Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Paradox of the Journey
Why do we set out on the journey in the first place? We set out to find answers, to discover truths, to have stories to tell, to collect wisdom. Yet we do not find those things on the path. We encounter the unexpected, we encounter that which we never imagined, we encounter a world outside our ability to rationalize. We do not receive answers, we only gather more questions. We can tell our stories, but who will truly understand. Will we even truly understand?
Monday, February 18, 2013
the Start of the Journey
We find ourselves in the midst of lent. Lent offers us an opportunity to look back and reflect at who we are, where we have been, where we would like to go. The 40 days of lent can be used intentionally to access our spiritual well being, to re-center ourselves, to regain focus.
For those of us who find ourselves on the left handed path, far away from home, or even those of us who have been on the left handed path, and returned home, or settled at a new home, there is something we share in common, something that is useful during this time of reflection.
When we set out away from home, we were confident in our journey, we were confident in ourselves. Being out, truly away from home, exposes that confidence quickly. In other words our egos are beat down, our confidence may be shattered, we may have felt like the entire journey was a mistake. We become deeply humble, often humiliated at some level. Yet being that we are so far away from home, and are most likely alone, we are forced to face the challenges alone, without the support system of the village at hand.
In the face of hardships, we learn to let go more readily. We begin to understand at some deep level what it means to be led by God. We are able to see, to some extent, the internal steel framework of the universe, we can see how we fit in, how we were formed and created by God. Admittedly i am using a fairly judeo-christian understanding here, but i hope that it is translatable to other traditions. It comes to us in our most fearful moments, the moments when we don't have anywhere else to turn.
Yet as time goes on, and our comfort increases, we forget the fear of our journeys, and the humbleness we acquired. It is easy for our fear to transform into a perverted confidence. The stories we tell gloss over the true fear of the moment, the humility and loneliness we felt, the sense of failure. Our reflections only recall our success, we forget the ways in which we turned to God, the ways in which, by practically no work of our own, we made it through in one piece. We forget we found our survival in God.
As lent progresses, we can reflect on the most difficult times of our journeys away from home, and remember that we made it through, we made it through by letting go of our own egos, and finding comfort in a higher power. We have to be able to pass those lessons along, not just as distant stories, but as emotional experiences. We must not shy away from expressing the loneliness we might have felt or the humility we experienced, for surely others know what that feels like, and we are in the position to show that when we let go, we can make it through.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Repent, Christmas is near!
This again might fly into the realm of a strictly Christian topic, but I hope that it can be useful to other faiths as well. I am also rehashing some of the things I wrote about two months ago, but it is a topic that has been at the forefront of my mind.
So often when we hear the term Repent we think of someone holding a sign that reads: "Repent! The End is Near!" We, as a culture, have been led to believe that to repent is to give something up, to turn away from Sin, to perfect ourselves. In the Today's English Version translation of the bible, the translation present in the Good News Bible, the translator, in Luke 3:3, actually translates repentance as turning away from sin. When we do this, we are missing so much of what repentance is and what John the Baptist is calling us to do.
I acknowledge that i am channeling Calvin here, (Book three, Chapter three of Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion) but Repentance is less about turning away from Sin, and more about turning towards God.
Its easy to say, is there a difference, if we are turning towards God, aren't we turning away from sin? Sort of, but there is a subtle distinction.
By turning towards God, we are allowing ourselves to be embraced by God's love, to walk in the paths of God, to remind ourselves that all good comes from God. We focus on becoming the Hands and Feet of God in the world, spreading the love we feel.
When we focus instead on the idea of repentance as turning away from Sin, our focus becomes sin. We try to deny ourselves, we strive for perfection, it becomes a personal quest. When we strive for perfection, we deny our whole selves, we too easily slip into what modern psychology calls burying emotions. When we bury our sins, they have a tendency to present themselves at inopportune times. We become two people instead of just one, the one that we put out in the real world, the one that appears perfect, while our shadow self lurks in dark corners, engaging in the very activities we become ashamed of.
This is not to try and say there are not bad things that we can do. Sin is real, we make mistakes, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that the Law, although perfect and good, is impossible to attain completely. Even the clearest of commandments, thou shall not kill, we can all think of a myriad of instances were killing is clearly not wrong, like in moments of self defense, or even to go as far as to say killing an animal to survive, yet there is is clear as day, thou shall not kill.
