August 21, 2010 by Dr. Steve McSwain 1 Comment

Conversations from a post-Christian world…

FAQ

1.  What do you believe?

Personally, I prefer to use the word “perspectives” instead of “beliefs.”  It feels to me as if the word is more fluid and open to change while the word “belief” feels rigid, superior, and resistant to change.  I make it my practice to be open to everything and attached to nothing.  A belief is an assumption you make about life. It’s an idea, a doctrine, or a structure of thought that helps you articulate your human experience. But, this is all that a belief is. Therefore, no belief is infallible or superior to the beliefs of others. This is why I prefer to call my beliefs, perspectives.  A perspective is dynamic, ever-expanding, respective of others, and open to all.

2.  Do you believe in God?

Yes. But, can I prove he exists? No. Can anyone prove she does not? No, again.  While I call God, God, I hesitate to say much more than this. Anything more I might say, no matter how accurate it is, seems too definitive and limiting, as if to place boundaries around the Divine or to squeeze God into some conceptual box.  How do you define what is indefinable, limit what is limitless, or explain what is inexplicable?

3.  What do you believe about Jesus?

Jesus was a human being and just as much flesh and blood, mind and emotions as anyone else.  What distinguished Jesus from virtually everyone else is that he lived at perhaps the highest possible level of Divine consciousness.  That is to say, he lived most fully a God-realized life, a life of oneness with the Divine. In fact, he did so to such an amazing degree that many people regarded him as Divine, even God-Incarnate.  I do as well, but not in any sense that Jesus—and only Jesus—was capable of divinity, oneness with, or inseparability from God. I am too. So are you.  Why else would Jesus say, “The things you have seen me do, greater things you will do…” (John 14:12).  For years, I mistakenly believed that, when Saint John said, “…God gave his only begotten Son…” (John 3:16) that he meant that Jesus was God’s one-and-only Son.  Now, my perspective is slightly different.  Instead of translating the Greek word “begotten” as “one and only,” which, of course, many Christians have, I understand John to mean “unique.”  Jesus was indeed unique.  Given his impact on human history, no intelligent person would argue that. But, does that mean he was some kind of “Superman” in human flesh? I think not.  I regard Jesus as God’s Son, indeed unique in how he lived, the way he died, the example he left for his followers, and the intimacy he enjoyed with the Creator herself.  But I regard myself, just as I do you, to be children of God, too.  By following Jesus, and so living as he lived, I, and you, too, may know the same intimacy with God and so live and die in the joyful Presence of knowing, as Saint Paul so eloquently put it, “Nothing shall separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:31).  When you know this truth, instead of trying to explain it or defend a position, belief, or idea taught you by your religious tradition, then, and only then, are you truly free to enjoy the indecipherable richness that being one of God’s sons or daughters implies.

4.  Do you believe everyone can know God as Jesus knew God?

Yes. Why else would Jesus say over and over again, “Follow me?” It is in following Jesus you make the wonderful discovery of God’s indescribable Presence in your life.  You become God-aware.  As you practice following the sacred path of Jesus, you grow in Divine awareness.  It is important to remember that following Jesus is infinitely more than simply believing in Jesus.  When Saint John said, “…whoever believes in him (Jesus)…shall have eternal life” (John 3:16), what does he mean by “believe”?  What is there to believe?  That Jesus lived and died? No one denies this.  That Jesus is the Divine Savior?  Many believe this but they continue to live in darkness and do not pattern their lives after Jesus.  In truth, real faith in Jesus is actually the opposite of belief in Jesus.  Faith is a way of life. Since we have no verb in the English language for “faith,” we are forced to substitute in our translations of the Bible the word, “believe.”  This oddity in our language has been the source of much confusion.  People have confused “faithing” or “believing” with beliefs, but believing has little do to with content. It has infinitely more to do with conduct, though not in some morally superior way.  It’s not what you know that produces an inner transformation.  It’s Who you know and, as a consequence, how you go about living your life and patterning it after that of Jesus himself that produces inner change in your thoughts and attitudes and outer change in your conduct in the world.  Again, the real followers of Jesus are those who pattern their life after his. When you make it your daily spiritual practice to think as he may have thought, to live as he lived, and to practice showing compassion to yourself, to others, and toward God, then you ARE a follower of Jesus.

5.  Do you believe Jesus is the only way to God?

Jesus is my way to God. To be a “disciple” of Jesus means to be a learner of his way of thinking, living, and behaving.  It is to follow his path, one that inevitably leads those who do into a life-changing awareness of the Divine presence.  There may be other pathways of knowing Universal Intelligence, however. Practitioners of the Baha’i faith, for example, speak of “One Light, Many Lamps.”  God is the Light of all and gives light to all. It seems most probable, as well as logical, that God may be seen and known through the light of many different lamps.  It would be arrogant of me to either presume or to assert that God can only be known in one way.  Besides, how could I ever be sure of such a presumptuous assumption?

6.  Do not the perspectives you hold undermine the uniqueness of Jesus and the authority of the Bible?

They do not for me.  Do they for you?  If so, then you will likely disagree with my perspective(s), cling to some other perspective, and perhaps feel the need to vigorously defend it.  But, this is not necessary unless your sense of self is attached to your beliefs or perspectives. In that case, you will react to not only my perspectives but to any different perspective as if it were a personal attack against you.  Attachment to anything, including a belief system, will cause you to suffer, or so instructed the Buddha.  For me, I have found it much more liberating to “be open to everything and attached to nothing.”  Only when you feel the need to insist your perspective is “right” and other perspectives are wrong that you create an “us” and “them” world, which is the principle cause of virtually all conflicts.  This may be a small planet but it is large enough to sustain a variety of perspectives, provided humans are mature enough to tolerate polarity, ambiguity, even contradiction.  Branches on a tree don’t have to all look alike to draw nourishment from the same vine.  Native Americans say, “No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves.”  My perspective is to stay open, be reflective, and keep seeking.  Or, as the philosopher Andre’ Gide put it, “Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who have found it.”  Jesus said, “Seek and you will find…” (Matt. 7:7) and, in another place, he said, “You will know the truth and it will make you free” (John 8:32).

7.  What do you believe about the Bible?

The Bible is my primary source of Divine inspiration, spiritual insight, and practical wisdom.  It is not a book of magic, however.  It didn’t fall out of the sky bound in leather and in the language of King James.  Instead, it is a collection of sacred stories and spiritual teachings that span several hundred centuries of Jewish and Christian history.  As a consequence, no passage could possibly contain absolute truth.  Rather, each must be read and understood in its cultural context and social milieu.  For example, Leviticus says that adulterers should be stoned to death.  It’s a good thing that’s no longer practiced or about half of any congregation would have to kill the other half (probably an exaggeration, but you get the point).  The psalmist spoke of the four corners of the earth (Psalm 78:5).  Until well after the Middle Ages, most people mistakenly believed the world was flat with four corners. Of course, we know better today.  The Bible is the story of the Jewish/Christian quest to know God. It isn’t the only sacred record of the human quest for the Divine. Other peoples and cultures have their own sacred writings.  All of these sacred texts, however, point toward the same spiritual quest. Virtually every branch of the Christian church has debated, disagreed, and eventually divided over what it was going to “say” about the Bible.  Most conflicts have swirled around such words and concepts as “authoritative,” “inerrant,” “infallible,” and so forth.  But, my own perspective is this: the Bible is infinitely more than anything I, or anyone else, could ever say about it? In fact, if what I “say” about the Bible is more important than what the Bible says to me, what could be more insane than this?

