Recognising God

Who will one day receive the Kingdom of God?

We see in the Gospel according to Mark that John saw people who were healing others in Jesus' name and he was upset because these people were not part of Jesus' group,

Yet they used his name.

Usually we would find that somebody who does something like that,

Especially now,

Would be slapped with a copyright suit,

Law case or infringement of intellectual property or would be told off and made out to be a charlatan.

Yet Jesus doesn't do that.

Jesus actually says to John that,

No one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me,

And anyone who is not against us is for us.

Isn't that beautiful?

Sometimes people can live in spirit without necessarily being part of the in-crowd.

Even if the in-crowd tells them,

You can't sit with us.

That made me remember growing up and asking somebody in my catechism class,

What if a person is born in a far-off country,

A country where the Gospel had not been heard yet,

And that person lives a life of love,

And they pass away,

Will they go to hell?

Will they not reach the unity with God?

The answer was very simple,

That God would make himself known to this person one way or another.

And for a long time I thought it was a cop-out.

The answer wasn't good enough for me,

Until I looked at it from a slightly different point of view and I saw that we expect the children of God to look a specific way.

We have been raised and conditioned that you have to believe in a specific way,

You have to express your spirituality in a specific way to be linked to God,

To feel part of the community,

To be accepted by the Church.

And yet we see that the Church is divided.

There are so many different sects or different expressions just in Christianity that this idea of us being one body is a false.

And yet this false itself is just an illusion because we can step out of it.

We can step out of the idea of I have to pray to God in a specific way.

I have to express my spirituality in a specific way.

I have to call God by a specific name.

That is such an illusion created by ego.

Can we not see that we can step out of that?

And we can see that God is in every person,

In every being.

And if God is there,

Then instead of looking at what a person weighs to Church,

If they go to Church,

We can maybe see that God is inside of each person.

No matter if they go to a cathedral,

A chapel,

A shul or a mosque or a temple,

Or they stay at home,

God is inside all.

And if we can start acknowledging that and honouring God in every being on this planet,

Can you just imagine how beautiful our planet could be?

Because I don't know about you,

But if God is in this person in front of me,

How can I then meet them with derision?

How can I look at them and judge them?

I don't know the journey that God has planned for this person.

I don't know their sole purpose.

And yet many times we find ourselves,

And I include myself in this sometimes more than others,

But we find ourselves neglecting to recognize that they are all equal to us,

And we are all equal to them,

And God is in all of us.

That we need not to step back for any person,

That we need not cower,

But also that we are not above anybody.

We are all children of God.

We are all part of this one big,

Beautiful family.

What if we can see that?

And we can start celebrating the fact that there are different expressions.

There are different cultures.

There are different ways of calling God.

And because I have my way doesn't mean that I have the right to think that your way is wrong.

Just because I find God in the stillness of a chapel,

Sitting in meditation,

In silent prayer,

Doesn't mean that God is not to be found in the middle of a rave where somebody can give their whole selves over to the rhythm,

The music.

It's not to say that it is wrong to find God on a sports field in training your body and in pushing yourself as an athlete.

It is not wrong to say that I can find God in my kitchen cooking or find God in accounting and studying the law.

All of those expressions are equal.

We're not here to judge.

What we are here to do is to love.

And I keep on harping on that.

Love is all that it is.

So this week,

Perhaps try and recognize in each person God.

And perhaps in your mind with each being that you connect with as much as possible,

Give a small bow in your mind and say,

God,

I recognize you.

God,

I honor you.

Amen.