What Does Wise/Spiritual Look Like?

  Christianity is an Eastern religion.  It comes from Asia and is the work of Oriental thinkers and writers, by strict definition.  We have westernized it, of course, and in so doing, we have robbed it of much of what makes it unique.  We've all heard this.  We've also done the opposite: we've taken this one specific Eastern philosophy/religion/path to wisdom/approach to life, and we've failed to see what is different about it when compared to the others.

  For example, our view of what a wise, holy, spiritual person looks like.  Our view can be seen in a hundred movie characters.  Mr. Miyagi, Yoda, Splinter.  Galadriel, Elrond, Flynn.  Neo, Paul Atreides, Spock.  The movie versions of Jesus are the same.  These guys don't sweat.  They don't have any big facial expressions.  They are detached, uninvested, distant. They observe and see much, but from a place higher or a bit removed from the action.  They teach serenity, a lack of attachment, emotional investment or passion.  In fact, they teach that giving into emotions is the path to failure or even evil.  They counsel against frustration, anger, sorrow and eagerness.  They have blank, sometimes slightly bemused faces.  (except Jesus, who is too stoned to be bemused.)  So, wisdom and spirituality are connected with detachment, and a lack of emotional reaction or investment.  Jedi aren't to love women.  Minds are to be cleared until they are empty so the body may act.  The turmoil of the heart is to be stilled and made quiet.

  Thing is, the Jesus of the bible sweats.  He groans in frustration or sorrow. He expresses rage, eagerness, and disappointment.  He loses his temper, he calls people names and kicks over tables, he cries, he shouts, he groans, he berates, regrets, dreads and anticipates. He pleads with God. 

  That makes him different.  I can relate to that person a whole lot better than stoned Jesus in the movies, or perennially wise, rubber Yoda.  I take comfort in a role model who isn't afraid to both feel and publicly express (on record for millennia) the full gamut of human experience without suggesting this is weak, foolish or a path to evil or failure.  Because feeling and participating fully in the full gamut of the human experience, and painting your life with the full palette of human emotional expression?  It's part of being human.