8.  What denomination are you?

I grew up a Baptist and, more specifically, a Southern Baptist.  I didn’t know it at the time but there are as many Baptists as there are flavors of Baskin-Robbins ice cream.  Today, I regard myself as the product of many Christian traditions, as well as many non-Christian ones, too.  For example, I recently joined the Roman Catholic Church. I did not, however, abandon my Baptist faith or my membership in a local Baptist church. So, today, I hold membership in two churches. Someone said to me, “But, you can’t?” Says who?  I have.  Who knows, perhaps before I leave this planet, I may just join the Methodists, too, as well as the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, the Unity Church, and the Snake-Handling Pentecostals in the hills of eastern Kentucky.  I’m drawn to the Buddhist teachings, too, as well as the meditative practices within Hinduism.  Having consulted with virtually every branch of the Christian church, I have come to find much affinity in all of them.  What’s infinitely more important is that I am a follower of Christ. But, I have no interest in debating the supremacy of my faith tradition over another.  My choice to be a Christ-follower has been shaped by my background, as well as my ever-expanding perspectives. So, when I am asked, I tell people I’m a Christ-follower by choice, a multi-denominationalist with ties even to Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, as well as Sufism within the Muslim tradition. As a Christ-follower, I’m a Baptist by heritage and a Roman Catholic by choice. But, I also love the Methodist for their emphasis on the sacredness of our religious traditions, the Episcopalians for their emphasis on the equality of all persons and for the few Episcopalians who actually practice acceptance of alternative lifestyles, the Presbyterians for their emphasis on Divine providence, the Pentecostals for their emphasis on joy in the Spirit, and the Evangelicals for having broken out of the box and who practice “doing” church and worship in alternative ways.  Frankly, however, labels mean little to me.  My desire is to simply walk with God…to master this sacred art that was once described by the ancient Catholic mystic, Brother Lawrence, as “the practice of the presence of God.”  In the final analysis, isn’t walking with God, like Enoch did in the Old Testament, really all that matters?  What could be more important than this?

9.  Then, what do you believe?

Not much, I suppose.  For example, when someone says, “I believe in God,” I wonder what they mean by that.  Does it mean they believe in the existence of God?  Well, so do I and, if surveys are accurate, so do most Americans.  But, I feel no need to try to “prove” God exists.  It can’t be done anyway.  I find it far more fulfilling to spend my time getting to know this God whom I to exist.   I have long suspected that the real reason religious people try to “prove” God exists is because they’re secretly afraid she doesn’t.  You only ever “believe” or “defend” those things about which you are uncertain.  If you knew God, what would there be to either prove or defend?  I wish only to cultivate God’s ineffable presence within my consciousness and so remain in that Presence continually.  It is there I am at peace.  It is there I experience the joy that is, as Saint Paul put it, “unspeakable.” It is there I find my thinking changes, my living takes on meaning, and my fear of death dissolves.  If this is not what the New Testament mean by “salvation,” and what the Easterners mean “enlightenment,” then what is it?

10.  What do you mean by the words “post-Christian world?”

When I was young, all of my neighbors were Christian. Even those who were not regular churchgoers regarded themselves as Christian nonetheless.  Furthermore, virtually everyone thought of America as a “Christian” nation.  Today, however, the little world in which I grew up has changed.  Your neighbor now might just as likely be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or even an atheist.  Near our house in Louisville, Kentucky, for example, there is a service station where I regularly fill my car with gasoline.  Recently, I made a stop there and discovered there were new owners, an Indian man and his daughter.  As we got acquainted, I observed the tilaka on his forehead, the round, red dot that symbolizes the “third eye,” associated with meditation and enlightenment. I asked if they were Hindu.  “He is,” answered his daughter, as she gestured toward him.  “But, I’m a Muslim.” I remember thinking to myself, “This is the world in which we live.”  If humanity is to survive, religious people must actually start practicing the very things their faith professes – love, peace, and acceptance of all, those like you, those different from you, and even your enemies.  While virtually every conflict throughout history, down to and including the present, has been religiously inspired, this insanity must end if humanity is to survive.  In this regard, the Dalai Lama was right when he said, “When there’s peace among the religions, there will be peace in the world.”

11.  What do you believe is wrong with Christianity?

G. K. Chesterton purportedly said, “There’s nothing wrong with Christianity; there’s everything wrong with Christians.”  It is the Christians within Christianity who have been the source of much human division, destruction, and human and planetary suffering. Throughout history, for example, Christians have repeatedly labeled, judged, and sought to destroy their perceived enemies.  Furthermore, they have even acted this way toward those within their own faith tradition.  It is insanity and it must end.  There is room enough for everyone on this planet.  But, until Christians actually live as Jesus lived, treat others, but especially their enemies with openness and respect, and make room even for those who choose to have no religious affiliation, the conflict will not only continue, it will escalate.  All labeling and judging must stop. All this nonsense of believing, “We’re right, others are wrong!” “We’re God’s chosen, others are not!” must cease.  There will always be many different religions, even many subsets within the same religion.  Or, to put it another way, there will never be just one way of understanding or knowing Eternal Truth I call God. If the present divisions within Christianity alone have not made it abundantly clear to you that humans are incapable of subscribing to the same religion, even to the same beliefs within the same religion, then there isn’t much I, or anyone else, could teach you.  So, there’s nothing wrong with Christianity.  There’s everything wrong with those of us who call ourselves Christians.  We must change but change can only occur within.  And no inner change will ever take place until each Christian makes the decision to “follow” Christ—really follow Christ.  Make this your ambition.  Not only will you change, but your world will change, too.

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July 19, 2010 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

Why have millions left organized religion, but are still interested in spirituality?

There is in everyone the longing to know intimacy with the Divine. The only difference between people—all people—is that a few are aware of this longing, while most are not.  For those who are not, life is a constant challenge, even a frustration, as they search for God everywhere but the one and only place where God could ever be found – which is, inside of you.

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” In spite of this rather clear clue as to where to look to find God, many mistake their inner feelings of discontent, restlessness, or desire for happiness and fulfillment as an indicator they need to do something.  Our culture’s answer to this inner dilemma is to find the right career. Or, to find and fall in love with the right partner.  But even these events – as meaningful as they may be – fail to grant anything more than a temporary, impermanent peace.

Now, what happens in most religions, Christianity notwithstanding, is that people go to church looking for God, thinking she might be found there.  And, the church perpetrates, as well as perpetuates, the illusion that God can be.  How so?  By suggesting to people, “We have the answer. We alone have the answer. What we believe is right or, at the least, a little more right than anyone else believes.  So, attend our church, believe as we believe, think as we think, do as we do, live as we live and, of course, give us your money, and all will be well with your soul.”

But it isn’t so. Over time, this nonsense has created in people the expectation that, if they’ll do all these things, they’ll find God.  Instead of helping to know God, however, these expectations, rules, dogmas, doctrines, and beliefs have sucked the spiritual life right out of their souls.  The church too frequently confuses beliefs for faith and, in fundamentalist churches, the beliefs are then imposed on believing and unbelieving people alike. In fact, that would be a pretty accurate definition of religious fundamentalism – the confusion of beliefs for faith and imposing those beliefs on others.  That’s what’s happening today in both Islam and in Christianity – the difference is only the degree with which the imposition occurs.

