Let’s look at humankind’s relationship with God. There are two fundamental ways to perceive our relationships with others — we can see others as objects, or we can see others as people. Martin Buber discussed this difference in what many consider the greatest theological book of the 20th century, I and Thou. More recently, the difference between seeing others as objects and seeing others as people is taught by the Arbinger Institute in their seminal book, The Anatomy of Peace. The Arbinger training has become an essential component of how I conduct ministry.[1]

How we relate to others as an object or as a person also applies to our relationship with God. There are times when we wish to speak about God objectively. Then I use metaphysical language. However, when we want to speak of our relationship with God, we must use the language of I and Thou. That language is mysticism.

Much of this section will speak about Jesus Christ and my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus was a mystic. I agree with much of traditional Christianity that Jesus experienced the full range of human emotions and thinking. And we share the belief that, at some point, he achieved full awareness of his divine nature. This awareness of one’s divine nature is what we know as the mystical experience, and we teach that all of Jesus’ works and teachings were expressions of this awareness. Mysticism, or awareness of one’s divine nature, was the religion of Jesus, and it summarizes my primary spiritual pathway.

Jesus is often referred to as the way-shower, he who shows the way. What is this way that Jesus taught and demonstrated? It is fundamentally an opening of the heart accompanied by a sense of oneness with God and all creation, a sense of gratitude and joy for all things that flow into one’s life, and a willingness to manifest that which God wants to express through one’s life.

Furthermore, I share with traditional Christianity an understanding of the critical importance of faith. We differ, however, in what faith does. For me, faith does not restore a connection to God nor change my status from lost to saved, for I am an expression of the divine idea of Christ, perfect and eternal, just as I am. I am never separate from God. Instead, faith opens up a channel in my soul for the reception of all good that God has prepared for me. In short, faith serves as a conduit for flow, not for oneness.

 [1] TruthUnity Ministry Resources, Arbinger Institute. https://www.truthunity.net/organizations/arbinger-institute