An opening...

The love I have of the Gospel and the convincement I underwent to a much purer and simpler manifestation of Faith, have driven me to begin to blog, as the expression has it. A great burden has been laid upon me to publish the Truth amongst my friends (if I can ever learn how).
Between the corruption of those entrusted with authority and the unhappy, unexpected and TOLERATED corruption of the Gospel, by those who ought to know better, we have fallen into a terrible path. Scripture has warned us of these trends, so we really ought not to be surprised. Disappointed, perhaps, but not surprised!
A little above three hundred fifty years ago, George Fox, feeling similarly compelled, began to publish the Truth, as he declared it.
His burden was quite simple, really. The Gospel had been corrupted (in his day as in ours) and the result was then, as today, that humble, faithful, trusting Christians had been led astray from the pure Truth of the Light. The Gospel has been so traduced that it is nearly unrecognizable. We suffer "foxes in the henhouse" or worse, out-and-out false shepherds - wolves in sheep's clothing!
I will admit that I do still like to wear my pectoral cross, a very unFriendly thing, I know. It is artwork, music wrought in silver.
Symbols are windows. Depending upon our vision, we may see that the window is shuttered, or we may be given the spiritual vision to see through and beyond the window, into the realm not hidden, just veiled. It is the gift of the Lord God that I am able to see beyond the window, into the Heavenly Realm.
At the crucifixion, the Veil was rent and ALL were then given direct access and the pure vision of the Father. Sadly, most of us choose not to look within or are hoodwinked into thinking that setting up idols is better than the unalloyed vision of the Father of Lights!
The Most High and I maintain a very personal and candid relationship.
That, I believe, is one aspect of Faith which has escaped many Christians. Too many have no relationship with their God.
Dorothy Sayers makes the excellent point: "In modern memoirs written by real people about another real person we would expect just that sort of diversity which we find in the Gospels. If it surprises us there, it is perhaps because we have fallen out of the habit of looking on Jesus and His disciples as really real people." - from the introduction to "The Man Born To Be King," a radio play.
When I was serving as priest in the Tenderloin, I continually spoke to my congregation about the Nature and Person of the Father, that HE is NOT wall-paper!
The lip-service is one thing, the devotion of one's life to the cause of spreading the Gospel, living a Christly life, serving as HIS Ambassador, these seem to have fallen away in the hurly-burly of this rush to survive or acquire - that lamentable "Gospel of Prosperity." In none of this do we trust our Father to exercise HIS Fatherly love over us. This despair of the mercy of the Most High is a terrible sin and, I think, has led us into a ghastly and erroneous path. One might actually be led to think we don't really believe anymore. And believing leads to knowing...so, I wonder if we care to know the Father of Lights at all?
The tenor of the times has contributed much to this difficult situation. Without shame or fear, "clergy" and others have misled the People of God into the "slough of Despond" and away from the path of the righteous. This is a terrible thing, for it confuses the People and makes the Living Gospel of no value, leaving it toothless! When we depend upon the leadings of others to point us to the "Promised Land," but do not, ourselves, seek that blessed land, then we will wander, baffled and confused, in the desert for forty years.
It is my contention that the Gospel is a radical manifesto, a social as well as religious writing. For verification of this, we need look no further than the Magnificat, the Song of Mary, in Luke (Luke 1:46-55). This statement is by no means unique in Scripture, but Mary lays out the plan the Ancient of Days has for His People. This psalm is a gauntlet thrown at the feet of the oppressors, the imperial forces, AS WELL AS the entrenched religious and domestic leaders. The social indictment in the Magnificat is uncompromising. Truly, Mary declares the "world turned upside down." Jesus, in His few years as a wandering rabbi, sets this new vision forth in real, practical terms. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus establishes the Manifesto for His Kingdom, which is here and now, not some distant "pie-in-the-sky" event! He demonstrates that the ways of the Lord God are most surely NOT the ways of man. All those willing to accept the new, true vision (which has been preached by the Prophets since ancient times) will enter into the New Jerusalem. Those not willing to make the necessary adjustment, are condemned by their own choice. It is a simple decision, really.
Either repent (turn away from, re-think) one's former life and associations, or stay where one is, and live a vapid existence. Jesus makes clear the obvious - the Father does not care what we once were...HE is interested ONLY in what we choose to become - the decisions we make NOW matter! The transition does not occur over night, but once begun, it manifests itself clearly.
The leadings of George Fox speak of this progression. We need to remember that light is cleansing and healing.
Sunlight purges us of our doldrums, our ennui and aids wounds to heal. So, first, we must open ourselves to the Father's Light, to see ourselves as the Father sees us, "warts and all." We MUST begin to heal.
A scathingly honest appraisal of our sinful nature is critical. Once we have seen ourselves in the Light, we must make amends, as best we are able, for the transgressions we have committed. Of course, there is no real amendment we can make for the sins we have followed, which have led us away from the blessed company of the saints. But, as Jesus says to the disciple who asks to go bury his father, "let the dead bury their dead." -Matthew 8: 22
We must ask pardon of our fellow saints and any others against whom we have transgressed, where possible, however.
The sin, which some call original, must be recast in the Pure Light of Truth. I am not sure the Sacrifice of Jesus redeemed us (and, from what?), since we continue to be blinded by the blandishments of this world and hoodwinked by the enemy!
I wonder if Jesus did not teach us how to live, and ultimately, how to die?
While most would say the "original sin" is disobedience, I am of the opinion that it goes deeper.
The real sin was idolatry. For back-up, I refer to Genesis 3.
The disobedience of Eve and Adam led them to want to be like gods. That is what the eating of the fruit represents.
We have all, since then, tended into the same way. We set up for ourselves the rules we want to follow, we interpret the Scriptures as we wish, so we can justify the self-centred lives we live. Even though Quakers do not subscribe to a doctrine of "original sin," per se, yet they will not dispute that humanity is flawed in the deepest recesses.
It is almost always much easier for a person to choose the wrong path, than to follow the righteous path. This points to a flaw in the human soul which certainly runs deeper than we understand.
Most Christians today are not interested in living godly lives (there is NO profit in it). If this were not so, we would do as the Father requires of us - we would heal the sick, feed the hungry, pursue justice, protect the widow and orphan, etc. In short, all life and our world, would be vastly different.
In today's social policies, we see how far we are from any moral or Godly vision. Much talk is offered about the Bible, about God, but in truth, little is done to implement a Scriptural application in daily life. Why people would stone us!
It has become the mode, theses days, that politicians manipulate and use the Scriptures as a foothold in elections, despite that their lives are far from exemplary - adultery is common, sex with minors, murder, corruption and graft, accepting AND offering bribes. In some cases, these wicked individuals do not even try to cover their sin.
The tragic reality, then, is that a constituency will vote for these unscrupulous individuals, furthering the sins, giving them a credibility, almost a "trade-value," in the "marketplace" which unwittingly makes us all partakers of this sin.
Not to stop a sinner in his sin is to silently permit it, however heinous! We have a responsibility, both as social animals and Ambassadors of our Faith, to speak up, however unpopular that will make us...we may be reluctant prophets, but prophets we remain!
Surely, our task is to be pillars of smoke by day and pillars of fire by night!
We are not only guides and milestones, we are stumbling-blocks.
If we do not speak to this and IF we do not conform our lives to that of Jesus, we may well be contributing to the greater sin of indifference and apathy - the sin of Laodicea.