- All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.
We're going to be okay: as a theme, a movement, a religion, an idea of art and liberation and a rapturous affair with the transformative power of Divine Love.
We're going to be okay as an Ekklesia.
We're operating out of an intense adolescence as a postmodernist re-imagining of Gnostic religion: our immortality is evident, our insecurity trumped by the rush of discovery and challenge. We have the beatnik appeal of the inside-outsider and a secret language of theology in Greek and Coptic and Latin. We have names to drop, too: rock stars and comic book artists and science fiction authors and a saintly Swiss psychologist. We have the righteousness of our martyrs: Chevillon and Esclarmonde and Hypatia, along with real Saints: Juan de la Cruz and Francis of Assisi and Hildegard von Bingen.
But we also have fear; of co-option, of commodification, of guilt-by-association. Out of fear of a gnosis-free-Gnosticism, some seek to impose a Gnosticism-free-Gnosticism. I've seen friends claim that other friends are not co-religionists due to trivial differences in interpretation, and I too have come idiotically close to doing the same. I am, at times, quite the hot-head.
But I love you, and you are my co-religionist.
She called to you, and with Her kiss still wet on your mouth you formed the word "Gnostic" and placed it in your heart. You Knew. You seek gnosis and find inspiration and take comfort from Thunder: Perfect Mind, Norea, Poimandres, and the Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Mary Magdalene.
You may also be a Buddhist or a Deist or a Witch or an Evangelical Christian or a Rastasufiquakertarian. I don't care. If you "Hearken to the Logos, understand gnosis, and love life" as in the Secret Book of James then I recognize you as my sister, my brother, my teacher: my co-religionist. We are re-reading, re-connecting, re-membering together.
20 years ago there were perhaps a thousand of us who Knew and kept a place for the word "Gnostic" in themselves; today there are perhaps 100,000. We accept that soon enough there shall be a million of us, each with our own spin, our own terms, our own voice. Some of us will be clever people who say stupid things, some of us will be hopelessly naive and unearth treasures – and nobody will give a good goddamn about our trivial distinctions and exclusions and positions of the future's past.
The cup of Gnosticism – however dented and scratched – will continue to pour forth the wine of gnosis. As a great Prophet once wrote, every lil thin' gonn' be awright.
6 comments:
Once again, well said.
It's so easy to get caught up in the passion of a discussion and to fall asleep again.
I hate that.
Hallelujah and Amen, Brother! We are blessed to have you as a co-religionist and a friend!
Jordan! AMEN! Geez, I needed this so bad. Thank you!
"It's so easy to get caught up in the passion of a discussion and to fall asleep again."
Passion? More like the rage of being constantly misrepresented in the service of silly posturing. But yeah, you're right, and I'm waiting to wake TF up again!
Amen!! Thank you Father Jordy.
Love ya,
Father Marsha+
I'm feeling the good side of 'co-religionist' as it nullifies my co-dependency on deity forms that suck the goo from my inner-spirit-flogging. YET, gnosticism has always tugged me---from the time I was an addled teenager. Glad I found your blog.
Pseudo-guru
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