Atonement
The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;…
God’s in His heaven–
All’s right with the world!
–Robert Browning
Atonement is a not a word I use often in conversation. The last time I used the word atonement was in reference to the 2007 heartbreaking and Academy Award-winning movie by that same name. Atonement is heavy, like a gigantic slab of marble. Because of the weight of it, it doesn’t flow easily off the tongue.
But this month, the fresh and fabulous month of March, atonement is the theme at Transformed Magazine. So let’s take a look at what atonement might have to do with the beginning of spring…
March in the northern hemisphere generally signifies the coming of spring–the promise of life returning in all its fullness and beauty. In ancient Rome, March was the first month of the year because it was the first month of spring. The promise of new beginnings, evidenced by all that takes place in the natural world during this time, was a logical way to mark and welcome in every new year.
So what about atonement? Why is it our theme this March? As it turns out, atonement has a lot to do with the promise of new beginnings.
Atonement is reparation for a wrong. It is most commonly used in Christian theology as the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind through the life, suffering and death of Christ.
The word atonement comes from the Middle English phrase for “in harmony.” Onement was the word in 16th Century English that meant the state of being at one, or reconciled. Atonement simply means at-onement.
Looking at the word this way, breaking it apart from its heavy association with doctrine, we can see a freshness in it. The state of being “at one” brings with it a sense of calm, peace and rest. It’s a sense of being restored, coming home, brought back to center. It’s like pressing the reset button on our day. Letting go of all the craziness of our life and the chatter in our mind, and all the things left undone and still to do. When we are at one, we are grounded in something steady; we are whole again, reconciled to what really matters. The shopping lists, bank accounts, numbers on the scale–they all fall away and we are left with something truer.
But being “at one” begs the question, “At one with what?” In many different faiths, people believe that being at one means being at one with something greater than ourselves.
In the Christian faith, this “greater than ourselves” is the Trinity of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But what does it really mean to be at one with this greatness? What is actually required to be at one with an infinite, all-powerful God?
In this new age of spiritualism in which we live, there is much talk about being at one with God, and a lot of confusion, too. In my days before I knew Christ, I desperately searched to be at one with God through various things–lighting incense, chanting privately and/or with big groups of people, meditating on candle flames, running, memorizing prayers, listening to sermons given by pastors and spiritual talks by gurus, reading the Bible and other religious texts, doing good things for others in the name of karma. To varying degrees of success I felt a closeness to God. I felt a holiness draw near, my heart rate lower, and my spirit awaken to a freedom and space of holiness. And sometimes I mistook this wonderful proximity to peace as oneness with God.
But was I really at-onement with God through these disciplined and well-intentioned efforts?
One of the most difficult tenets of Christianity for me has always been that Jesus is the way and the only way. My worldview, like many people’s, was that all roads lead to Rome; that it didn’t really matter what God you were worshipping or praying to as long as you were practicing your faith with a humble and surrendered heart.
The Bible tells us something very different, though. It tells us that it’s not about our religious performance or even how disciplined or good we are. The strong position it pushes forward is that no matter how edifying a spiritual practice or discipline may be–from meditation to praying to sacred dance and singing–none of it in its isolated performance brings us to a place of being at one with God. Onement requires atonement. And atonement with God requires profound reconciliation that He alone can provide.
This month, as spring becomes spring and newness starts sprouting all around us, I encourage you to take a look at your heart, your spirit, your faith. Do you feel at one with God, or do you at best just feel close to him from time to time?
In my own life, when I came to a point where I could be honest, I could see that all my efforts and spiritual striving did nothing to bridge the gap between me and God. And getting to know Jesus, I learned why: It was never my job to reconcile God and man. I couldn’t do it. You can’t, either. None of us were ever meant to! That is the mysterious and wonderful gift of Christ. He atoned for us. And we don’t have to come to the table with incense or sacrifice or anything: We come with mustard-seed sized faith and we believe His work on the cross was complete.
Thank God that understanding the awe-inspiring mystery of Christ’s atonement is not a requirement for at-onement! We can be grounded, alive, at peace and steady in our faith because of who Jesus is–and that’s it. As our endless imperfections and our minds’ ceaseless wanderings try to keep us from any experience of harmony, there is another way. Have you chosen it? Or, have you tried to think or strive your way to oneness with God? What’s holding you back from receiving Christ’s atonement as your own? Are you ready to be made new this spring?
