We all need Jesus
Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 100:3)
We all need Jesus. What a profound statement that is. I’ve spent the past five weeks of my life working with people who purposely choose to deny that fact. I’m not sure I want to spend many more surrounded by such denial. It hurts me to see such misguided pursuits. It’s one thing to know that there’s such repudiation in the world. It’s another to be in the middle of it without ever being able to speak against it or share what I know to be true – to be able to say out loud, “You all need Jesus.”
I woke at 4:45 am the other morning, knowing something had to give. After a month of work dreams and oppressed days filled with mentally and physically exhaustive actions, I’ve nearly had enough. These are not my people. I cannot support their culture.
I’ve never held a job where I’ve been pressed to join something counter to who I am – until now. I was promised that I was being hired to support my boss administratively and that I didn’t need to ascribe to the New Age ideals this environment espouses. That wasn’t true. In fairness, I don’t think my boss knew how untrue that statement was when she made her promise to me.
As an executive assistant, I can support anyone to the highest level of care that they require – whether that’s reading lines to someone in their underwear in preparation for a recorded interview (yes, I really did this) or washing dinner dishes from a 15-person event at 10:00 pm after a 15-hour work day (I did this a few days ago). I’ve traveled with my executives, packed for them, made their daily pitchers of iced tea, and reminded them of personal commitments as well as business events. I care about their families and fret over their lack of sleep. Despite the exhaustion, their support extends into my life, and I pray over and love them all.
And yet, there are lines I can’t cross. I see them everywhere in my current role, and I think it’s time for a giant step back.
The day after our national elections, my boss organized a “post-election meditation” with a friend and mentor of hers – Susan Salzberg. Susan is a woman who says things like, “We don’t need any sort of religious orientation to lead a life that is ethical, compassionate and kind.”
While Susan’s statement may be true, what she’s forgotten is that she still needs Jesus. Life is more than being “ethical, compassionate, and kind.” It’s about worship. It’s about serving a Savior who loves us enough to send His Son to die for us. It’s about daily surrendering our lives to the only one who can ever save us. We can never do so ourselves.
Despite my desire to never participate in another guided meditation session at work, I was pressed to do so on November 6th. This time, as the group sat on porch chairs around a 56-inch mobile computer monitor to connect with Susan Salzberg via Zoom, I stood on the porch and looked out at God’s majestic mountains surrounding the campus. This time, I prayed to God with my eyes open – figuratively and literally – giving each of my team members to their Creator while praying over them as this guru guided everyone to “give themselves permission to heal.”
The session began with my boss expressing that “we are all extremely distressed over the election of a person filled with hatred who will now govern our nation” – an opinion she assumed I shared. I don’t. She then said how our leadership team’s children “are afraid to go to school.” She continued, “We’re all so upset that we cried together earlier.”
While I knew she wasn’t speaking for me, and I can’t begin to understand her mentality, her elucidations were nothing compared to those this would-be guru of New Age cultism shared.
As the session continued, Susan responded by comparing the election to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. At the time, Susan explained, rumors expounded, including some that proclaimed trees would never bloom again. “They did,” she affirmed, “and people found within themselves the will to go on.”
As the half-hour session continued, I concentrated on my Savior and His created majesty. At the same time, my coworkers were led to focus on their breathing and silently meditate on questions such as “May I be healthy again?” and “May we be happy again?” Per Susan’s guidance, everyone should permit themselves to do so after raising these questions.
Susan then directed everyone to silently repeat the name of someone who made them happy while allowing themselves permission to smile in remembrance of that name. I smiled at this suggestion as I’d already been calling on the only name anyone ever needs to be happy and whole – Jesus. Jesus got me through that session, as He has every other questionable belief I’ve uncovered about this group’s mindset over the past month.
Jesus, I cried. These people are so lost. Be with them. Show Yourself to them. You are always with us. I see you in these mountains and this beautiful sky. They look inward to find their peace when Your peace already surrounds us. They can’t see You, even though You are always here. You created them, the world, and everything in it. Open their eyes, Lord. Open their hearts and help them to see You.
When the session was over, my boss effused over the empty words that she saw as healing – words that spoke to me of loss and desperation. Only God can heal the spirit, I knew. Only Christ can give us peace.
And so, after waking early to capture these thoughts, I wonder how much longer I can maintain my new role. I know I can’t be a part of this culture of madness that is seeking “mindful consciousness” when I have already found peace and security in Christ. I will never ascribe to their ideals. I can’t get excited at guided “sky gazing” – a practice our “Director of Net Offerings” detailed over lunch last week. He explained that the activity is one in which he frequently leads participants. When questioned about the activity, he clarified that – with his guidance – one can “become one with the sky and let it carry you away then gently bring you back to a better state within yourself.” I will never “recognize that both [me] and the sky are parts of the larger universe.” I know that I am not “the universe experiencing itself,” – nor will I think that “[I am] the universe looking into a mirror.”
Conversely, I am a created being, made in the image of God, and yet I can never be God – something I fear these people believe is possible. To me, such notions are blasphemous.
There is only one divine being – the triune God, Yahweh – my Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
When exposed to such thoughts over the past month, I frequently repeat Psalm 100 to myself. This precious song has always been one of my favorites. I memorized it as a child; its words have become my daily touchstone.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
We all need Jesus. I would be lost without Him, even as I believe everyone I work with is. I pray for them daily and give them all to His tender care.
I also pray that God will continue to guide me to do what He wants me to do. No matter where I look or how someone tries to guide me to see otherwise, I will always see Jesus.