I love these explorations, thank you Jamie. I know this stuff is deeply triggering for some, especially now, but fk it feels good to air this sht out!
I survived a coma at the end of 2015, was in the hospital for a long minute. Had some intense “spiritual” experiences (blech that word, ime it’s all just life/nature) and when I got home, had this song on repeat. Must have listened to it hundreds of times?
I didn’t have the bandwidth to analyze and otherwise pathologize my experiences, plus I had a brain injury.
I’m now a student/initiate in a tradition, and this song is still my jam.
Yeshua was showing, not telling, a path of beauty. It was the life of a traditional healer, similar to many other cultures’ healing traditions. But there are billions of people now who would rather destroy themselves, and all the rest of life, to defend their wonky interpretation of the guy and his life. My fav traditions are the ones that start with, from the jump, awareness and acceptance of how ridiculous our species is. ❤️
I’m wrestling with this stuff on a daily basis and loved this post. Thanks for continuing to share thoughtful and useful commentary, Jamie. Your writing and the Homegrown Humans community have been really helpful to me for the past several years. Thanks!
Fascinating exegesis of the text as always, Jamie.
It would be good to see you extrapolate your thinking across the entirety of the Bible - especially understanding where God as Mother is evident in the Old Testament, the presence of God by the Holy Spirit (starting in Genesis where He hovered over the waters pre Creation), and how Paul didn't embed the patriarchy but completely upended it.
Happy to point you to relevant passages to save you time unless you want to take the red pill and go down the rabbit hole yourself...
All true, and the gatekeeping from the early days of Christianity served the purpose of writing/excluding all the feminine healers, including Mary Magdalene, (the apostle of the apostles) who were part of the Essene sect that Jesus was a part of and where women were considered equal. Excluding the divine feminine, made it so salvation could only be had through male priests and forgiveness by them, which is not what Jesus ever intended. Jesus’ message was love not punishment, but that didn’t serve the early church.
Jesus was human, which made his sacrifice all the more impressive. Turning him into a God has diminished in my mind the importance of everything he did and stood for. As he was trying to show us we too, could accomplish similar things if we had his unconditional love for our selves all of humanity.
Jesus was not here to save us from sin which he did not believe in. Our biggest sin is our lack of love for ourselves and as a consequence, of that, each other.
Absolutely! Been knowing that for a long time! The Holy Spirit is Feminine, therefore as in all creation, Father/Mother Creator brought forth the child! I say, "Our Father/Mother God, Who exists in a state of consciousness called "Heaven," Holy, Wholeness, Oneness is Your Name and Nature, thy Kingdom come, etc...
I like the revised Trinity which restores the feminine to her rightful place. But not all mystery is gone from Christianity. As a child in Catholic catechism I was told when the discussion of the "three persons in one God" came up that the fact of the Trinity is itself a mystery.
"Imagine how much kinder and gentler we might be towards each other, if we held our founding mythologies and tribal identities just a little more loosely." good stuff here. Christianity, the cultiest of cults. If you haven't already, Tim Freke would be a good guest for an interview.
I wonder of the possibility of the epoch of god the father, then the period of god in the flesh as the son and currently “the Holy Ghost “ where the Christ Love must live and radiate and be present and practiced by humanity.
I enjoyed those books you referenced. It always amazes me that people aren't more fascinated by mythology. It's right there and so enjoyable and natural. How about a prayer with the AllNature.
Combine Elaine Pagels and Barbara Ehrenreich's "Blood Rites" and you get a comprehensive twofer. But then you have to throw Penrose Handoff and Orch O R into the mix to keep it "mystical".
I've given up on making meanings out of american christianity that I can participate in or live with. I grew up in a group of a few thousand american evangelical christians who joined the eastern orthodox church (read Becoming Orthodox by Peter Gillquist if you want the story from one of the movement's leaders). As I've matured into middle age, I've come to the conclusion that we managed to combine some of the worst aspects of christianity: Byzantium and fundamentalism. Quite a head trip to combine "Ancient Faith" (go look up the publishing house we founded) and Southern Baptist mindsets. We called it the church of the apostles. Now, I view it as a human institution spouting a human mythology. It might be about the divine, but it is not the work of the divine.
I love these explorations, thank you Jamie. I know this stuff is deeply triggering for some, especially now, but fk it feels good to air this sht out!
I survived a coma at the end of 2015, was in the hospital for a long minute. Had some intense “spiritual” experiences (blech that word, ime it’s all just life/nature) and when I got home, had this song on repeat. Must have listened to it hundreds of times?
https://youtu.be/0gQVS2fCsek
I didn’t have the bandwidth to analyze and otherwise pathologize my experiences, plus I had a brain injury.
