Voodoo

Voodoo

I think it was in elementary school when I first heard of the voodoo practice of sticking pins in a doll that was in the image of someone you wanted to "curse."  That sentence represents 100% of what I knew about voodoo at that time and about 97% of what I know now.  I remember it hit me as a little silly, seeming to be one part demented evil and one part wishful thinking.

My thinking on all things spiritual has changed some over the years.  I now consider a good many practices like voodoo to be great evil.  I do however think this particular evil practice is a good metaphor for a bad and common mistake made by people seeking and following Christ. 

In Pensee (Prayers), Blaise Pascal makes the observation that "God created man and man has been returning the favor ever since."  "Returning the favor..." probably isn't as obviously horrible as sticking pins in a God doll.  However, we do consistently project onto God our tastes, values and sensibilities. We indulge ourselves with a theoretical embrace of Christian theology that includes the possibility of redemption for all creation while at the same time cursing pedophiles, Democrats, Republicans, various historical figures (Adolph Hitler is a perennial favorite), the guy who just cut us off in traffic and of course anyone who has inflicted either a real or perceived wrong on us. 

Of course, none of this sort of thing actually curses God.  However, it doesn't do us any good and accumulated over time, can do a great deal of harm.  And, I do think it is hard on God's heart to watch us carry that particular load.

The true horror of this problem doesn't take a lot of digging.  Start with this question:  Do you want God to be the sum of the projection of your values and experience?  Answering this question with any flavor of  "Yes, that's what I want," is bad news for the rest of us and very bad news for you.  It means that we (you and the rest of us) are forever constrained by your sensibilities as they sit right now; that is, we must all live with your voodoo for as long as you hang on to it.

Here's the next question that follows:  What's the surest way this side of the veil (i.e. of death) to see the truth of Christ's existence, identity and presence?  Isn't it when we encounter something that is outside our comfort and ideals and yet we find Christ squarely in the middle of it? 

The moment of discovery and surprise at finding God waiting for us in pain, in poverty, in abandonment and even in death, is the moment when our illusions are stripped and we are left face to face with the living, present God.  Since this is at least an unexpected find and probably even a jarring one, the possibility that this is a projection of ourselves is completely removed and we are left face to face with the one who spoke us.

In that moment there is one last choice.  We must choose to abandon our pretenses, our sensibilities, our projections, all the voodoo we cling to.  And as we lay it down we step forward to Christ.  This is the moment of becoming Christ In Us.

My life is teaching me that there are many such moments and probably even a final one.  That's very good because it is always good to be face to face with God, even when looking or even passing through a veil.