God the Heretic

God the Heretic

*This article previously appeared in an issue of _Creation Spirituality_ magazine.*

Heresy. Just the mention of the word conjures up nightmare images of medieval witchhunts and torture at the hands of the Holy Inquisition. "Thank God," we say when we succeed at banishing these thoughts, "that's all in the past." Physical torture and murder may be more infrequent now than in the past, but as long as there are fundamentalists and progressives in any tradition, there will probably be so-called "heretics." The very word sounds diabolical, but in fact, many of history's heretics are now our heroes of faith: Jesus, Buddha, Martin Luther, Baha Ullah (founder of the Baha'i faith), and many others.

As upsetting as it may be to the more conservative people of faith, God is not concerned with other people's notions of what She can or cannot do, nor where the Spirit can or cannot lead those who listen to Her. In this way, God can be said to be the wild card of the universe. "The Spirit goes where it wills," says Jesus to the conservative Pharisee Nicodemus, "you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it is going."

In his time, Jesus was the fundamentalist's worst nightmare. Here was a man who habitually made disturbing statements that often hinted at his being God. Blasphemy! Yet, as Christians believe, God chose to become human. If that was heresy to the Jewish fundamentalists in his day, very well. God is a heretic. I doubt He loses much sleep over this.

Nowadays, with the archetype of the Goddess arising in the collective consciousness of the people of this planet, the Christian fundamentalists are up in arms about the Goddess "heresy" invading the church. I think we would be wise to remember the mistakes of our past, and to be open to the wind of the Spirit, especially when She ventures into unlikely places. If God wishes to be known as the Goddess for a while, why should that upset me? Instead, I should be listening close, because I wouldn't want to miss anything! If the Goddess is heresy to the Christian fundamentalists, very well. Again, God is a heretic, a fool, a trickster, a joker, a wild card. God does not need the permission of Jerry Falwell or the Traditional Values Coalition to do His work in the world-or His play!

Paul warned that what God does is skandalon-a scandal, a stumbling block. When one truly endeavors to follow the Spirit, scandal comes with the territory. The fundamentalist is not evil, just insecure. The enormity of God is overwhelming, so God is made into a manageable image. This is fine. Trouble comes when the religious fundamentalist says "my manageable image is the real God, and no other," and tries to silence anyone who disagrees. This is idolatry, since God is way too big to fit into any image manageable by human cognitive capacity.

For instance, it is unthinkable to some Christians that there could be anything to the Hindu belief about Krishna or the other Hindu avatars. An avatar is God when S/he assumes a human body. "When evil stalks the land," Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "I take myself a body and put things to right." Hindus believe that this has happened many times, and when they consider Jesus of Nazareth as a manifestation of God, they are inclined to believe it. Fundamentalist Christians, however, rarely return the favor, refusing to consider anything but the unique nature of Jesus as anything but the one and only visitation of God. Yet why should it surprise us that an act of love performed once by God (in this case, becoming human) might be done again? Who are we to tell God what He can or cannot do? Indeed, it seems very likely that if God chose to come to one people, He might also choose to come to another, and that this visit might not duplicate another, but be a unique expression of the Divine love to each unique culture.

That God would give Herself to all peoples seems only natural to me, and, in fact, just like something She would do. It is natural, too, that every peoples' experience of God would be somehow unique, and that their images and expression of faith and worship be unique as well. And, distressing as that may be to those who think they hold a patent on God, this is as it should be. The fundamentalists would have us believe that the True Faith is established by those with the biggest stick, and this is not Jesus' way at all.

Everyone who has followed the Spirit, and walked by faith has been called a heretic by the religiously entrenched. We should not be distressed at this, and remember that we are in the company of prophets, saints, martyrs, artists, and sages. For if any people, inspired by the Spirit and their own creativity, image God in their own unique way, it is hard to believe that God has anything but delight for them. Diversity is God's way (just look at the Creation!).

Regardless of our images, God will go right on giving birth, loving, and suffering with us. But She'll also go right on taking the people and things we love from us, without explanation or justification. This is the mystery we live with. As Siva, God dances whatever dance He pleases. It is not our business to keep up with His whims. We know what we are to do. Mechtild tells us plainly: "Live welcoming to all."