What is the nature of superstition?
I am having my private morning communion with whole grain baguette and coffee.
Some people would rebel because I am not using unleavened bread and wine. For them the power of the moment is wrapped up in the physical attributes of the elements. In other words, the grace that comes through the Eucharist is void if you use the wrong kind of bread. That is superstition.
The superstitious of the world, be they pagan or Christian, assume that certain material objects, rituals, shapes or positioning are the avenue to power. Spirituality is about finding ways to manipulate power and put it to our use. Traditions can become superstitious gimmicks. Such Biblical concepts as prayer and fasting can become agents of superstition. All it takes is believing that the ritual or artifact is the avenue to power.
Christianity puts the power in the person of God and the presence of His Holy Spirit. Grace is bestowed because God chooses to give it, not because we eat a piece of bread or because it has been blessed by a priest who offered it over a consecrated altar. God is a person, not a force. He is to be sought and obeyed not manipulated.
It depends on the living God not our access to secret knowledge. The Bible is an open book that is available to all because the Holy Spirit works to bring understanding. It is not full of hidden meanings and secret codes that are only revealed to those who are initiated.
Don’t fall for superstitious mumbo-jumbo. Don’t allow the deceiver to draw you away from the living God.
homo unius libri
Not long after becoming a Christian, I reread the verses where Jesus says "As often..." and it seemed to me that He was saying that EVERY TIME WE EAT AND DRINK, we should do so in his memory or honor. Preachers argue against the idea, of course, but I'm not so sure.
ReplyDeleteA preacher arguing against something the Bible says is like a supreme court justice ignoring the Constitution's clear words. The United States and the Protestant Reformation were both originally for thinking people.
DeleteTimes change. Truth doesn't.
Grace and peace.