We are going to sin whether we like it or not, we are going to make mistakes in this life, no matter how "together" or "healthy" we are. That being said, i think its easy to agree that we would all like to sin less.
The good news is that when we repent, when we turn to God, when we commit to God, we do sin less. The better we are at following the paths of God, in other words, the more we meditate, the more we listen, the more we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, the less we sin, the more good we do in the world.
I believe this can be a universal message, don't focus so much on the sin half of the equation, trying to be perfect all the time, focus more on the listening half of the equation, striving to unite with God.
For those of us on the left handed path, away from the safety of the village, we have probably seen some real sin, maybe we have even allowed ourselves to be complacent or involved in real sin. Within the safety of the village, sin does not present itself in the same way. It can be easier to shield oneself from sin, or to pretend like it doesn't exist. Think of the way drug addiction or alcoholism is approached in small towns or "gated communities", or maybe even worse, domestic violence.
For those of us on the left handed path, when we come in community with those on the right handed path, much like John the Baptist in the bible, we have the opportunity to remind people of this. Much like John the Baptist's first response to the question of how do we repent; if you have two coats, give one away.
The tendency to focus on Sin, instead of God is all too common. We on the left handed path have something to offer, we can help refocus those we meet on along the way on God.
So often when we hear the term Repent we think of someone holding a sign that reads: "Repent! The End is Near!" We, as a culture, have been led to believe that to repent is to give something up, to turn away from Sin, to perfect ourselves. In the Today's English Version translation of the bible, the translation present in the Good News Bible, the translator, in Luke 3:3, actually translates repentance as turning away from sin. When we do this, we are missing so much of what repentance is and what John the Baptist is calling us to do.
I acknowledge that i am channeling Calvin here, (Book three, Chapter three of Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion) but Repentance is less about turning away from Sin, and more about turning towards God.
Its easy to say, is there a difference, if we are turning towards God, aren't we turning away from sin? Sort of, but there is a subtle distinction.
By turning towards God, we are allowing ourselves to be embraced by God's love, to walk in the paths of God, to remind ourselves that all good comes from God. We focus on becoming the Hands and Feet of God in the world, spreading the love we feel.
When we focus instead on the idea of repentance as turning away from Sin, our focus becomes sin. We try to deny ourselves, we strive for perfection, it becomes a personal quest. When we strive for perfection, we deny our whole selves, we too easily slip into what modern psychology calls burying emotions. When we bury our sins, they have a tendency to present themselves at inopportune times. We become two people instead of just one, the one that we put out in the real world, the one that appears perfect, while our shadow self lurks in dark corners, engaging in the very activities we become ashamed of.
This is not to try and say there are not bad things that we can do. Sin is real, we make mistakes, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that the Law, although perfect and good, is impossible to attain completely. Even the clearest of commandments, thou shall not kill, we can all think of a myriad of instances were killing is clearly not wrong, like in moments of self defense, or even to go as far as to say killing an animal to survive, yet there is is clear as day, thou shall not kill.
We are going to sin whether we like it or not, we are going to make mistakes in this life, no matter how "together" or "healthy" we are. That being said, i think its easy to agree that we would all like to sin less.
The good news is that when we repent, when we turn to God, when we commit to God, we do sin less. The better we are at following the paths of God, in other words, the more we meditate, the more we listen, the more we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, the less we sin, the more good we do in the world.
I believe this can be a universal message, don't focus so much on the sin half of the equation, trying to be perfect all the time, focus more on the listening half of the equation, striving to unite with God.
For those of us on the left handed path, away from the safety of the village, we have probably seen some real sin, maybe we have even allowed ourselves to be complacent or involved in real sin. Within the safety of the village, sin does not present itself in the same way. It can be easier to shield oneself from sin, or to pretend like it doesn't exist. Think of the way drug addiction or alcoholism is approached in small towns or "gated communities", or maybe even worse, domestic violence.
For those of us on the left handed path, when we come in community with those on the right handed path, much like John the Baptist in the bible, we have the opportunity to remind people of this. Much like John the Baptist's first response to the question of how do we repent; if you have two coats, give one away.
