From Huston Smith’s ‘The World’s Religions’ chapter on Christianity – pg 323
“The Gospel accounts, written by members of the early Church, vibrate with wonder at his performances. Their pages… teem with miracles. We have seen that these impressed multitudes , but it would be a mistake to place our emphasis there. For one thing, Jesus did not emphasize his miracles. He never used them as devices to strong-arm people into believing him.”
It’s interesting, right, that in the world’s most popular religion we have this dichotomy? Here we have a God who chooses to demonstrate its power through control and manipulation of the material world (water to wine, curing the blind, etc.) when the very ‘salvation’ it teaches has little to do with creating dominion or control over earthly things.
But while a conversation opener of “So, what do you do?” can be a distasteful indication of one’s interest in money or status, “What did he/she DO?” remains an obvious and justifiable question by anyone interested in learning about notable persons in human history.
Our historical figures are nearly all notable for what they DID – the changes they enacted in this world, the countries they built, the countries they destroyed, the inventions they conjured, etc.
Religion however, as we distill it, is some sort of story that justifies the very existence in which we live and provides a ‘solution’ or salve to our perpetual anxiety as human beings – anxiety that is partially caused by the question of ‘why?’ being applied to the experience of life.
Because to answer “why?” is the same as to provide the meaning of life (that old venerable and horrifyingly unanswerable question) – and that’s proven itself to be a herculean task for pretty much every human being.
And so perhaps the miracles of Jesus were to get your attention because, well, sex sells. And the idea of ‘power’ in the classic sense is sexy to our basic lizard brains.
Yet Jesus never teaches the techniques or methods of such miracles, because his job was not to make you powerful (in the normal sense of armies and leverage and money and subjects).
His aim, like that of so many other wise men and women throughout history, was to awaken you.
In an effort to make good habits (reading and writing daily) and thus a better 2021, I’m writing short ‘conversation openers’ about things I read and which resonate with my interest in life, existence, and spirituality. Please comment and share; I am no expert but I do honestly love this conversation. Let’s learn together as we go. ~ Cecil
