Brian’s Reflection: Monday, March 19, 2012

It may be that our role on this planet is

not to worship God - but to create him.

Arthur C. Clarke, philosopher, physicist,

mathematician, “science fiction” author, dreamer.

he died on this date, 2008, in Sri Lanka, age 91

Michelangelo once said something to the effect that there was a statue already present in every piece of marble … his job was to release it.

I think that this is what we humans genetically do: we sense the presence of the great Mystery that is Life in everything … including ourselves. It’s part of our DNA. One of the destinies of every human being is then to unearth this fascinating Mystery within ourselves. Some call this Mystery “God”.

Every great spiritual teacher has tried to manifest this Mystery, to lead their followers to It, to project this Mystery, this Deity, from out of their own Being. Jesus certainly did. He spent his Life merging with this God-Mystery, and then living His Life out of this Truth. Most Christians will know of what is called Jesus’ “Great High Priestly Prayer” from the Gospel called “John”: “Father, may they be one, as You and I are one”.

Whether Dr. Clarke knew it or not, he was speaking to the innate reality of the unity of what we call “God” and our Selves. Traditional Christian (and other religious) thought says that “God” created All Else … that “God” is completely Other. Yet I think that what Clarke points us to is that this Unity of which Jesus speaks is not something to be effected, but rather an existing Reality that is to be “created”, uncovered, experienced. This Unity … longed for in what in Christianity is called the “Unitive Way” … is a Given. “God” and “We” are and always have been One. Human Life is therefore a Journey into this Reality … and this is what all religious life should be. God and We co-create each other. Whether they know it or not, I think this is what the Roman Catholic Church was trying to express when they defined the doctrine of Mary as “Co-Redemptrix” ..... Redemption unfolds when we merge with God.

I don’t think that Clarke is saying that we “create” God ex nihilo, as if God did not previously exist. He is simply reflecting the Mystery of the pre-existent Unity of “God” and “Us”. Jesus represents this Reality: He is called “the Only Son of God” … and Jesus (and Paul) makes it clear in the Gospel that this Son/Daughtership is as true of you and of me as it is of Him. We are “God’s Daughters and Sons”. As a matter of fact, Jesus underlines the truth by saying that we will do “even greater things” that He … meaning that we are His equals. If we think of our heart as a Galaxy, God and We are binary stars revolving around each other at the center.

Clarke’s deep insight is this: “God” cannot be Known until She emerges in our comprehension as that hidden Star always to be found dancing with us.

When that happens, God and We come into Being.

Brian+