The Tao of Christ

In this Pandemic Devotion I present a different perspective on the Cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus intended this death in Jerusalem to be a dramatic event designed to snap his disciples out of their illusions about who they thought he was and what his Kingdom was. It was meant to reveal his true nature and our true nature.It is analogous to the function of the koan in Zen Buddhism. Perhaps it is easier on Christian ears to call it a parable rather than a koan, for the historical Jesus would never have heard the term koan. In doing symbolic actions Jesus was drawing upon the prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures. Prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel were known to do dramatic symbolic parabolic actions. Jesus planned for his dramatic – and traumatic - death to be a symbolic action intended to wake people up - his disciples and the people of Israel - to what he called the Kingdom of God. It was meant to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is not an earthly kingdom but the spiritual awareness of the Presence of God here and now. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The Surgeon General has said, “This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives.” President Trump said, “We’re going to go through a very rough two weeks.” This coronavirus pandemic has got Americans thinking and talking about death like never before. Coincidentally – or providentially – this is also Holy Week, the hardest and saddest week of the gospel narrative – the week that recalls the events leading up to the death of Jesus. In my Devotion for a Pandemic today, I explore the role that meditation upon death has played in spirituality - in both Christian and other faith traditions. This is an unprecedented opportunity for us to ponder the nature of death, our human nature, and in what sense – if any – we can be said to survive death.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode of Devotions for a Pandemic, I look at the fear that is gripping our country in anticipation of a surge of cases in the coming weeks. I compare this to the apocalyptic spirit that was present in the first century during the time of Jesus. Today we are in a better place to comprehend the feelings of the earliest disciples of Jesus as they hid behind closed doors in fear for their lives. I end the devotion with a reading of W. B. Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming,” which is the inspiration for the title of my devotion. Yeats wrote that poem in 1919 during the great influenza epidemic that infected 500 million people — a quarter of the world's population at the time. It has some marvelous lines that are relevant to our situation today.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode of Devotions for a Pandemic, I explore one of the most popular passages of scripture being used by preachers at this time: Psalm 91. It includes verses like:Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowlerAnd from the perilous pestilence.You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,Nor of the arrow that flies by day,Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.A thousand may fall at your side,And ten thousand at your right hand;But it shall not come near you. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,Even the Most High, your dwelling place,No evil shall befall you,Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;For He shall give His angels charge over you,To keep you in all your ways.Does this mean that if we have faith in God, we will be protected from this coronavirus pandemic? Some think so. I go through the psalm and see what it has to say to us today.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode of my series “Devotions for a Pandemic” I look at a biblical story from the Old Testament found in Numbers 16. In this story God causes a plague to sweep through the Hebrew people. Moses and Aaron come up with a plan to stop the pandemic. I believe it has some things to say to us in the midst of our coronavirus pandemic.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this fourth episode of my Devotions for a Pandemic series, I look at the phenomenon of Social Distancing and its paralells with the spiritual discipline called Detachment, which I call Spiritual Distancing.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this third episode of Devotions for a Pandemic, I expore the questions "Who or What is God?" and "How can we we aware of God?" What is that mysterious dimension of reality that people call the Divine? And - to put it in the context of this COVID-19 pandemic - how can we get in touch with that spiritual dimension of reality that people call God?View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This video is part of the "Devotions for a Pandemic" series. In this episode I explore the opinion, proclaimed by some preachers, that natural disasters like this coronavirus pandemic are the judgment of God on this world and our nation.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The current coronavirus pandemic is a time when we are separated from the spiritual communities that enrich our lives. This is the first of some devotions to help fill that gap. This particular devotion is on the story of Elijah hearing the still small voice of God in a cave on Mount Horeb, found in First Kings 19.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This episode explores the common misunderstanding in Christianity that individuals are saved. No person is saved. People can’t be saved. In fact the person – that is the persona, the ego, or the self – has to die in order for salvation to be realized. Salvation is recognizing that our true nature is not our individual selves but that which lays behind all personas – behind the masks we wear and the roles we play. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU