Why Jesus, Moses, Buddha, & Mohammeded Crossed the Road

Speaking the day after the death of U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens at the hands of a mob angered by a slur against Mohammed, Brian McLaren warned us that all religious and political belief systems build their identity by demonizing others--and all religions have a potential to make a contribution to peace. (Integral theory would explain this as levels of development within religions.) McLaren was speaking about his new book, "Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?"  at an event sponsored by the Emerging Christianity Meetup in DC.

To see the whole story in Christianity, he advised that we never tell just one Bible story in isolation. Most Bible stories exist in counterpoint to other stories that make an opposing point. McLaren told us he had learned this lesson from Tom Boomershine, founder of the Network of Biblical Storytellers. As an example, he says that when you tell the story of David vanquishing Goliath with a pebble, you should also tell that David was later denied an opportunity to build the temple because of his violent past. The Bible must be studied for its entire story arc he said--echoing a point Bishop Thomas made often to me in the adventure described in our book. McLaren also shared documentation from his book about how the slavery brought by Columbus decimated native peoples of the Caribbean in the name of Christianity.

After several jokes about his provocative book title, McLaren challenged us to imagine what it really would be like if the Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed found themselves on a road together. He believes there would be fellowship, compassion, and perhaps even some jousting in good fun--but none of the violence promoted by followers in each of the religions they founded. I liked the polarity in the way McLaren posed the question to us: "Is it possible for us to have strong faith--not a wishy-washy anything goes-- and still respect the beliefs of others?"

In questions at the end, my friend Stephanie Fast noted that the Bahai religion developed through periods of violent persecution in the Middle East and thus became a religion devoted to peace, citing their scripture "Better not to be religious than to kill in the name of religion."

McLaren noted the extraordinary devotion to peace of the Bahais, but cautioned against setting up any religion as the peaceful one--especially when it is new. The crowd laughed knowingly as he added, "My Mennonite friend tells me there is no conflict among Mennonites--but a lot of passive aggression."

A followup discussion about McLaren's book will be held by the Emerging Christianity Meetup later in the month.

Highview Series 5: "My Intuition is Your Holy Spirit"

Follow our hearts or follow the scriptures? This was one of the main themes throughout  the dialogue in our book, so Bishop Thomas and I saved it for the last night of our discussion series at Highview Christian Fellowship.

At the beginning of our story, I'm all for "heart" or direct divine guidance, and he's all for the unchanging standard of the Bible.  But as our story progresses--and as our discussion series progressed last month--you could see both sides expanding to include some of the other's conviction: me because I realized how susceptible we humans are to mistaking ego for revelation, and Bishop Thomas because my concession of that freed him to focus more on the mature spiritual stages in which we have wholly incorporated the scriptures into our  way of being. Indeed, I came to see that most of my peers absorbed the Judeo-Christian ethic so thoroughly in childhood that they don't appreciate how much it still does serve as a "standard" against which they measure their intuitions.

"You call it Holy Spirit, we call it Spirit," said Rev. Trish Hall, minister of my other church, The Celebration Center for Spiritual Living."

One Standard, Two Answers
From Chapter 27 of "The Bishop and the Seeker," we read how I challenged Bishop T about a situation in which I seemed to be getting divine guidance that contradicted scripture. A friend was in the hospital, but I got a feeling that I didn't have to go visit her that day.

"Scripture tells us we should fulfill other responsibilities," he said.

"Ah. So you're saying a decision to go could be supported by scripture, and a decision not to go could also be supported by scripture?" I asked.

"Yes, it depends on the situation." he said.

"But suppose I didn't have other responsibilities that evening. I just had a feeling my friend didn't need me--perhaps because she had other visitors or was being discharged. Shouldn't Spirit be able to communicate to us new information like that that isn't in the scriptures?"

"You can take that attitude," he said. "But you may be wrong."

And THAT was a major "aha" for me. When I follow my inner knowing, I risk the possibility of being wrong. If I follow the pre-set standard and things don't work out, its not my responsibility. So how responsible am I willing to be?

