Creator Sets Free* walks up the mountain, quieting the stir of those who were gathering in numbers greater by the day. It was his inaugural address, given only to a handful of those who had drawn closest. They follow him as he climbs, trusting this still new and mysterious guide.† He describes to his apprentices who and what the Great Spirit blesses, and why. His voice, the smell of fresh bread. Telling them about the Good Road, and how to join him as he walks. It is new wine they are tasting. They are being knit together, committing to something of which they are fully unaware. I bow and thank them for their curiosity, vulnerability, and the willingness to climb.
To be reminded that God is in the trenches, the ditches, with the dying, with the hungry, and the poor in spirit… what beautifully comforting news that this is the nature of The Great Spirit. To take in these golden words, like strange currency, covering up with them like a blanket, spending them to receive what cannot be bought. To feel the flesh on flesh like a mother with a child at her breast… Divine feeding. To learn the Creator’s way of drawing near: She dances so that we would join in… and we can’t help it. We clasp hands and twirl. We will then walk up the stony path again and again to hear the Word, yet the ground feels like beach sand to our summer feet.
Walking down the mountain, they don’t talk. They look wide eyed at each other, and feel their beating hearts change, now in rhythm with eternity’s drum. Basking and bathing in the sacred now, they walk without knowing. In each step, a universe. In each mile, a sea of trust. Just go, with heads held high, trusting that the way will always appear. Dear ones, you have no idea what treasures you walk with. But for God’s sake, do not walk alone. It takes practice, and we learn best by watching, and then doing likewise, trusting that our true selves will rise from the repetition. One needs a beloved community in which to surrender… those who can help us walk. Creator Sets Free wasn’t talking to individuals. He was talking to THEM. And now, to US. Set free to watch and walk. Together.
*(In a bold translation of the Gospels by the First Nations people, entitled Walking the Good Road, they chose to interpret the name Jesus as “Creator Sets Free.” It immediately held for me two shining realities at once: the Creator is free, and is the One who sets others free.)
†Matthew 5: 1-12 (The Message)
—Jim Marsh, Jr., Bread of Life Church
