Today is the Sunday at church when we talk about Jesus' baptism

Here's a take on Jesus' role and mission by Andrew Harvey, who is a truly ecumenical mystic:

"What is needed on a large scale, I believe, is an army of servant-warriors for peace and justice, an army of practical visionaries and active mystics who work in every field and in every arena to transform the world.

"This is a radical vision, of course, but it is not a new one. Christ's real teaching was not about worshipping him as son of God; it was an attempt to transmit to everyone else the intimate, direct, totally transforming relationship he had himself realized with God, an attempt to empower all beings with their own human divine identity and to begin a mystical and political revolution."

Andrew Harvey, from The Direct Path

One need not be a "religious" person, of course, to become a servant-warrior for peace and justice. Those secular humanists are just as qualified as anybody! Andrew Harvey, last I checked, is not a Christian, but he is passionate about God, and he is passionate about Jesus' mission and about how Christians and non-Christians alike can live out Jesus' calling. I take his work and vision very seriously. I can go on about "consciousness," and it looks like navel-gazing; but really, I am aware at all times that the point of faith and personal individuation and therapy and prevailing over illness, etc., etc., etc., is all about peace and justice when you get right down to it. I struggle with dragging myself into activism of any kind, but I know that the little things I do in a single day - how I interact with others, or how I treat myself - is part of a larger plan. I hope someday to be a servant-warrior; but for now, with my energy limitations, I find a calling on a smaller, less warrior-like scale.

This being a Presidential election year, now is as good a time as any to leap into action. I challenge you to read the following excerpt and explore Andrew Harvey's writings and activities. If you are a Christian, check out Sojourners. If you are even thinking about getting involved in the Presidential election, find out what possible involvement you can take on. Write letters to the editor. Investigate mission work, Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corps, Americorps, and so forth. Help out at the local domestic abuse shelter. Participate as a tutor or teacher in literacy and English as a Second Language programs in your area. Donate money to the causes you support. Help establish a scholarship program for needy students. Visit people who are lonely.

If you are unable to do much due to disability of whatever kind, remember that being kind to yourself is a huge gift to the world. Loving oneself builds a sturdy, useful bridge to everyone you encounter. And it is a holy thing to accept love from other people, even if you don't have much to give in return. Love is love, no matter which direction it is flowing.

Baptized or no, we are called to take action as demonstrated by Jesus in his life after he was baptized.


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Here is a summary of Andrew Harvey's Vision for Sacred Activism (lifted from his official web site):

VISION

The journey of my work and of my inner understanding has led me to the vision that will now occupy the rest of my life: That of Sacred Activism. I am in the process of founding a school for sacred activism which will be part of The Center of Spiritual Democracy, of which I am the Executive Director www.spiritualdemocracy.org. The Center for Spiritual Democracy is dedicated to the re-envisioning of American Democracy at all levels. My school of Sacred Activism will be one of its central and essential programs.

Everyone whose eyes are open knows the world is in a terrifying crisis. As many of us as possible need to undergo a massive transformation of consciousness and to find the sacred passion to act from this consciousness in every arena and on every level of reality. It is my deepest belief that only Sacred Activism – the fusion of the deepest mystical knowledge, peace, strength, and stamina with calm focused and radical action – can possibly be of use now. A mysticism that is only private and self-absorbed leaves the evils of the world in tact and does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history; an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, whatever it’s righteous intentions. When, however, the deepest and most grounded mystical vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic, and social institutions, a holy force and power of wisdom in action is born, a force and power that can re-fashion all things in and under God, and bring humanity, even at this late desperate hour, into harmony with its self and original nature. This force of Sacred Activism I believe will be the source of the birthing power that humanity will need to create a new world from the smoking ashes of the one that is now passing away.

Hildegard of Bingen, a great Sacred Activist of her time, wrote; “Humanity, full of creative possibilities, is God’s work. Humanity is called upon to assist God. Humanity is called to co-create with God.” These words by the great 12th century Christian woman saint challenge us all, whatever our religious or spiritual belief, to do three linked things: to uncover our own divine nature through prayer and meditation, to attune our hearts and will to the will of God for the transformation of the earth, and to devote and pour out all our God-given life energies in creativity, service, and justice-making so that divine reality can be increasingly embodied in the world.

And let all of us who see the seriousness of our contemporary situation, and also the extraordinary possibilities of a new order join together as Sacred Activists to do all we can with all we are and have to transform the crisis and the world.

by Andrew Harvey