Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (The Message)
Whenever, malady though, cure they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Thought for the Day: Paul might have been the original Universalist. I know we think of him as the father of Christianity, but he was a First Century CE Jew who saw Jesus as presenting and creating a complete cosmic change of consciousness (although he didn’t have the vocabulary to express his ideas that way).

Although Paul’s theology is incredibly complex, he does appear to understand Jesus as an event/person that directs all the people of Earth to a closer, more direct relationship with God. While most followers of The Way were Jewish, and saw Jesus and his teachings as specifically Jewish, Paul saw more. Perhaps most remarkably, especially for his time, Paul understood that the teachings of Jesus were a revelation for all humans, “first the Jew, then also the Gentile,” as he was fond of saying.

Whether we call ourselves Christians, Followers of the Way, Jews, or Muslims, the idea of the Christ is to show us we have an innate capacity to be more than we think we are. Jesus, through his teaching sand the way he lived his life, shows us all a better humanity, one filled with compassion, love, forgiveness, and faith that the universe, and whatever it is keeping it all together, is ultimately and undeniably a gracious host for all of us, no matter what we call ourselves.

Prayer: Holy Engine of Creation, let me exist more purely in your presence, so I’ll better understand just how intimately connected we all are. Change my heart, change my mind, change my soul, and make me more like you—a being of passionate love and acceptance. Amen.