and it has been driving me a little bit crazy.
The reason is simple.
As a human being (who happens to also identify as Unitarian Universalist) living on a planet of over 7 billion people in a galaxy among hundreds of billions (possibly trillions) of galaxies, the belief that there is "only" one path to god is not at all congruent with my own beliefs and values.
Therefore, each time I caught a glimpse of this billboard on the side of the highway as I commuted to work on 91-South or on the drive to my in-laws house through the backroads of New England, I would have a pretty intense reaction to the words "Jesus...your only way to God."
(Oh, and if you didn't already guess, the reaction was anger.)
The reaction was so strong in fact, I actually began to form a whole defensive position in my head against them- the mythological narrow-minded, arrogant people I had concocted in my head who paid for that billboard.
(Oh, and yes, I got quite righteous and judgmental too!)
So first, I headed to my books to get more evidence to back up my position. Because I was after all: right.
I started with the opening lines to the Introduction of a great 20th century contemplative D.T. Suzuki in his book Buddha of Infinite Light: The Teachings of Shin Buddhism, The Japanese Way of Wisdom and Compassion.
Buddhism speaks of 84,000 paths to supreme enlightenment. The number symbolizes the countless ways that can lead us to the world of liberation, freedom, and peace.
84,000 paths to supreme enlightenment.
See, I thought to myself in my most know-it-all fashion, how could someone possibly believe there is one way to god?
And as I cemented my position (without one iota of irony just yet mind you) I kept going through my library until I got to Merton.
Thomas Merton, another famous 20th century contemplative who was a Christian monks and author wrote in New Seeds of Contemplation:
A 'faith' that merely confirms us in opinionatedness and self complacency may well be an expression of theological doubt. True faith is never merely a source of spiritual comfort. It may indeed bring peace, but before it does so it must involve us in struggle. A 'faith' that avoids this struggle is really a temptation against true faith.
And then he even commented on Christian proselytizing which had been my experience of the billboard.
What about the men who run about the countryside painting signs that say 'Jesus saves' and 'Prepare to meet God!' Have you ever seen one of the? I have not, but I often try to imagine them, and I wonder what goes on in their minds. Strangely, their signs do not make me think of Jesus, but of them. Or perhaps it is 'their Jesus' who gets in the way and makes all thought of Jesus impossible. They wish to force their Jesus upon us, and He is perhaps only a projection of themselves. They seem to be at times threatening the world with judgment and at other times promising it mercy.
Jesus...your only way to God.
But then, by the grace of I don't know what, I began to see the irony, the hypocrisy, of my argument.
I began to see that the more defensive I became, the more consumed I became with being right, the further I was moving from my own experience of god.
When I began to wake up to this reality, the same Merton reading started to look a little different.
In any case, their Jesus is quite different from mine. But because their concept is different, should I reject it in horror, with distaste? If I do, perhaps I reject something in my own self that I no longer recognize to be there. And in any case, if I can tolerate their Jesus then I can accept and love them. Or I can at least conceive of doing so. Let not their Jesus be barrier between us, or they will be a barrier between us and Jesus.
I then realized that I could just as easily have been accused of being, what did I originally call "them?" arrogant and narrow-minded, in the one way I had chosen to read the billboard.
This led me to look into how many other ways this billboard could be read or interpreted that might help me with the barrier between us that Merton spoke of.
Though not a Christian, I started with the Gospel of John itself. What does it actually say?
I am the way...no one comes to God but through me (John 14:6).
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (John 4:8).
This led me to remember some of the writing of Christian-leaning author and Unitarian Universalist minister Kate Braestrup who I frequently return to:
It is entirely possible, that is, that the God I serve and worship with all my body, all my mind, all my soul, and all my spirit is love (1 John 4: 8). It’s enough. It’s all the God I need.
-Here if You Need Me
God is love, John’s Gospel tells us. That’s a whole theology in three words. The practical application of that theology—God is love—is nearly as simple. Be as loving as you can, as often as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you live. Why should you do this? Because.
-Marriage and Other Acts of Charity
I also found an article online at Huffington Post called "Jesus said, 'I Am the Way...' But What Does that Really Mean?" by an author an lecturer named Steve McSwain.
In the article which chronicled pieces of the author's own personal journey with Christianity, spirit and god he wrote:
One day, I finally just gave up. That is to say, I quit believing. I quit trying to “believe” enough to make it with God. I gave up the fruitless effort to find God through words, or confessions, or the “right” beliefs. And, when I finally gave up, that’s when the transformation seemed to happen. To this day, I do not know what to call it. I’m not even sure how to describe it. But the mystery of grace was born in me. All the fear I had known disappeared. Since that day, I have never felt separated from God again. And, this is not because I finally found the right set of beliefs. Further, it is not because I had finally attained to a higher level or better quality of believing.
Not at all. In fact, it might be precisely the opposite. Not until I quit believing did I start living. Not until I gave up trying...gave up searching for the “right” beliefs about God that I discovered the Source of Mystery within.
I have since come to know that spirituality...that is, knowing the Divine...has little if anything to do with what you believe...Spirituality is really all about how you live, not about what you say...about the WAY you live, not the WORDS you say.
Reading the words of Merton, Ms. Braestrup and Mr. McSwain helped me loosen my grip on my need to be both righteous and right, and opened me back up to a space of connection and inclusivity with others which is in fact the essence of my own theology of god.
I suppose anyone who has a light-hearted sense of god with a healthy sense of humor might argue that someone as thick as me needed that very billboard to show up in my life multiple times for over a year in order for me to get the message...
Okay, message received.
Not at all. In fact, it might be precisely the opposite. Not until I quit believing did I start living. Not until I gave up trying...gave up searching for the “right” beliefs about God that I discovered the Source of Mystery within.
I have since come to know that spirituality...that is, knowing the Divine...has little if anything to do with what you believe...Spirituality is really all about how you live, not about what you say...about the WAY you live, not the WORDS you say.
Reading the words of Merton, Ms. Braestrup and Mr. McSwain helped me loosen my grip on my need to be both righteous and right, and opened me back up to a space of connection and inclusivity with others which is in fact the essence of my own theology of god.
I suppose anyone who has a light-hearted sense of god with a healthy sense of humor might argue that someone as thick as me needed that very billboard to show up in my life multiple times for over a year in order for me to get the message...
Okay, message received.
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