BEYOND DEATH

Rumi's famous poem describes a serene, non-judgmental space beyond earthly concepts of right and wrong, where souls can meet and experience true understanding.

I grew up in a  christian home.  Every evening my family gathered around the dining table and my grandfather and later my father read from the family Bible, we sang hymns and then came the family prayer.  This was the reality in my family home.  Every Sunday we went to church and about once every three months we camped at church. I grew up with a steady rhythm of christian goodness.

Somewhere along the way all that changed.  At the time - while everything occured - I could not understand what was happening. 

Suddenly,  after the latest episode of abuse at the hands of one of my family members  - a light went up in my head and in an instant ... I made the connections with self, with other texts, with the wider world. I instantly knew what happened over almost fourty years!

Somewhere in the early nineties,  a cult called Israel Vision spread like wild fire amongst Afrikaans speaking people in South Africa.

I remember a phone call at work, from my youngest sister, informing us  about a family group tour to Israel.  For the record it is important to note that  - my family and I were not on this tour. 

Everything changed after this tour.  My family started to use Hebrew names for God and Jesus became a Masiach. All of a sudden the church where generations of family members worshipped before,  this same church was now accused of teaching falsehood!  Almost immediately upon their return from Israel, my Father and mother left the church.  I remember my eldest sister making statements  to the fact that all universal churches were false. She consistently used Bible verses to strengthen her arguments.   It was important for my family to inform one and all, and in fact everybody who wanted to listen, that what they have found was the only true way. My family started keeping the Jewish festivals and were espescially  proud of the keeping of the festival of huts.  My three sisters with their husbands and children together with my parents were heavily invested in this new way. They stopped attending regular church services, regular prayer meetings, they stopped celebrating  mainstream christian festivals such as Christmas and Easter. They isolated themselves from mainstream Christianity and considered themselves as the chosen people. 

My husband and I had no idea what was happening.  I remember phoning my mother one Christmas morning only to be confronted with an extremely violent  reaction. In no uncertain terms it was made very clear to us that they have nothing to do with the old order of things, that they do not celebrate Christmas, that they have found the way and that they alone are the righteous ... the chosen of God.

My husband and I had no idea what was happening.  We felt the exclusion, the shunning, the better than toughness and were on the receiving end of the constant accusations that we as a family ... the only church going family, the only family who belonged to a church at that time, the only family who attended prayer meetings with other christians, who's children were baptized, who's children were serving as altar servers,  the only family who reads the Bible, who prays ...  and yet we were constantly reminded that we were "on our way to hell". 

We had no idea what was going on. My husband and I had no idea! Absolutely, no idea!

Now, years and years later I now recognize the behavior from extensive research I have now engaged in.  The research matches the exact behavior we have witnessed over many years. It speaks of the same signs that we have witnessed over four score years. Years and years when we had no idea what was going on, suddenly makes sense!

The reasearch shows that: "The theology of the Israel Vision cult,  fundamentally altered traditional Christian practices, often causing severe fractures within families and traditional local churches.

Because the people involved in this cult, believed that they were the true covenantal descendants of Abraham, they claimed God's promises were exclusively for them and for nobody else. This theology inherently excluded people of color from the faith community, providing a religious justification for white supremacy.   Adherents to this cult, grew deeply distrustful of mainstream churches, claiming they had found the "only true way." They rejected traditional Christian terms, dropping the name "Jesus" in favor of the Hebrew "Yahshua" (or Masiach/Messiah) and replacing "God" with "Yahuwah" or "Yahweh.

These groups adopted Jewish Festivals: Followers abandoned traditional Christian holidays, choosing instead to observe Old Testament Jewish festivals, most notably the Festival of Huts (Sukkot).

Finally, we understand everything.  We now understand the exclusion, we understand the hatred and we understand the violence towards us as a family. 

How this cult has destroyed families and impacted family bonds over many years  - only history will reveal. 

Thomas Merton's teachings on enduring and standing in faith says that faith in God is a radical willingness to walk in darkness while trusting that God is present. 

Over more than forty years that is what we have done. We have trusted that God is present!