Oneness And Diversity

MON., AUG. 6, 1990, 6:20 AM
FARM, STUDY

Discussion in the forum yesterday showed a range of feeling and “position” in relation to Christianity and other spiritual paths. The point you made was a good one, but of course you did not assert that the Holy Spirit tells you repeatedly that she likes diversity. It was not an appropriate time or place for such a testimony from you. However, let Me tell you what you might have said, about Me and My Teachings to you.

The basic way of thinking, as you iterated on the way home, has to be both/and rather than just either/or. Christianity’s major mystery is that I am One God… and also Three in One. I, the Holy Spirit, speak to you… as Holy Spirit. But you notice that I also speak to you, occasionally as Jesus and, even more occasionally, as Almighty God. As Jesus I was, and am, fully God and fully human. I was male, but I was also, mystically, fully female. As Holy Spirit I speak for the One God who was in Jesus Christ, but also for the One God Who is recognized in a wide variety of other ways.

As God, I am the Holy One, the unapproachable Creator and Sustainer, the C.E.O. of the universe. I am also God the Father, nurturing and guiding. I am the disciplinarian and also the understanding, forgiving counselor. (And you know how hard it was to truly be each of these.) I am the One Who holds to absolute standards and behaviors, and I am the supreme wishy washy liberal. I am whatever I need to be to reach the spirits of the diverse humans I have created… in the diverse cultures and religions I have allowed to develop.

In this diversity that I have minimally described I accept and encourage many spiritual paths. Some of these are ancient and orthodox, where conformity is the ruling standard. There are some that hew to certain doctrines, but allow some diversity of interpretation. Then there are extremes of individual relationship with Me, as well as off-shoots of more orthodox faiths.

Because languages are different in many ways and because thinking is influenced by language I “come out” differently as I am described in this diversity of speech forms. It is hard for you to understand how and why Islam is the fastest growing religion in the earth at this time, with the Koran being in Arabic. Should the Holy Scripture be in a single language or should it be in many languages an even many translations in a single language?

Even as I have encouraged you to know about some of these other faith journeys, I call on you to be and to remain a Presbyterian Christian. You are to know about eternal life, sometimes referred to as reincarnation, and to know you have lived in the earth before this life and that you probably will return again. At the same time you are to be a staunch member of a fellowship that rejects this truth as being non-Christian.

In your own extended family the beliefs and practices range from the ancient and orthodox and liturgical to the free-flowing, spirit-filled Pentecostal experience and then on into individual agnosticism and perhaps even atheism. There are those who would sincerely call homosexuality an abominable sin (and certainly not of My doing), but who love and accept the two acknowledged homosexuals in your family.

You have this gift that you share in a few ways. Those who hear or read of what you and I do together are a diverse lot, and Dyer and Rick… and Anajean and Mabel, each perceiving this in different ways.

You are named as Teacher of the Year for this diverse University, but it is not expected that everyone would teach as you do… or even value your style. The diverse subject areas and styles of teaching make up this desired University. In other cultures the desire would be that all teach alike.