Holy Shift

Prologue

What an oxymoron is the title to this book! How and why would Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the one and only Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and the founder of Christianity, ever be associated with recovery from his true faith, the one and only pathway to salvation and eternal life?
Here’s another oxymoron. God who is ONE, undivided throughout all of creation—God who is Love greater than our capacity to understand—God who sees backward and forward in all directions—God who knows each and every one of us before we enter into our own mother’s womb, has created billions of people down through the ages of time with fore-knowledge that most would be forever cast into the eternal lake of fire and brimstone reserved for the Devil and his angels because they were not Christian, or, more specifically, not Catholic, or Baptist, or Church of Christ, or Lutheran, or Evangelical, or you name it. More than an oxymoron, that may be total blasphemy. Yet, that is what so many of us who call ourselves Christian were raised to believe, even still believe; especially, we whose faith experience is rooted in the rocky soil of fundamentalism.
How do we reconcile it? “Oh, such things are mysteries,” we have often been told. ”God’s ways are not our ways.” Our faith leaders, our parents and grandparents have assured us that when we get to heaven we’ll understand. ”Farther along we’ll know all about it,” the old Gospel hymn resounds. In the meantime, our job is to keep on believing, making certain to follow God’s word to the last letter, just as He dictated it to the divinely inspired men who recorded it. And, if living the life of true faith means judging or excluding those who do not embrace our particular brand of religious dogma, that’s an authorized exception to the admonition of Jesus who reportedly commanded us to “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” THE HOLY BIBLE, Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 11.
These are only a few of the ambiguities and inconsistencies of Christianity that have troubled me, an ordained minister, throughout many decades of Christian faith, personal and professional.
The intent of this book is not to convert, or to dissuade anyone from their chosen pathway. However, the BIBLE reports that Jesus said, “Except ye confess me before men, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is a public confession of my faith journey through, and beyond, the dogma of organized Christianity, with what I sincerely believe to be the affirmation and guidance of Jesus, the one from whom Christian churches claim to draw their charter. An anthology of personal revelation and experience, the chapters of this book scratch only the surface of the more significant aspects of the Christian experience I have known. An exhaustive examination of each topic would surely be voluminous.
If you, too, are one who questions, I invite you to share this journey to higher consciousness and more secure faith. Many will find delicious fruits of hope along the way, peace and affirmation not previously known and, ultimately, security. Others will find only bitter herbs, poisonous berries, and thorns of blasphemy. Unquestionably, though, one of the greatest gifts of our Creator is personal choice—freedom to take the best and leave the rest. That is my personal invitation to you. May you always, and in all ways, be blessed.