I’m now a student/initiate in a tradition, and this song is still my jam.
Yeshua was showing, not telling, a path of beauty. It was the life of a traditional healer, similar to many other cultures’ healing traditions. But there are billions of people now who would rather destroy themselves, and all the rest of life, to defend their wonky interpretation of the guy and his life. My fav traditions are the ones that start with, from the jump, awareness and acceptance of how ridiculous our species is. ❤️
Iris knew - her song is great!
Thanks for the song link, I haven't heard this in a while. Lovit! Good reminder to "let the mystery be."
I’m wrestling with this stuff on a daily basis and loved this post. Thanks for continuing to share thoughtful and useful commentary, Jamie. Your writing and the Homegrown Humans community have been really helpful to me for the past several years. Thanks!
Fascinating exegesis of the text as always, Jamie.
It would be good to see you extrapolate your thinking across the entirety of the Bible - especially understanding where God as Mother is evident in the Old Testament, the presence of God by the Holy Spirit (starting in Genesis where He hovered over the waters pre Creation), and how Paul didn't embed the patriarchy but completely upended it.
Happy to point you to relevant passages to save you time unless you want to take the red pill and go down the rabbit hole yourself...
All true, and the gatekeeping from the early days of Christianity served the purpose of writing/excluding all the feminine healers, including Mary Magdalene, (the apostle of the apostles) who were part of the Essene sect that Jesus was a part of and where women were considered equal. Excluding the divine feminine, made it so salvation could only be had through male priests and forgiveness by them, which is not what Jesus ever intended. Jesus’ message was love not punishment, but that didn’t serve the early church.
Jesus was human, which made his sacrifice all the more impressive. Turning him into a God has diminished in my mind the importance of everything he did and stood for. As he was trying to show us we too, could accomplish similar things if we had his unconditional love for our selves all of humanity.
Jesus was not here to save us from sin which he did not believe in. Our biggest sin is our lack of love for ourselves and as a consequence, of that, each other.
Absolutely! Been knowing that for a long time! The Holy Spirit is Feminine, therefore as in all creation, Father/Mother Creator brought forth the child! I say, "Our Father/Mother God, Who exists in a state of consciousness called "Heaven," Holy, Wholeness, Oneness is Your Name and Nature, thy Kingdom come, etc...
That Lazy Sunday reference tho 😂
thank you for clocking my proudest moment...
not bad and a whole lot more grounded than J. Hall spewing the logic of the trinity to Jim Rutt.
I also resonate with the biggest forces being dual or quaternary, like the Ngenechen from the Mapuche cosmology: Father/Mother/Maiden/Youth
When you said to let the mystery be, this made me think of Joseph Campbell, when he said that your highest god is your highest obstruction.
I like the revised Trinity which restores the feminine to her rightful place. But not all mystery is gone from Christianity. As a child in Catholic catechism I was told when the discussion of the "three persons in one God" came up that the fact of the Trinity is itself a mystery.
Ok. Yes, yes, yes. It's a beautiful vision you lay out. AND
"There have been (and still are!) plenty of deeply thoughtful, rigorous, ethical Christians who believe exactly" ALL "of these “outrageous facts.”
As someone quoted me today, "Not all paths go up the mountain, but any path can take you there."
"Imagine how much kinder and gentler we might be towards each other, if we held our founding mythologies and tribal identities just a little more loosely." good stuff here. Christianity, the cultiest of cults. If you haven't already, Tim Freke would be a good guest for an interview.
I wonder of the possibility of the epoch of god the father, then the period of god in the flesh as the son and currently “the Holy Ghost “ where the Christ Love must live and radiate and be present and practiced by humanity.
I enjoyed those books you referenced. It always amazes me that people aren't more fascinated by mythology. It's right there and so enjoyable and natural. How about a prayer with the AllNature.
Combine Elaine Pagels and Barbara Ehrenreich's "Blood Rites" and you get a comprehensive twofer. But then you have to throw Penrose Handoff and Orch O R into the mix to keep it "mystical".
I've given up on making meanings out of american christianity that I can participate in or live with. I grew up in a group of a few thousand american evangelical christians who joined the eastern orthodox church (read Becoming Orthodox by Peter Gillquist if you want the story from one of the movement's leaders). As I've matured into middle age, I've come to the conclusion that we managed to combine some of the worst aspects of christianity: Byzantium and fundamentalism. Quite a head trip to combine "Ancient Faith" (go look up the publishing house we founded) and Southern Baptist mindsets. We called it the church of the apostles. Now, I view it as a human institution spouting a human mythology. It might be about the divine, but it is not the work of the divine.