Saturday, December 17, 2005

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Nature of the Redeemer

The heterodox view of redemption is to load it all onto one historical act, making it a fait accompli. They do not consider participating in redemption, only lining up for their part of it. This circumvention of the nature of redemption in our lives, removes it to an abstract theological realm. In the Gnostic tradition nothing is over and done with, nothing is merely historical; it must live through us, be done through us—or it hasn't truly been done. Just as you cannot have Gnosis of somebody else's Gnosis, you cannot be redeemed through someone else's redemption—not even our Lord's.

In our liturgy we speak of “The ever-coming and redeeming Logos.” This points to the Gnostic understanding of the Redeemer. Not someone who did something long ago, but an ever-present force for liberation. I sometimes speak of Gnosticism as the do-it-yourself religion; ultimately, no one can do your part for you. Yet, that doesn't mean that your's is the only part to play.

Within us all there is a Mystery, we often call it the Seed of Light. Who we think of ourselves as being, is the soil in which that seed is nurtured or lays dormant. Without our work, the seed cannot grow. However, that is not all that a seed needs, it can sprout, but will not grow further without sunlight. The Logos is associated with the Sun, which is why we celebrate the festival of the coming of the Logos in this season. For, one of the ways of seeing this time of year is that the old sun seems to grow weak, to grow old, and in the darkness of the year a new sun is born.

The Logos is the Sun that shines upon the tender sprouting Seed of Light within us, giving it that which we ourselves cannot provide: a greater illumination, a light transcending the world in which the seed grows, the necessary aid for redemption. Rich soil and divine light, both are necessary for the Mystery we bear within us to be brought to a greater life. That light shines in the world and through the world; this is the place of mixing, the Light is always here—no darkness can change that.

Let us diligently do our part, reaching towards that which reaches back toward us. Opening ourselves to that which nourishes us from above. Let the ever-coming Redeemer come to you, always. Let that Light shine on you, in you, and through you. And the divine Mystery, the Seed of Light, within you will grow—it will grow and, perhaps, come to bloom.

May the ever-coming and redeeming Logos be with you.

Readings for the day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post! There is a joy in coming to know that we have a seed of light within us and that it is our task to foster its growth, though it cannot be accomplished without Divine Aid. There is a great adventure in stirring to recall and remember this vital truth and perhaps some of the great myths and stories of the Hero's Journey is a way of triggering that memory that there is more to each and everyone of us, if we but remember and seek to draw that mystery forth into manifest reality.