The Gospel of Mary, Part 4
In Mary's Gospel 3:10-14 Jesus says some really interesting things.
You ready?
Let's look ...
"Matter gives birth to passion that has no likeness because it proceeds from what is contrary to nature."
Wait.
Huh?
Here's what I think ...
"Matter" - the physical body.
"Passion" - your ego, the part of you that is focused on ... you.
"Proceeds from what is contrary to nature" - the passion or ego that your physical body has produced is not who you really are, it is contrary to your nature.
He goes on to say that, "then there arises a whole disturbance in the body. Because of this I said to you, 'you shall become satisfied and not persuaded. You shall be joined in the presence of the likeness of nature."
In other words, "become satisfied with your true nature (what lies at the core of your being, in your heart) and do not be persuaded by the ego - live in disobedience to the ego! Revolt against the ego! Live in disobedience to who your ego tells you to be. It's crafty. It's sneaky. It talks a good game. But don't let it fool you; don't let it persuade you. Instead, be joined to the presence or the likeness of yourself that is your true nature."
In his translation of various Gospel texts, Robert J. Miller comments on this section of Mary and says, "true contentment" (according to Jesus) "comes form conforming NOT to the demands of the material world, but to the spiritual image of the true heavenly nature, the Good."
There's a call here, in Mary's Gospel, I think (and remember, I'm no scholar ... I'm just reading this stuff as a normal, everyday person and trying to make sense of it for myself), to live in rebellion to the ego, to the part of our being that wants to be seen and noticed by the world, to the part of ourselves that longs for acceptance and admiration, to the part of ourselves that will do almost anything for our community's nod of approval. Instead of chasing after the nod, Jesus (in Mary's Gospel) encourages us to do something radical - to peel back the layer of our ego so that we can tap into and live from the truest part of ourselves, the part of ourselves that is found at the very core of our being ... our very, very good nature.
What is our nature?
What is this true part of ourselves?
How do we know what it is?
The writer of the Gospel goes on to say, "when the Blessed One (Jesus) had said these things, he greeted them all, saying, 'Peace be with you!' Bear my peace within yourselves! Beware that no one lead you astray saying, 'Look ever here!' or 'Look over there!' For the Child of Humanity is within you! Follow it! Those who seek it will find it."
Do you see how radical this is?
Essentially, Jesus is telling us to stop looking for who we are supposed to be or meant to be "out there" ...
Over here.
Over there.
In church?
In the words of that preacher?
On the pages of that book?
From the mic or course or ideas of that podcaster?
... and to start looking inside of us because the Child of Humanity (Jesus The Christ) lives, has lived, and always will live inside of each and every single one of us.
All genders.
Rich.
Poor.
Drunk.
Sober.
Muslim.
Atheist.
Jew.
Pagan.
Christian.
YES.
The Christ, The Christos, the Breath of God, the Energy of the Divine that is pulsating through all of creation is the truest part of our nature and so when we look at Jesus and read about the stories of love and grace and inclusion and forgiveness, we're not reading the far removed story of a perfect man who lived 2000 years ago and did things we can only hope of doing, but the very real stories of a man who lived 2000 years ago not from his ego, but so much so from the core of his being (from his nature) that when we ...
Read his stories.
Listen to his words.
Meditate on his teachings.
... Something within us is awakened and revived to life as we wake up and remember who we are, who we are meant to be - that we are more than our ego, more than the expectations of the world ... that we are (in all actuality) Christs or breaths of the Divine that are roaming the world; and we (like Jesus) have the potential to strip away the ego and live from THAT place - from the core of our being, our true nature.
In other words, Jesus is in all actuality a reflection of who we really are, of who we have always been, of who God or the Divine or whatever intends for us to be and the more we lean into him and the more we meditate and dwell on him and his stories and his words, the more we'll begin to see ourselves in him and he (the Child of Humanity, as Mary's Gospel calls him) in us.
Again, Robert J. Miller says it like this, "because every human being is created in the Divine Image of the perfect Human, people need to seek within to find the Human One. They must guard against those who try to lead them astray by requiring that a person conform to what is outside by following a leader who is over here or other there."
I don't know about you, but there's a lot of people who are telling me what I should be doing these days.
Right?
Whether it's an angry evangelical from my old tribe telling me that I need to conform to proper doctrine, orthodox theology, etc. OR someone in the deconstructing community who is writing blogs, creating courses, shooting videos, and recording podcasts telling me how I should and shouldn't deconstruct and telling me that out here in the wilderness I need to conform to a certain set of deconstructing principles in order to "do it right" ... everyone over here and over there has an opinion of how I'm supposed to be, of how I'm supposed to carry myself and live my life and faith.
The power of Mary's Gospel (for me) comes in hearing Jesus' warning to not be led astray by those voices, but to (instead) look within myself ...
In my heart.
In my soul.
In the quietness of my inner being.
... to search for The Christ, the Breath of God, the Human One, the voice who is whispering and telling me who I am, how to live, and what to be in the world.
This voice will often go against the grain, against the ways of the material world, against what the ego would have me do ... but I must follow it anyways for this is where true peace and true contentment will come from.
May you quiet the voices around you this morning, and the voice of your ego who would have you aim for the applause and approval of everyone else and may you follow the voice of the Human One within you to forge your own path, live your own truth, and transform the world with the love and grace and mercy and inclusion that has been planted within you just as Jesus The Christ modeled for us some 2000 years ago.
Much love.
Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE || MY BOOK
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Are you as fascinated by this as I am? Here are a few books I'm reading that have been a springboard for a whole lot of ideas.