Science reveals that everything is both matter and energy or spirit, co-inhering as one. This is a Christocentric universe. That realization changes everything.
—Richard Rohr, CAC, Sept. 7, 2019
E = mc², energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. Have we ever thought how this may relate to “Christ”? Spirit (energy) and body (mass/matter) are One Ultimate Reality. They are two sides of the same One coin, inseparably connected, the Divine made manifest in the unfolding and evolving cosmos, the Incarnation resurrecting in every creature and every form, the “Son” of God, this manifestation, emanation, expression of the “Father” (Source, Absolute, Ein Sof, Singularity). This energy/matter is indestructible, per the first law of thermodynamics, and so it eternally only changes form.
Reminds me of this Mormon scripture from Joseph Smith:
For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples…
-D&C 93:33-35
Might we consider that these elements that make up our bodies, the energy that flows through them giving us consciousness, movement, and breath, is where God is, here and now, in these tabernacles. God is perhaps not a dualistically separate being in a far distant place, but nearer to us than we are to ourselves. God lives in us, we are God’s temple, the tabernacle where God lives, the Word made flesh. It’s our flesh, all flesh. “Learn how to be a God yourself in order to save yourself,” Joseph preached just days before his martyrdom.
And we can come to know this directly, in our consciousness. It is known as mystical experience, or contemplation, the temple of consciousness. This experience unveils our oneness in God, this at-one-ment, this nonduality, which is known as “Christ” in the Christian tradition. The individualistic separate ego-self construction in our psyche falls away from the mind, and we experience directly the One that we all are in our depths, embedded forever in infinite Love. It is Joy.
This realization changes everything! Everything! It is metanoia, a complete change of mind, the “repentance” that causes us to be directly conscious of the Kingdom of God, Zion, a people of One heart and One mind, because we all share this One Divine essence in our depths, the Holy (Wholly) One. Christ lives in us—US—that is the message of the temple, and of ancient prophet-mystics such as Paul (Gal. 2:20).
We are the Body of Christ. It’s not just Jesus; it’s us! All of us. Jesus prayed that we might all realize this oneness in him and the “Father” (John 17). All people, all beings, all forms, all incarnations, all creatures, all things, the ever evolving, unfolding, progressing, manifesting nature of the Kosmos itself. That is our deepest and truest eternal Identity. The energy and matter that makes us up and all things is that Holy One.
What do you think?
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Some thoughts while meditating on your quote by Joseph: “Learn how to be a God yourself in order to save yourself.” To comprehend our full divinity–our Self as God–we first need to learn to be fully human. I believe to become fully human, we engage in activities that are no longer “separatist” in nature. In the past, separatist activities ensured a group’s survival, such as the Puritans, Mormons, even Americans. The problem is, separatist activities cause us to see our group as chosen and favored of God over others, and we lost sight of the humanity of all, objectifying anyone different from our group. Even nature is objectified to serve the group. Of course this leads to all kinds of abuses, inhumanities, and destruction. The destruction resultant from the splitting of an atom is such a good metaphor.
When we engage in gathering practices, i.e. learn how to be a God by uniting through our common humanity and creation, as we learn to be fully human, the scales will fall from our eyes, and we will see the divinity of all mankind, of all creation. We cannot choose the when or how of the mystical experience–it is done to us–but we can learn to be fully human through the freedom of conscious choice which will sanctify us and prepare us for full conscious realization that we are indeed the tabernacle of God.
In some sciences, all existence is described as matter or energy. In some of mysticism, only consciousness exists. Dark matter is 25%, and dark energy about 70%, of the critical density of this Universe.* Divine essence (grace, love, spirit), also not visible, emanates and sustains universal matter (mass/energy: visible/dark) and cosmic consciousness (cf(x) raised to its greatest power). During suprarational consciousness, and beyond, mystics share in that essence to varying extents.
*On the Internet, search for “NASA Dark Energy, Dark Matter”