While visiting friends in Kingston
Jamaica in the late 1980’s I was invited to visit with a local Yogi who lived in
the foot hills surrounding the city. We
in the West would call him a naturopathic, a medical practitioner who uses the
natural elements of plants and herbs or alternative medicine to help fight
disease or to relieve a medical condition. I was also told at the time that
this particular Yogi was also a spiritual master and I would find him very
interesting. After meeting him, I was
prompted to ask him a spiritual question. So, I asked, “how do you understand all the
different religions in our world? The gentleman went quiet for a moment and then
he said this to me.
Every country and contentment in
the world has a main river source that we might call the countries life blood. In Canada you have the St. Lawrence River
system, in England you have the Thames, in Germany the Rhine, in China you have
the Yangtze and so on. All rivers, each
with their own unique and distinct water flows and offers a rich resource to
its country. All the rivers and streams
of the world have in common is where they all join together and that of course
is in the ocean. If you were to go out
into the center of the ocean and scoop a pail of water, could you tell me which
came from the St. Lawrence, the Thames, the Rhyne, or the Yangtze? I see the same for all the great religions of
our world, eventually we will all come together in the shelter of compassionate
love for one another.
I truly believe that this was one
of the most important moments in the cultivation of my theologically perspective
and my openness to the wisdom teachings of the other religions in our world. I have often reflected on this wisdom story
and others looking for the depth of its true meaning as I believe that we all want to follow
in the Holy way. I also believe that this was the spark that lead me to discover others spiritual writings Aboriginal, Buddhist, Islam, Zen, etc. which contained
within their stories traces of the Holy teachings of the Trinitarian God also. They may at times use different language and
stories to describe the Holy way but they in themselves no longer threaten my
faith as a Christian but actually have reinforced and deepened my root in
Christ. Let us keep in mind that all religions
including Christianity of our world have been used to promote hatred, violence,
and war when interrupted by militant radical groups.
I believe as did the Apostol Paul
that one day, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that the universal Christ is Lord of all. In fact one of
the most important themes thought the New Testament is that the day is coming
when we shall all be one people with one as our God
head.
Blessings Folks. I leave this
parable with you for contemplation during the remainder of this month and
August as I will be on Holidays until the first of September. Looking forward to sharing with you once
again.
No comments:
Post a Comment