Celtic Odyssey

For a while now I’ve been reading the Gospels in my daily practice. Just the Gospels. And recently, I’ve started seeing some passages in new ways (I’ve seen some really cool things in the Gospel of John). As I have been reading through them, I have started noticing a contrast (almost glaring now) between religious systems and The Way. That is, I’m seeing every time Jesus butted heads with the “Jewish opposition” ( John 6.41 [1] ) it was a confrontation between ontology and religion — a way of being versus an empirical religious system. The reason for this clash is that Jesus ushers in God’s reign upon the earth: Mark 1.15 (NLT; adapted): [2] “The time promised by God has come at last!” Jesus announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” The “time promised by God” was when Israel’s God would come back to Israel and reign over the entire creation (see Isaiah 40 , Daniel 9 , and Malachi 3-4 for example [3] ). When Jesus continued his mini...

6. In this we are seeking to be authentic people, so that there is nothing false about us. We refuse to wear masks, seeing our lives whole and entire, being utterly honest with ourselves. Integrity toward others flows out of fearless personal honesty. There is a need to break down the difference between the sacred and the secular; to be the same on Monday as Sunday; to be the same at work as at home; to be the same with our family as with our friends and colleagues. This Understanding piggybacks on the previous understandings. What I like about this one is the sentence, “There is a need to break down the difference between the sacred and the secular...” Indeed there is! The Celtic Christians didn’t see a difference between the sacred and the secular. While they did see a difference between our realm and god’s realm, life in our realm was not divided. They saw sacredness in all of life. There are plenty of prayers, rituals, incantations, etc., that reflect this. There’s a great story...

I believe there is one thing we need more than to be understood or be known, It’s our need; a true, undeniable need, For me and for you, this is our need: it’s forgiveness. Charlie Peacock 1 I ask for your forgiveness. I know that I can be a little more than passionate about a subject, especially when it comes to my own convictions about it. However, as the Fifteenth Understanding of the Lindisfarne Community states, “...We [strive to] hold our convictions (which are few) without wavering, but hold our opinions (which are many) lightly.” Sometimes, however, the line between the two can be a bit blurry. And at other times, following the Way of Jesus means to just keep one’s mouth shut. Let me explain. Recently, while speaking to some friends about a conversation I had about the “church” and my convictions about it (and if any of you have ever read this blog before, you know how passionate I can be about my convictions), I stated that one of the biggest mistakes for the follower...