More on the Gnostic Mass

Since the whole of the Eucharist ritual is published on the website of the church, I figured I would share a couple parts of it that I really like.

Sophia and the Logos

"And the Logos answered: "They say I came for all,
but in truth, I came for Her Who came for all.
For it had come to pass that there were those who had
lost their way and, lacking in spark, could not return
unto the Fullness.
Seeing this, She came unto them, giving her life to the depths of matter.
And in truth She did suffer and become blind.
But our Father, sensing Her anguish, sent Me forth, being of Him,
so that She might see and We be as One again.
Though they see it not, it is She, the tender Mother of Mercy,
Who is the great redeemer."

Viewing the story through the Gnostic myth just makes so much sense to me.  That the Logos would come specifically to redeem her.  That it was her who gave up everything and suffered in blindness and ignorance so that her children might have the hope of rejoining with the Fullness once again.  And like I said before in a previous post, I really identify with the Sophia and the feelings that drive her. 

Before, I felt like I could identify with God or Jesus, but only loosely.  I felt some sort of passionate longing to fill up the hearts of people who suffer, but it could only loosely translate to the story I was taught.  I mean, I know Jesus was supposed to have sacrificed his life for us, and that God is supposed to be watching us longingly, wishing he could save us from all pain but knowing that it isn't in our best interests....but there was something missing.  I would often imagine them and how they would feel watching us struggle and make mistakes. 

But this...this is exactly what I was looking for but couldn't find.  That we were stuck in darkness and that Sophia loved us so much that she couldn't bear to leave us.  That she spread herself out, buried herself deep in every heart, behind every pair of eyes...even though she knew the power of ignorance and blindness would overcome her.  This sort of devotion and unconditional love...this is what I've longed to express but never quite had the right vehicle to explain.

"I have always been with you. I have whispered your name in the rustle of the leaves of autumn; I have called to you with the voice of the waves of the sea. I have watched you while I hid in the clouds. The birds have sung my messages, and I have given you echoes of my presence through all eyes that have looked at you—for in all creatures exists a spark of my Presence. I have waited for you, my beloved, for I have loved you and longed to give you life."

I really hate bringing up gender when it comes to religion...but part of me does wonder if it is because this love is feminine in nature that I can identify with it so much.  If that was what was missing for me personally.  I'm not sure.

And then the Logos comes to restore her sight...to bring out the spark in each of our hearts...that feels like true salvation.  That was once buried deep under layers and layers of lies and ignorance now can burst forth and suddenly we can understand, we can see.  That we reach truth by becoming authentically us, by bringing out that deepest spark of who we are.  And that this spark is something shared by everyone and everything.  It's just so beautiful and it makes so much sense.

Keep in mind I'm not advocating a literal interpretation of the myth. It is a myth.  But it makes so much sense on a deep level, as an allegory for my own spirituality.  I make no claims of cosmology, only claims of personal resonance.

Ineffability

And we invoke That which is no thing:
That which the mind cannot grasp nor comprehend,
But only respond in ecstasy and awe, here present now and forever.

One of the problems I've had with "traditional" religion is that it is so easy to start thinking that God is this or that.  That God behaves or thinks a certain way according to what the bible or the priest says.  It's easy to forget that God is so much more than an anthropomorphism.   Saying things like this keep that fresh in our minds, and apophatic theology is an important aspect of mysticism.

There is a song we sing that has the lines "there isn't anything she isn't, and there isn't anything that she is," she being Sophia (aka the Holy Spirit?).

I love things like that.  Apparent contradiction meant to elevate your mind to a different level of understanding.

And we talk so much about Sophia and the Logos...and their "characters" but when it comes to God...to the Fullness...we don't give him a character.   We call him Father, but we do as little as possible to form him to our understanding, to shape him into us.  References to him are vague, which is good.  We cannot grasp too tightly.

All in all, I am really enjoying being a part of this community.