The American Religious Survey tells us that as many as 34 million Americans today have left organized reIigion.  For the majority of these, it is the Christian religion they’re leaving or, more accurately, the church’s dysfunctional version of Christianity that they are leaving.

And, that’s the point.  People can leave the church—they have, they are, and more will, as long as the dysfunction and insanity I’m describing goes on. What people cannot leave, however, is their inner feeling of discontent, emptiness, or the longing to cultivate a deep spiritual union with the Divine.  So, in recent years, as westerners have had greater exposure to eastern religions, many have turned to other religions. What many of these seekers do not know is this:  the dysfunction they met and left in the western church is the same sort of madness they will likely find in many other religions as well.

So, it is important to understand, I did not write this book as a disgruntled former minister looking to attack either Christianity or the church. I wrote this book to tell people what took me half a lifetime to figure out.  There has only ever been one place you will go to find the deepest desires of your heart fulfilled – and that is within yourself.  That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “The kingdom is within you.”   The Buddha said this, too.  Even the Jewish rabbis have a saying that goes, “God has but one synagogue – the human heart.”  I wrote this book, The Enoch Factor to show people where to look—the human heart—to find what they’re looking for.

Posted in How to Know God, Kingdom of God, Spirituality, The Church is Declining | Tagged , , , , , , , ,
May 27, 2010 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

Enoch Walked with God: If He Did, So May We

You were born to walk with God, so why would you walk alone?

Enoch is the human archetype of the sacred art of knowing God. History records the myths and legends of persons who lived at a level of God-consciousness never realized by the majority of their contemporaries. A few of them are

Buddha, Abraham, Lao Tzu, Moses, Confucius, Mary the mother of Jesus, Saint Paul, Muhammad, St. Francis of Assisi, and, more recently,Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama. There are many, many others, of course. Jesus lived at this level, too. In fact, most Christians believe Jesus embodied the Divine presence in his earthly life more completely than any other person who has ever lived.

Throughout history, the people who seemed to have arrived at an advanced level of spiritual awareness were known by specific names. Jews called them tzadikim, Hindus called them avatars, and Christians called them saints.

Labels are unimportant, however. What is more important is that they were rare souls indeed. Enoch was one of these rare souls, too, although not as widely known. Of him, it was said, “Enoch walked with God” (Gen 5:22). Only one other person in the sacred record of Jewish history was said to have reached this level of Divine consciousness. That was Noah (Gen 6:9). The words “walk with God” are an anthropomorphic way of describing closeness, awareness, knowing-ness, and intimacy. Most likely, the words “walking with God” and “knowing God” mean the same thing.

So, what does walking with God, or knowing God, really mean? And, how is this possible?

To know God, or walk with her, means to live your life in the awareness of an indescribable and eternal presence that is within you and all around you, beneath you but also beyond you. It is personal and yet mysterious, real but also surreal. You can know this presence but also not know it. You can experience God, but you will never explain God. When you live your life in union with God, however, you will be at peace with yourself and with the world. You will know joy, too, as well as security and a kind of fearlessness in life. There will be an inner sense that everything is as it’s supposed to be. Anxiety, stress, discontent, and even boredom all but disappear from your life. It is truly remarkable, what the Russian novelist Romain Rolland called, “the oceanic feeling.”

How can one know God? Walk with a consciousness of the Eternal Presence?

1. First, to enjoy an extraordinary life of intimacy with God, you must know that it does not happen by accident. It takes practice to live a God-realized life. “God is not difficult to find,” said Deepak Chopra in Why is God Laughing, “God is impossible to ignore.” And, he is right. But, the more complete picture is, most people go through much of their lives missing God almost all the time. Why? They do not make it their practice to know God. This is why the Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence, as long ago as the seventeeth century, called the spiritual life “Practicing the presence of God.”

2. Second, don’t misunderstand me. Knowing God takes practice but not practice in the same sense as one would practice improving his or her golf swing by hitting a bucket full of balls at a driving range. There is no effort associated with the kind of practice I’m describing. It’s more like an awareness. When you become aware of your desire to know God, to feel her presence, and so forth, the practice is in giving your attention to that awareness. The more you do–and that’s the meaning of “practice”–the more aware you’ll become of God’s ineffable Presence. I love the way Thomas Merton put it. He was the Trappist Monk who spent much of his adult life at the Abbey of Gethsemane, not more than a few miles from where this article is being written. He said, “As soon as a man is disposed to being alone with God, he is alone with God, no matter where he is: in the country, the monastery, in the woods, in the city…At that moment he sees that though it seems he is in the middle of his journey, he has arrived at his destination already.” Words do not get more beautiful than that.

3. Third, along these same lines, remember that there’s a chasm of difference between intimacy and interaction. With the widespread phenomenon associated with text messaging, e-mail, and cell phones, a visitor from another planet might get the idea that, since humans are always connecting and interacting with each other, they must be friendly toward one another, even intimate and caring. It would not take him long however, to realize that his first impression was an illusion.

Although virtually everyone is endlessly talking and texting, the irony is that we may be the most disconnected, discontented, and dysfunctional generation on record. There is division in almost every family-yours, mine, and the families we know-as well as conflict in relationships both at school and at work. Furthermore, there is division between races, religions, cultures, and nations. People are more divided than perhaps at any other time in the history of the human race.

Conversation is no more communication than sex is intimacy. Communication and intimacy require attention–your attention. In other words, just to boast of praying much doesn’t mean you’re enjoying intimacy with God.  A genuine connectedness to Source goes much deeper than words.  In its purest sense, the Law of Attraction teaches–that to which you give your attention will expand. In other words, if you’ll simply give more of your attention to your spiritual life, your spiritual connectedness to the Presence of God will expand. And, it will so naturally. That is to say, with no effort on your part. That’s all it takes.

A. Your intention to be in union and intimacy with God.

B. And, your attention to those moments when you are aware of God or just have a thought about God.

Make this your spiritual practice and see what happens. This is how “Enoch walked with God.” It’s how we walk with God, too.  So, enjoy the journey.

If you’d like to explore how to walk with God and a host of other questions related to the spiritual life, I’d like to invite you to read the book, The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God. In it, I share many of the things I’ve learned about this and other important matters pertaining to spirituality. In fact, I’d be happy to send you a complimentary chapter of the book in pdf format, for free. Just send me an email and I’ll shoot you a chapter from The Enoch Factor. Email: steve@stevemcswain.com.

Posted in How to Know God, enoch walked with god | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
January 15, 2010 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

Not To Judgment Too Quickly!

Recently, three unrelated stories appeared in the news. Yet, they seemed somehow interconnected by a reality shared by everyone. The first story was that of Mark McGwire making his tearful confession that he had in fact used steroids over a ten-year period and, not ironically, right during the time (1998) when he broke Roger Maris’ single-season record, hitting seventy homeruns. The admission surprised no one. Few things do anymore, with the exception of perhaps Tiger Woods.  It seems his admission surprised many of us. The newspaper headline bore McGwire’s admission, “I wish I had never used steroids.”

The second and third stories were buried deeper in the paper.  One was that of the verbal gaffe by Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader from Nevada.  As have many others, it seems Reid has had to learn the hard way, that anything you say, write, or do will find its way to the web or, in this case, to the printed page and to the web.  The passing comment he made during the last presidential election that Obama was “a light skinned African American with no Negro dialect,” was not only an antiquated thing to say but, frankly, a little surprising coming from him. The headline bore his confession, “I wish I had never said that.”

