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Call
her Jordan!
On their way to the Promised Land, Israel crossed the Jordan River in two steps. A few folks first crossed the Jordan as "spies." Those spies went up to that town called Jericho to make some inquiries about that city — they wanted to know whether they were powerful enough to attack and possess it. Due to the secret and the uncertain character of their mission, the spies were full of fear and doubts. Fortunately, things happened in such a way that they were back sooner that they expected. Once on the other side of the river, they met their commander Joshua, son of Nun, to whom they gave a positive report. This report (Joshua 2) marked the end of the first step in the process of crossing the Jordan. The first crossing was easy but uncertain; secret and elitist. The second step was open and full of solemnity. The people of Israel were full of faith (because of the report), and at the same time were ready to conquer the Promised Land. The Ark of the Covenant — the symbol of God’s physical presence in Israel — guaranteed the success of the second crossing and the victory over the "pre-occupied" territories. God here is an external presence: holy, untouchable. The irony of the story is found in the advice given to the lay people by the scribes: "When you see the priests carrying the Covenant Box of the Lord your God, break camp and follow them. You have never been here before, so they will show you the way to go. But do not get near the Covenant Box; stay about a kilometer behind it. (Joshua 3:3-4)"
The Ark of the Covenant was with the people but far from
them. Is it not funny? They were moving in the name of a God
but still didn’t really want anything to do with that same
God. To mark the end of this second step, a memorial was build with twelve stones taken from the Jordan River and carried by twelve brave men on their shoulders. This was to immortalize this important event, full of significance. The distance that is observed in celebrations between the people of Israel and their God will usually in the course of time decrease or increase according to how Israel responds to the Law given to them by Moses. Sometimes, what could have been a blessing turns to be a social and spiritual cancer. Several times, Jesus reproached the Pharisees for "they tie on people’s backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren’t willing even to lift a finger to help them carry those loads. (Matthew 23:4)" Reflecting on the spiritual memorial, I think of the cosmic stones as the sum of lessons (spiritual and carnal experiences), each stone being a memorial of consolation erected in the tired soul. The cosmic stone, a living memorial, is nothing else but our inner temple. On one hand, it is only by fixing our eyes on the inner Christ, "the living stone rejected by man as worthless but chosen by God as valuable (1Peter 2:4)"; and on the other hand, it is by being fully aware of the role of "us" as executive members of the holy creation that the web of fellowship is built, making rooms in us for new perspectives, new re-creation, new hopes. Trials and the challenges of life, when they are welcomed with a cosmic understanding and wisdom fertilize, nurture and prepare the soul for a spiritual and social maternity. As it happened that the people of Israel crossed the Jordan before building a memorial, so we must also consider the spiritual cosmic tradition. By "tradition," I mean the source of spiritual development, our Mother Nature, in her longing to give birth to a cosmic prosperity. The spiritual experience capable of sharpening our spiritual understanding is born of our cosmic Mother (symbolized here by the water of Jordan).
In sum, the spiritual meaning of the second crossing, which ended up with the birth of a memorial, is not clear to the staggering crowd lost in a religion which has become a piece of art in a collective memory museum. This religion is only proud for His late exploits, but which exploits? This is a dumb and foolish crowd unable to choose between wisdom and silliness. The crowd stones the prophets/ prophetesses and feeds the thieves. The crowd is trapped by His unconscious choices with unnumbered faces. John the Baptist at the launching of the new Covenant denounced and warned the Pharisees against the trap of religious hypocrisy. He was preaching not far from the desert of Judea near the Jordan. His clothes were made of camel’s hair; he wore a leather belt and his food was locusts and wild honey. [The camel is known for his resistance in dry regions, such as the desert.] To make the rite of baptism become a way of life, he urged postulants to bear good fruits for the world to testify that they are the real Abraham’s sons and daughters. He said: "The axe is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire." The tree, according to Hildegard of Bingen, represents the center of the world of life. The "Life" that is rooted in the cosmic ocean will flourish. The soul will find satisfaction for the source is never dry. Despite the aggressiveness of our daily life, the cosmic understanding makes it be a source of joy, too (symbolized by honey). He who makes Life a cosmic habitation has cosmic desires. In the midst of spiritual aridity she/he will grow and never will she/he dry up (see Psalms 1:3). Those who have entered in the cosmic vision of the Creation are Life in God. Rivers of abundant life and unconditional love flow in them. They have become sin, repentance and forgiveness. This is easy to understand. We cannot identify ourselves to Christ except when we become one with sin. And if Christ is in us and we in Her/Him, then who can separate us from the love of God? It is not surprising that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus ever confessed a personal sin.