The tendency to focus on Sin, instead of God is all too common. We on the left handed path have something to offer, we can help refocus those we meet on along the way on God.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
a Role for Science within Religion
Those on the left handed path, on the outward journey as it were, have the ability to be prophetic to those on the right handed path, or those that remain in the village.
Religion and Science seem so often to be at odds. Recently on an NPR program discussing the decline of church in american society they solicited possible reasons the church was declining. One person simply stated that science was the primary reason, as if science could replace religion.
Science can not replace religion, it is a systatized approach to trying to find the physical nature of the universe. It relys on repeatable experiements and data. It does not deal partculiarly well with unique occurances, like legitimate miracles or even something like the big bang (i would be blown away if Science ever got all the way back to the actual beginning, even though they will probably get closer and closer and closer as they parse nanoseconds of time), or what happens to us when we die (although science might be able to figure out chunks of that at some point). Science by itself does not have built into any sort of ethical or moral structure. Curiosity is the primary driver. Morality and ethics in Science are added on by society, but Science on its own does not do this. We need Science though, it needs to be a part of our worldview, along with a spiritual worldview. Religion asks questions that Science would have little interest in exploring, questions of our humanness and what it means to acutally exist in the world. Religion likes to deal in Myth, which can speak as much truth if not more than Science for questions about our being and interacting with one another and the world around us.
Science does uncover truths though, undeniably. Evolution is one that comes to my mind quickly. As theologians it is our resposibility to place the truths that we learn from scripture in context of the truths we learn from Science.
Science can act, in many ways, like those on the left handed path. It can offer refreshing new realities to help keep the prespective of the village fresh. The reason the village needs folks to go out and journey is that when they come back, or when they visit, it can break up homostasis in the family system or the village dynamic. The village needs new challenges to remain relevant.
As a church, to remain relevant, to meet the needs of those in the world, we need Science to challenge us, we need Science to break up our homostasis. Our systems are in decline, what we offer does not meet the needs of the population at large. For the village, and the church, to remain relevant, to offer insite in our existance, we need to welcome the world of science with open arms and let it challege us.
There are truths in Scripture, we need to remain rooted in those truths, but to pass those truths along we need relevant language, we need to speak in a way that those truths can be reached. Claiming that Science can be that language is short sighted, but learning how to speak in myth within the world of Science is key.
Those of in the church, even if we are sometimes on the left handed path, have to acknowledge that by staying with the church we are also on the right handed path, and that Science can act as our "hero".
Religion and Science seem so often to be at odds. Recently on an NPR program discussing the decline of church in american society they solicited possible reasons the church was declining. One person simply stated that science was the primary reason, as if science could replace religion.
Science can not replace religion, it is a systatized approach to trying to find the physical nature of the universe. It relys on repeatable experiements and data. It does not deal partculiarly well with unique occurances, like legitimate miracles or even something like the big bang (i would be blown away if Science ever got all the way back to the actual beginning, even though they will probably get closer and closer and closer as they parse nanoseconds of time), or what happens to us when we die (although science might be able to figure out chunks of that at some point). Science by itself does not have built into any sort of ethical or moral structure. Curiosity is the primary driver. Morality and ethics in Science are added on by society, but Science on its own does not do this. We need Science though, it needs to be a part of our worldview, along with a spiritual worldview. Religion asks questions that Science would have little interest in exploring, questions of our humanness and what it means to acutally exist in the world. Religion likes to deal in Myth, which can speak as much truth if not more than Science for questions about our being and interacting with one another and the world around us.
Science does uncover truths though, undeniably. Evolution is one that comes to my mind quickly. As theologians it is our resposibility to place the truths that we learn from scripture in context of the truths we learn from Science.
Science can act, in many ways, like those on the left handed path. It can offer refreshing new realities to help keep the prespective of the village fresh. The reason the village needs folks to go out and journey is that when they come back, or when they visit, it can break up homostasis in the family system or the village dynamic. The village needs new challenges to remain relevant.
As a church, to remain relevant, to meet the needs of those in the world, we need Science to challenge us, we need Science to break up our homostasis. Our systems are in decline, what we offer does not meet the needs of the population at large. For the village, and the church, to remain relevant, to offer insite in our existance, we need to welcome the world of science with open arms and let it challege us.
There are truths in Scripture, we need to remain rooted in those truths, but to pass those truths along we need relevant language, we need to speak in a way that those truths can be reached. Claiming that Science can be that language is short sighted, but learning how to speak in myth within the world of Science is key.
Those of in the church, even if we are sometimes on the left handed path, have to acknowledge that by staying with the church we are also on the right handed path, and that Science can act as our "hero".
Monday, October 15, 2012
Repentance
repentance is very much a christian idea, but it is present, in various ways, in many other religions as well. To start with a definition of sorts, the greek word for repentance has very much the sense of turning, of aligning yourself with god, to give up the "old ways" and embrace the way of God. Buddhists have this notion, a renouncement of worldly things, Muslims define their religion by submission to God, Islam means just that, to submit (or one who submits, i can't remember exactly.
I was speaking with someone about repentance the other days and she spoke about how much she loved how Billy Graham made it easy to understand the gospels, and that she believed he was saying to turn away from your own self, that thats what repentance meant. And i have pointed out turning is key to the idea of repentance, and it might seem like a play on grammar to say whether we turn away from ourselves or turn towards God, is there really that much difference.
When we understand repentance as turning away from ourselves, it implies that there is something inherently wrong with ourselves. That we are so sinful we have to leave our old life behind and become something new.
It is true that in christ we become a new creation, but it does not mean that we turn away completely from ourselves.
I may be taking a minor issue to an extreme, but the reality is when we really start to believe that we need to turn away from ourselves, we cease to see the blessing that we are. We are loved by God, we are a divine creation of God. We are transformed in God, but God does not erase the blessings we have already received, our inherit divinity, even though we are flawed, even though we are sinners.
Unfortunately we are always going to be sinners, but turning towards God prevents us from letting those sins control us. As Calvin so gracefully pointed out, repenting and turning towards God is being loved into freedom and away from the sins that can control our entire existence.
When we repent, we can't turn away from our old selves, as Paul pointed out the Romans so many years ago, we give ourselves sacrificially to God and we are accepted and holy. We each receive gifts that we can in turn use. If we turn completely away from ourselves, then we ignore the gifts that have already been bestowed upon us.
Repentance has to be a turn towards God, to accepting the guidance and leadership of God. God does not ask us to give up ourselves, but rather to offer ourselves as holy and meaningful sacrifices.
Let us be loved into freedom.
I was speaking with someone about repentance the other days and she spoke about how much she loved how Billy Graham made it easy to understand the gospels, and that she believed he was saying to turn away from your own self, that thats what repentance meant. And i have pointed out turning is key to the idea of repentance, and it might seem like a play on grammar to say whether we turn away from ourselves or turn towards God, is there really that much difference.
When we understand repentance as turning away from ourselves, it implies that there is something inherently wrong with ourselves. That we are so sinful we have to leave our old life behind and become something new.
It is true that in christ we become a new creation, but it does not mean that we turn away completely from ourselves.
I may be taking a minor issue to an extreme, but the reality is when we really start to believe that we need to turn away from ourselves, we cease to see the blessing that we are. We are loved by God, we are a divine creation of God. We are transformed in God, but God does not erase the blessings we have already received, our inherit divinity, even though we are flawed, even though we are sinners.
Unfortunately we are always going to be sinners, but turning towards God prevents us from letting those sins control us. As Calvin so gracefully pointed out, repenting and turning towards God is being loved into freedom and away from the sins that can control our entire existence.
When we repent, we can't turn away from our old selves, as Paul pointed out the Romans so many years ago, we give ourselves sacrificially to God and we are accepted and holy. We each receive gifts that we can in turn use. If we turn completely away from ourselves, then we ignore the gifts that have already been bestowed upon us.
Repentance has to be a turn towards God, to accepting the guidance and leadership of God. God does not ask us to give up ourselves, but rather to offer ourselves as holy and meaningful sacrifices.
Let us be loved into freedom.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The problem with "-isms" and the right handed path
I speak from the christian perspective, but i think the critiques I present are universal.
