You are my sibling. We are family. This is the essential truth of life. It is the only moral truth that really matters.
There is only one Creator. Our disagreements over the nature of that creator and how they accomplished it are meaningless. We come from a common source. We are children of the same parent. Like it or not, we are family.
Family is not religion, but something far more powerful. It is not an organization to join, but a fellowship to accept. It is who we are at our very core. Family is birth, death, and all the joy and tragedy in between. We may run from it at moments, but we will never truly be apart from it.
This family I speak of is something beyond what traditional religion is willing to accept. They place limits and conditions upon it. They turn it into a club. But the family I speak of is not their property. It belongs to the One who created us all, the One who loves us all.
It is past time that we recognize this family of the One, this fellowship of the One. They are tired of us ignoring, neglecting, and tarnishing it. This family is our Creator’s greatest gift to us and we spit upon it constantly. Enough!
Family is about loving one another, not using one another. Family is about sharing all that we have, not hoarding it. We do not earn anything; it is all a gift from our Parent. Family is about supporting our siblings, not controlling them. Family is about hope, not fear.
It is time for us to embrace our family, even though we will fail, and probably fail miserably. This is another paradox of our Creator. We can never truly be one family is this life and yet they compel us to try, they demand that we make the attempt.
Embracing our family is not about creating a new religion, perfecting an old one, or abandoning them altogether. Many elements of traditional religion do honor the family. Take advantage of these and ignore the rest. This may upset the power dynamic of corporate religion, but so be it. God is tired of the status quo and the way it suffocates the family’s love. Corporate religion turns siblings into enemies. It is time to find a new way.
Yes, this path will be terrifying. It is uncertain and full of risk. But we owe it to our family to embark upon the journey. It is who we are and why we were created: to love our family, all of it.
February 11, 2012