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.
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.
Melody - I love how story begins with a story about unconditional love from your friend Pam. I believe experiencing unconditional love for the first time from my daughter some 22 years ago. I remember thinking ...ohhhh, so that't what that looks like! As I read your story, I'm realizing that was the true beginning of my renewed relationship with God. Thanks you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Melody;
ReplyDeleteI love your organization of topics! And, I really resonate with this line: "The easy black and white lines of my beliefs became gray and murky."
I have lived for years within the "easy black and white lines of my beliefs"... about just about everything! I am finding today, that when I have emotional distress about something, it is almost always because I am hanging on to an old idea of some type that is rooted in black and white thinking.
So, in that manner, the "gray" has been a good thing for me. Today I know that when I have those clear cut lines, I am most likely not taking all the perspectives of the thing into account.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Blessings,
Lonnie
Hi Melody,
ReplyDeleteI was quite moved by your Made in the Image business. What a powerful way to share your life experience and show others that we are all unique expressions of Spirit. I used to have this habit of comparing myself to others. It has come and gone over the years, but lately I've noticed a change in myself around this. I am really learning how to appreciate my uniqueness. When I see others shine....I just share in their joy....and wonder, yet, what is mine to do? Despite all kinds of successes in life, I am going deeper. At 48, I am taking a new inventory of my skills and gifts. I am also surrendering to what is uniquely mine to do.
Thanks for the reminder...that we are all Made in the Image!
Shawn