Overcoming "the World"
"But what about the affect of the world on us?" asked one participant. And that made me realize that both our traditions, Christianity and New Thought metaphysics, share a passion to overcome the influence of "the world" of public opinion. Personally, I was  lucky that my mother taught me, "Never follow the world, most people are boobs."  But of course, that left me prone to judgment which may be just as difficult to overcome.

Following up
Several people asked at the end of the evening if we could continue the discussion informally, which I will be happy to do. Just let us know if you'd like to sit in.

All My Ministers
My favorite photo of the series:
Me between Rev. Trish Hall of Celebration Center, and my co-author Bishop Thomas.

Highview Series 1: Taking Off the Church Lady Hat

The first night of our book series for Highview Christian Fellowship commingled so many roles, levels, and cross currents that I started off by putting on and then removing my "church lady hat" to symbolize our need to step out of usual ways of being.

Staying for the Ride

For starters, Bishop Thomas and I read from the chapter in "The Bishop and The Seeker" in which I tell him that the plan of salvation sounds like the plan of an insecure person without much imagination, and he asks me to come up with a better plan.

We asked people how the reading shows off things that do or do not encourage open communication. Several people noted that Bishop Thomas remained calm, listened, and did not take offense even though my comments were blunt enough to be potentially offensive.

"To do that, you have to have enough love for people to stay with them for the ride," Bishop Thomas said.


But what about "Truth"?
Min. Daryl Ladd said, all this exchange of ideas is fine,  "But did you ever get to the Truth with a capital 'T'?"

This was a moment we knew we would face. Would it enhance the discussion or derail it?

Bishop T responded, "What you mean is, did Teri ever get saved, and that's an adventure in missing the point."  (He was referencing the title of a book by Brian McLaren about how Christians miss opportunities to expand the Kingdom by focusing on salvation.)
 
Mother Venita, a senior member of the church with a lifetime of labor organizing behind her, said she was impressed by an idea in the book about "transcending and including" the good aspects of outside ideas. "I find I am attracted to some of the values in Buddhism, so I tell myself, the bottom line is whether its compatible with salvation through Jesus." 

Surprised at who's in heaven

Ayub Kaddu

Visitor Ayub Kaddu is a Ugandan whose encounters with Christians in his gardening business has caused him to return to the cow worship of his ancestors. Ayub asked what would have happened if Teri had persuaded Bishop Thomas to her views. Bishop said there was no possibility of that since he is grounded in absolute truth.

But he also said that when all of us get to heaven, we may be surprised as we look around and see who's there and who's not.

At that point my friend Amy Roth, a Christian and  ex-NBC reporter; chimed in that I am one of the most Christian people she knows--regardless of whether I call myself Christian or pass the official definition of salvation.


Why do this?
"You might be wondering why I did this and whether it was worth it for me," Bishop said. "I can tell you the time I spent getting to know Teri's point of view strengthened my own faith and made me a better Christian, a better man, and a better pastor."

Amy Roth

Amy interjected, "Teri, can we ask you the same question? Given that you don't seem to have persuaded Bishop to your views, was all the time you spent worth it to you?"

"Oh, God," escaped my lips. "This was one of the juiciest experiences of my life. I might still have a slightly different understanding of salvation--one I would like to share with the group--but I have more love for God, for all Christians and especially my Highview brethren, and a richer experience of life every day. Plus I've had a chance to become one of  your best praise dancers" (which got me a laugh--if you check out the video, I'm the one on the end going left when everybody else goes right).

Visitor Mark introduced himself as an ex-Pentecostal turned atheist by his experiences in divinity school. He said he couldn't agree with either Teri or Bishop's views in the book, but he acknowledged how unusual and refreshing it is to have a discussion like this that is based in good will.

Warm welcome and connections
Afterward Sisters Reedis and Bridget served homemade refreshments while my husband Andy sold books. I noticed Mark in extended conversation with Daryl, visitor Chris in conversation with Mother Venita, and Ayub getting his picture taken with everyone. Chris is an agnostic foreign service officer who has served in countries where religion is often an excuse to kill. He told me later he was surprised by how warmly welcomed he felt by the Highview people. Ayub told me he didn't understand the points about "Truth," but he could tell there were good people at Highview, and especially Bishop Thomas.

