Laughter is our salvation when God is dead. Pinned in a corner by a prophet of self-obsession, competitiveness, criticism, gadgetry, bonuses, perks and boastfulness; there is rarely such an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. So usually we laugh or politely agree to cover our despair. Those seven change name but they always retain their deadliness. We have far too many encounters like these. They give rise to stress and a desire for something better. A true longing for goodness in our lives.
Creation
For Christians, as for every other faith, God is good. Where goodness is present God is present and vice versa. It is a very simple worldview. Humanity’s first experience of God came from its experience of the world around it. God was the force that bound the interconnected world together. Creation was good and God was its creator but creation was separate from God.
Holy Spirit
The messiahs and prophets of faith bridged that separation. The life of Jesus celebrates the presence of goodness among us. His life was finite as were the lives of all the great spiritual teachers. Their sacred missions ended at their passing but the presence of goodness endured. Pentecost celebrates the ongoing presence of pure goodness among us. The presence of God among us endures forever in who we Christians call the Holy Spirit.
Seeking
Our need to find that presence requires little laughter and less nodding. Although it is sometimes confusing, it is not stressful.
As we like and share the quotes that inspire us in social media, we are probably mediating and certainly seeking that presence.
The emergence of what we call wellness is an expression of the contemporary quest for what all humans have constantly craved; life with a lot less God-killing activity in it and a lot more goodness to replace it.
Just as we can describe western philosophy as a series of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle, wellness is a series of footnotes to the great spiritual teachers. Contemporary re-expressions of the words of the prophets and saints seek a perfect harmony with goodness in our lives. Simple expressions awaken something within us. Their simplicity belies their greatness. It may be true that teachings about Christianity could fill several libraries, but most Christian could write it all on a single A4 page and yet miss nothing. Some of them are admittedly corny, but the good ones all make us feel better even if only for a moment or two.
And, although we have a good and accurate description of the cosmos based on physical force, most of us seek more. Knowing that the conditions for life exist does not explain its existence. The dynamic force of life is as much a part of reality as is the force of gravity. So are the forces of intellect, decision and emotion.
Wisdom
Our desire to know the whole truth demands and uses these forces and will not rest until it finds it. It moves among us in the guises of wisdom, wonder, friendship, fortitude, knowledge, kindness and sacredness. It defies words and stretches imaginations. It inspires, affirms and ennobles us. What surrounds us may be very big but we are still relevant. We are as valuable a part of the whole as anything else is.
Moments
Those moments we would describe as serene, harmonious, kindly, gently, caring, true or moving are the best. We do not need laughter and assent to endure them. They are moments when we experience something more in life. Mostly fleeting, those moments where we experience a glint of perfect goodness are the ongoing Pentecost.