Pauline Christian churches.   The Gnostics saw Jesus as a wisdom teacher, the ultimate revelation of perfect human/divine harmony.   Importantly, they also considered this revelation our sole purpose for existence. A Christ-like state is not only achievable, it is what Jesus asks us to accomplish in his name.   Gnostics rejected substitutionary atonement from the get go. For Gnostics, Jesus’ spilled blood is tragic, but has no cosmic significance. The current scholarly consensus is that the Gnostic texts we’ve been studying from  Nag Hammadi  have their roots in the earliest forms of Jewish wisdom literature (such as Sirach). By the middle of the 1 st  Century, CE, we know there were established gnostic schoo...

God of mystery and majesty, clear our clouded minds and show us you are here, among us and within us. You are we and we are you. Reveal yourself everywhere, in everyone! Show us the cosmic multitudes of our being reflecting your grace to and through us. Pull the threads of love tightly interconnecting our heartbeats. Weave us together a multi-colored, complex tapestry of divine diversity. Make us your love, compassion, and justice in the world. We pray through your eternal being, our hearts racing with expectation as you awaken the Christ within us, and the vibrant reality beyond the veil is finally revealed to have been with us, to have been us, all along.   Amen.