West End Uniting Church, First Communion/Confirmation

A wood carver called Ching had just finished work on a bell frame. Everyone who saw it marveled for it seemed to be the work of the spirits. When the emperor saw it, he asked, what sort of genius is yours that you could make such a thing? The woodcarver replied: “Sire, I am only a simple workman. I am not a genius… But there is one thing. When I am going to make a bell frame I meditate for 3 days to calm my mind.  When I have meditated for 3 days I think no more about rewards or recognition. When I have meditated for 5 days I no longer think of praise or blame, skillfulness or awkwardness. When I have meditated for 7 days I  suddenly forget my limbs, my body: no I forget my very self. I lose consciousness of the court and my surroundings. Only my skill remains .In that state I walk into the forest and examine each tree until I find one in which I see the bell-frame in all its perfection. Then my hands go to the task. Having set myself aside, nature meets nature in the work that is performed through me. This is no doubt the reason why everyone says that the finished product is the work of the spirits.”

At the very centre of Christianity is a symbol that remains a constant reminder to the very essence of what it means to live a life of transformation: of a life in all its fullness, to use the words of Jesus. That symbol is the cross (which is prominent behind me)

This cross is empty which allows for the interpretation that this cross is for me. I am the one to die on this cross. Not a physical death but a metaphorical death. But still very much a death. That death is a death to self, my small ego-centred self. As St Paul says, “for me to live is Christ, for I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” That universal consciousness, that divine presence, is now dominant.

The very rite of Baptism, our first initiation rite, speaks of this death. The entry into the water, and in early times, this was a full immersion, to symbolize this death.

As we emerge from the waters of our mother’s womb and are born, so we re-enter the waters to die, to drown to the old self, to be cleansed of it, and once again, emerge from the waters, reborn. A white gown is placed on the newly baptized to symbolize the putting on of this new self, this divine universal self, this Christ self. The old ego-based self has died and a whole new way of living and being in world opens up.

This powerful initiation rite got lost in convenient theologies which were more about who was in and who was out; and less about transformation; less about embracing this higher self, that mystery in which we are immersed and embraced. That presence to which we turn and recognize that this truly is my real self. That I am more than this outer form, this body, and this material world in which I inhabit.

Initiation rites around the world and in almost every culture have as their prime purpose to move the consciousness of the one to be initiated, to a recognition of a higher power, a bigger self, or in the words of David Tacey (Jungian psychologist and author) in his latest book “Gods and Diseases “, the initiation process is designed to ‘kill’ the ego-bound personality and replace it with a different centre of authority.

As the child stands on the brink of adulthood aware of their new found physical and intellectual powers, the initiation rite’s task was to dethrone the fast rising ego to move it from an absorption in its selfish agenda to the collective common good of the tribe.

To tap into vast otherness of the ancestral spirits and the spirit of the land and many varied creatures that live upon it. To remind them that in order to survive a deep respect and honoring of these spirits was required. Initiation rites weren’t token meaningless rites performed mindlessly, but they were essential central ceremonies that ensured the very survival of the tribe.

Many parents today angst about what to teach their children. They ask “How do we best equip our children to negotiate life’s many different opportunities and challenges? “ Where are our initiation rites today? Do we need them, or are we in an in-between time and place, a place where we once were and not having arrived to where we are supposed to be? Or, maybe this is where we are supposed to be?

These are all interesting questions, questions the parents of the children making their first communion and confirmation today have asked. How do we make real and relevant these initiation sacraments for their children? To take the best of what is there and leave the rest. These rituals which are to remind the initiate that there is something bigger and greater moving in their lives.

To surrender to it like the woodcarver in the opening story, who says “having set myself aside, nature meets nature in the work that is performed through me” or as a world famous violinist said about his success in playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto: “I have splendid music, a splendid violin and a splendid bow. All I need to do is bring them together and get out of the way.”