Of Spiritual Seduction
Why Christianity?
Why not rather Islam, with its kinetic energy like the charge of cavalry, stamping through the Arabic dunes of the soul, and the banner of crescent and star raised high, and the sword of a holy warrior. And the undivided unity and shout of the One God, Allah, His Name Be Praised! And lo in the Sacred Book it is written, it is written just as it was spoken to the Prophet, in the caves of Medina, that in the final judgment some shall enter the paradise, and taste the sweet waters of the oasis.
Why not rather Hinduism, with its erotic-esoteric rituals, and its Eastern dance of colors before the pantheon of gods and goddesses. Its age-old songs before the womb of the earth began to break open, churning in the Vedic hymns, and the great long vowel with the O of the lips, and the hummm of the cosmic. The bending of body in the chakra and kundalini through the Yoga, and the excitement of many sexual limbs, joining in the great creative and destructive dance of Lord Shiva, or the physical embrace of Krishna.
Why not rather Buddhism, and the serenity of meditation, and the tranquil silencing of the earthly, while the leaves slowly descend on the earth. The great cycle of life that cycles through the eons, until attaining that sole and sacred peace, which is as white and whiter than a swan or lily. To find enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and to chant the Sacred Lotus and Heart Sutras under the whispering breath, until the self is no longer, and there is no self, and there is the sparkling, shimmering nothing, that is the precious unbecoming of Nirvana.
Why Christianity then? Why, with all these beauties filling the world we live in? Why not instead be eclectic, and taste of the great spiritual banquet and pick and choose from the feast. Let's be reasonable, like a modern gentleman, and say, well, why don't we study all these religions first, for surely they must all have some truth in them, let's be open-minded, and indulge in the varieties of the spiritual-transcendent experience.
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But Christianity is the elevated and unsurpassed Marriage. The one who answers less to this effect is not a real Christian: “The ring is on my finger, I am already married”. And in this way you ask me to glaze my eyes on some other woman, and imagine secret scenes of consummation, and even more secreter sins (ah, the harlotries of Ezekiel 16!). For you do not know the heart yet of Christianity, and what sets it apart from every other religion conceived, when we say it is “grace”. And you do not know yet the romance of salvation, or the only love story that echoes throughout all love stories: of the Almighty King riding on his white horse, picking up this ugly, wretched girl from the mud, and becoming her guardian-husband, dressing her up in the finest linen, putting a gold ring on her finger, for no reason at all, except to say: now, my dear, you are mine. And this is beautiful possession.
And how the spirit has been betrothed! And how the soul has been wed! And it has been done and yet it is fast approaching. And the kingdom has come but the kingdom is on its way. The fervent hope of the final wedding come down on earth, that renders the recreated world as the singular vow: the great celebration that shall have no end to joy and laughter.
And you do not know that Christianity is Relationship—not once directed but reflexive, all encompassing. And the power of the Trinity, the breaking of logic, time and space, that says, the Holy Spirit is in you, and Christ is He who intercedes, and the Father is Holy in Heaven, and yet their places will move in a circle, and they carousel, until it is Christ in you, and the Holy Spirit who comes alongside, and you and the Father are One. For the desire was to melt unrecognizably into the One you love.
And you do not know that Christianity is Truth—that is unapologetic and unashamed, and let it even be hurtful, when we call the other beautiful women demonic, for Satan is everything that will not let me cleave but divides, and Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life. For after our first kiss every other woman is a potential temptation and a trap, and let me try to be polite but let me also be wary: after the covenant has been made all neutral relationships have been changed.
And you do not know that Christianity is Commitment, and once you have been chosen there is nothing else, but the exclusive, the most passionate and intense, that renders every other relationship so breathtakingly less. And my God is a Jealous God! When two people make the promise, from then on, there is no other, no other, but eyes only for the wife, to know her inexhaustibly more, in the deepest, softest portions of her skin and her pleasure-trembling soul, that says my dear, everytime I touch you: you are my All.