Maybe because I'm a non-believer, all religions seem pretty much the same to me. So if you are the pope, or a feathered chief in the Amazonian jungle leading a group of tortoise-worshippers, well, it's more a matter of popularity and personal style than validity. In fact, I have a soft spot for marginal cults and oddball beliefs, ever since I worked in Wheaton, and headed over to the Theosophical Society to see what the acolytes of Madame Blavatsky had going.
The other day I passed the I AM Temple on Washington Street. Someone had broken their front window, and I was glad to see it repaired, and took a photo of the weird paintings they have in it. On one hand, this is not the join-the-cult-and-uncover-the-secrets-the-place-must-hold treatment they deserve. But at least I tried.
There has never been, as far as I can tell, an article in a Chicago publication attempting to explain the organization that has, since 1948, owned the elegant white 12-story building at 176 W. Washington. And now that I've been looking into it a bit, I can understand why, because it defies easy summarization.
For years, I was intrigued by the building and the displays in the windows — most recently a framed copy of the U.S. Constitution, illuminated like a medieval manuscript; a portrait of a pale Christ, arms spread; marble busts of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington; an enigmatic tableau mixing patriotism and faith.
Over the doorway is carved, in gold letters: "I AM Temple."
I AM is not a church or a religion but, to use their term, an "activity." The I AM Activity was started in Chicago in 1932 by Guy W. Ballard, based on dialogues he had on California's Mt. Shasta with someone he believed to be St. Germain, a figure who is, to quote I AM literature, "one of the Great Beings from the Spiritual Hierarchy who governs this planet . . . the Purifying, Cleansing Power that is helping to raise the Earth into its permanent Golden Age."
There is a 7-foot-tall photograph of Ballard and his wife, Edna, in the lobby of the temple, both dressed in white outfits. There is a reception desk and a reading room. I've stopped by several times — the place is always staffed by older ladies, clad in lovely white or ivory dresses.
"We are here to offer instruction to those who are interested," said one woman, asking that her name not be used because she is not a spokesperson and has only been with the I AM Activity for 12 years. "We do not advertise. Rather, we offer instruction in the laws of life as they are conveyed through these materials, through divine beings we refer to as the Ascended Masters."
I asked about the portraits of Washington and Lincoln.
"This is also a patriotic activity, which may seem unusual," she said. "It is our understanding that the Constitution is divinely inspired."
They believe St. Germain is an immortal figure who not only had a hand in our nation's founding, but the French Revolution, the writing of the Magna Carta, and other noteworthy historical events.
"He was referred to as 'the wonder man of Europe,' " she said. "It may seem highly implausible to many people, and I don't want to create a misimpression. But it is our understanding that he worked for many centuries in Europe."
There are other I AM centers around the country, though the organization's headquarters, the St. Germain Foundation, is based in Schaumburg.
They have meetings, she said, but not services in the traditional sense.
"It is not for everyone, and we respect that."
The lady seemed quite concerned that I would scoff at or ridicule the I AM Activity, even after I assured her that it was not my practice to mock a belief just because it is unusual, and that I differentiate between religions that go around bullying people and those that simply wait and offer inspiration to anyone who decides to embrace them.
Which this woman has obviously done.
"This Activity instructs us with a right relationship with the power of God that is in our hearts," she said. "It manifests our lives."
— Originally published in the Sun-Times, March 4, 2007
I also believe that the Constitution is an inspired document, and worry that it will be dangerously trampled on in the near future. As a nation we have not always lived up to it but the ideas are solid and those who wrote it had good intentions. No monarchy, freedom for all and the right, no the obligatiin to make decisions for the good of all. In November of this year I hope that enough people remember what it's about. I really really hope so.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a new one for me. Like the man said "You need a busload of faith to get by."
ReplyDeleteI viewed the eclipse in Ohio on April 8. Driving back through Indiana, I caught a religious program on the radio. (Religious broadcasts seemed to be on every other station on the dial.) The speaker was explaining a verse in Revelations about twenty-four thrones on the other side of a door to Heaven. It was a lenghy discourse with cross references to a multitude of sources. He had obviously thoroughly studied the topic and seemed sure of his conclusions. He believed.
The contrast of his speech with the astronomers' calculation of the exact path and precise time of the eclipse is the only detail that stayed with me.
Unlike 2017, and our ten-hour shlep from Cleveland to Carbondale, we got to watch the celestial spectacle from our back porch on April 8. Now I'm hooked. Too bad I won't be around for the next one to pass through this part of the country.
DeleteAstronomers have been able to calculate the exact time and path of eclipses for centuries. I shook my head in total (sorry!) amazement when some of the more goofy religious nutcases treated it like the appearance of an asteroid or a comet, and loudly proclaimed it was their Sky Daddy's "punishment" for our evil ways.
At the last moment, like a day or two before the Big Day, there were all kinds of gloom and doom prognostications. Were they correct about the doom? The answer is still about five months away. But they were right about the gloom...all four minutes of it. Whatta show!
Terry, your reference to the eclipse phenomenon reminded me of a Korean History drama, I saw several years ago, in which an aspirant to political control predicted an eclipse of the sun (described in apocalyptical phraseology) based on his knowledge of Chinese calculations, only to discover that the distance from the place in China for which the calculations were made to Korea was a significant factor in spoiling the effect of his predictions. I think the charlatan prevailed anyway, blaming demons or some such for the delay in the appearance of the eclipse. Some of the early astronomers, here and in the East) were also astrologers; Kepler and Brahe for instance. Even Newton fancied himself a theologian more than a physicist.
Deletejohn
You've spoken of many vital issues.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as a percussionist who identifies as a bass drummer, will there be an article regarding the Schlagzeug?
Absolutely. I just need to talk to her.
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