The Christ

PARTICIPANT: There’s another Bible quote.

WW: I borrow things here and there, learn things here and there, find things here and there, that turn out to be useful. I borrow from my mentor of many years ago on a regular basis. He also said that everything he spoke of came from another source. I make no claims to be highly original. “In the world, but not of the world.” How could I improve on that?

PARTICIPANT: Well …that really wasn’t my concern. I guess I’m asking …do you then believe in the Bible?

WW: I don’t have much use for belief in anything. What do you mean by “believe?”

PARTICIPANT: Do you think the Bible is true?

WW: True? It has some great parables and metaphors that relate to the picture of man. Is that what you mean?

PARTICIPANT: What about Christ himself? What’s your take on Christ? What about the idea that we turn our life over to Christ …as a savior, that is? I mean …is Christ real to you?

WW: Real? Was there really a man named Jesus? I don’t know. That is of no concern to me. I’ll never know. I can’t know. A belief of something that I can’t check out has no value. Many people place a value on such things, but they have no inherent value.

PARTICIPANT: Then what is your take on Christ?

WW: The ultimate metaphor of someone who was not of this world. There are several ways to put it. The Christ did not identify his inner being with the world ideologies that I’ve been hammering on. He served a higher intelligence. He didn’t blindly serve the religious laws of the day nor the political system of the day. He didn’t live as a hypocrite. He did have trolls that tempted him, but he didn’t live as a hypocrite. He told his trolls to “get behind” him. He rejected culture, but he didn’t advocate the overthrow of society to build a new one. He was a like a covert operative—in a group, but not of the group—in a system, but not of the system—born into the religion, but not of the religion. “In the world, but not of the world” …the Christ metaphor.