Lenses, Paradox and More!

Besides the corrective lenses I have worn since I was a young child, the lenses that I view the world through are those from my experiences. I am a white woman who has post graduate education. I was brought up in a middle class, democratic political bent and small town. I also have and grew up with a visible physical disability. I am also a spiritual being whose light and force are infinite! All of this is going to shape how I view things. Being an infinite being in a finite body I have come to really appreciate the paradox that I am. Actually, I am a multitude of paradoxes. Claiming and acting out of both the infinite and finite being that I am gives me the power, the hope and the love that is needed to live my life in this world.

Some Theological Beliefs Of Mine

Theological Assumptions Paper

By

Melody Martin

As I think about my spiritual journey I can say it has been quite the ride! For this paper I will look at three subjects: God, salvation and being made in the image of God.

God
I grew up in the Catholic faith. I was taught that there was a God who created everything.

God was white, male and was keeping tabs on what I did or did not do. Going to confession was important to being ok with God. God was in heaven, supposedly he was a loving God and we prayed to him for whatever we needed. As I got older I did have a relationship with this God. God as calling and I was yearning for more. I experienced God as compassionate. My seminary experience encouraged me to broaden my perspective on God. It wasn’t politically correct to have God as he or she or any particular color. So, what made sense to me was to think of God as life force, Spirit or energy. This God was the life force behind creation and was in all living things. After being run over by a truck I came to know of this God more personally. I was wiped out physically, mentally, emotionally and I used to say spiritually. I need to say this was on the conscience level of being wiped out. On a deeper level within me there was a force within me that kept on choosing to live and there was a force outside of me that was encouraging/empowering me to continue to live. God as loving life force became real to me in the years following the truck encounter. I also need to mention having met Pam in seminary and developing a friendship based on unconditional Love gave me a reference point to thinking of God as unconditional love. In the years since, I continue to experience God as life force, unconditional love and mystery. God is oh so intimate with me and oh so beyond me.

Being Made in the Image of God

Being made in the image of God was always something important yet something that was mysterious to me. When I was young it meant you had a soul. Humans had souls and animals did not. When I was in my thirties I learned that some ordained ministers did not believe people with disabilities were made in the image of God. After seminary Pam and I had a business doing disability awareness within churches. We called our business Made In the Image. It was our declaration that people with disabilities were indeed made in the image.

It wasn’t until I started going to Unity churches that I got a clearer understanding of being made in the image of God. It was at Unity, the question was posed: Are you a spiritual being here for a human experience; or a human being here for a spiritual experience? It was the firsts time I thought of myself as a spiritual being. It has been at Unity that the emphasis is on the divine presence within each one of us. This has given me a better understanding of being made in the image of God. Yet God is beyond understanding so I guess this subject is beyond total understanding too.

Salvation

My thoughts on salvation have changed as my thought on God has changed. As a child, I had a trust in God. If I died I was going to be in heaven with God. As I got older I went through my “fundamentalist” years and I was saved because I accepted Christ as my savior. My fundamentalist years were when I was in college and I got involved with a group called Intervarsity Fellowship. I went to a big conference in Urbana Illinois. It was fashioned like Billy Graham’s revivals with thousands of people in one space singing and praying. One night they asked people to stand if you wanted to accept Jesus as your savior. I stood and accepted Jesus as my savior. It felt good. Eight years later I am a novice to be a Sister of St. Joseph. The easy black and white lines of my beliefs became gray and murky. A CSJ asked me if it was important if Jesus actually arose from the dead. My response was an immediate yes. I was given the time and space to broaden my thoughts and beliefs. Twenty some years later, it doesn’t matter whether Jesus physically rose or not. Something shifted at that time and that is what is important to me.

Now, I believe and trust in the unconditional love of God and my own divine spirit being part of God now and evermore.