October 01, 2013

Catching a simple thought

I'll work this out somehow.  At some moments, I get this feeling of fulfillment, of pride in who I am as a Christian, of being part of something when I think of simplifying my life to the point of almost being like a monk in a Shaolin monastery.  I can't seem to catch a permanent sense of it, but when I do, I feel a sense of something unique and holistically satisfying when I think of being a monastic, to be away from the world for a while, but at the same time living simply while living in the world.  I see myself in simple, comfortable clothes, almost like a tai chi outfit, barefoot most of the time or in sandals, and in a constant deep meditative state in whatever I'm doing.  I don't want to mix any type of paganism into my Christianity.  I'm well aware that shared aspects of Zen and Christianity are merely a bridge to begin dialogue.  Superficially similar, fundamentally different - worlds apart.  Though, whenever I think of Zen, I'm reminded of the emphasis on simplicity in how I should live my life, the simplicity of Jesus.  Not that I'm making life simple, as if I'm making an artificial existence, a make-believe world.  But there is one simple way to live life, the way Jesus lived - allowing the Spirit of God to move me, to be in step with Him, to be in line with Him, His flow, His movement in the world.  To be truly one with Him and inevitably to be one with His Body.  Obviously not in the monistic sense that some Christians have adopted.  My brothers and sisters who subscribe to that are being misled, thinking that the oneness mentioned in Zen and other thoughts with a monistic worldview is the same as the oneness that Jesus spoke of, the oneness of being united with Him, of being one with the Father.  It's not in the likeness that we have with each other, but in the unity of being in Him, in what He did and continues to do for us.  We are not all connected, but we are connected once we acknowledge Jesus for who He is - the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Creator, the Source.  So how do I live my life so I can be in line with Him, to be in step with His will, while acknowledging that I am a unique individual?  Submitting to the Head of Christ as I am part of His Body.  I have to be sensitive to His move, listening to His still small voice in the innermost part of me, like a limb responding naturally to the electrical current from the brain.  How simple!  
Now the question is, when do I begin?  

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