likelihood of such marvels. “If I step onto the water, I will fall in!” “If I tell the mountain to move, it will surely stay put!”
Was Christ playing a cruel joke? Was he unaware of the limits of human ability, forgetting he was God on earth and we are mere mortals? Or was he just lying?
Through my years, growing up in a Christian family and attending different denominations of Christian churches, I found a wall of doubt from fellow believers when it came to the vast mysteries of God's power. I remember sitting in Sunday school, being taught that yoga was an evil practice. Since there was no mention in the Bible of Jesus' physical regiment, meditative stretching and strengthening of the body to quiet the mind must be in conflict with God's commandments.
Though I often waondered when gazing upon the wax visage of Jesus on the cross, “How did he sculpt those abs without a gym in Nazareth?”
Reiki was also admonished by the churches I attended, as well as many Eastern wellness practices and healing modalities mentioned. Shamans and medicine men and their bizarre practices were shunned and looked upon as demonic.
Ancient practices somehow
became lumped together in the ghastly utterance of a great evil sweeping society called “New Age” belief. Yet truth be told, many of these practices were nothing of a New Age, but of the old ages, confused and distorted by many “New Age” practices and understandings just as Christianity has become distorted through misunderstanding.
Many viewed these practices as dark, unnatural methods and a usurpation of the power of prayer alone. But what is a spell, a dance, or a mantra but a prayer? What is Reiki or other variations of energy healing but a representation of “laying of the hands”?
Leviticus 14:1-7
“1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto
3 And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if
4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over
6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the
7 And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times,
This passage sounds pretty mystical to me... Killing a bird, dipping the live bird in the dead bird's blood... hmmm... how very strange and unusual!!
Often the things we do in our spiritual practice are to bypass the human conditioning through ritual. By actively participating in such activities, we can keep the mind at bay, distracted from our usual doubt or fear, and push ourselves further into spirit allowing God's power to work through us.