Christianity in the United States is dying, the elements that maintain, for the most part, are those of the fundamentalist bend, that grow because they attract a particular personality type and have gotten good at attracting those personalities. This element of religion will always have a small element of growth. We would mostly likely overlook this aspect of church growth if the whole of the church was healthy.
Yet the whole of the church is not healthy, we see shrinking numbers in the mainline churches and to a certain degree in Roman Catholicism. So many today are turning away from Christian churches because they are perceived as judgmental or like a social club or full of hypocrites. People just don't see reasons to go to church. Those that attend church can't figure out why no one new is coming through the doors and more and more people are exiting.
We have allowed our church to be co-opted, not by the fundamentalist factions, but by the exact opposite. We have allowed Christianity to become a brand name, devoid of meaning. It has become more of a social marker than anything else. We witness corrupt politicians mention Jesus and watch their numbers go up. We see business leaders mention their commitment to biblical laws and lines running out their doors. We no longer actually look for christ like behavior, we listen for the code word, the code to a particular lifestyle, something that these days is akin to middle-class middle america. Going to church has become a social event instead of a spiritual event, and those that are looking for real spiritual food are not getting it within the walls of so many of our churches. There is no mystery, everything has become concrete, being a christian is defined as a set of political viewpoints instead of the saving grace it is in heaven. In our current climate it feels more important to point out that you are a Christian than it does to actually walk the walk. Think of someone who follows the teachings of christ, living in poverty and humility, spreading love. But what if that person never said the word Jesus? What if when that person prayed, they simply acknowledged a greater being, remaining neutral on the specifics of what that being should be called. There some in our country who would consider that person a "non-christian" and an outsider, no matter how much love they were to spread.
That is not to say that all churches and that all Christians have lost there way, but far too many have.
A classic understanding of theology is faith seeking understanding. Our faith is no longer even involved, it is so often more about being seen, and if not about being seen, spending time with a particular group of friends.
There is nothing particularly wrong about wanting to spend time with friends or being seen in certain social circles, but it is not church, and as long as we parade it as such, churches will continue to die, some slower than others, but they will die.
For those that find ourselves on the left handed path, we can remind churches of their true meaning. We can spend time, telling our stories of personal spiritual journey and ask where the spiritual health of a particular church is. One of the reasons so many churches go down the road of becoming more institution than spiritual center is that it is easy to do from the inside. The more insulated a church becomes, the easier it is to propagate this sort of false religion that leads to ultimate death.
In our journeys we have the joy of encountering engaging communities of faith that will deepen our own spiritual health. In our journeys we have the opportunity to strengthen other faith communities, pulling them from the road of becoming nothing more than an "-ism". In other places, the wisest path may be to start new communities of faith, for the old one may just be too far gone.
We have to inspire folks to place more importance on doing than just saying. We need to find the places where this is already happening and lift them up. While on the left handed path, we have responsibilities.
Christianity in the United States is dying, the elements that maintain, for the most part, are those of the fundamentalist bend, that grow because they attract a particular personality type and have gotten good at attracting those personalities. This element of religion will always have a small element of growth. We would mostly likely overlook this aspect of church growth if the whole of the church was healthy.
Yet the whole of the church is not healthy, we see shrinking numbers in the mainline churches and to a certain degree in Roman Catholicism. So many today are turning away from Christian churches because they are perceived as judgmental or like a social club or full of hypocrites. People just don't see reasons to go to church. Those that attend church can't figure out why no one new is coming through the doors and more and more people are exiting.
We have allowed our church to be co-opted, not by the fundamentalist factions, but by the exact opposite. We have allowed Christianity to become a brand name, devoid of meaning. It has become more of a social marker than anything else. We witness corrupt politicians mention Jesus and watch their numbers go up. We see business leaders mention their commitment to biblical laws and lines running out their doors. We no longer actually look for christ like behavior, we listen for the code word, the code to a particular lifestyle, something that these days is akin to middle-class middle america. Going to church has become a social event instead of a spiritual event, and those that are looking for real spiritual food are not getting it within the walls of so many of our churches. There is no mystery, everything has become concrete, being a christian is defined as a set of political viewpoints instead of the saving grace it is in heaven. In our current climate it feels more important to point out that you are a Christian than it does to actually walk the walk. Think of someone who follows the teachings of christ, living in poverty and humility, spreading love. But what if that person never said the word Jesus? What if when that person prayed, they simply acknowledged a greater being, remaining neutral on the specifics of what that being should be called. There some in our country who would consider that person a "non-christian" and an outsider, no matter how much love they were to spread.
