In my religious tradition, we frequently say “I behold the Christ in you.” It means that we look past any appearances to the contrary to see the perfect God idea of any person. In a more secular sense, it is about seeing the best in people. It is to see beyond their flaws to see their potential. Is it something we really do or are we just saying words? Perhaps we are spiritually or metaphysically squinting to see perfection as a potential.

I believe it is not enough to believe something. There has to be a practice of it. A spiritual practice for someone in my tradition would include keeping the mind and heart present to the idea that the Christ exists within everyone. But when asked, “What is it like to behold the Christ in someone,” few can actually describe the experience of seeing this good.

I also believe that spirituality and science and psychology are all compatible. I do not have a crisis of faith normally because something new has been discovered. In fact, most of the time, I find that my faith is enhanced by new discoveries. Even when Stephen Hawking says there is no reason to believe a God created anything, I am not upset because I don’t believe he is viewing God from the same definitions.

What does it mean to behold the Christ in someone? Does it not mean to look past the personality to see perfection? There are studies now that say that while environment can play a part in shaping our personalities, most of what manifests as our personalities is embedded in our DNA. In other words, much of what we like or dislike about ourselves or others is, by my definitions, created uniquely and placed in us by God. If you will allow me this premise we might play with the idea that beholding the Christ in ourselves and others can become a practice of really endeavoring to understand one another. At least one way of doing that is the study of personality. If the co-founder of my religious tradition is right and personality is our sense of separateness from our reality as divine, then it is in our individuality or uniqueness that we would find our divinity. So when these studies talk about the uniqueness of a personality, they would be talking in practical christian terms of our individuality or our divinity. But we will not find that divinity if we are constantly blasting the way we or others manifest. Personality is more likely to come into alignment with principle or evolve into a manifestation of potential with praise for what is right rather than condemnation of what is wrong.

Three primary ways of blasting our personalities is through the misuse of negative emotions such as anger, shame and fear. We get angry at ourselves and others. We shame ourselves and others. We fear to trust ourselves and others. Which one we gravitate to depends on how we approach life or how we respond to life.

For example, some of us respond to life primarily from instinct. We have gut reactions and we trust those gut reactions implicitly. After all, it is our bodies that are the clearest overt evidence that we are alive. Any connection we make with our heart and mind is mediated through our five senses and the actions we take with them. We have much to learn from such people because when in nature, they have no real need to describe any phenomenon with words or to identify a specific emotion with it. They are godlike in that they simply become part of it. They know instinctively that they belong to it. They embody it. The rest of us would do well to study them as this aspect of the Christ is what we need to bring balance to our own consciousness. When it is time for action, these are the people you want around. They will approach any action or crisis in an immediate, practical, direct and open way. If there is a smoldering negativity within them, it is probably anger. Their desires are to protect themselves and determine their own course in life, maintain inner stability and peace of mind, be good, virtuous and be in integrity,

But everyone is not predominantly operating this way. Some people live primarily to stir up love. We can call them the heart people. Unlike the instinctual gut body people, they have a clear distinction between the self and the world outside. The healthy heart person has this wonderful selfless goal of bringing love unconditionally to every situation. The unconditional part is key. When someone is not receiving love from the heart person, the healthy heart person allows them their own spiritual journey without judgement, shrugging their shoulders and moving which is the essence of what Jesus describes as shaking the dust from your feet but without prejudice. The inner life is most important to the heart person. If there is a lurking negativity, it probably revolves around…shame. Their desires are to feel loved, to feel worthwhile, accepted and desirable, to find themselves and their significance and create an identity out of their inner experience.

But everyone is not that way. Finally we arrive at the head people or as the other two types like to call them, the head cases. One thing to know about head people is they know how to set boundaries. They then can observe the world from a place of safety. They assess and consider how the world is from a place of objectivity, calculation, rationality, reason. They are logical and are taken with analysis. Language is very important. Rather than visiting past emotions and dreams like the heart people, head people are more likely making detailed future plans. Rather than enmeshing with their surroundings and other people like the instinctuals, the head people are asking for time and space to think. There they can pick up signals from the world and send back commands. The hidden negativity for the head cases is fear. Their desires are to be capable, to find security and support, to be happy, satisfied and find fulfillment.