The third story was about the arrogant antics of the basketball star, Gilbert Arenas.  Just weeks after signing a six-year, $111 million dollar contract with the Washington Wizards, a reporter spotted guns hidden in his locker. His initial response to the reaction of the Commissioner was anything but adult-like.  But, when the Commissioner suspended the rich player without pay, and that suspension was soon followed by felony charges for carrying a gun without a license, one can’t help but wonder if Arenas’ is not sitting somewhere and thinking, “I wish I had not done this.”

When reading or watching such news stories, it’s pretty easy to get critical, judgmental, and sort of wag one’s head in arrogant disbelief.  But if you think about it, who of us has not done things, said things, or acted in ways that we’ve later regretted?

I was sitting on a plane when reading these headlines. I leaned over to share my air of pretense, judgment, and superiority with the fellow seated beside me.  “Did you read these stories about McGwire, Reid, and Arenas?” Just as I did, however, I remembered the time when I was a junior in high school. One of my friends and I not only smoked pot on a fairly regular basis, but we operated a small business out of his bedroom closet.  It was there that we stashed our grass and sold nickel bags to our friends and acquaintances.  Neither of us got rich over it and, as I recall, our illegal business went south within weeks.  I think he smoked most of our profits. Or, maybe it was I who did.

May not seem like a big deal now but, back then, had we gotten caught, the authorities would have slapped it to us, and that after the church community (for which both of us were active members) had burned us at the stake.

You say, “There’s still no comparison between your story and these others!” You think?  Oh sure, the circumstances are different; the scope of the offenses, too.  But, the attitudes behind the offenses?  I suspect there isn’t much difference.

Posted in Gilbert Arenas, Harry Reid, Mark McGwire, Tiger Woods | Tagged , , , , ,
December 1, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

The Christian Church is Declining…But, Why?

A question on the minds of millions of followers of Christianity is why the Christian church has been declining.  There are a myriad of reasons.  Here are a couple of my own observations and suggestions for turning it around.

The most obvious reason is sheer disgust with a religious system, as someone put it, “that would condemn homosexuals for coming out of their closet while hiding clergy pedophiles in its own.”

Others are leaving because they no longer wish to be associated with a religion swallowed up in its own judgmentalism. The church preaches love, tolerance, and acceptance of all people but, in actual practice, it loves, tolerates, and accepts only those who conform to its dogmas and standards of morality. Religious bigotry and intolerance, as well as the more common practices of judgmentalism and condemnation may be more prevalent among Christians today than at any other time in history. But, ironically, Jesus himself said, “Judge not.”

Here’s a poignant example of the kind of judgmentalism that is a scourge on the Christian church today.

I know a married couple who once were very active in the church. Today, however, they rarely, if ever, attend. Although they still consider themselves to be believers, the church is no longer the place they turn for guidance in their spiritual journey.

I have this feeling there may be scores of Christian people just like them. They view the church as this mammoth, inflexible monolith that no longer provides them guidance on their journey or spiritual nourishment along the way. They’re not at war with the church or in protest against it. Instead, they have just quietly disappeared. If asked why, they would give many different reasons but, among them, would be their frustration that the church is obsessed with labeling and judging people who do not conform to or fit in with its narrow view of the world.

Here are the specifics related to this couple’s story.

Each was previously married and divorced and both were nearing mid-life when they met. They were instantly attracted to each other, began dating, and, before long, fell in love. A few months into their relationship, he proposed to her and the two of them made plans to be married. At long last, the wedding date drew near.

They attended several different churches in their hometown in hopes of finding one they could join and attend together. After visiting several, they found a church they liked and, one Sunday, they joined. To request membership in this church required that they walk forward during the invitation time at the close of one of its many weekend worship services. It was a mega-church with thousands attending each weekend.

They did as they were expected and walked forward. They were met at the altar by a minister who warmly welcomed them and then just as quickly handed them off to a church counselor. He led them out of the sanctuary, down a long hallway to a large, brightly lit room where others like them and their assigned counselors were gathering.

After a few brief words by the person whom they presumed to be the lead counselor, they were then separated. Each was paired to a personal counselor whose job it was to determine the candidate’s Christian experience and readiness to join the church.  While he was guided by one counselor into a small room, a different counselor guided her to a room across the hall. Given they were intimidated already by the size of this church and its well-rehearsed operation, the separation was more than a little unnerving.

Later that day, as they shared their individual perceptions to each other, it was obvious to them that the counselors had been well coached. Each asked the very same questions, beginning with the expected ones—name, address, phone, and so forth.  But then, the questions became more personal and more difficult. “Tell me about your Christian experience?”  “When did you join a church?”  “What kind of church was it?” “Did they believe the Bible?”  “Have you been baptized?”  “Was your baptism ‘believer’s baptism’?”  “Was it by immersion or were you just sprinkled?”  “What are your spiritual gifts?”  “Where do you see yourself serving in and through this church?”  The whole thing was surprising to them, even a little offensive, but they persevered, deciding to blow it off since they were just glad it was over. They had a church home and that was their objective all along.

A few days later, however, everything changed—and, for the worse. She arrived at her home from work earlier than usual and fetched the day’s mail. Buried in the carnage of junk mail was a letter addressed to both of them. She could tell it was not a form letter since there was no label and a real stamp on the envelope. She opened it and looked first at who is was from. She did not recognize the name but, how could she? It was a large church and there were as many ministers and staff as employees of the church as there are total members in other churches.

Assuming it was a welcome letter, she began to read. What she read, however, was anything but welcoming. She was shocked, embarrassed, hurt, even angered. The ego in her reacted in self-defense. She slammed the letter on the kitchen counter, reached for the phone and dialed her fiancé.  “Get over here now,” she demanded. “Why,” he asked, hearing the anger in her voice. “What’s the matter?”

“Just get over here,” she said with no explanation.

He left his apartment across town and drove hurriedly to her house. When he arrived, she shoved the letter in his chest and said, “Here, read this.” But, before he could unfold the letter, she blurted out, “Did you give the counselor who questioned you my home address as if it were your address?”

“Well, yes,” he explained, “but what does that matter?”

“Well,” she explained, “they think we’re living together.”

“But,” he defended himself, “I didn’t think anything of it. I just figured, since I’d be moving in after the wedding, I should give them your address instead of mine.”

They debated the incident over dinner and wondered how they should respond. Their first impulse was to call the church leaders and demand an explanation, as well as an apology. But, the more they thought about it, the more convinced they became, not only of the unjust nature of the letter, but that they had nothing to explain and nothing to defend.

“Who appointed them our judges?” they reasoned to themselves. “Besides, we’re not two irresponsible teens, so what business is it of theirs whether we’re living together or not?”

They concluded the assumptions made by church leaders were ill-informed and inexcusable. But, instead of defending themselves or retaliating, they decided it would be best to ignore the letter altogether and move on. In this respect, the couple acted more maturely than the ministers themselves.

This attitude of moral superiority is common in churches today and it is insane. Only a church confused about its real purpose would engage in such hypocritical and hypercritical nonsense. Given the church’s own sordid and unremitting history of immorality and moral failure, it is hardly justified in setting itself up as anyone else’s judge. But, this how the collective ego works and, until churches and church leaders become aware of this, they will continue the madness of pointing out the toothpick in another’s eye, as Jesus put it, while failing to see the two-by-four in their own.”

