I am a little behind schedule on this blog; however, the underlying thoughts needed time to germinate. The Advent readings for Wednesday of this week are worth a little of our time.

 Al Aqaq Mosque Dome of the Rock

The Israelites often refer to the Holy One as their Rock and Salvation. In this sense, the Holy One is the bedrock of our being, is indeed our very being.  Tillich teaches us that the Holy One is not a being but BEING itself. Salvation is nothing other than life in the Cosmic, resurrected Christ NOW with even more to come. In the Holy One beaming forth in the Cosmic Christ, matter and spirit are one. The Holy One is embedded in every atom, in every particle of the divine cosmic dust. Franciscan Richard Rohr writes:

“If Jesus represents a particular incarnation, Christ is the eternal, ongoing incarnation, the union of matter and spirit, present in all of Creation “from the beginning” and for all time (see Ephesians 1).”

In the Gospel, Jesus exhorts us to build our house on a firm foundation. I understand this metaphor better after talking to my oldest son. He and his fiancé are building their house. He is building it on a firm foundation by using twelve-inch concrete blocks which will be reinforced with concrete and rebar. Twelve-inch blocks provide a firmer foundation than eight-inch blocks. The concrete and rebar strengthen the foundation.

Are we building our lives on a firm foundation with the Cosmic Christ as true north on our compasses? Paul of Tarsus says that in Christ we live and move and have our being. The Cosmic Christ is the pattern for all creation. The pattern is love (as divine energy in the cosmos), justice, peace, joy, beauty, hope and compassion. The pattern is not hatred, division, injustice, war, despair and greed

We become very counter-cultural when the pattern of Being in the Cosmic Christ guides our lives and actions. One example of resisting. Today government decisions are based on economics and profit. Greed is destroying creation so that a few may profit at the expense of the many. Care for creation stands over against greed and destruction.

We are grounded in firm foundation on the Holy One incarnate in the Cosmic Christ. Our love, peace, joy, hope and compassion act as the energy that allows us to be co-creators within the Cosmic Christ. When evangelicals ask whether we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our response should be, “I accept the Cosmic, Risen Christ as the pattern for my life, as the bedrock of my being.”