Christ Within

» Posted by Sarah Winslow on May 22, 2011 in Current Thoughts | 0 comments

A few clients have asked what my thoughts were about the news that swept many folks up in a scuffle about Harold Camping’s prediction about the “Rapture” which was supposed to take place yesterday, May 21st. I have had much thought about such matters before this time as I have studied many different philosophies and faiths for a long while. 

When I awoke this morning I thought about the poor folks that are followers of Camping’s and followed his belief that those Christians would be pulled to heaven in one fell swoop and the rest of the sinners on earth would be swallowed up in pain and misery. They are sitting and wondering why they are still here and although there were some weather events across our lovely Earth, nothing of the like of his prediction of a huge earthquake. It makes them wonder, question and most likely be faced with a more existential view of life and their faith than they were ready to face on a Sunday morning.

While most Christians do believe in a coming of Christ and the salvation of an afterlife, not all share Campings view of a specific date of such an event. This is where I would like to mention of how Christ’s teachings in essence are the whole idea of being a “Christian.” To love and serve the common good and our fellow man. To serve and be of service to those who need help and to always give, for it is in giving and receiving that we are whole.

For those who follow a Christian faith, a better way to go into these times of late would be to adopt the philosophy and practice of living with the CONCIOUSNESS of Christ. That would be that no matter what is going on or not in our lives, to live as a reflection of those aforementioned principles. To have it be in our awareness.

My feeling is that the whole reason these news events even happen is to awaken folks of certain faith and thought that maybe our “rapture” is actually happening on some level already and that those who adopt a feeling of that within and without (as in practicing kindness and compassion for all things) will be an “arrival” of sort of Christ…within. Jesus himself always said “The kingdom of heaven is inside you.”

Maybe all those tactics of fear are not what our Creator had in mind when the knowledge came to us about “salvation”. Interestingly enough in the Buddihst community a well known statement is “Peace comes from within; Do not seek it without.” Also to keep in mind is this from the Buddha; “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

Interesting to re-read that quote this morning. As we ponder another Sunday, as we pray in our churches, as we help our children with school work. As we smile at our mate, finish a plate of eggs. Another day to practice meditation and eat well. To learn new things, to be open to new things. To study other cultures and learn. Another day to trust our own minds and hearts, to value our dreams and the future of our planet.

And to ponder the defintion of the word “rapt

ure” rap·ture (rpchr)
n.
1. The state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy.
2. An expressio

n of ecstatic feeling. Often used in the plural.
3. The transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven.

Im not sure about you, and yet I know that many of you feel the same way. In the arms of a lover, at a plate of good food, in a garden in springtime, at the family table, at the news of a loved ones happiness, the wagging of a dogs tail….the above defintions are there. It is inside you. All around you. And if you know someone who is low and does not feel that within, then become the “Christ within” and do his work around you by reaching out with hands of love. Then, hopefully and quite possibly,stories like this that incite anger, fear, loss, or the like, may not be part of our reality anymore.

To love and healing for all, here and in all faiths and walks of life…

Peace,
Sarah