For more on this subject, visit my blog.

The Christian Church has not only penetrated the world but it has splintered into at least 20,000 different subsets. Today, each subset regards its beliefs, its understanding of truth, to be just a little more right than that of 19,999 others.

This is part of the reason many are abandoning the church. They have concluded that the continual disagreement and fighting within every branch of Christianity is neither profitable nor necessary.  For these Christ-followers, the “what” about Jesus is not nearly as important as the “way” Jesus provided for knowing the Ineffable Reality. To know God and to walk in the joy of his presence is all that is important to them.

It would be a misreading of my analysis here to assume I am suggesting that all who leave the church today walk in light of God’s presence. It would be equally incorrect to assume I am suggesting all who stay in the church remain in darkness. I only mean that, if you wish to know why multitudes are leaving the church but not leaving their faith, it is because they have moved on from the pervasive madness found in most churches. They wish to keep it simple. They wish only to do as Jesus himself said, “Come, follow me.”[1] Nothing more.  Nothing else.  But, nothing less.

  • There is one other reason I wish to mention as to why many are leaving the church. Involvement has replaced intimacy. Participation in and support of religious functions and activities has overshadowed that which is superior— knowing God. Although Jesus said, “Be in the world but not of it,”[2] most churches and church leaders are more interested in people “being in church as well as not in the world.”

The activities and programs, as well as the personnel and financial resources required to keep them going, are gargantuan in number and complexity. They demand more and more time and attention.  It is not that any of these programs are harmful or do not serve a worthy purpose. But, the fact is, there is far too much going on in today’s church.  So much so, in fact, if a spiritual seeker is not very careful, the attention he or she must give to the plethora of programs competing for a slice of his or her time ends up sucking the spiritual life from their soul. For many, it has already. They’ve grown weary of having no life, especially no spiritual life, outside of churchgoing. They feel empty, exhausted, and bereft of any sense of the Eternal Presence.

Churches today boast of being a 24/7 operation as if that’s something to brag about.  It’s really a warning signal to any serious spiritual seeker. “Do not pass ‘GO’ or you’ll forfeit even your spiritual life!”  Instead of finding communion with the Creator, most seekers find only a cauldron of endless and exhausting activity.

The healthiest and most spiritual thing a church might do is to permanently shut down the majority of the time-consuming and energy-draining madness that goes on. The busy-ness in most churches today has nothing to do with the business of the church—which, again, is simply to serve as a guide in the quest to know God.

Instead of the church being a sanctuary into which people might enter to find quietude, reflection, and inspiration, the church has become a theatrical stage filled with noise and nonsense.  Instead of encountering the Sacred and Mysterious through solitude and stillness, church leaders have conditioned people to expect entertainment—and, it had better be better than the competition down the street.  Churches actually compete with each other for members. This is because the overwhelming majority of them are not reaching the ever-growing, unchurched population, so they have to compete for the few that remain.

The church has developed its own version of “Entertainment Tonight.” You don’t have to be a statistician to know why mega-churches, as they’re called, are about the only churches in America showing an increase in attendance. They are, but it is more likely because they can afford to pay for the best talent and the most professional “dog and pony show” in town. I mean, think about it. Who wants to watch a show on a ten-inch, black-and-white screen when the theatre down the street has one in 3-D, on an I-Max screen, and served up with a Cappuccino?

I have a feeling the day will come, and there are signs it is emerging already,[3] when people will tire of the hype, the noise, and the emotionally-charged, superficial highs generated by religious professionals and their performances. People need substance, something more than a weekly fix that stimulates the emotions but does little to feed the soul. They’re looking for Presence because it is only ever a deep and abiding connection to God that people really need.

If church leaders are motivated more by having the biggest crowds and the loudest applause, more by ratings and recognition and other egoic ambitions, they should not be surprised when people eventually look elsewhere for God. Some have, and many others will.  There are indications many Christians have grown weary of the madness and are turning in great numbers to other religions to find what Christianity or, more accurately, the church’s version of Christianity, has failed to give them.

This egoic notion among clerics that numerical growth is a sign of God’s favor is as much an illusion as church decline is a sign of God’s disfavor.  A more telling sign is whether anyone is coming to know the transformative presence of God—a Presence that changes how people feel about themselves, how they treat others but especially their enemies, and the care and concern they show for creation itself.  When being Christian is more about loyalty to an institution, or to a peculiar way of believing, than it is about a relationship with God, people will eventually walk away from such a church, either emotionally, physically, or both.

In short, American Christianity is as bigoted, busy, and misguided as the religious system Jesus encountered two thousand years earlier. Fortunately, people are discovering, due largely to the church’s failure, as well as the rise of other religions in U.S., that Christianity is neither the only way to know God nor the only way to find and enjoy a worthwhile and fulfilling human existence.

Having said all of this, you might think I have something against the church. But, I really don’t. I’ve given my life to its work and ministry. I am not ready to give up on Christianity, either.  To the contrary, I know that, at the core of the Christian faith, there is a pathway that will guide any person who wishes to be connected to God into a transformative experience of Divine grace. I also know there are some churches and church leaders who not only understand the real purpose of Christianity, but seek to stay with it and to shape a church life around it. The church my wife and I call our spiritual home is just such a place to us.

[1] Luke 18:22, KJV

[2] John 17:16

[3] Read the following report by The Barna Group “Americans are Exploring New Ways of Experiencing God,” June 8, 2009 The Barna Group, Ltd.  http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/270-americans-are-exploring-new-ways-of-experiencing-god.

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December 1, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

An Open Letter to Christians: Science and Spirituality are Compatible

Carl Sagan once said, “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.”  Apparently, it is not for Christians, however. They seem to know more than science; they have the scriptures!  While the Bible may look and read as if it was a book on spirituality, but do not be misled. Christians regard it as a textbook on science. Or, so goes the assumptions of many Christians.

Why do Christians continue to wage war with science?  Instead of embracing science for what it may tell us about this mysterious universe, the church is becoming narrower in its thinking toward everything science and astronomy notwithstanding. It is judgmental of virtually anyone who disagrees with its beliefs and values and has sought to use whatever means necessary, including the legislative branch of U.S. government, to impose its morality and social agenda, as well as its world-view, on others. More and more, the church is isolated from the real world and has created a make-believe one instead, a world that has little or no connection to life on this planet.

In my home state of Kentucky, for example, we have become the hosts to the twenty-seven million dollar, high tech, special effects Creation Museum.  It’s our own Disney World, so to speak, similar to the fantasy kingdom outside Orlando, and equally as unreal.  Conceived first by Creationists themselves, its supporters believe it provides people with the “correct” explanation on the origins of the universe.

In spite of the fact that virtually every reputable scientist believes the universe is many billions of years old, Creationists believe it is only about 6,000 years old.  According to Creationists, the Genesis story of creation must be regarded as a scientific description of the origins of the universe. What they do not tell you, however, perhaps because they do not know, is that many devout scripture scholars do not believe this is the purpose of the Book of Genesis at all. Instead, they would suggest that the Genesis story of creation is a sacred but mythical story, portions of which may have been a poetic hymn sung in worship. Its purpose was simply to affirm that God, or Universal Intelligence, created all that is.