Let’s talk about this negativity a little bit. We tend to think that we should never have any negativity. I have a different view. What we call negativity are various gifts from God. What God created, we should not be trying to rid ourselves of. It is there for a reason. Negativity is God energy that focuses our attention on that which we most value. When Jesus overturned the tables, he was saying a place of spirituality should not be used as a place to cheat people out of their money. He was angry that something beautiful and heavenly was being degraded. What does your anger tell you? Shame indicates you feel you have done something hurtful whether intentional or unintentional. It helps you mitigate your behavior so society functions better. Fear tells us how much we value the gift of life God has given us and we can take actions to protect life in all forms. We don’t want to be rid of them. We want to not let them control our lives in the form of constant rage, longterm guilt or extreme phobias. Allowing negativity to control us is called useless and unnecessary suffering.

If you think this is all too simple, you are right. The human creation is very complex and the study of it takes more time. But if you relate to this writing, it can be the beginning of your ability to distinguish the unique expression of the Christ in yourself and all others. My wife Jan and I can laugh and enjoy our relationship more when we recognize this difference. Jan, as an instinctual, might say, “Let’s get this done. It needs to be done.” I might respond with, “Let’ think about it first.” When we don’t recognize it, we look at each other like we are aliens. How can he or she be like that when what life calls for is so obvious to me?

What Jan points out more often than me is that we are all three of these distinctions and more. We all move from heart to head to body in a more or less fluid way. The goal is to achieve balance. But we need not judge others nor beat ourselves up too badly when it is natural for us to have a preponderance of one over the others. But for our health, it is good for the head person to take a walk and observe nature more or at least get more exercise and be in the body more. It is good for the heart person to move away from their emotions and think things through a little bit more and establish some boundaries. It is good for the instinctual types to move into their hearts for the purpose of self love and self development.

There is a practice that can be developed of recognizing your type in not only yourself but in others in order not to judge but to be able to see how the Christ is currently manifesting in them. Would it be easier to meet your boss’ goals if you knew he or she operated from their head, heart or body? How much easier would communication be with a spouse or partner? Would your expectations of your children change if you could make these distinctions? Would a minister understand congregational expectations better? Would a minister be easier to understand by a board and congregation?

Also, how you approach relationships and/or find a partner to help balance you would be determined in a helpful way by knowing yourself well enough. It is perfect for this head person to have an instinctual as a spouse and partner. What she gets from me only she and God knows.

How you approach your health is obviously not a one size fits all. Active play perhaps with others for the heart person, nature hikes for the instinctual and maybe private exercise for the head. Just suggestions.

How you attain prosperity may be differentiated here. Heart people tend gravitate to helping professions. Body people I know from personal experience find ways to help others achieve their goals. Head people acquire a body of knowledge.

So the wisdom of spiritual work is not to develop a spiritual program that is like everyone else’s, but one that is unique to you and meaningful to you. One that is suited not only to your inclinations but also challenges you to move beyond them. Included in that program is openness to the differences of others and how those differences contribute to the whole and add to your experience instead of subtracting from it and that all of it is God’s creation deserving of worship and praise.

This writing was inspired by The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Riso and Hudson and by Head versus Heart and Our Gut Reactions by Michael Hampson.

The most noticeable thing about the most well known of the evangelical fundamentalists is that as they condemn the different and the disadvantaged and make it clear they are sinners and cannot enter heaven, there is a clear contradiction not only sometimes in their own behavior, but also in the words themselves.

In Christianity today, many clergy teach the gospel of personal responsibility. What that seems to mean is that their congregations should keep them in riches while they themselves participate in little or no pastoral care. As the Crystal Cathedral careened toward bankruptcy, Robert Schuller and his family made no effort to limit the exorbitant salaries they were taking. When their beautiful building and campus was being purchased, the Schuller’s were requesting that food be brought to their limousine. I can’t imagine that after all these years of extravagant living, they had not saved enough for their retirement. Where was the personal responsibility he had preached all that time?

