Topical Thomas

Reblogging from Prof. DeConick

Jesus said, “If you have money, do not give it at interest. Rather give [it] to someone from whom you will not get it (back).”

Gospel of Thomas 95.1-2

Cutting to the chase

It seems remiss of me not to point to my dear brother Donald’s rather excellent, pithy, poetic statement of what Johannite spirituality is about. If you want to cut straight to the punchline, here’s Donald. Neither he nor I are making official statements on behalf of the AJC.

Saint John the Beloved disciple of Jesus fostered an affirming catholic and apostolic communion, universalist in outlook, rooted in the mystical core of Christianity and the tradition of St. John the Baptist. Johannite spirituality was handed down consciously and through the secrets of liturgy and chivalric orders within the Church. By the 18th century, some Roman and Anglican clergy openly celebrated the Johannite Communion using the languages of mystical Catholicism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry and Hermeticism. Today Johannite priests, ordained by the hands of Apostolic Succession, are active building parishes on three continents, keeping the doors open and the candles lit for anyone who wishes to explore the Sacred Flame. All Johannite sacraments are open to all people.

Contribution to a eulogy for Kathleen Mansfield

Rather than get one person to give a eulogy for my Mum, we asked her friends and family to contribute their perspective to a collaborative picture of her life. This is what I wrote.

I’ve been thinking about what I owe my Mum. Or maybe the thing to think about is what of myself I owe my Mum.

My mum didn’t cook with salt, didn’t give us soft drinks and fed us fruit instead of candy and left me with healthy eating habits I’ve only succeeded in overcoming after years of sharehousing.

My mum has been a voracious, insatiable reader who taught me to read and fostered in me a love of reading.

My mum has been a lifelong learner who never seemed happy unless she was learning something new, she taught me that our minds grow constantly or begin to go stale.

My mum has been an eccentric original thinker who taught me to trust my own opinion first, even if my view isn’t popular.

My mum has had a passion for justice and taught me to always seek to understand the other side of the argument I was making, often to my immense frustration.

My mum has been intensely curious about other cultures and taught me to inquire ever deeper into how other people thought, prayed, loved and lived their lives.

My mum has always valued peace and quiet and has taught me to let my brain settle down long enough to hear the gentle murmur of nature.

My mum has always been a secret mystic who taught me to value the quiet voice of God within over rules and regulations.

In her final days, Mum could only muster about five facial expressions and I’ve noticed myself doing every one of them at some time or other.

My mum has fought to maintain her dignity even as she lost control of her life and taught me that even at the end of days we can learn to love and respect each other more and to be truly present to each other even through great distress.

Now my mum’s spirit, soul and body have disentangled and gone their separate ways and who she was lives on in us, by us, with us, as us.

Farewell, Mum. I’ll miss You.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Adonai; et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Market and Competition

Rev Troy dropped in yesterday to point out that the kinds of “inclusivity” I described in my earlier post aren’t unique to the AJC – all modern Gnostic churches share the same approach.

I realised after reading his comment that I hadn’t been trying to define what makes the AJC different from other Gnostic churches – since I don’t see our churches as being in competition: we’re in different geographical areas and we’re all mostly aiming for the same thing, there doesn’t seem to be much sense in competing.

I thought I should also point out a little about my method. These posts are a way of me feeling my way towards what makes the AJC (and particularly our church in Sydney) unique for people I’m talking to. Each of the posts highlights something I think is distinctive or interesting and my intention is to synthesise a USP from the set. This may take a while, but hopefully it means that I’ll get better at communicating the church and you, gentle readers, may find out more than you already knew.

The final thing I wanted to note is that using a marketing approach like this supposes a market of consumers and some good and some scarcity (of money, time or attention) which causes competition among providers. It isn’t totally clear to me that among potential spiritual seekers there is a real scarcity, but certainly people need to allocate their time among a large set of possible activities and spiritual seekers among a large set of possible groups and practices.

Given where Saint Uriel’s is in the world, we compete with TV and going out to drink with friends, we compete with the local Buddhist meditation group and with the Roman Catholic cathedral. I think I’ve been thinking about these posts in terms of laying out what makes us distinct from other churches, so perhaps some of this might be useful for clergy and lay ministers in other Gnostic churches who are probably facing similar competition.