Many people think that religion is about believing in god, going to church, doing the right things, and getting to heaven when you die. Every one of those elements has been contested through the centuries. Whose god? What church? Which things? Where is heaven, if not just above the clouds or over the moon? Needless to say, there’s never been a consensus – certainly not worldwide, or even in a single tradition or local congregation.
Just think of all those people who won’t get to heaven because they believe in the wrong god, go to the wrong church, and don’t do the right things. Perhaps they believe in the right god, but go to the wrong church. Or they go to the right church, but don’t do the right things. Or they do all the right things, but don’t believe in god or bother with church. One way to get it all right, but so many ways to get it wrong.
Heaven might be like Montana – lots of wide-open space and very few people.
It’s no wonder so many believers are nervous about looking too closely at their god, or – and now I want to make a very important distinction – at what they believe regarding the Present Mystery, Essential Ground, and Ultimate Reality of all things. True religion is careful to distinguish between our human constructs (images, metaphors, concepts, doctrines) of Ultimate Reality, noted by the lowercase god, and the uppercase God reserved in reference to the ineffable Mystery itself.
When you have a profound sense of that Mystery and then consider the little idol in your mind – well, it can be embarrassing. Our religions have trained and conditioned us to believe in god, often by suppressing our natural and intuitive sense of God, our spontaneous wonder in the Presence of Mystery. When the experience breaks through, however, the ‘thing’ you’re holding onto just feels fake – because it’s literally made up!
Tragically, the world today is divided among believers in one god or another, who are convinced that everyone else has it wrong and is headed for hell.
The shadows of doubt clinging to their particular idols of God are forged into compensatory convictions – absolute, infallible, inerrant, beyond question. As the headwaters of normal psychological development come up against these rigid beliefs, the mind is first to abandon its defense, followed next by the heart, and finally by the will. Doubling-down is the only remedy – or else follow through to discover what’s on the other side of god.
On the other side of god (post theos) is not necessarily nihilism or more idols (i.e., gods). It could very well be your same personal god, but now filled with new light and translucent to the Present Mystery of Reality. It’s not about leaving your god behind, but rather reaching a perspective from the far side where its function as symbol and metaphor can be fully appreciated. As atheism and theism get tangled up in their debates over the objective existence of god, post-theism moves deeper into the Mystery.
Just imagine how different our world situation would be if Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, and secular sapiens of no particular denomination contemplated the Present Mystery, Essential Ground, and Ultimate Reality through their inherited and chosen lenses of meaning.
They would hold dialogue on their different perspectives, learning from each other and deepening their mutual respect for what each brings to the conversation. Together they would compose a mosaic of lenses on the Mystery, enlarging their shared horizon of understanding and solidarity.
No one would have to be right, for all would agree that no god can fully represent the Mystery of God.
We will know upon that future day that religion really isn’t about believing in god, going to church, doing the right things, and getting to heaven when we die. Instead, true religion grounds us in the Present Mystery of Reality, draws us into communion with one another, anchors us to the rich traditions of spirituality, both religious and secular, and orients us together as One Family on our shared home of planet Earth and her sacred web of life.
Mystery, community, tradition, cosmos: these have been the focus and inspiration of true religion for millenniums. Historically it has served as a framework of linkages, reconnecting (Latin religare) our lonely ego to the All that is One. Can humans flourish without religion? It’s highly likely that we will push ourselves into extinction in the name of our idols – if more of us can’t get to the other side of god, and soon.
We may not survive with religion as it is, but it’s doubtful that humankind can flourish without religion transformed.
The good news is that more of us are ready to part the veil and pass through to a more direct and authentic experience of the Present Mystery. Our religions are working hard to hold us back, threatening to revoke our ticket to heaven if we don’t confess our sins and get back in line. Their tactic is growing less effective with each passing year, as more and more of us are realizing that true religion is about NOW, not later. It’s about HERE, not somewhere else.
It’s about waking up, breaking free, becoming whole, and walking boldly – together – into the liberated life.
Tracts of Revolution 