When Jerry Falwell was alive, he traversed the countryside to bring his moral majority teachings to people who didn’t want it all in the name of Jesus. But I heard nothing of him bringing food to the starving, uplifting the disadvantaged, or comforting the grieving. His message seemed more about saving people whether they wanted it or not and enforcing it politically. There is no better argument for the separation of church and state than the introduction of fundamentalist Christianity into our politics. Our current congress is filled with these pseudo-Christians who care not for the least among us but for the imposition of their own salvation theology on our country. There my way or the highway mentality is directly related to Robert Jeffress’ idea that all other religions are wrong.

The result of all this is that any program that helps the poor and disadvantaged among us is trashed in favor of lining their own pockets. And we still haven’t approached their favorite things. Abortion and homosexuality. I won’t dwell on homosexuality because there are so many who write about the hypocrisy of words and actions on this topic better than I do. Suffice to say we have all seen Christian clergy and political leaders who rail against this so called sin only to participate in it themselves. As far as fundamentalist clergy is concerned, they are fond of quoting Leviticus in this context without mitigating it by pointing out the parts of Levitivus that they and all the rest of us totally ignore. When was the last time you saw an evangelist who didn’t get a haircut? Which of them is promoting stoning disobedient children?

But it is the whole pro-life thing that can be a demonstration of hypocrisy beyond our imagining. When evangelical fundamentalists say they are pro life, what they mean is they are pro fetus. It is easy for us all to nod our heads when it is pointed out how helpless the fetus is to the choices that are made. Why is it hard to nod our heads when the choices of women over their bodies and their very already established lives become at risk. Nevermind the horrible experience some would impose of carrying a child conceived in rape to full term. Nevermind that some would criminalize women for even having uninduced miscarriages. Nevermind that the denial of abortion eliminates the inequality of choice between men and women. The hypocrisy I want to point out today is that the life they are pro about becomes less important the older the child gets. The fundamentalist Christians in political power don’t believe in programs that help low income children like Medicaid and WIC. When the worst happens and the child grows up in fear and anger and impulsively acts out in gang activity to find people who want him or even worse actually kills someone, the life of the child at that point becomes totally worthless as the death penalty is imposed. Oh yes, the death penalty. The murder that is ok compared to the ending of a life that is not close to being sustainable outside the womb.

Let me state without equivocation that I am pro personal responsibility, pro life and pro following the teachings of Jesus Christ. In regard to that last one, my personal spirituality is one that believes that the practice of Jesus’ teachings is more important than any legendary, mystical magical concepts of who Jesus was. I don’t begrudge others their beliefs as long as they are not forcibly inflicted on others. To continue, I believe the practice of Jesus’ teachings is more important than any salvation theology born of the 1800′s. These teachings lead me to be pro life but not in the way it is defined by evangelical fundamentalism. I am for the best quality of life for everyone born including women as well men, homosexuals as well as heterosexuals and children who are sustainable outside the womb whether they are born of the rich, the Christian, Islam or Jewish heritage and belief.

If Jesus showed us anything, it was that everyone’s life is precious. Samaritans and Jews, women and men, rich and poor, healthy and sick. Nowhere does he promote inequality. It is in his teachings that I come to certain conclusions about my own life and my own behavior. Being an uplifting influence on all of God’s creation is more important than hating those who believe and behave differently than I do. Being loving is more important than selecting who is worthy of my love. Serving God is more important than any dogmatic theological belief about God. In other words, what I practice is more important than what I believe.

On one of my earliest radio programs, I critiqued a sermon by Robert Jeffress. You know. The guy that introduced Rick Perry casting apersions on Mormonism. The title of his sermon was “Why All Other Religions Are Wrong.” As I took every point he made and countered it, very well I must say, my own thinking about what the Truth actually is gained clarity. What we regard as absolute Truth is, in my opinion, unknowable. So when a religious leader presumes to KNOW absolute Truth, my advice is…RUN…because you are in the presence of someone very dangerous. Someone who believes they KNOW has made themselves the interpreter of the entire mind of God. In other words, they have made themselves God. It is no longer a matter of faith or belief. They know who God condemns or loves and who is going to heaven or hell. This kind of arrogant thinking is how the Christian right has disrupted the political system, american governance and our personal lives. This kind of arrogant thinking was found in the racism of Jim Crow laws and more recently the hateful homophobia spewed from the pulpits of evangelical fundamentalism.