This explanation will not suffice for Creationists, however. They believe Genesis teaches the earth was fashioned in six, twenty-four hour days, even though the word translated “day” in our English Bibles could just as well mean “a vast expanse of time.” While this would be more consistent with what science has taught us about the actual age of the universe, Creationists insist that the word “day” must be taken literally—that is, as a twenty-four hour period. Their minds are fixed on this idea and there is no disagreeing with them.

Further, creationists believe that dinosaurs and humans coexisted together.  Whatever caused the extinction of dinosaurs, Creationists explain the presence of fossils, many of which carbon dating traces to millions of years ago, by maintaining that God placed the fossils in the earth with the mere “appearance of age.”

Appearance of age? Since when did God take up the art of deception, an art humans themselves perfected long ago? Why would God deceive people into thinking the earth is much older than it is, if it really isn’t? Who’s she trying to fool and why?  Or, is this whole thing a cosmic joke and it is I who has missed the punch-line? Why would God, whom Creationists agree is a God who wishes to be known, make it all the more complicated to know her or him? If this is not insane, then what is?

I was raised among Creationists and once espoused the same narrow views held by most of them today. When I experienced a profound spiritual transformation in my own life, however, I suddenly realized, Creationists are afraid. They are frightened at the thought, if the creation story is not taken literally, the rest of the Bible might not be taken literally, either. And, if the Bible is not taken literally—or, so their reasoning goes—then the authority of the Bible is up for grabs, too. Moreover, if the Bible holds no authority over people’s lives, the end result is moral collapse, social chaos, and, ultimately, the end of the world—which is, ironically, the very thing for which many of them are praying almost daily.  It is a convoluted and insane belief system.

Fear motivates the insanity of Creationists. They wage a religious and cultural war with science because they’re scared. They do not know this, and so would vigorously disagree with my perspective, but look for yourself.  Creationists do everything in their power to defend their understanding of truth. What they do not know, however, is that spiritual truth never needs defending. It is only ever a weak, unexamined faith that needs defending.

So, why do many people have a weak and uncertain faith? Precisely because they haven’t examined it, questioned it.  That is, they survive on what might be called, a “borrowed” faith, a belief system someone has passed on to them with the fallacious promise, if they just believe the beliefs, they will be “saved,” as they put it.  Rather than questioning the beliefs, and searching for the truth themselves, they mistakenly think, it would be wrong to question or disagree with any of the beliefs. Consequently, they exist by clustering in groups of likeminded believers where they can reinforce for each other their untested assumptions and inherited beliefs.  As a consequence, they live a sub-par existence in an environment divorced from the real world.

My own experience has taught me that, until you question your faith, look closely at its suppositions and assumptions, your faith will always feel under attack by something or someone.  You may attempt to disguise a weak faith with religious pronouncements and actions that appear to others as if you are full of certainty about everything. But, you can be sure, beneath surface pretense hides a frightened and threatened little person.

Those who argue for God’s existence do so, not because they know he does, but because they’re afraid she doesn’t.  Thomas Jefferson purportedly said, “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.”

There’s one other thing Creationists do not seem to understand.  The battles they wage against what they see as challenges to their worldview will never—and, I repeat—never give them the victory they seek. Sure, they will win a few skirmishes here and there. But, in the end, they will lose the war. Waging war with anyone makes losers of everyone, which is, ironically, what their spiritual master, Jesus himself said. “All who use swords are destroyed by swords.” A contemporary spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, said the same essential thing, although in different words: “Whatever you fight, you strengthen. What you resist, persists.”

It is time for Christians to end this insanity.  Let science, on one hand, tell us what it is designed to tell us and let sacred scripture, on the other, do what it is designed to do—provide a spiritual path to guide all who wish to know the Ineffable Reality we call God who is behind, beneath, and beyond science, creation, and scripture.  I have found personal freedom in this approach, sanity in the midst of so much insanity.

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November 21, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

How To Know God

How to Know God?  Here’s how?

1. Start from the assumption that you know God already.  The fact is, you do.  You came from Intelligence, you will return to the same.  Don’t make knowing God into a problem.  For most of us raised in some kind of religious tradition, so much over the years has been layered over this basic, innate and inner knowledge we have of the Divine, that we are programmed to think there’s something we must do, say, know and so forth, in order to know God.  Not so. You know God already.  Start here.

2.  Let your religious beliefs enrich your knowledge.  But, guard against the beliefs becoming more important than that toward which they point.  Beliefs are signs that point beyond themselves.  They’re like a finger that points to the moon.  Don’t confuse the finger for the moon.  And, by all means, don’t worship the finger.

3.  Go within.  Christians call it prayer.  Easterners call it meditation.  Call it whatever you wish but the objective is the same. Go within and there you’ll find God.  Jesus called it the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God isn’t the church. It isn’t some future place we go once this journey ends.  The Kingdom is Now and it is, as Jesus said, “within you.” (Luke 17:20).

4. “How do I go within?” you ask.  There are scores of great books on meditation.  Go into any Barnes & Nobel, Borders, Books-a-Million and find the section on “Religions and Spirituality.”  Any of the books written by Lama Surya Das or Pema Chodron could be helpful.  But, more importantly, just start where you are.  For me, I use my recliner.  I don’t go all the way back in it because I’m likely to fall asleep.  But, I relax, close my eyes, and begin to focus on my breath or breathing.  Thoughts come, of course.  So, I work on (but I do not struggle against) the incessant invasion of thoughts.  I do so by acknowledging them when they appear and then letting them go.  I return my attention to breathing and almost certainly to the rhythms and beats of my heart.  It takes discipline but the objective is to reach of state of complete calm – thoughtlessness.  Some days are more successful than others.  But, every day, as I practice this technique for about twenty to thirty minutes, I emerge feeling completely at peace and in touch with myself, with God.

5.  It will work for you, too.  Don’t concern yourself so much with which religion is right.  Instead, recognize the  spritual truth inherent in all of them.  I, for one, grew up in a Christian home and became myself a Christian minister.  For years, I believed you could not know God apart from believing in the tenets of the Christian faith. I no longer believe this way and in my book, The Enoch Factor, I describe in detail the life experiences that brought me to this conclusion.  If you’d like a copy of this book, send me an email: steve@stevemcswain.com.  I’ll put  you on a waiting list and notify you when the book is scheduled to hit the bookshelves and stores.  If you’d like a free PDF chapter now, I’d be happy to send that now.  Again, just email me and I’ll take it from there.

6.  Remember, there is no “way” to know God.  God IS the way.  Just accept this.  Again, don’t make a problem out of it or bring a set of expectations with you as to what “knowing God” is supposed to feel like, be like, and so forth.  Just accept your Divine acceptance.  Good feelings will follow – eventually.  But, don’t confuse the feeling with God.  God feels good, to be sure, but God is always more than a feeling.  So, don’t succumb to the temptation of boxing God into a certain feeling.

7.  Finally, do not be the proverbial fish who swims in the ocean in search of the sea.  Know that you know God already. Accept this. This is what the Bible means by grace.  While you may have grown up in religious tradition that leave you always feeling as if you’re not quite there yet, that there’s something still missing from your life, know that the real truth is, nothing is missing and there’s nothing to do.  Just be.  It is by being that you find yourself merged into Being itself.  In other words, there is nothing you need to do in order to know God.  You know God already.  This is a cause for celebration.

So, what are you waiting for?

Don’t forget. Write me.  Follow me on Twitter.  I want to hear from you.  Send an email to steve@stevemcswain.com.

