THE NEW PAGANISM

We are all interconnected. The priestess’ sermon communicated this point very clearly. She had vacationed on an island off the coast of Maine, which had eliminated its mosquito problem by draining the cranberry bogs. However, along with the mosquitoes, they also eliminated the cranberries, birds, night sounds, and an assortment of fish.

From this she reasoned that by changing one thing, all is changed. One action flows everywhere like water. Likewise, we are not merely a single drop of water, but a drop that impacts all other drops. What we say and do will impact those around us, and they will impact those around them.

This principle is undeniable, but what do we do with it? We ritualize it. The church gave water to each person. They were instructed to pour their water into a common trough to symbolize our connectedness. Then, this new batch was combined with last year’s water to symbolize our continuity with the past.

This principle also pertains to our beliefs. When we change one belief, we also change every other belief. When we eliminate God from our thinking, we are compelled to fill this faith-void with substitutes. Clearly, this is exactly what this church has done. It has invented new rituals, accompanied by meditation and an assortment of radical causes.

If meaning, love, validation, and forgiveness are no longer the product of a relationship with God, then alternatives must be found. Instead, we are taught to forgive ourselves and to validate ourselves through our activism. And, we can derive meaning and dignity from knowing that we are like a drop of water that flows everywhere, right?

However, will this awareness truly ennoble us? Will it cause us to respect and cherish every other drop of water? Will it enable us to honor others more?

Another way to envision these questions is to think about the water in a toilet bowl. Even though we might understand that this water will flow into the great oceans of this world and will be gathered up in clouds to water the earth, it fails to give us the honor and dignity that we so need as human beings.

Instead, this is an honor that can only come from the Creator who has created us in His image and has called us to represent Him, endowing us with a value and a purpose far in excess of every other created thing.

It is because of our special status that we are constrained to honor and love all other people.

·       Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)

This is something that we cannot do for every drop on the planet. To love everything is to love nothing.

Besides, it is because I know that God loves, forgives, and cherishes me that I can pass it on to others, however imperfectly. It is because He accepts me that I can accept others. In contrast, we use water for very menial purposes. However, humans are not to be used but to be served.

At the end of the service, we sang, “There is a river flowing in my soul…telling me I’m somebody.”

It cannot be a literal flow of water that tells me I’m somebody, but rather the fact that God has created me and loved me so much that He has died for me. I need to know that I am more than an interactive part of the universe. Instead, I need to know that I am part of God’s family, and that this is something that will never change.

I was disturbed by the sight of this new paganism. I wanted to scream, but I also must love.