Divine Humanism
There has been a void created in my life.
If you know me and have been following my pursuits and journeys, you will be familiar with my calling to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church. Indeed, for the past eight or nine years of my life I have been pursuing a call toward some form of ordained leadership by taking necessary steps in my academic career and practical forms of ministry, such as my Bachelor’s in Religious Studies and a Master’s of Divinity, and a Spiritual Health internship and residency positions at Emory Healthcare. Among other travels and studies, I’ve been cultivating a sense of self around the identity of a priest; my calling revolving around the altar.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege and opportunity to attend a Discernment Weekend hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta--the diocese I have been an aspirant (one aspiring to some form of enhanced ministry). This was a weekend full of deep searching and seeking from myself and the commission on ministry to examine if/how I (and others) are called to ministry. Though feeling confident in my sense of self and calling; feeling both honest and open, I was told--yet again--by the Episcopal Church “Not yet.”
I have been put on hold by the Church twice now, the first time while seeking ordination in the Diocese of California. Then, their answer was the result of me not being in the Church long enough--actually, they said I had to “pay my dues”. But this time, in the Diocese of Atlanta, the decision and vote to not put me forth was the result of people being uncomfortable with my theology and their perception of my attitude. Through this series of posts, I wish to address these issues full on and present them to the public. Not so much as to receive affirmation of my theological thought and self, rather it is to defend my-Self, my theology, and my understanding of religion and the world. The discernment process I went through does not allow one--whose fate is decided by seven individual twenty minute meetings among the seventeen commision members--to respond. There is no opportunity to advocate for oneself after the weekend as people that one has recently met, decide whether or not one goes forward in the ordination process. Accordingly, my theology was what held them back from putting me forward, as well as people judging me as arrogant in my theological stances and claims. So, this is my response after receiving the news, praying on the decision, and attempting to understand who I am and how God is calling me deeper.
Over the course of eight years studying religion, religious thought, theology, philosophy, sociology, chaplaincy, psychology, mysticism, christian history, social justice, public policy, etc… I have come to see the world through the lens of many different perspectives. It is a gift of mine to be able to see many perspectives of how people understand themselves as believers or unbelievers and how their faith or lack of faith impacts society. Through these studies, I’ve come to understand that there are many similarities; more similarities in us than there are differences. One major similarity is our common Humanity.
I am a Humanist. Humanity is beautiful. Humanity is Divine. It is our Being, our representation of Self, our distinctiveness as Humans that separates us from--and connects us to--all of nature. Humanity in and of itself is not the ultimate experience of nature, but it sure as hell is a wonderful one. And my humanism is rooted in the theological understanding that Christ was also human--this is the ‘Jesus’ part of Jesus Christ. God became human to teach humans about God’s Self. God was Human. God is Human. And God’s humanly body ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God.
This teaching became solidified within me during a study abroad experience. In seminary, I participated in a faculty led study abroad to Palestine/Israel in the hopes of understanding the conflict through the Palestinian perspective. We flew into Jordan to begin our studies at a Palestinian and Syrian refugee camp. We met with local christian and islamic leaders regarding their roles in the refugee crisis; as well as families living in the settlements in order to hear their stories--to be witnesses of their struggles. We were welcomed into strangers’ homes and offered food and drink. They allowed us foreigners and westerners to enter into their house and their stories. We learned about their plight and flight from apartheid conditions--conditions we westerners helped create. They told us about being forced from their homes, jobs, and lives because of a religious promise made thousands of years ago to a people long past. We listened to these tragedies; each one individually special but collectively the same.
During our travels from Jordan to Palestine/Israel, we made a pilgrimage stop at the Jordan River. We had just come from Mount Nebo where it is proclaimed that Moses stood, looking toward the West to a promised land he would never see. But as we walked toward the Jordan River, winding our way through the same wilderness of John the Baptist, we came to a spot that was below sea level. It was here, at one of the lowest points on earth, that God descended in Spirit to announce that a human--Jesus--was God’s own son. God lowered Godself and became human so that humans could be raised up to God. This is why I call myself a Divine Humanist.
I see Humanity as being divine. It is our Humanness, our essential and material selves, that is divine. It is not our ability to think or our having consciousness, rather these are byproducts of what it means to be human. Humanity, represented in the Christian tradition, is divine because God is incarnate in Humanity. This was reinforced through Jesus’ own words, “the Kingdom of God is within you,” (Lk. 17) and John’s Good News that the “Word became flesh” (Jn. 1). And let us not forget the hebrews’ revelation when the writers of Genesis proclaim that humans were made in the image and likeness of God, or when the Psalmist quotes God saying, “You are gods; you are all children of the Most High” (Ps. 82).
Most religious people are quick to worship the deity, the God, the divinity of Jesus; sometimes forgetting the ancient church councils that remind us of both essences--human and divine. I’m simply offering a worship to the humanness as well as the divine. My theology revolves around this essential experience of divinity--the consecrated body and blood. These are human characteristics sanctified through ritual, prayer, and grace. Through our own body and blood we can experience the Divine; we can experience God. Our humanness leads God to a fuller expression of God-Self. Our bodies are the temples through which God acts in the world. Our flesh is the matter that the Spirit moves through. This is why even the angels are jealous of us humans. For we are created in the image and likeness of God, and Jesus as Christ is the ultimate expression of this reality.
In other words, I’m not afraid of our material bodies. I do not think the material realm is lesser than the spiritual. I do not think that matter is ‘gross’. All, and I do mean all, dwells within God and God dwells within all. Thus, Jesus (Ultimate Human Experience) Christ (Ultimate Divine Experience) is our teacher, lover, and advocate. He shows us the way, truth, and life of what it means to be Human, divinely Human. Jesus Christ gives us the wisdom of this teaching through his lived experience--he teaches us how to live in harmony, as humans, by revealing the spark of divinity within us all.
