April 20: "Christian" Means Integrity

"Christian" Means Integrity

Though the  meanings of things can be rather murky,

You can't be a Christian and also a turkey.

You can be a Christian and a lot else besides,

Because it's more about service than spiritual pride.

Loving God and your neighbor just as yourself,

It’s a joyful indifference to material wealth.

I can’t see how the doctrines are plausibly so,

But it’s in that garden I’ve been able to grow.

You can believe in Jesus and still be a Jew,

As Jesus was, and his followers, too:

Like the blind man opened his eyes and saw

In God’s power and mercy, the fulfillment of Law.

Jesus bears out the spirit of a Buddhist reality

In his selfless compassion; his balanced morality,

Seeking truth within you; not just something above:

 A deeper foundation for all of our love.

I think I'm Taoist, or Hindu, though not in affinity.

I have found many forms in the  one divinity,

Which we may realize in life’s changing flow --

Truth too soft to define, yet simple to know.

These are consistent with Jesus, the Christ;

A person of wisdom and sacrifice . . .

Could a Christian be Muslim?  Now don't you laugh!

All Ways are respected in the Sufi path,

And though Muhammed be harsh, his revelation

Was just as intent on our souls’ salvation,

With a single God for a holy society,

That nurtures reverence, respect and propriety!

We must find for ourselves liberation from fear;

Reflect on the prophets, but find Spirit  here!

I find it in church or in covens of witches.

I know I am poor, but I also have riches;

A well-spring of joy, and my sense of what's true,

And the peace I can feel in my life, passing  through.

Now:  Is there anyone else I might have missed?

Well, you can't be a Christian and an atheist!

Yet these are as attentive to human concerns,

Though preferring to put them in secular terms.

I was once one of them:  A healthy defiance

When I needed to focus on self-reliance,

I've studied for decades, in and out of college,

But faith's not about having so much knowledge.

Still, I see correlations in the scriptures I read:

Each for its time, fulfilling a need,

It doesn't matter the patterns in how you live,

When you sense Christ is with you and you know God forgives!

You can be Christian and drug addicted.

You can trust Christ's ideal, no matter how you're afflicted.

If you're struggling to make it out on the street,

Or have too many options, with too much to eat.

You can be a rogue or a Robin Hood:

In the mix of oppression, find a way to do good!

You could be -- a conscientious objector,

You could be a soldier; be someone's protector.

You could save the world from an imminent end.

Maybe you could just be somebody's friend!

You can be a Christian and a lot else besides,

But you can't be a Christian and hide

From the predilections that Life gives to you:

You've got to be someone who follows through --

Rooted in wisdom that's rooted inside,

Not just in impressions based on puffed up pride.

To be a Christian, your heart must be true.

You can't be a Christian and a turkey too!