I spent the morning in prayer with Episcopalian friends who were preparing to preach at their Ascension Day worship services. One of the priests reminded me of the paintings one finds of the ascension of Christ. Many of them have Jesus, hands outspread almost like he is flying, elevating heavenward with a group of disciples watching him go. The more unusual of the paintings that simply show the crowd seeing the last image of Christ: his feet.
Ron Garner, of Wantagh Memorial Community Church, writes in his blog, "Do we fail to speak of things that might well be metaphorical as just that? Or from the pulpit and in our liturgies do we reinforce things that many people who desire to follow the life and teachings of Jesus can no longer (if they ever did) accept? Do I really believe that Jesus headed up toward heaven like some kind of divine astronaut? More importantly, is that an essential belief that I must adhere to if I am to consider myself or be considered by others a Christian?"
I believe we all have to determine for ourselves what is essential to our own belief system. One of the most important things to me about being a Presbyterian is that we state quite clearly in our constitution, "God alone is Lord of the conscience." This statement is critical to our belief system. The bottom line of our faith and development is that our relationship to God is between an individual and God, and it cannot be dictated by a religious institution of any kind. We come together to share our common worship of God who created and affirms us, who is part of our lives and our future. Yet who we are with God is as individual as our relationship with our partner or spouse.
So, as we contemplate the lines in our creeds that suggest that Christ went "up and down and up and down", we are able to determine for ourselves whether those "turn signals" are helpful for us or hinder our faith.
In the meantime, if anyone sees feet in the clouds, share it.
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