March 2003: Norway, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland

March 2003

Dear Friends,

Our last "open letter" was sent from Norway. Thememories of our experiencesthere--the friendliness of the people, the newbrothers and sisters wemet,the mountains, the sea, the color-filled sky--arestill in our heartsandremain a source of strength. After a brief butunexpectedly beautifuland insight-filled visit to the capital city, Oslo, wesailed to northernGermany, then went down to the Dusseldorf area.We were able to re-visit the Drueggelte Kappelle inSoest, which combinespre-Christian and Christian architecture andspirituality. Then came avisit to the Eckstern Steine in Horn by Paderborn.These magnificent cathedrals of naturally occuringrock were the center point of the oldinitiation-religion of the Germanicand Nordic peoples in ancient times. Later, theybecame a place of Christianspiritual endeavor, and today bear a touching reliefof Christ!s bodybeingremoved from the cross.

In both cases, we werereminded of how the pre-Christian"heathen" spiritual streams were, in their essence,not anti-Christian,but rather a preparation forunderstanding and experiencing the incarnationof God the Word and the mighty events which took placein Palestine twomillenia ago. As the time for the physical coming ofChrist approached,these ancient mysteries began to lose theirsignificanceand many fell into decadence.Yet the essential truths they contained and borewitness to are a reminderof what a contemporary orthodox theologian once said:Christ is presentin every culture, waiting to be discovered.From Germany, we went south to Belgium and had thegreat priviledge ofbeingable to attend a five-day seminar where Leanne Paynewas the main speaker.She is the head of a group from Wheaton, Illinoiscalled Pastoral CareMinistries.They have brought about an amazing synthesis ofphilosophy and spiritualpsychology (resting heavily on George MacDonald, C.S.Lewis, Charles Williamsand Joseph Piper), pentecostal/charismatic song andprayer and Christianspiritual healing. The sessions consisited ofthoughtful lectures followedby an "invokation of the spirit of God", whereby theparticipants couldsee their past hurts or misdeeds, and give them over,into the hands orinto the light of Christ, for forgiveness and healing.

It would be toomuch to write about this in detail here, and we canonly recommend readingher books.One of the central teachings was on the power ofimagination. Used rightly,the imagination is a power for artistic creativity,deeds of charity andthe translation of our moral ideals into acts oftransforming love. Whenmisused (and this happens so often today), imaginationbecomes the meansby which egotism, (inordinate self-love), uncleanthoughts and perversesexualityand violence take demonic form in our world andseparate us from the loveof God, from one another, and from our own true,higher selves.Another central teaching had to do with gender. In thehigher spiritualself, we have both masculine and feminine aspects.Each person must findthe receptive, feminine element and the creative,masculine will-elementwithin him- or her-self. Yet in the realm of the bodyand the personality,we are either man or woman. Psychological health andspiritual growthare dependent on our finding our identity as man orwoman, and seeking tocomplementthis through selfless love of one`s partner of theopposite sex. Spirituallove--agape--is, of course, the highest form of love,and knows no distinctionsof gender. But romance--the loving union (orre-union!)--of man and womanalso has its necessary and rightful place in thisworld. Moreover, itwouldbe a terrible day for humanity if--as in Huxley`s"Brave New World"--thegenerationof children were to be torn out of the sphere of loveand affection andmade mechanical. Could a human soul truly incarnateinto a body formedin a test tube or conceived through the narcisisticact of cloning?

Leaving that question and returning to our pilgrimage,we now find ourselvesin Switzerland. Here, as elsewhere, the worldpolitical situation is highon most people`s minds. An American film called"Bowling for Columbine"has made a huge hit here. It is a documentaryexploring the causes ofviolencein the USA and demonstrating that it cannot beexplained by poverty, wide-spreadgun ownership or racial tensions. Rather, the filmsuggests that a cultureof fear--both of domestic and foreign "enemies"--isbeing deliberatelycultivated,and that the violence is the result of a climate offear.The movie contained some interesting statistics (whichI have not verified).For example, during a certain period in the US, theincidence of reportedviolent crimes dropped by twenty percent, but thecoverage ofviolent crime on TV rose by six hundredpercent. Another shocker was this: Osama bin Ladin(accused of being behindthe terrorist attacks of 11 Sept. 2001) was an agent of the CIA,and received four billion dollars from the USgovernment, ostensibly tofight the Soviets in Afghanistan.So what can be done?

Perhaps the two virtues whichneed most to be cultivatedtoday are wakefulness and courage. In the wholewestern world, there isa systematic attack on civil liberties and thedemocratic rights of citizensto know what their governments are doing and toinfluence important decisionsaffecting their countries and the world. People needto be aware of whatis happening and awake to the moral, spiritualsignificance of these events.But even more importantly, we must never forget thetremendous good inthe world. Only that will give us the courage and hopeto go forward.Christ is in our midst. He is in our hearts, callingus. He calls us toovercome fear by waking up to our eternal, spiritualnature; to find thetask in our heart and to energetically set aboutfulfilling it. He callsus to love one another, to go between the poles ofpity and selfishnessand to help one another. This may be as simple asgiving some one a loafof bread. It may be as far-reaching as finding new andappropriate waysof educating children, treating and preventingillness, or reforming ourpolitical and governmental institutions. He calls usto protect and ennoblethe earth--His body--and its life. He calls us to theadventure of self-knowledgeand self-transformation. And He calls us to know andto love God withall our heart, soul, intelligence and strength. Thisis spiritual chastity,a word despised, misused or ignored in modern culture,yet both essentialand wonderful to experience.

This love can be pure andfocused. We canchastely renounce spiritual fornication with the godsof mammon, sensualdepravity and exploitative power. Then wealth becomesa tool to help others.The senses become a revelation of the spirit whichcreates and formsmatter.And we find the real power to be our true, creativeselves. Thus beginsthe divine romance--terrible for the old, fallen,habit and comfort-lovingelements in us; and full of promise, liberation andjoy for our true selves.You, too, are called to this divine romance. How willyou answer?Our hearts, prayers and thanks are with all of you!

William and Alexandra14 March 2003