Religion - a Means not an End

An archetype is a recurrent symbol in mythology. It is an original embodiment or essence of a person or thing. As example, Adam could be an archetype for all humankind. We are all Adam; we are all Eve. We have existed from the beginning as or with them and will exist until the last human is no more. We are not separated by distance in time or place.

As Christian scripture says, the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Christ. She is often depicted as the “new Eve”, existing without being tempted by something other than God. Because of her embrace of The Eternal, Mary gave birth to Jesus, who then is part human, or part Adam, and part Divine, as son of God.

I, in my humanness, can look to Mary’s example of embracing The Eternal and through prayer, meditation, and giving of self, also embrace it. Through one’s own embrace, one, too, can give birth to The Christ in this world, that which is part human, or self, and part Eternal, daughter or son of the Divine. Once one has birthed the Divine, one then brings it with them into his or her existence in this lifetime.

As we age, we cycle through this embracing, birthing, and bringing again and again. It is a daily, hourly, or even moment to moment, struggle to refocus and re-embrace and rebirth. What is the purpose of the continual struggle? I believe it is to grow and to mature one’s soul to live at one in this world with The Eternal One, and then bringing that Oneness back into this life. This is joy and peace and the greatest of work that can be accomplished in this world and lifetime.

Photo by Chad Greiter on Unsplash

Religions use these archetypes to help us to achieve the objective of growing and maturing our souls, evolving our consciousness. Thinking in terms of archetypes does not diminish their reality as there was an historical Jesus. However, archetypal figures help us to wrap our minds around the great unfathomable mysteries of the Eternal One.

We cannot fathom the mystery, but we can read about Jesus (or another archetypal figure) and seek to follow his example. Belief and worship help us open to ourselves to Spirit. That which is within and without and in between. Difficulties arise when a religion is the end goal instead of the means of evolving and maturing one’s soul. As when one or many attach to a religious dogma, prepared to defend it even to death, instead of using it to grow in love and service to the other.

Religions invite us to use their archetypes and grow in oneness. That is the end prayer. The historical Jesus came to invite us into oneness in him, not to division. Growth requires patience, understanding, kindness, and above all, trust in the Eternal and Love of self, one another, and above all in God - in each moment and in each breath.