The Name

 

I have a confession to make. I cherish and honor the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is a flame of love in my heart, the fiery warmth of God's personal presence. It is the radiant evidence that God is a Person, not merely an abstraction, or an energy. This name calls me to drown in the overflowing nectar of eternity at the center of the rose, the rose of now. And when I speak of the heart I speak of a real place. The doorway to this place is silence. Through the portal of silence I sink into the core of Being, which is not above or beyond this body, but in the starry vastness of my chest, for the Kingdom is flesh as well as spirit. 

Falling into the vastness of the heart, I enter an infinitesimal bindhu, a black dot the size of a mustard seed. As my mind gives up its doubting, questioning, and struggling to "know," this tiny dot expands into a realm where all creatures are made of flames. Yet these flames do not destroy, they pulsate with beauty, and glow with creative longing. 

I meet you there. You too are made of flames. I meet others in the fire of my Self and my Self in others. All dwell as one in the Self, yet each is an Other, so that divine Friendship may be possible in the unity of the Godhead. This unity may be likened to a single jewel with many sparkling facets. And all who choose the way of love are gathered in this bejeweled kingdom, where they celebrate the feast of the birth of Christ. 

I do not speak only of the infant born at a moment of history in ancient Palestine. I speak of the sparkling crystal, the Christall, shining in each of us, yet containing all of us together. And you may give this mystical diamond any name you please, but the name I cherish and honor is Jesus.

Painting by William Bouguereau