During my prayer today, I rewrote Psalm 107. This took me the better part of two hours--a considerable amount of time compared to what I've spent on other individual psalms. I think it required extra time because what I wanted it to say reminded me of a Christian heresy called Pelagianism, which basically says that we human beings have what we need within ourselves to attain/earn salvation--no extra help from God (via the Christ) necessary.
The difference between Christian and Thean thought here is twofold: first, according to Theanism, salvation is not something that human beings (or Creation at large) need--there is no doctrine of "Original Sin" in Theanism. Theanism claims that we are not now nor have we ever been nor could we ever be separate from Thea, even when we do wrong or commit evil deeds. Thea's love is stronger than any individual's or community's ability to do wrong--Thea's love, which binds all Creatures together as her Sacred Body, can never be torn apart.
Second, according to Theanism, all Creatures are Thea's Incarnation. Whereas Christianity requires God's Word to be made incarnate in a single, sinless man who is sacrificed by death on a cross for the world's salvation, Theanism says that we--all of us--are Thea. Therefore we are individually and collectively all we will ever need to fulfill our ultimate purpose, which is to love and bear witness to one another, particularly by answering the passion that stirs deepest within our hearts, no matter what obstacles lay before or around or beneath or behind us. When we experience fear, doubt, or distress, as the people in Psalm 107 do, we only need to remember who we are: Thea's Sacred Body, capable of fulfilling our destiny to love if we can just turn inward to remember that love is the stuff we're made of.
Psalm 107
Give thanks to Thea, for her love is a holy flame
that burns brightly within her Creatures.
Some wander in the desert,
finding no way to a city where their hearts might dwell.
They hunger and thirst;
their flesh languishes.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus puts their feet on a straight path
to go to a city where they might dwell.
Some sit in darkness and deep gloom,
bound fast in misery and iron;
They are humbled with difficult work;
they stumble, and find none to help.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus leads them out of darkness and deep gloom
and breaks their bonds asunder.
Some go down to the sea in ships
and ply their trade in deep waters;
Then a stormy wind rises up,
which tosses high the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the skies and fall back to the depths;
their hearts freeze because of their peril.
They reel and stagger like drunkards
and are at their wits’ end.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus stills the storm to a whisper
and she brings them to the harbor they are bound for.
Thea’s love changes deserts into pools of water
and dry land into water-springs.
She settles the hungry there,
and they find a city to dwell in.
They sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and bring in a fruitful harvest.
The wise will ponder these things,
and consider well the holy fire of Thea that burns within.
The difference between Christian and Thean thought here is twofold: first, according to Theanism, salvation is not something that human beings (or Creation at large) need--there is no doctrine of "Original Sin" in Theanism. Theanism claims that we are not now nor have we ever been nor could we ever be separate from Thea, even when we do wrong or commit evil deeds. Thea's love is stronger than any individual's or community's ability to do wrong--Thea's love, which binds all Creatures together as her Sacred Body, can never be torn apart.
Second, according to Theanism, all Creatures are Thea's Incarnation. Whereas Christianity requires God's Word to be made incarnate in a single, sinless man who is sacrificed by death on a cross for the world's salvation, Theanism says that we--all of us--are Thea. Therefore we are individually and collectively all we will ever need to fulfill our ultimate purpose, which is to love and bear witness to one another, particularly by answering the passion that stirs deepest within our hearts, no matter what obstacles lay before or around or beneath or behind us. When we experience fear, doubt, or distress, as the people in Psalm 107 do, we only need to remember who we are: Thea's Sacred Body, capable of fulfilling our destiny to love if we can just turn inward to remember that love is the stuff we're made of.
Psalm 107
Give thanks to Thea, for her love is a holy flame
that burns brightly within her Creatures.
Some wander in the desert,
finding no way to a city where their hearts might dwell.
They hunger and thirst;
their flesh languishes.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus puts their feet on a straight path
to go to a city where they might dwell.
Some sit in darkness and deep gloom,
bound fast in misery and iron;
They are humbled with difficult work;
they stumble, and find none to help.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus leads them out of darkness and deep gloom
and breaks their bonds asunder.
Some go down to the sea in ships
and ply their trade in deep waters;
Then a stormy wind rises up,
which tosses high the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the skies and fall back to the depths;
their hearts freeze because of their peril.
They reel and stagger like drunkards
and are at their wits’ end.
Then they look within themselves for Thea’s help,
and their divine fire melts their icy fear;
Thea thus stills the storm to a whisper
and she brings them to the harbor they are bound for.
Thea’s love changes deserts into pools of water
and dry land into water-springs.
She settles the hungry there,
and they find a city to dwell in.
They sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and bring in a fruitful harvest.
The wise will ponder these things,
and consider well the holy fire of Thea that burns within.
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