Who Is This Child?

The director young adult ministry in Chicago through out this reflection: to give an answer to the question "Who Is This Child?" The following is what I sent him. I'm going to post future theology stuff on my Mindful Theology blog site (www.mindfultheology.blogspot.com). Have a blessed Advent.

Who Is This Child?

Another question that is connected to this one is “Why did he come at that time, at that place?” When viewed from the story of human evolution, Jesus came at the perfect time because he represents the fulfillment of one phase and the beginning of another. The human story began a few million years ago and by the time Jesus came to earth, are bodies and brains had reached their full potential and we had some pretty good experience already with living in civilizations. While living in civilizations lumped people together in some form of unity, real “oneness” was not evident. Class systems developed and a few privileged people, mostly men, lorded over their subjects. While our technologies have evolved, we seem to still be stuck in power systems where people are being oppressed. We even oppress ourselves by being deeply frustrated by who we think we are and who we want to be.

However, the next phase of evolution is on the horizon but it began with Jesus, 2000 years ago. This phase will not be characterized by physical domination, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest, or building up and hording of resources to ensure physical survival. Instead, the next phase is a spiritual phase where people “awaken” to who they already (truly) are. It is a global movement of humans reconnecting to the earth and to each other where artificial barriers such as nation states, racial segregation, gender gaps, economic disparities, and even our own self-imposed limitations implode. Jesus teachings consistently challenged the power structures that oppressed people while inviting the oppressed to live more fully and freely. On a smaller scale, he challenged individuals to live with such freedom that their culturally enforced and self-imposed stereotypes (“false selves”) were no longer necessary. Never before in our human story did teachings come forth that were as radical, challenging, exciting, and life-giving. His own Jewish heritage could not have prepared him to live with such freedom as it was itself steeped in patriarchal ideology that allowed a few powerful men to control the rest. It seems that only through his total connection to Being, to God, could he speak with such a freshness, free from the mindset of his time, that his message remains universally applicable regardless of any historical or cultural context. In other words, this new phase of human evolution is a spiritual realization of the prayer that he prayed in John’s Gospel, “May they be one” (Jn 17:21). And Jesus’ teaching is the blueprint of how to do just that.

Jesus coming to earth also affirmed that God loves the human body, that creation is good (so we better take care of it), and that all of the life-cycles that enervate the universe such as birth, death, sexuality, love, and forbearance are the manifestations of God’s self. Because he came as a baby to a family, we are affirmed in our desires to parent, to marry, to bring forth life…and to be vulnerable. During the time he grew into his Personhood, his needs were met by his family and friends. It is a reminder that it is okay to have needs and to receive help from people.

In sum, God’s coming to the world as Jesus is the Great Morning that marked the end or fulfillment of our bodily growth while we slept and the beginning of a new dawn of wakefulness, of oneness, and of authentic self-love.