Two questions were put in the "parking lot" for future sessions: How Teri experiences salvation, and--as a challenge to the seekers from Bishop Thomas--name any question that the Bible doesn't have an answer to.

Participate Virtually in Next Meetings
I encourage anyone reading this to participate virtually in the next meeting by posting here your response to Bishop's challenge. We will raise your questions in future sessions and post his answers here.

Meetings are all Wednesdays in September
7-8 pm
Robert Frost Middle School, Cafeteria
4101 Picket Road
Fairfax, VA

Also please check our list of Ten things you can do to help promote the book--which includes a survey of questions you'd like to see discussed.

Schmoozing: After the discussion, Ayub discusses the problem of land theft
in his native Uganda with Amy, Public Affairs Director at  International Justice Mission,
which has an office in Uganda.

Christianity vs. Interfaith: Erring on the Side of Love

Will all be drawn to God eventually or are we free to choose? 

Must we be guided by the scriptures or by our hearts?
Is Christianity the only path?

How can those who take different perspectives on these questions work together for good in a hurting world?

Opposites across the table?
At the table on my left, three strong, handsome, Black, Christian men, their bald heads seeming to emphasize their embodiment of the traditional virtues of  piety, humility, and endurance: Bishop Phil Thomas of Highview Christian Fellowship flanked by his lieutenants Deacon Greg Coulter and Minister Eric Holder. On my right, two golden-haired women from the interfaith and New Thought movements: the older, Rev. Joyce Liechenstein who co-directs the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York (OSIS), and the other--dressed in the flowing ochre robes of an angel--Rev Trish Hall of the Celebration Center of Spiritual Living in Falls Church, Virginia (CCSL). Anchoring the other end of the table from me was the woman who brought us together for this meeting,  Laurie Bolster, who is both a practitioner at CCSL and a ministerial student at One Spirit.

The amazing and electric meeting  was arranged at the request of Rev. Joyce who came down from New York to meet me and Bishop Thomas after Laurie passed her our book. The Sunday afternoon meeting capped a weekend of activities with local graduates and faculty of OSIS, including  a book discussion at the home of faculty member Barbara Kinney and a visit to the morning meditation at CCSL and to the Highview service at which I was dancing.

Following meditation at Celebration Center for Spiritual Living, from left:
Rev Joyce Liechenstein, Rev. Trish Hall, Rev. Rene Ragan, Barbara Kinney.
The three guests are faculty of the interspiritual counseling department of  OSIS,
an arm of One Spirit Learning Alliance, OSLA

Me on the left dancing at Highview. Click for Youtube.

I can capture the essence of topics covered at this extraordinary meeting, but I can't capture the sparkling  openness, humility, teasing, love, and spirit of cooperation that underpinned them.

Salvation vs. Enlightenment
I started the meeting by reading from page 89 of our book Bishop's surprising description of salvation.

In Buddhism and Hinduism and all those, you have to keep striving for perfection. You have to go through all those deaths and rebirths trying to learn lessons. But when you’re saved, you’re perfect now. There’s nothing else you have to do. So you have nothing to be afraid of. Your holiness is complete, right here, right now. And that is so magnificent, so freeing, so empowering, that if you really understood it, you’d never do anything to defile it. 

In the silence that followed, Bishop Thomas got the first of many laughs saying, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." 

I told the group I got so excited by how that definition echoes my understanding of "enlightenment," that I ran with it farther than Bishop T. is comfortable--to the place of knowing, as he himself said, that even the Ten Commandments no longer apply as I make my choices from love rather than from the law.

Scripture vs. Direct Revelation
This pulled Bishop T right back into our main dispute throughout the book: whether there is one standard we can rely on to know HOW to express love--the Bible as the "manufacturer's manual" on how best to run our lives. Rev. Trish jumped in to say indeed there is a standard, but the best way we can know it is through direct revelation.