Over time this megalomania has been exposed through the hypocrisy of words spoken and behaviors taken. In the eighties Jimmy Swaggart railed against prostitution, pornography and promiscuous sex condemning those that live together without marriage and every other sexual thing. Then, through his repentant tears, he confessed to participating in the very acts he condemned. Ted Haggard railed against homosexuality until a male prostitute came forward to say he had been with Ted in the biblical sense.

Compare that to the gospels and we find something very interesting. Jesus dined with those of ill repute. There is no record of him sermonizing about their evil ways. Only that he was in their company. Even the adulterous that was brought before him was simply told, “Go and sin no more” which to me says, “Try not to make the same mistake again.”

My conclusion is that if we are to follow Jesus’ example, the only people we need to lecture on a regular basis is religious leaders who place themselves above everyone else and consider themselves God’s elite or attempt to articulate the entire mind of God. When we allow that, we give too much of our own power away. Instead we need to be clear that we are no better than anyone else and seek to bring love, comfort and upliftment to “the least of these.”

More to come.

I don’t presume a comprehensive wisdom. In fact, I don’t really claim any wisdom other than what any other person can claim. But I have been a minister for going on twenty-four years and have defined the job primarily as that of researcher. I am paid as a minister to research wisdom and report back. Ministers are paid to do this, in my view, because you are all to busy to do it because you work real jobs. That is what I intend to do with this online ministry in general and this blog in particular.

Over the years I tend to think that the best of the teachings that have emitted from my mouth are ones I tend to repeat. I repeat that in which I receive reports from people who say these teachings work in their lives or perhaps even more incredibly, they work in MY life. Last week, I made an effort to identify those teachings I have repeated the most and came up with nine. Nine is a great number as it is a triple trinity. People who know me know that I love trinities. If I can’t make three points, I probably won’t make any. So in the coming days, I will be talking about these particular teachings as I have listed them below. Let me know what you think of the list. Be gentle.

1. What You Practice is More Important Than What You Believe.
2. A Spiritual Practice is Not a One Size Fits All Proposition.
3. Whenever We Recognize the Presence of God, We Are Changed and Never The Same Again.
4. We Are Not Punished For Our Sins But By our Sins.
5. We Never Make Mistakes From Our Understanding But Always From Our Ignorance.
6. Negative Emotions Are God Energy That Focuses Our Attention On What We Most Value.
7. It Is Not the Circumstances of Our Lives That Create Problems But Our Response To Our Circumstances.
8. Heaven is Not a Place to Go When You Die But It Is Within You As Part Of Your Consciousness.
9. God Always Has A Better Idea.

Yesterday was my last Sunday as minister of my church here in Las Vegas. I must say it feels weird that in the middle of the current economy, I voluntarily joined the ranks of the unemployed. I don’t know what my future holds. I tried out for a church in Oregon and I don’t know what that result will be. I withdrew from consideration of another church because if they were dumb enough to hire me and I was dumb enough to take it, it would be a catastrophe. I would have felt good about that decision if they had not written back saying they were thinking the same thing.

In my final lesson I used Genesis 1:1-5 as my scripture. It says there that after God said “Let there be light” that He then purposely separated it from the darkness. How did I miss over all these years that originally light and darkness were joined together. God separated them for an orderly day for us. Darkness is natural in our lives and God’s creation means that the light of a new day is also upon our consciousness when we feel engulfed in the darkness of fear and dread or any other negative emotion. So when I woke up this morning with that feeling of being unemployed and the doubt as to whether I would EVER be able to make a living again, I remembered that I had just taught the principle that the light of God’s goodness is just around the
corner. There is a new dawn to my life.

But will that dawn be what I want? God couldn’t possibly have a life better than the one I dream of could He? If you haven’t figured out yet that my faith is no stronger than yours and possibly a lot less, then put on your glasses because you are missing the point. God catches me every time I fall. That doesn’t mean I ever feel good about falling nor even that I count on God to catch me again. Apparently God has a lot to prove to me because I want Him to prove it over and over.

Yes, I am God’s selfish little brat who wants more and more. Prove your love for me one more time God. So as you all deal with whatever travails of life you have, I am asking you to take time out even if your issues are worse than mine and have faith for me and help me know that God has a life of abundance for me. Ok..ok..I’ll pray for you too.