Easter 2010 should go down as the most beautiful ever in MN. Too convinced, I'm not even going to bother to research whether this is true. My worldview has me grateful to have the God-given capacity to appreciate the wonders of an early spring day.
Cycling on one of my regular 20-ish mile loops brought me past the twin entrances to a mysterious facility called "Eckanar" in Chanhassen. I've heard the term "cult" used in reference to this compound, and got to wondering how Eckanar fits with Christian faith. Going straight to their website, this is what I found:
Where does Jesus Christ fit into the ECK teachings?
Jesus is viewed as a messenger of God who serves as the spiritual guide for Christians, as spiritual teachers and saints have done for other groups throughout time. Paul Twitchell's book Stranger By the River includes passages that speak with beauty and inspiration about the message of love that Jesus brought.
Jesus, a messenger of God, a spiritual guide. Sounds like a really good guy. Only problem is, this really good guy claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God. But that's not what Eckanar teaches. In fact, many outside the Christian faith wish to paint Jesus as a really good guy, a great prophet and teacher, but NOT divine, NOT God. So, if he was such a great guy, then it is difficult to reconcile that he was also a phenomenal liar. In fact, he would have to be a pretty nefarious fellow to make the claims he made.
So which is it? My worldview says Jesus is the Son of God, that He spoke the truth when He was here on earth, that His followers reluctantly believed Him, that many of the eyewitness generation were martyred for their insistence that Jesus is Lord. Would so many endure torturous deaths for a fabrication? The writers of the New Testament didn't even try to make themselves look good! They were flawed and weak, unbelieving and unfaithful. And it's all right there in the Bible.
Nancy
