Q&A with Rev. Durrell Watkins

Question: I loved your story in last week’s sermon about the man who said, “God, it’s me; need I say more?” I struggle with believing God is really that available to me. How can I develop that kind of faith?

Answer: When I quiet my mind and relax my body and simply commune with the active Silence that I believe is divine, I usually experience the deep peace and assurance you seem to be looking for. Ernest Holmes was a profoundly spiritual person, so he could pray, “God, this is Ernest; need I say more?” But how did he get to that point? He studied and meditated and prayed. Over time, he developed a consciousness of union with the divine. If we don’t feel we’re there yet, that just means we have more practicing to do. Study, prayer, and meditation will help us progress on our spiritual path as well.

I suggest taking a few moments each day to get still and simply sit in the Silence. Your meditation can be in a chair or in a bathtub or on a park bench. Just relax and notice your breathing and focus on the ultimate goodness that we call “God”. You will find yourself sensing a union with Something good, loving, “available”.

Some people have trouble getting still or quiet. If you are one of these people, Roy Eugene Davis (a student of Paramahansa Yogananda) tells us we can “pray our way into the Silence”. He suggests using a word or short phrase as a mantra to get us past our frenetic thoughts, and after a time of repeating our mantra, simply relaxing into the Silence. We might use words from the 27^th Psalm, “God is my light and my salvation…” We could use the first words of the 63^rd Psalm, “O God, you are my God, eagerly I seek you.” There is that famous line from the 46^th Psalm, “Be still and know that I am God.” Just a simple line to usher us into a quiet and relaxed state, and then a few minutes of stillness and easy breathing is a wonderful way to pray. After a while, you may find yourself affirming with Jesus, “I and the Infinite are one” (John 10.30).

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Question: What is your understanding of where we “go” after death? When someone dies, invariably people will say, he or she is now in heaven, but then what is the reference to the second coming of Christ when the dead will rise?

Answer: I know that energy can’t be destroyed, it only changes form; so, I assume the energy of consciousness is also never-ending. As a person of faith, I trust that life is somehow never-ending. Beyond that, I probably don’t know anymore than you do.

During Jesus’ execution, a fellow “rebel” who is being killed next to him reportedly says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Realm,” and Jesus responds, “…today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23.42-43). Luke also has Jesus telling a parable about a poor man who suffered in life but who, after death, was “carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16.22).

Luke is writing at least 50 years (and some scholars think as many as 90 years) after the crucifixion of Jesus. The Apostle Paul, only about 25 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, writes, “…we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord… will come down from the heavens, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are… left, will be caught up together in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4.15-17). Luke’s idea seems to be that consciousness survives death immediately, while Paul, at least in his early writings, suggests that maybe those who die are simply resting and will be raised back to life later.

Paul believed that Jesus would return to earthly life in his lifetime. So, the resting period, in Paul’s mind, wouldn’t have been a long one. Decades later, when Luke is writing, no such “second coming” had occurred, and so Luke may be rethinking the issue. In any case, Paul and Luke have different ideas of how consciousness survives death; what they both believe is that consciousness does survive death.

Paul and Luke are each making their best guess, but what happens beyond this life is a mystery to us until we experience it. What the writers are saying is that the value of our lives is not limited to our earthly years, but as far as what is next, we may just have to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5.7). What we can trust is that life is good and sacred and that its importance is not limited to the years we spend on this earth. That’s pretty “heavenly” regardless of how it plays out.

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Question: A friend and I are having a disagreement. He says Judas Iscariot hanged himself. I remember from childhood hearing that he was running and fell so hard that he was disemboweled. Can you please settle this for us?

Answer: Well, don’t let this one ruin your friendship, because as it turns out, you’re both right. In Matthew’s gospel (27.5), we read, “Flinging the money into the temple, [Judas] departed and went off and hanged himself.” But in the Book of Acts (1.18) we read, “[Judas] bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.” Obviously, at least one of the accounts is mistaken, or embellished, and possibly they are both literary traditions rather than historical facts. This does show us why biblical literalism isn’t really possible, and also why it isn’t necessary. Both writers seem to want to paint Judas as either a villain or at least as an anti-hero (one of the “good guys” who is tragically flawed). They each make their point, but obviously differ on the details. The bible is so much richer and more interesting when we liberate it from needless literalism. But for now, you and your friend can both be pleased that you each remembered correctly one of the biblical traditions about Judas’ unfortunate end.

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Question: Why is it that praying for a thing seems to make it worse sometimes?!

Answer: I don’t know what you are praying for, but prayer is focus. Focusing on what you want may actually stir up all the old thoughts, beliefs, and feelings that stood in the way of your achievement. By praying for something good, you may be discovering some of the chaotic thoughts and emotions that were hindering your good. As those unpleasant thoughts and feelings pop up (and express as experience), there may actually be an opportunity to see what’s blocking your blessing from unfolding. Your prayer work may be showing you what’s in the way of your good so that you can make changes in your life. In this way, you are becoming the answer to your own prayer. Solutions aren’t always instant, and they sometimes require effort and patience. Keep praying, keep hoping, and keep working on your goals. Don’t get discouraged; it could be that everything is working out after all.

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If you have questions about faith, the bible, the church, or sexuality & spirituality, you can email your questions to durrell@sunshinecathedral.org, or go to the Cathedral web site at www.sunshinecathedral.org and click on the link there. Rev. Durrell Watkins will answer your questions and publish the answers in this column. Your name will always be withheld, so only the actual question and the response will be printed.