WITHOUT A MAP

Some of us are humble believers, others, like me, tend to look a bit more deeply at the tenets of their faith. I often think I'm like that father in the New Testament who cried out to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  Mark 9:24

A book I've read recently entitled Why Religion? by Elaine Pagels has enlightened my belief / unbelief dichotomy. In fact, Pagels has helped me to realize that just like colours and sounds, faith is on a spectrum. Our path to God is an individual as our fingerprint. Yes, a church may be of assistance on our journey but ultimately, each person must find find his or her own unique way to the finish line.

Here's an excerpt from her book that explains that when it comes to religion, there is no one size that fits all.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 brought to light many Bible scrolls, prophecies and sacred texts that had been hidden in caves in Israel near the Dead Sea. A similar discovery was made in Egypt at about the same time. A sealed six foot jar filled with a stack of ancient books, bound in tooled gazelle leather was unearthed by a farmer digging for fertilizer. Among his findings was the Gospel of Thomas which the early church suppressed because it was considered Satan inspired.

I used to think that religion was primarily a matter of "what you believe." But I've had to abandon that assumption, since seeing how the particular circumstances of Christianity's origin led leaders to equate 'true religion" with a set of beliefs, especially since the fourth century, when certain bishops hammered out the list of doctrines called the Nicene Creed, and the Emperor Constantine and his successors decided to use it as a test of who is - or isn't- legitimately religious. Even today, many Christians insist on a single set of beliefs - whichever one their denomination endorses.

What I love about sources like the Gospel of Thomas is that they open up more than a single path. Instead of telling us what to believe, they engage the head and the heart, challenging us to "love your brother as your own life," while deepening spiritual practice by discovering our own inner resources: "Knock upon yourself as on a door, and walk upon yourself as on a straight road. For if you walk on that road,you cannot get lost; and what you open for yourself will open."

While  urging us to seek a deep connection with reality, they encourage us to walk without a map, expecting turbulence and surprise: "Let me one who seeks not stop seeking until he finds; and when he finds, he will be troubled; when he is troubled, he shall be astonished." And when asking where to start, we find another saying from the Gospel of Thomas; "Recognize what is before your eyes, and the mysteries will be revealed to you."