Alexandria Hospital chaplain Ed Preston (who along with his wife Diane had opened their lovely home to us for the meeting) jumped in from the peanut gallery to remind us of the New Thought teaching that we all create our own realities.

"We can do that, but we'll have to take responsibility for the consequences of the realities we create," said Bishop T.  Revs Trish, Joyce, and Ed echoed agreement.

Will All Return to the One or Can We Choose?
Rev Joyce, who at 75 and well under 5' makes me think of a diminutive medieval abbess crossed with a marketing CEO, flipped rapidly through her heavily marked Bible. She cited Saul, the prodigal son, and references in Ephesians and Colosians to God's "secret plan" to bring all creation together and make known that "Christ is in you."  "These verse tells us that ALL will be returned to God," she said, "So who's going to mess with God's plan?" 

"We are," said Bishop Thomas. "We mess up. 'Many are called, but few are chosen.'"

"I'm not so sure about that verse," said Rev Joyce. The Jesus seminar tells us we may have only a dozen accurate quotes from Jesus. So I like to pick and choose the verses that sound really good to me." (laughter)

"So do I,"  said Bishop Thomas (louder laughter). "Scripture says now we see darkly. But Christians believe we must choose to accept God's offer to return to Him. People are fee to choose not to return." 

"Oh yes, we can refuse, but only for so long," said Rev. Joyce. She told of the book Testimony of Light, in which a deceased nun reports back to her friend that even in the shadowlands on the other side, angels come every day to continue bringing light. "Though I could be wrong," she said. The older I get, the more agnostic I am as I realize how much is mystery to us."

"Well I pray you're right, but the scripture tells me differently. This is where we'll have to agree to disagree."

Sermon Exchange!

As they plucked grapes from a bowl between them, Bishop Thomas said he doesn't like to get involved in theological discussions like this while people are hurting. "We pastors are like the fellows  who cut a hole through the roof to get their paraplegic friend to Jesus for healing. We have to do whatever it takes; we have to cut a hole through the roof while everyone else is dallying."

 Rev. Trish agreed heartily. "We need to learn how to move people into a better understanding of what we call enlightenment: getting our human selves out of the way so we can have that greater experience of God as light."

"Well I could let you preach that at my church," said Bishop Thomas.

"Sermon exchange!" exclaimed Laurie and I simultaneously.

"Well I could let Rev. Trish preach at my church," said Bishop T. Even with the people who are far out in New Thought, like Dale (referring to the top of page 130 in our book), the errors they make are erring on the side of love. My people would understand that. But I would have to be careful what I said in your church because folks are so sensitive about how things are said. I can sound a little rough sometimes because of my Pentecostal upbringing."

Marching in Iambic Pentameter

Bishop T said pastors must do like Sergeant Carter in the old TV comedy Gomer Pyle: While all the other marines are marching in order, someone must correct Gomer who's always out of step, "marching in iambic pentameter." (Bishop T. has a way of creating poetry on the fly like this, but the broad grin I withheld turned to awe when I later checked the definition of Iambic pentameter: a particular rhythm that groups of syllables called "feet" establish in a line of verse, a line made up of five pairs  or "iambs" of short/long, or unstressed/stressed, syllables.

As the meeting came to a close, Bishop Thomas said, "We're not going to solve our differences. I hope discussions like this can help us find enough common ground that we are not bickering and can work together to impact the world in the way God wants it impacted, leading people to a life of abundance in Him."

I believe there was more love and trust in the world at the end of this meeting--and more clarity as well.

Abraham and Aristotle: What is Interfaith Metalogue?

Carol Haave, Judith Latham, Amy Roth, Ed Preston, Teri Murphy,
Chris Sandrolini, Frances Eddy, Onley, Dr. Ahmad, Edie Russo

(Arlington, VA) Presenting Bishop and Seeker for an interfaith salon yesterday, I focused on how the book does or does not demonstrate the move from interfaith dialogue to interfaith metalogue. This approach was suggested to me by James Jones, Integral Institute co-founder and lay leader at Unity Fairfax.

