“God hidden in every human being. We have to unfold it, just like fire is hidden in a matchstick.
Now we tell children, fire is hidden in a matchstick.
Children will say, no I touch it, it is cold. But fire is there.
You strike it. Fire will come. That striking is the most important thing.”
—Buddhist Teaching
It’s Christmas season so this post is timely. I’m a big fan of Jesus. That might sound like a silly thing to say in that way but that is how I mean it. I’m a big fan of Jesus in a way that transcends religion. Jesus’ teachings transcend religion – they are universal. I don’t believe Jesus was even trying to start a religion. I believe he was trying to teach and birth a new way of living. That new way of living was based on love and dispersed, in-dwelling power. God lives within us, not beyond. That was the message.
“The kingdom of God is within you.”
—Luke (17:21)
If the kingdom of God is within you, it’s within all of us. Everyone is sacred and holy. Everyone is worthy of being loved and capable of giving love. We don’t need hierarchy or external power structures to self-organize in a sacred way. That’s Jesus’ message. God comes to life through us, not above us or beyond us.
The Sioux knew this sacred truth as well. The Sioux phrase for child is “Wakan Yeja” which translates to “Sacred One” or “Holy One”. We know innately when we look at a newborn child that he or she is sacred and holy. If children are sacred and holy then adults are as well. Jesus’s invitation is to live with this awareness. You are sacred. Everyone around you is sacred. Live as if the sacred is within us and among us. “The kingdom of God is within you” (not beyond you). Jesus literally said this. But you must light the match—and, even that is not enough. The calling is to light your match and help others light theirs by loving them. You don’t have to know someone to love them or to forgive them. When Jesus said, “Come, follow me”, he didn’t mean “worship me”,—he meant “live this way”. This brings me to one of my favorite concepts from Hermetic philosophy, “As within, so without, as above, so below, as the Universe, so the soul.” We (you, me, us) are the only ones who can bring the Kingdom of God to Earth.
Consider this power dispersing invitation from Jesus himself.
“Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.”
—John (14:12)
We are all matchsticks. You strike it and fire will come. In this way, and only this way, does the world become lit and Heaven and Earth become one. God is hidden in humans. Merry Christmas!
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
—John (1:5)
