EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Ten, Number One November/December 2000 "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple." (Rev. 7:14-15) Washed In The Blood Of The Lamb — HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THIS NOW? A Letter from Marcia Shepard After youthful side trips into various exotic religions, I came full circle back to my roots and have been reading the Bible. I didn't comprehend "washed in the blood of the Lamb" for a long time. I decided in the first go-round that its meaning, and indeed the meaning of Christ's life and death, was to teach us that our lives depend on the sacrifice of other lives. The Bible says that the exercise of accepting this Gift assures salvation on a spiritual plane. I was grateful, but felt kind of omnipotent being at the top of the food chain, and experienced a dichotomy between physical and spiritual life. A "top of the food chain" mentality leads to a sense that we are to dominate the rest of creation, not live in harmony with it. As our population increases, a top dog mentality is counter-productive. For the sake of physical survival, self interest must give way to sacrifice, self denial and awareness of the whole. To understand more, I worked backward from what all humans need — a bridge to God. The example of Christ's life impresses me more and more, his humility and modest appetite that is respectful of and harmonious with the rest of creation, and pleasing to the Creator. I have never been comfortable with a "them vs us" mentality, the cultism of Christ that loses his message, separates Christians from other religions and cultures, and rationalizes treating the different as the lesser. Christ's simple, humble example is shared by holy people of other major religions; it is unifying. We can share this Spirit, too, in fair, merciful and just relationships with Earth and each other. Being washed in the Blood may be about following Christ's example of sacrifice of our individual selves for the greater good, and in doing so, experiencing a unity between physical and spiritual realities. Marcia Shepard, trebaers@mlecmn.net, is a mother, farmer, environmentalist and writer living in Aitkin MN. She is associate editor of FOCUS 10,000 magazine , which is about the water quality, property tax, lifestyle, and recreation issues of Minnesota's waters. (Earthkeeping News welcomes letters, poems, and other contributions from readers.) Home     Table of Contents