"Because we no longer worship such a Christ, we are condemned to worship smaller stories. We try to replace him with colorized myths of pilgrims, George Washington and General Norman Schwarzkopf, but none of them are big enough or real enough to give universal order and meaning. We look to the private psyche, but it is just not big enough or connected enough to encompass human spiritual longing."(R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 388)
Today in church we observed Christ the King Sunday. There's of course the biblical witness to that Kingship, but the church observance has a different twist. It came into observance in 1921 as a decree from the Pope at the time. It was meant to be the counter to the Protestant Church's observance of Reformation Sunday, and was held on October 30th. For some reason, Episcopalians like me moved to the end of the Liturgical Year. Probably because we are little bit Catholic and a little bit Protestant, and weren't really interested in the tiff.
Fr. Rohr's reflection for this particular day was on how we've shrunk our mental images of Jesus and have lost sight of the true magnitude of the person. And with that larger than life Christ we've attempted to replace him with a different sort of hero. The problem being that while all those that he mentioned are inspirational in their own way, they cannot fill that spiritual hunger. That need for something greater than ourselves.
There are certainly people throughout history and even in my present life who are inspiring to me, but I won't worship them. They do not cause me to take a look at myself and step out of my comfort zone.
For me it is as a believer in God as revealed in Jesus Christ that I move beyond myself. The eyes of my faith allow me to appreciate the way others live fully into their callings, but I know who is doing the calling.
Blessings,
Ed
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