Christ First Forum

by **Rainbow** » 19 Jul 2011, 16:44

Friendships come to us in many forms and shapes. The most common is that between people who
enjoy doing similar things together, and who tend to have the same values and beliefs. Perhaps
the least common is that between people who come from different cultures and life experiences.
Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings comes to mind if we consider this more uncommon form of friendship. The
Dwarves and Elves at first do not get along; in fact, they have dismissive, stereotypical views of each other--
much as whites and blacks did in the time of slavery, and, even in more recent times.
Indeed, such conflict is often the case in our world today when social groups or individual persons grow up with a bias against people who are different and their values. Theologians like C.S. Lewis call this a confrontation with “otherness.”

As readers and movie goers know, the purpose of a quest in many stories is to overcome this mistrust of “otherness.” This has always been one of the redeeming values of great literature. In Lord of the Rings, Tolkien shows that Dwarves and Elves can indeed be friends, and, in fact, grow in depth and quality as spiritual beings when they open up to the opposing and different views and values of new acquaintances. The Fellowship consists of
characters who have a wide range of values , opinions, and taste. In a Christian framework, this might be seen as the Body of Christ.

In our world today, similar objectification of various social groups is alive and well. One has only to think of the
Palestinians and Jews to get a picture of how deeply ingrained such conflicts remain. But imagine what
would happen if these biased individuals let God into the center of their stereotypical thinking? The Word
of God is a celebration and acceptance of the otherness of people from different countries and backgrounds.
Instead of a fear driven response to those who are different, people might learn how to embrace them.
The New Testament is full of examples of God encouraging each individual to accept
and learn from “otherness.” The world God brought into existence is a wonderful tapestry of the variety of creation. At the heart of it is the “otherness”
of God’s people.

When we file away people who are different from us into a category of otherness, we close our minds to the lessons
we might learn from them. In effect we are saying, my knowledge of the world is complete, and I wouldn’t benefit
from listening to you talk about your world and values. This is the closed-minded language of the ego. If we picture
our spiritual Self as a circle, the ego is only a small circle within it. If the ego claims to know all there is to know about the
rest of the larger circle, it , in effect, becomes a self-anointed deity. According to Lewis, we grow spiritually when we realize that the ego(the small circle)
is only a small part of our spiritual Self(the whole circle). Thus when we open up to the spiritual space around us, we grow into a new awareness of the infinite relationship between the ego and the soul.

One could argue that an encounter between the ego and the Spiritual Self is an experience
with the Holy Spirit. It is like an astronaut gazing into infinite space. In all humility, he realizes
he is but a small part of God’s wonderfully immense universe. If he is a Christian, he may praise God for
the gift of a mind to ponder such glories. If he is an egotist, he may only think about his pride.
He may never know that he only lives on the rim of the great circle of God’s created universe.

Christ First Forum

Friendship with God at the center

Friendship with God at the center

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