Gnosis, as understood in our church, is the knowledge of the character of God derived from direct experience. That experience never really ends, though at some times it is more clear than others, just like any relationship.
The experience may come in any form, mystical or otherwise. However, the experiential knowledge of the Goodness of God remains a constant. That is what we call Gnosis. It is the pearl.
When I first started this little adventure, I never dreamed where it would take me. (I would have chosen a much less mystical sounding nick, believe me!). I did not start out to pastor a church; I don’t even remember consciously choosing to become a Gnostic. I think rather, that the path chose me. Sometimes I feel so inadequate to the task, and in a world full of fakes and scammers cashing in on the name “Gnostic”, I sometimes feel very frustrated at the numbers of books and webpages promoting this that and the other thing as “Gnostic”. It doesn’t last too long though. I recognize that I am not responsible for the things beyond my control.
I would like to clear up a little misconception; this one may generate a little heat in some quarters, but it doesn’t matter. It will reach those who will understand, and those who it angers may understand someday. I get questions and statements about all types of sexuality. Sometimes they come as quiet confessions, and sometimes they come as an angry statement of challenge. My answer- Why do you identify yourself with a physical desire? What happens to you when that desire is sated, do you just dissolve into non-existence? We are more than our bodies, more than our sexuality, more than our hunger pangs, our hair color, more than our strength and vigor, and more than our illnesses. This is the world we were born in to, this is the hand we were dealt, and we will leave in a short while.
I know you’ve heard this before, at least in regards to money; you can’t take it with you. Nor will you bring with you your illness, your strength and vigor, your hair color, nor your sexuality. There is an old saying –We all live between the four mountains. We have great diversity, and sometimes pride in our diversity. Rubbish. You should be happy to be who you are, but whatever circumstance we were born into, was beyond our control. Pride is for accomplishment. Let our mothers be proud for giving birth to us.
Let us take pride in the accomplishments that we can take with us. Stop identifying yourself with the cravings of your body…it’s just an unreliable and very temporary and very noisy vehicle to drive from point A to point B. Point A is when the doctor first slapped your bum, and point B will be when your vehicles heart stops beating. It’s not you, so any identification with your vehicle is entirely misplaced, except for maintenance purposes.
Yes, a noisy vehicle. It all the time sends messages to our brains, saying “I want, I want, I want”, and it doesn’t care what fulfilling those “I wants” will do to our waistlines, pocketbook, social status, or spirituality. Give it what it needs, but hates. Exercise and the proper fuel….errr..food. Don’t be so hung up on sexuality, yours or anybody else’s. It’s just another “I want”, and there are “I wants” from other parts of our beings that can be equally destructive. Let’s concentrate our efforts on the genuine needs that are evident in the world all around us.
When I first became a pastor, I had absolutely no idea of the needs that are out there. There are people with illnesses that need comfort and care, people with loved ones who are devastated by fear or loss. We can’t stop bodies from aging, and laying down for the final time. We can learn about God, so that the survivors or the ones waiting for the final drum, can hear genuine words of comfort. What I am trying to get across, is all of these spiritual exercises that we do, our meditations and practices, our prayers and rituals….it ain’t about us. It’s helping us get our stuff together so that we can help others. Only when we are the fingers and lips of God are we worthy to be called the children of God. Jesus said others would know us by our love for each other.
Help someone see that God is real and lives in you. Care for them in their hour of great need, or in stopping and smiling and buying a lemonade at the little lemonade stand, and don’t even let on they forgot the sugar. Let God shine through you, and really begin to live. Don’t listen to those “I wants”, but live your genuine potential. No, you’re not going to wake up and be Ghandi tomorrow, but every journey begins with a single step, and purposeful intent. If we do everything we are training ourselves to do properly, and we go where the Holy Spirit directs us, maybe the light of gnosis will light up a face, one person at a time, and finally the promise of peace on earth, good will toward men, will be kept through us.


