Love, not Atonement

Today I was reminded what it means to be a Christian. I was looking through my Pocket account that I had a long time ago and that have recently started to use again rather than Evernote to save interesting articles. I found a 2015 article by Marcus Borg, Why Be Christian?  It is a great read and also reminded me about how to simply explain the Christianity that I practice. Just this last January, 2023, I saved a reflection by Richard Rohr called Love, not Atonement which I blogged about here. I did a web search and found a talk called Transaction or Transformation? and linked it in the blog post also. Recently, I transcribed Geoff Dawson on  Attachment, Detachment, Non-attachment in which he concludes ...you cultivate love and compassion and joy and equanimity. A sermon of Jane Johnson I copied along with Richard Rohr has a similar conclusion.

I often think about what I would say about myself as a Christian when asked in detail. Lately I was having trouble explaining to myself why I practice Zen Buddhism and consider myself a Christian. The discovery I have described reminded me what it means in both the view of Jesus's life and the community that we can be a part of. I sometimes feel very alone in my belief, but I'm determined to consider myself and remain a member of the Christian community, specifically my local church. Marcus Borg is especially helpful here when he says, Even though I think one can be an individual seeker, that's like going out and hunting for food when there's a banquet set right in front of you.  I am convinced also that my two seemingly different faith communities are consistent in the modern form that attracts me: love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.