I read three dialogues from the book, two with my favorite Muslim imam, Dr. Dean Ahmad of the Minaret of Freedom Institute who was at the salon, and one with my co-author, Bishop Phil Thomas of Highview who will attend the next salon.

We placed several themes on the table:

• Dialogue is normally advocacy for one's own position. Metalogue seeks something beyond
• Metalogue is a conversation about the conversation one is having--which is what Bishop Thomas and I shared during the period we were editing our own dialogues for the book.



• Metalogue requires that at least one of the participants be aware of the context from which they are speaking: how are my beliefs about this question shaped by history, society, and my own personal upbringing and psychology? James used his favorite term "intersubjective context" here, creating a connection across the room with Barbara Kinney, a developmental psychologist and interspiritual counselor from One Spirit Learning Alliance in New York. Barbara added that in metalogue, one notices one's own shadow projections--the part of ourselves we deny and see exaggerated in others
• I thought Barbara offered the best definition of metalogue as co-creating something fresh that transcends the participants' prior beliefs



• But then Dr. Ahmad offered a definition that took my breath away, "Normally we dialogue about worship, but perhaps it becomes metalogue when we dialogue as worship."

And then Voice of America reporter Navbahor Imamova brought us back to reality saying, "I don't believe in interfaith dialogue. People from different religions have a nice discussion in a fancy roomy while outside members of their own religions are fighting. To do any good, we need to be talking about differences within our own religions."

Amy Roth of International Justice Mission offered that The Bishop and the Seeker does exactly that by modeling how to have the kind of dialogue that opens fresh possibilities. "Seek and ye shall find," she said--which also took my breath away, because it happened to be what I'd had inscribed on the cake we were just about to share.

The salon was a regular meeting of Abraham and Aristotle and All their Children,  which is graciously hosted by retired Voice of America producer Judith Latham. In September we will meet for part 2 in which we'll look at the polarities in religious beliefs about materialism, literal translations of holy books, and the role of government in enforcing "God's law."

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra: How I lived out this Star Trek episode

Recently I saw again one of the most famous episodes of Star Trek Next Generation, "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra." I sat riveted, seeing with new eyes how this story reflects my adventure with Bishop Thomas and the biblical literalists at Highview.

In the show, Captain Picard confronts an alien race that communicates only via metaphor from its ancient myths--just as my new friends at Highview attempt to solve all problems with stories from the Bible. Struggling to communicate, the alien captain beams himself and Picard to a planet where a beast is loose, and he repeatedly says to Picard, "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra!" Picard is confused and shivering in the cold until the alien captain offers him fire saying, "Temba, his arms wide!"

Suddenly Picard understands how metaphor is being used. "Temba, his arms wide" is a metaphor for giving and receiving. Then Picard recalls Gilgamesh, one of earth's most ancient legends, a story of how two enemies became became friends through hardship. He realizes that "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" must be a similar story, and that the alien captain has risked his own life to open communication between
their peoples by fighting the beast together with Picard. Alas, the alien, Dathon, is mortally wounded by the beast. As Dathon dies, Picard shares with him the story of "Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk." Dathon dies knowing he has succeeded in opening communication with Picard. Picard returns to his ship with enough knowledge to halt the war that is brewing with Dathon's people.

And that is the story in my book, "The Bishop and the Seeker: Wrestling for the Soul of the 21st Century." As a postmodern Integralist and follower of New Thought, I am beamed into the office of a fundamentalist bishop for a year of dialogue where we discover our common enemy: the excesses of postmodernism and alternative religion in which there is no right and wrong. We tell each other stories and learn each others' language. The bishop's equivalent of "Temba, his arms wide" is to offer me the openness to be genuinely interested in learning about my world. In fact, he risks his reputation among some of his own hardliners by telling me he believes I am saved, even though I do not call myself Christian.


I return to my ship to bring the message. We can work with these people, they can be friends. Instead of focusing on our differences, look at the good work we can do by focusing on our common aims to bring truth, beauty, and goodness to the world.