• Home
  • About
  • The Minotaur Myth

  • Zen Fits
  • It’s Martini Time
  • Reflections on Eckhart Tolle
  • Buddhas in your Landfill
You are here: Home / It's Martini Time / The Metaphorical Priest

The Metaphorical Priest

March 14, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

This was a good talk because it went where I had never been before. As a Metaphorical Priest I made a living sacrifice: I sacrifice the known, the plans, the control, the insurance, and the fear of what you will think. When you make the ultimate sacrifice, you are suddenly fearless. Having given up everything you hold valuable, you had nothing to lose now. That’s what a sacrifice is.

When the Catholic Church took away the Latin in the Mass and turned the priest around, Joseph Campbell said ti turned the Eucharist into cook show. The mystery was gone. The magic was gone. And that is what has happened to Christianity’s mystical tradition in the modern age. We live in a rational world (thank you science) and in this world it is possible to know everything, given enough time and money. But Mystery and Awe are not knowable; and, BTW, the other hand of Awe is Terror. The other face of Mystery is Terror. This is why we love horror movies. And, if I may suggest, we love the replay of Terror on TV News. Wow, you get a video of Terror, and it is golden. We get to experience Terror vicariously. We get to keep the cake of Awesome Terror and eat it too.

You see, because we have attached the symbols of Transcendence—the sacred Eucharist for instance—to history instead of seeing it as a portal to Awe and Terror, we have killed it into a symbolic remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus through grape juice and a wafer. What power is there in a wafer and grape juice? Where’s the blood? Where’s the terror, the death, the shock and awe? The symbol has lost its power.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: It's Martini Time

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ed is a Zen Writer and story teller who finds insights in the truth of his life in everyday mind and events. Learn more

Live without future

Search

Connect to my Facebook Pages

Archives

Top Posts & Pages

  • God is Androgynous
  • The Zen of Jesus
  • Three weddings, one marriage
  • Pride and Joy

Subscribe to My Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 66 other subscribers

Awaken Insight Meditation

AIM is a website where I share my Dharma Insights in my everyday mind. My daily experiences are metaphors that point to the Truth that is One. Paths are many, but the Dharma is One. I invite you to walk with me on my journey. I also invite you to enter into creative dialogue with the post, for then we push it forward and get some traction in our life.

The Minotaur Myth

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in