Flower Power

A couple weeks ago, before Thanksgiving break, I was talking to Josh the Playwright at the Java House, and we talked about the feminine nature of Christ. Now, don’t get me wrong, I recognize that physically, Christ is a guy, but His ministry and His ultimate sacrifice were and are very feminine things. We had been talking about politics, and the phraseology associated with campaigns and such. Campaigns tell you they will “stay firm,” “try hard till the finish,” or “push through.” It might be crude, but it’s true. Related to this is war phraseology: “penetrate” the enemy lines and what not. Very masculine imagery. The aim of these such endeavors is to attack, to thrust forward, to protrude outward with one’s own being or abilities.

 

In Matthew 5, basically the foundation of Christ’s teaching, we are told something radically different. Jesus says, right off the bat, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Bam! Is that not a huge shot below the waist? Being poor is something completely unmasculine. Hell, so much of my manhood depends on my paycheck. Jesus says poor in “spirit,” which, I believe, is heavily related to a passage found later in Matthew: “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these” (19:14). Jesus said that to the disciples, who were “rebuking” the children. If I were a disciple (these guys were late teens to early twenties), I’d have said, “What the hell, Jesus? You’re not their babysitter!” Isn’t it awesome that Jesus told the disciples off like that? What does this remind you of: a person with a bunch of little kids around them, acting protective and telling the older ones (in this case, the disciples) to act more like the younger ones. Well . . . think for a second . . . it reminds me of a . . . wait for it . . . a mother! Dads, don’t hear it like that, y’all are great too, but there is something in a mother that is inherently protective of her children. We are God’s, Christ’s, Sophia’s children: John says, in 1st John, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.” (My stomach feels warm and fuzzy.) And the list goes on: “Blessed are . . . those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who have been persecuted.” And further on in the chapter: “Do not resist an evil person . . . give to him who asks of you . . . love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” So many of these attributes are seemingly motherly, feminine, things. (In contrast: Ancient Rome: gladiators chopping each other’s heads off. Jesus’ teaching is distinctly different.)

 

Now, what is the ultimate weapon, in a sense, of Christianity? Is it a missile-launching tank? Or a sword that bursts into flames when it hits Satan in the face? Or a plasma grenade? No—it is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; it is our Lord literally taking in our sins, receiving what we have done wrong. Christ’s death is not an outward action, but a bearing of our yoke. Our filth. Like a mother, laying herself down at her own expense, seeking to protect and lover her children, so Christ lays Himself down, humbling Himself to the power of Satan, only to resurrect Himself in order to complete the process. Christ’s power is vaginal, receiving the seed of what we, you and I, have sown, and bringing to fruition His own righteousness. He takes in with compassion, mercy, and grace.

 

As I was thinking about this, I decided to read some excerpts from the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book, knowing there would undoubtedly be a fundamental difference between the feminine nature of Christ’s deference to God’s will and the heart of Islam. So here is an excerpt from the Qur’an, regarding paradise:

 

[Note: every ellipsis in the following passage marks a place in the original where the question “Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny?” is repeated.]

 

“But for those who fear the majesty of their Lord there are two gardens. . . . They shall recline on couches lined with thick brocade, and within reach will hang the fruit of both gardens. . . . Therein are bashful virgins whom neither man nor jinee [spirits] will have touched before. . . . Virgins as fair as corals and rubies. . . . Shall the reward of goodness be anything but good? . . . And besides these there shall be two other gardens . . . of darkest green. . . . A gushing fountain shall flow in each. . . . Each planted with fruit-trees, the palm and the pomegranate. . . . In each there shall be virgins chaste and fair. . . . Dark-eyed virgins sheltered in their tents . . . whom neither man nor jinee will have touched before. . . . They shall recline on green cushions and fine carpets. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny?”

 

Versus an excerpt from Revelation 21:

 

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ . . . (Ch. 22) . . . Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street.”

 

I don’t know where to start. First of all, I’d like to say how tired I am of this life being about me. Every day: me, me, me, me. And even though I’m tired and weary from the “me-yoke;” it’s impossible for me to change that without Christ. My heaven, Christ’s heaven, the heaven, is about deference to God; it’s about submitting to a greater Being; it’s not about plucking fruit from trees and having sex with virgins. Islam’s paradise is literally thus: putting your own seed into virgins . . . While, to Christ, I am a bride. Hallelujah!

 

The nature of Islam’s heaven is this: It’s about you, in a garden, eating fruit and delighting yourself in virgins. [I realize this is a simplification from a biased person, but go ahead and do the research yourself.]

 

The nature of YHWH’s heaven is this: It’s about Him, His Son, and His Spirit, in a city; it’s about Him dwelling among His people and wiping away every tear for His glory. [This also is a simplification, but for further reading check out the entirety of Revelation 21 and 22.]

 

Having said all this, I realize that Christianity isn’t only feminine in nature. For example, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses” (Revelation 19:13-14). Also, Christ is literally incarnate as a man, and God is referred to as our “Father.”

 

One of the countess beauties of Christianity, and the reality we all dwell in, is the fusion of the masculine and the feminine in Christ Jesus. YHWH sets up a paradoxical dichotomy for us on earth: We are in a war, generally a masculine sort of thing, but we must realize that our enemies are “the spiritual forces of wickedness,” and not against anything, and may I repeat anything, physical in nature. We are in a war (the masculine), but what is our greatest weapon? Our greatest strength is love (the feminine). Our greatest weapon is Christ’s sacrifice; our greatest weapon against Satan is deference to God.

 

It’s not about us. (Thank YHWH, imagine if it actually was about us. What if we had to sort out this mess? Oh dear.)

 

Also, let me say that I officially love Van Morrison.