Blessed Knowing.

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November 15, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

Death is Your Guru; Let It Teach You

So said the Buddha. In the months that followed his death and burial, I felt confused, afraid, and lost. I tried to help my mother manage her grief even as I struggled to handle my own. To say that my life unraveled would be an understatement. Within twenty-four months of his death, I left the ministry, began a new career altogether, and went through a divorce. Were it not for the fact that the new job involved consulting with churches across America, an irony all its own given my mental/emotional state, I would not have been in church at all.
When I left the ministry and, soon thereafter went through the divorce, I stopped going to church almost entirely. But I had to get away. I had been pretending everything was O.K. in my life when it wasn’t. I was tired of playing roles. Somewhere I once ran across the following line: “When the pain of being the same is greater than the pain of being different, you will change.” Change was coming, but not yet.
Virtually everything I said I believed, I rejected. What I did not reject, I questioned, and I carried a quiver full of them. “Where are you, God?” “Why did you let my Dad die?” “What am I supposed to do now?” “Where are you, damn it?” “Why don’t you answer me?” “Do you even care?” “Does anything matter?” “Does my life matter?”
On hundreds of occasions over the years, I had counseled others who faced similar circumstances to believe in a caring, compassionate God. But, when grappling with grief and doubts of my own, I found it hard to believe God cared about anything or anyone.

I even had a few questions I wanted to ask Dad, too. Like, “Where are you?” “Are you dead or alive?” “If you’re alive, where are you?” “Will I ever see you again?” “I tried all my life to talk to you, to feel you were listening to me and, on the day you join my church, you up and die? What the hell is that?” “Is this whole thing a cosmic joke, or just an illusion?” “What was it like to die?” “Painful?” “Fearful?” “What will death be like for me?” “Will I be afraid?”

I lived in a kind of spiritual limbo for several years following his death. It was not until the afternoon of my awakening that I began to see how his death, indeed how everything in my life, had been a portal into Presence. The words of Jesus would finally make sense: “I am the door.”

Though at first we typically resist them, a crisis, any crisis, is a doorway Life opens to us. Given the nature of our conditioning, however, it often takes a crisis to awaken us. For some who are deeply entrenched in conditioned religious thought and expectation, or whose egos are fixed and strong, it may take a series of crises to wake them up. You have perhaps known someone who experienced a crisis, only to have it followed by a series of additional crises of equal or greater severity. Who knows but what they needed them. Yet, even with crises, some people never get it.
Pam, my wife now of several years, insists on setting her alarm clock to wake her up at 6 A.M. She seldom plans to get up, however, until 7 A.M.

I have often asked her, “Why not set the clock for 7 A.M., instead of being awakened several times, only to hit the snooze again and again?”

Her typical response is, “Because it takes four alarms to fully awaken me.”

Next time you hear of a four-alarm fire, you will know that the severity of fire is so great that more than one truck and one team of firefighters is needed. You will also know it took both the death and the resurrection of Jesus for those closest to him to wake up to his spiritual identity and to that of their own. Although he had said, perhaps over and over again, “I am the light of the world,” and “You are the light of the world,” none of this began to dawn until the darkness of his death.

As my own eyes began to open, I noticed a profound difference in how I responded to every event in my life, no matter how inconsequential. For example, I used to resist anything I interpreted as an obstacle upsetting my happiness or interfering with the pursuit of my goals. Shortly after the awakening, however, I boarded a commercial airline destined for Atlanta. It was 7:45 A.M and we were behind schedule by thirty minutes already. Presently, the pilot informed us, due to an electrical problem, the plane would be delayed even longer and could possibly be grounded altogether.

Before the awakening, I would have been frustrated by this kind of minor disruption, even inclined to take it personal, as if airline officials were plotting a way to complicate my life. The resistance would have manifested itself as complaints to myself and to passengers seated around me. If none of that was sufficient, I would call someone on my cell and complain.

This time, however, I didn’t resist. Nor did I complain. I was noticeably surprised at myself. I saw it as an opportunity, almost as if it was supposed to happen, the reason for which was mine to discover. So, I watched and listened. I became present, so to speak, and looked for the message from beyond, or a stranger I was supposed to meet. I reached for my notepad and began writing of my experience. You are reading its results. Perhaps this happened to me for no other reason than you might read about it now. If you watch, you are likely to see what you’re destined to see. Who knows? If you are awake, you will know.

Where could you possibly go to find a healthier, happier, and more stress-free way to live than this? If you have not yet awakened, it is understandable why many of my words seem odd to you. You perhaps feel inner resistance to some of them, too. But, as you awaken, you will know for yourself the truth in these words. You will cease to resist what is given to assist you in knowing God.

By resistance, I am not suggesting that you lie down and let life step on you. Nor am I saying you pretend to be happy about everything that shows up, although the New Testament does say, “In everything give thanks.” Some things are difficult to accept and a few things are very difficult. But, on the spiritual path, you will begin to instinctively know, since nothing is ever accidental, anything may serve as a portal into Presence. Your destiny could not unfold without the appearance of these things. In other words, everything serves a higher purpose. There is a beautiful way Eckhart

Tolle makes this same point in A New Earth. He writes: “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”

More profound words have seldom been spoken. When you remember them, as well as apply them to your life, they have the power to transform both how you receive and how you respond to everything. No less equal in beauty, and more familiar to Christians, are the words of Saint Paul, “All things work together for good to those who love God.” If this is true, why resist anything?

The sudden and unexpected end of my father’s life was the surprising and unanticipated beginning of my own. How could I resent something as amazing and perfect as this? The self-confusion, as well as the questions and doubts, have disappeared. Sure, I still question things, but there’s none of the background cynicism, the latent resentment, or existential fear like before. There is only a profound awareness of Presence and, with it, gratitude and joy. These remain to this day.

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November 13, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

Why the "Law of Attraction" Doesn't Work for Most People

Similarly, there is a naiveté about how the universe works that’s quite popular today. Just as the ego in some Christians enjoys the illusion of having God on a leash, there are some religious and pseudo-religious people today who believe they can harness the Divine laws of the universe for their own wishes and self-aggrandizement.

These persons are practitioners of what has become widely known as the Law of Attraction. This is a spiritual and universal law to be sure.  But, it’s hardly “the secret” that a recent book by that title would suggest and it’s hardly a new law.  It’s been around for a long time, although it, as with the name for God, goes by many different names.  The Law of Attraction is known in the New Testament as the Law of Believing, or the Law of Asking and Receiving. One can find some form of this law in virtually every culture and religion.

The Law of Attraction has its roots in quantum physics. Simply put, the law states that your thoughts dictate your reality. Like everything else, thoughts are made up energy waves that attract like energies in return. Positive thoughts, for example, operate at higher energy or vibrational frequencies. So, when you think positive thoughts, you both broadcast and receive, or attract, positive results. Conversely, negative thoughts vibrate at lower energy frequencies. When your thoughts are charged with negativity, you get negative results.

Essentially, Saint Paul pointed to the same spiritual law in his Letter to the Philippians. Although he knew nothing of either quantum physics or the Law of Attraction per se, he wrote:

“I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”[1]

In other words, today’s thoughts manifest tomorrow’s realities. The Buddha himself said, “All that we are is the result of all that we have thought.”

