Christianity and The Invisible Church

This is Christian prose, primarily intended for Christians, but also for any person or persons interested in exploring the Christian tradition; including any symbols, rituals, legends, parables, prayers, psalms, hymns, sermons, proverbs, principles, and practices belonging to it, and beloved by it. This piece puts forth the experience of Christians, from the perspective of Christians, and must not be mistaken as an attempt to persuade, provoke, coax, cajole, or convert anyone whose temperament and life experiences are not such as to render him or her an earnest, willing, and, therefore, fitting participant in this Tradition. If you are not drawn to this path, we ask that you respectfully tolerate it's existence, and give your attention to what brings out your best. If you feel you must pass judgement, we ask only what is fair; that you first aquaint yourself, more than superficially, with the subject upon which you are pressuming to pronounce sentence.

The Church, which here means, The True And Apostolic Tradition, along with every soul invested in it (whether fully or only partially invested), is not necessarily, nor always, present within, nor limited to, any single creed, denomination, nor aggregate of denominations. This Church is invisible. It has no capital city of which it may be said "Here it is!" or "There it is!" It has a hierarchy, but it's authorities, whatever be their manner of dress, all wear (in spirit) the white robes of sanctity; the whiteness of which is dependent upon each particular soul's degree of sanctity.

Membership in this Church cannot be confirmed merely by being claimed. To the extent that one has become a perfectly clear and open channel for Love, -- giving and receiving love without condition or distinction, -- one is either a deacon or a bishop, a saint or a member of the congregation. Now, since every person has some love in them, whether it is a blazing sun or a dying cinder, therefor everyone is a member of this Church; we all wear the invisible robes of sanctity, and none is entirely the color of soot. Yet, only to those of us who voluntarily take the name 'Christian', and hold the name of Christ in preeminence, may the term be freely applied, without risk of offense. This is all that distinguishes us, and it is essentially a matter of taste or, one might say, spiritual orientation. Nevertheless, while we embrace specific forms, both outward and inward, associated with Christianity, we esoterically distinguish the true Christian by the quality and sincerity of his love, without respect to titles and affiliations.

For the remainder of the piece, I will be "speaking in tongues", as far as those unfamiliar with the rich language of Christianity are concerned. Perhaps, though, if they follow closely, they will find themselves worthy translators of this ancient and modern tongue. Again, only those who are thirsty with interest are encouraged to drink from this well, but all are invited to taste from it.

The True Church, the Living and Invisible Tradition, is ensouled and inspired by The Holy Spirit, The Divine Inner Light, which emanates eternally from the Fountainhead of All Creation. Having first agreed to call ourselves and one another Christians, we appropriately call this Fountainhead of All Creation, God The Father. Likewise, we call the Divine Inner Light by the name of Jesus Christ, in honor of what we regard as the exmplary words, actions, life, and sacrificial death of Jesus of Galilee; whose clarity of vision, we believe, allows and entitles him to serve as a human focal point; located in history, yet pulling together many strands of ancient wisdom from the half-recorded and unrecorded past, so as to thread them through the Eye of the Eternal, thereby weaving a Light of Truth, which is Christ's own immortal legacy; the modern historical evidence of the imminent presence of The Holy Spirit, woolen blanket of the world, woven by God.

To the body of Christ, it is a joy to have new members grafted on; young vines winding out, through strange new forests, bearing fresh clusters of grapes; great mounds of dark, translucent gems, always growing, expanding, bending over on themselves, as treasures do; great manes of purple curls cascading; jumbling down the mountainside, rolling over hills and into valleys, settling in the craggiest nooks; there to multiply itself, becoming seed, root, tree, and, finally, an abundance of fruit!

Blessed are they, these grafted vines; able ministers of sweet, wholesome, refreshment for the soul. Their deepest longing, and their highest election, is to be united in a still more mystical way with the Divinity potent in Jesus, and to have their lives, labors, and fruits transformed into new wine: the eucharistic blood of Christ; whom we honor as the Son of God, for the inimmitable spiritual genius and eloquence of his words; for the pioneering act of making of his life and body a sacrificial gift of love for all creatures and all creation; for making martyrdom holy; for making peace holy; for making mercy, compassion, and charity holy; for making children holy; for making lilies holy; for making confession and repentance holy; and for making all these things holy in the eyes of man.

Truly, the greatest miracle wrought by Jesus Christ during his time on earth, is not to have made all these things holy; since (as it is prudent to clarify here), these things were, in fact, already holy, in an eternal sense; having been made holy from the beginning of the world, by the Father who created them.

What Christ did was to render the holy gifts of God visible to the eyes of men. He gave spiritual sight to the spiritually blind, so that those who could not see what God had made, now had eyes to see the sacredness of His most precious works. For, although men could always see the outward forms of The Lord's works, there was no great theme, no immortal story, to give meaning to the works; that their terrestrial beauty might be cast in a finer, more delicate and significant light.

Man's ignorance had made a mockery of God's works, for men had forgotten, or had never learned, the proper use of them; and, so, had begun to devalue, denigrate, and despise what ought to have been recognized as their greatest resources of consolation, contemplation, and revelation.

Christ changed everything, because the legacy he created continues to change things, and will ultimately outlast everything it came to transform.