The cosmic Mother cares about Creation and makes cosmic trees grow where she wants: "Doth not even the nature itself teach you? (1Corinthians 11:14)" Diversity is celebrated where acceptation and tolerance reign. In the biosphere, there is everywhere some sort of war between different species, but anywhere we have green space, it means different species have learned to live together, and so shall we with a green vision. So, where does the axe come from? Is it an apology for uniformity? Is it "Be this way or die"? Could we hope for a new vision of the axe if not satisfied by his repressive aspects? Yes, we can and She should. For where there is freedom, there is hope. To try it, let us reflect on the shape of the axe itself. Before the Iron Age, axes were made with a piece of wood tied with a sharp piece of stone. With the discovery of iron, new models were made (and are still being made) with a sharp piece of iron for the axe-head and a piece of dry wood for the axe holder. Jesus painted himself as green wood in the gospel according to Luke (23:31): "For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" If the green Christ represents the green cosmic church with its roots fixed in its Mother, the dry wood is the dry church crowned with the iron of patriarchy. This is insensible, making more slaves than free women and men. Aaron was a leader with a dry staff (the symbol of his authority) until the day his authority was contested in the wilderness. He could have use his staff to hit and kill those who protested against his leadership, as Moses did in Egypt, but wisdom was there to lead him and he found another way to handle the riot. In the end, the contesting of his authority proved to not be groundless. It was a blessing for both Aaron and his opponents. God turned the dry staff into a beautiful green one. Is it not cute? The Church also has her leaders and her doctrines. The story of the conversion from a dry authority into a cosmic one, as with Aaron, is also the story of mystics. These women and men in the church have chosen not to hide behind "cruel doctrines," but are ready to examine — in the light of all forms of protest rising up against the cruel mother Church — what to encourage, to change or to retain. For it is the discomfort that gives birth to protest movements, and not the contrary. The Church’s infallibility is found in her cosmic truth; not only in her dry structures. The world is longing for a green vision, especially in this third millennium. The cancer of pedophilia has no longer any respect for the clergy. A few weeks ago a priest and a bishop were condemned in France for being found guilty accomplices in a pedophilia affair. In Africa, "cruel doctrines" about "unwanted chastity" have made African nuns the targets of male clergy, who are now afraid to catch AIDS from their former sexual partners, the prostitutes.
As far as homosexuality is concerned, here we still don’t know what to say. "There are no lesbians or homosexuals in Africa," the Church responds. Yet the denial does not prevent the media from writing about the subject. In just two weeks I have read four articles in different newspapers talking about "the scandal of homosexuality in our society." If some magazines still have problems with naming clergy men who are gay (homosexuality is a crime in Cameroon with a penalty of up to five years of imprisonment), they find it less difficult to report about a Presbyterian pastor condemned because he sexually assaulted a young little girl. But in the midst of this, the Church is still silent — no one wants to risk his position. If there is one thing to learn from the third crossing with John the Baptist, it is that indecision is not different from unbelief and hypocrisy. The cross of Christ is the new Ark of the Covenant. We don’t need, as the Hebrews, to continue to keep some distance between "we" and the new Ark of the Covenant. No more hesitation: this is time to leave "cruel dogmas" and embrace Christ. For baptism is not a crossing time (hurry up, here we go!); baptism is a RESTING TIME (come and abide in Me!). Christians are aware of the fact that "By our baptism, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. (Romans 6:4)" Crossing the Jordan sounds phonetically like "cross in the Jordan." But John didn’t expressly talk about the cross. Nobody could have understood. Before our unity with Christ, the cosmic axe has to cut down some connections we have with the evil. Baptism is not only a rite; more than that, it is a way of life of the soul in the womb of our cosmic mother giving birth to Christ in us. The symbolism of the axe talks about the mysteries of the cross. The wedding between the iron and the wood — two enemies who in a cosmic vision are but One. I think John the Baptist was aware of the teachings and miracles of the mystic Elisha:
There is a time when God wants those who have been feed by Her in secret to share with others what She puts in their hearts. Some of them live in community, and to prevent spiritual bulimia, the loved ones have to obey the command to "go and preach the word all around the world." We don’t need to continue to hear from a Guru. Christ in born in us and is already filling the Creation with all we need: the Spirit. The architects are busy in the construction of the physical temple, but only the Spirit can do the same work within us. If iron represents the political powers of the world (I owe this interpretation to the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 6:28) and the dry wood stands for the Church (we want to understand the symbolism of the axe), then we can understand the desolation of the little prophet. His religion has borrowed too much from patriarchy and his anthropocentric message to conquer the world.
The ritual aspect has been swallow up by imperialistic crusades. But thank Wisdom, mystics know and proclaim that to survive, the Church needs to separate herself from her vampirism and matricide politic. How can we think to be of any help to the society when we borrow from the same systems of hypocrisy and inequalities the measures by which we measure? Introspection! That’s the word to use if we wish as the little prophet to continue our mission of salvation. On the cross, Jesus gave His very own Mother to John; but what have we done to our Mother Earth? She is dying. Wisdom is dying! But this is not the time for mourning. I have a joyful message: Hallelujah! The axe of fundamentalism, of totalitarianism and christo-fascism is breaking! The axe of homophobia, sexism and racism is breaking! Christ and his Mother Wisdom are but One. Call her Mother Earth or Mother Wisdom, I call her "Jordan"... the river of mystical love and embracing. She knows how to make the iron float. She is able to make float the iron of hatred for Creation is a household. She is waiting for us. We need her love and tenderness. Patriarchy has made us fear and doubt our Mother’s love. We should reclaim Her and rename Her. A spy brain can only make us illegitimate if not aborted children. It is written, "Do not fool ourselves by saying we have Abraham as father," but I say: Wisdom is able to make from cosmic stones (you and I) children for her Queendom too. By his death, Christ nailed the iron in the wood. In Christ there is no wood, no iron. The stone kisses the nail. The nails embrace the wood and the green wood grows from the waters of birth. Here is the Jordan crucified. Together in one Love.
Sybille Ngo Nyeck is a writer and an artist in Cameroon. Her regular online column is The Colors of Conscience.
Related Links: Two pieces by Sybille are available on Louie Crew’s "Joy! Anyway" web site:
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