Christianity, church and Druidry
Christine March 17th, 2007
I often enter into an uneasy discussion with myself over the unmistakable fact that most churches are wilting, denominations are diminishing under the failures of the institution itself. Yet there is a mounting interest in emerging faith communities of two or more gathered together. It both concerns and excites me as I see potential for meaningful dialogues among Christians of all kinds, a new conversation about God between people of various faiths in general. I do not doubt this movement will continue to gain momentum but I fear the element of fundamentalism which always seems to be lurking on the edge of some resurgence groups. There tends to hover that element which favors exclusion and dogma to all else — to the point of ignoring the core message of the Gospel. It is the age-old attitude: I have it right and therefore I am right. The other is excluded, becomes externalized and any coherent dialogue between the two factions is rendered meaningless. You know you can’t argue with a fundamentalist. You cannot deliver reason or a differing viewpoint to two feet cast in concrete and unmovable. In the emerging faith communities we must all be aware, must struggle to end the tendency to be right, to hold the key, to know the way, to profess to be the ones holding the true burning light. In my view there are many little candles of light, or candles of understanding, scattered throughout all kind of faiths and history. Some burn brighter for me more than others might, but that does not mean the candles I am drawn to are brighter or any truer. They are simply insights or windows of a perspective which may make more sense to me given my nature, my background, my weltanschaung, i.e., world view.
All that said, I wanted to share this different perspective written some months ago by David Lindholm on Christianity and Druidry. It is not a long essay but he alludes to a few of my many little candles. Especially I appreciated his emphasis on simplicity and how small is often beautiful. (So much of what I adore about our Quaker Worship Group revolves around the lack of monetary burdens and our ability to meet in each other’s homes. ) The ways of the church are dying because they do not speak to us; the very institutions of the church have killed any longing for the spirit in our own hearts. The robes, the altars, the creeds, the hierarchy are all a chain around the neck of faith itself. God is not asking for once a week; God asks for your whole life. Lindholm confesses his take on the Gospel:
The truth is that if you live his words, you do not need any church at all. Whenever we gather together it should be in joy and simplicity, very much like the early Celtic church. This is where Druidry comes in. There is a great interest in the early Christianity of the British isles and it is not possible to understand it without an understanding of its pagan roots. We need to find our way back to a veneration of God in all things, Panenthesim as Matthew Fox coined it. God is in all things, but things are not God and God is more than them. Druidry stands astride both traditions, Christianity and Paganism, and if Christianity is going to flourish again it must find its way back to the simple life and we must learn to learn from each other.
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