The Law of Attraction operates in this world with as much reliability as the Law of Gravity. The former is a spiritual law, the latter a physical. While neither can be seen with the naked eye, their effects are witnessed and even somewhat predictable.  For example, the Law of Gravity makes it possible to predict with uncanny certainty what will happen if you leap from the fifty-fourth floor of high-rise in Manhattan. The Law of Attraction makes it possible to predict the kind of life you will live by the kind of thoughts you think.

If you think angry thoughts, for example, it shouldn’t surprise you to frequently find yourself in volatile, even hostile situations.  You’ve heard of “road rage?” Angry motorists triggering or, you might say, attracting a similar rage in other drivers.

Take another example. If you think your life is not going to work out for you, why would you be surprised when it doesn’t? What you expect, you experience.  When you begin to realize that this is how life works, you’ll get real cautious about the kinds of thoughts you think. Why? Because, as Wayne Dyer puts it, “You’ll get what you think about whether you want it or not.”

The Law of Gravity makes possible life on this planet. But, it’s also the law that brings down a plane whenever there’s a loss of power. There’s an equally unattractive side to the Law of Attraction, at least where the ego is involved. Some practitioners of this law, for example, make the mistake of believing it guarantees that, whatever they want and are willing to give their undivided attention, they will get.  They believe, if they hold the thought of what they want in their minds with resoluteness and have no doubt whatsoever, what they want is on its way.

Just as no Christian can use Jesus’ name to get anything he or she wants, you cannot use the Law of Attraction to land a career, the house of your dreams, the career position, the income you desire, and so on. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve your life or your life situation, whenever ambition is driven by ego, then the desires usually become self-serving, self-centered and self-obsessed. Neither God nor God’s laws can be so manipulated.

“What is ego?” you ask.

I will describe in detail later what the ego is, as well as its insidious nature.  For now, however, just remember that the ego is a little monster who resides within the psyche of every person. No one is without one.  It is problematic and dysfunctional—problematic because it is the principal cause of human unhappiness and discontent; and, it is dysfunctional because it is only interested in its-self.  In its more extreme forms, ego manifests as insanity.

It was not that many years ago when religious people were prone to label persons who had very dysfunctional egos as either insane, even demon-possessed.  Since they had no other way of explaining strange and aberrant behavior, they assumed these people were under the control of an evil power they called Satan, or the Devil.  We know now, however, that Satan is really a kind of alter ego or the dark side of one’s personality.

This alter-ego, or the Devil, has many other names, too.  In Islam, for example, it is called Iblis.  It was Mara over whom Siddhârtha Gautama finally prevailed at his spiritual awakening under the Bodhi Tree.   Because he successfully triumphed over his own alter-ego, The Buddha, which means Enlightened One, has been the source of spiritual inspiration to millions of people.  What many believing people in my own religious tradition do not know is that they, too, have an alter-ego, a little demon inside each of them, and it is dysfunctional, too, even insane. The difference is only in the degree of insanity.

So, here’s the bottom line.  Whether it’s something you “wish to attract” as a pseudo-religious person or “pray to receive” as a person of faith, whenever your ego is present, and it is present more often than it is not, the Law of Attraction is interrupted.  That is, it is corrupted and the law ceases to operate as you might desire.  The same happens to the efficacy of prayer when those who pray do so in an attempt to manipulate reality.

James, author of a New Testament book that bears his name, understood this. While he did not know to use the words ego or Law of Attraction, he was well acquainted with the realities beneath and beyond those terms. He wrote, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.[2] He might have put it this way: “When you want something and believe you’ll get it, either through prayer or focused thinking, but you do not receive it, there’s a simple reason why: it is because your wanting and craving is only for yourself.”

“Then, how can I know when ego is present?” you ask.

This and a host of other questions related to the ego, I’ll answer very soon.

[1] Philippians 4:8-9

[2] James 4:3, NIV

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November 13, 2009 by Dr. Steve McSwain Leave a comment

"God Has No Religion!"

I once read of a rabbi who corrected a young, arrogant student named Jacob who loved to make fun of Christians. He regarded Christians as ignorant and ill-informed and Christianity as an absurd religion.

One day, the rabbi took Jacob aside and said, “Jacob, why do you suppose Christians make it a habit to tap the side of the saltshaker while Jews always tap the bottom?”

Certain the rabbi was going to join him in ridicule of Christians, Jacob was more than ready to play along. “No, Rabbi, I do not know. Why do Jews tap the bottom of the saltshaker while Christians tap the side?”

“To get the salt out!” answered the rabbi.

There are many ways to tap the shaker, but the purpose is the same—to dispense salt.

Ask the followers of almost any religion what is the purpose of their religion and they will say the purpose is to guide them to know God. They may use different words or ideas to say this, but it is essentially the same purpose. Even in religions like Buddhism, where there is no belief in a Higher Power per se, they still speak sometimes of the “Universal Mind.” What is that, if it is not the same Reality toward which the words and names that others use point, too?

Similarly, a spiritual seeker in Christianity is really no different than a spiritual seeker in Islam, Taoism, or Hinduism. All want to know God, the higher self, or to reach what Hindus call Samadhi, which is “bliss consciousness,” what Christians may call, “salvation,” or “God-realization.” In other words, everyone wants to be complete, to be happy, and to alleviate human suffering, which The Buddha showed us is mostly self-induced anyway. In other words, we all seek the same thing. We just know it in different ways, based on our cultural, social, ethnic, and religious conditioning.  Since everyone is seeking God-consciousness, sometimes confused with “happiness,” then you can understand that every religion has evolved to help facilitate this purpose.

Yet, throughout the history of humanity, religion has been the prime cause of most human division and human and planetary destruction. If this is not mad, what is it?  Throughout the history of my own tradition, for example, Christianity has been either a Divine blessing or a demonic curse. Embarrassing to admit, it has been the latter far too often. If the human species is going to survive, it is imperative we make room on this little planet for everyone—that we have respect for all religions, as well as those who choose to have no religion.

Even as I say all of this, however, I realize, until a person wakes up, this will likely be more than they can accept. Until they experience a shift in consciousness, making it possible for them to see everyone and everything through lenses clear of conditioned thinking, then they will resist virtually everything I written so far. This is true whether they be a Christian, Muslim, or atheist.

If I have learned anything over the years, it is that every religion, in its own unique way, has something important to teach us about Ultimate Reality, or what I like to call the sacred art of knowing God. Even those who profess no religion at all may be able to teach the rest of us something about this Universal Intelligence, Consciousness, Being Itself or, as I am accustomed to saying, God.

I love the story I read of a Frenchman who approached the Dalai Lama after he had given a lecture in a city in France.  He said, “Your Holiness, I loved your words and I’ve decided I want to convert to Buddhism.”

In great wisdom, however, the Dalai Lama answered, “Why Buddhism?  Why would you wish to convert to this religious tradition?  You are in France.  In France, you have Christianity.  There’s nothing wrong with Christianity!”[1]

There isn’t, is there?  No more so than there’s anything wrong with the myriad of other paths one might follow toward the evolution of Divine consciousness.  It’s time humanity stops the insanity of thinking “We’re right, you’re wrong!” “We’re in, you’re out!” “We’re the chosen ones, you’re not!”

Just as is everyone,

You were born to walk with God;

So, why would you walk alone?

[1] André Comte-Sponville, The Little Book of Atheistic Spirituality, trans. by Nancy Huston, (Penguin Books: New York, NY, 2007), pp. 39-40.

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