The elegant misinterpretation of Christianity, and why I'm wearing a cross

This is a reflection posted not long ago to my old journal. I thought it fitting to repost here as a first "real" entry. The lyrics quoted in the beginning and end are from the song "Illuminations" by Gogol Bordello. They didn't inspire the text set to them; it was a happy coincidence that I found the song around the time I was thinking of trying to collect this particular sentiment in text.
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Don't believe them for a moment,
For a second, do not believe, my friend
When you are down, them are not coming
With a helping hand.
Of course there is no us and them
But them, they do not think the same,
It's them who do not think.

They never step on spiritual path
They paint their faces so differently from ours
And if you listen closely
That war it never stops.

Be them new Romans,
Don't envy them my friend.
Be their lives longer,
Their longer lives are spent
Without a love or faithful friend
All those things they have to rent.

But we who see our destiny
In sound of this same old punk song
Let rest originality for sake of passing it around.
Illuminating realization number one:
You are the only light there is
For yourself, my friend.

So they tell you "Jesus saves." Who is Jesus? Go into any Church or a vast selection of hotel rooms worldwide and you'll find a book that has a great deal to say on the subject. In brief, Jesus is the son of God (which, by the way, so are you, according to said book) who was born in a stable and had many adventures before his death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Lord. Good, you probably recognize this. The identity of the supposed Savior is told in parables and episodic chapters by four fellows he was tight with. Consider these.

Now consider this hypothetical situation:

Gather together a bunch of people. It doesn't matter how many. Five, fifty, five thousand. It doesn't matter what religion they are, what race, what nationality, what gender, or their age (so long as they are capable of rational communication).

Ask them:
Have you ever felt that you were born into the wrong place or time?
Have you ever felt that your parents or elders expected more of you than you should be expected to give?
Have you ever had someone try to convince you not to do the right thing because the alternative would be easier or more fun and the "right thing" isn't that important anyway?
Have you ever felt as if your real home is somewhere else, somewhere you've never seen?
Have you ever had the right answer to something, but been ignored or put down for unjust or mean or selfish reasons?
Have you ever been betrayed by someone you thought was your friend?
Have you been disappointed in people living down to your bad expectations of them?
Have you been proud of people living up to higher than your expectations of them?
Have you ever been punished for something someone else did?

...and if, by now, every single person in your hypothetical group has not answered "yes" to at least one question, there are many more you can ask.

All of these things are part of who Jesus was.

Think about that.

It's one of the most elegant metaphors ever constructed. Every human on this planet embodies at least one piece of all the elements that make up the identity of the Savior. Jesus is therefor universal human identity. And in this reinterpretation, you find that the ultimate key to wholeness, virtue, balance, and peace is not blind servitude to the demands of an ancient god-made-flesh, but self-empowerment through the realization of man's essential connection to mankind. Everyone is the savior. So long as you have the capacity for rational thought and self-awareness, you have the capacity to choose to become your own savior. You find your own peace. You fulfill your own prophesy. You walk in the footsteps of your gods until you realize they walk in yours.

So that is why I'm wearing a cross. It does not mean that I am a blind follower of outdated philosophies. It means I am a self-aware, self-empowered extension of the universal God embodied in humanity -- the God whose religion is life, whose church is this planet, and whose only commandment is "Be."

There'll be no saviors any soon coming down
And anyway illuminations
Never come from the crowned.
Illuminating realization number one:
You are the only light there is For yourself, my friend.

Welcome.

So here I am! Moving into my new home here at blogger.com. There won't be an overwhelming amount of personal information or idle commentary on irrelivancies from here on; but as this is my first post, I might as well use it to introduce my readers to yours truly, The Author, and, for the sake of historical record, make note of a few circumstantial irrelivancies (which may or may not prove relevant at a later time).

My name is Ven. That was not the name given to me at birth, but it is the name I was given at the point in my life when I became more or less who I am now, and formed the foundation of who I will be for the rest of it. I am 24 years old. I live at home with my parents and two younger siblings (when they came home), and two cats -- our own resident fluffball of 7 years, Bilbo Baggins, and Merlin, a communal cat who has adopted us and lives primarily at our house despite belonging to a neighbor. Also included in the group of people I consider immediate family are my soulmate-friend Tenne-Mouse and her daughter Sarah Rose.

I shall set the stage: It's winter here in Washington DC, much colder than it's been this time of year since I was a child. The air has ice-teeth and there's a wind that wants to devour you. I love it. If you were to look at myself and my siblings standing together, it would be clear which of us got one sid or the other of our ancestral blood more strongly. My sister was born Italian, after my mother -- she has darker skin than I, and fine, Roman features, green eyes and thin hair and that passion of soul that you so often find in Mediterranians. My brother, also, has more of the Italian blood than I, with his thick, dark curls, tall, thin stature, and a personality that calls out to people, to family -- he is loyal to a fault. I, however, am a child of my father's Russian gypsy blood -- hazel-eyed and introverted and intellectual with a solid frame and a fondness for occasionally drinking a bit more than I ought to, and oh, how I love the cold and the darkness of winter.

And what is going on in my life right now? I got my driver's license finally last week. I am learning to speak Russian with Rosetta Stone. I have a book of verse in progress, very close to a state I would feel confident in showing a publisher. I have a job working for my parents, though I have no intention of keeping it any longer than I have to. I'll be taking out a loan from them soon to help pay for a car so I can get to a job that suits me better.

And what kind of job? Well, I don't know just yet. I write poetry and prose, I have extensive experience and training in voice and stage performance, I served an apprenticeship for about a year with one of the last true classic art Masters in the world, I have certain business skills unavoidably acquired from my parents' business, I can cook, grow a garden... the world is my oyster.

And I have a lot to say. But that's what this blog is for.

Welcome, everyone.