That is not to say that all churches and that all Christians have lost there way, but far too many have.
A classic understanding of theology is faith seeking understanding. Our faith is no longer even involved, it is so often more about being seen, and if not about being seen, spending time with a particular group of friends.
There is nothing particularly wrong about wanting to spend time with friends or being seen in certain social circles, but it is not church, and as long as we parade it as such, churches will continue to die, some slower than others, but they will die.
For those that find ourselves on the left handed path, we can remind churches of their true meaning. We can spend time, telling our stories of personal spiritual journey and ask where the spiritual health of a particular church is. One of the reasons so many churches go down the road of becoming more institution than spiritual center is that it is easy to do from the inside. The more insulated a church becomes, the easier it is to propagate this sort of false religion that leads to ultimate death.
In our journeys we have the joy of encountering engaging communities of faith that will deepen our own spiritual health. In our journeys we have the opportunity to strengthen other faith communities, pulling them from the road of becoming nothing more than an "-ism". In other places, the wisest path may be to start new communities of faith, for the old one may just be too far gone.
We have to inspire folks to place more importance on doing than just saying. We need to find the places where this is already happening and lift them up. While on the left handed path, we have responsibilities.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Our Inconsistencies
There is a notion in our society that Science and Religion are at odds with one another, constantly fighting for the soul of the people. Science and Religion simply are reflections of differing ways of interpreting reality. We want to put Science and Religion at odds with one another because it is easier for us if our lives make sense, if everything is consistent, so much work has been put into trying to make whole and complete worldviews that are entirely consistent in every regard.
Yet we are not consistent, in fact, we as humans are entirely inconsistent. Think of miracles. If we were to go out onto the street and ask 1000 random people if they believed in miracles, i would have to guess that majority of them would believe in Miracles. Now lets go out and do that again, this time asking if most people believe there is value in Science. My guess would be that most people also believe in the value of Science. Science and miracles do not play well together, they are seemingly incompatible, yet most believe or value both. Our whole beings are no different, souls are a mis-mash of viewpoints and understandings of the universe that are not always cohesive.
Miracles offer us a way into ourselves, into our own inconsistencies. Religion also offers us a path to explore our own inconsistencies and place them in the light of day. Think of the miracles of Christ, raising the dead, walking on water, healing the sick, turning water into wine, his own resurrection. But isn't one of his greatest miracles the fact that he accepts us and loves us through all our inconsistencies? In religion we can come together completely aware of our own internal mysteries, in fact we encounter in God the biggest mysteries of all. In church, in community we can explore the Holy Mysteries of God and Christ and the Word and the Spirit, but we can also explore the Holy Mysteries of ourselves.
Yet we are not consistent, in fact, we as humans are entirely inconsistent. Think of miracles. If we were to go out onto the street and ask 1000 random people if they believed in miracles, i would have to guess that majority of them would believe in Miracles. Now lets go out and do that again, this time asking if most people believe there is value in Science. My guess would be that most people also believe in the value of Science. Science and miracles do not play well together, they are seemingly incompatible, yet most believe or value both. Our whole beings are no different, souls are a mis-mash of viewpoints and understandings of the universe that are not always cohesive.
Miracles offer us a way into ourselves, into our own inconsistencies. Religion also offers us a path to explore our own inconsistencies and place them in the light of day. Think of the miracles of Christ, raising the dead, walking on water, healing the sick, turning water into wine, his own resurrection. But isn't one of his greatest miracles the fact that he accepts us and loves us through all our inconsistencies? In religion we can come together completely aware of our own internal mysteries, in fact we encounter in God the biggest mysteries of all. In church, in community we can explore the Holy Mysteries of God and Christ and the Word and the Spirit, but we can also explore the Holy Mysteries of ourselves.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Impermanence
The nature of the universe is change. Nothing in nature, in the physical world, lasts forever.
Yet in God we are promised eternal life, we are told in the Gospel of John that Christ existed before the world with God. In the face of constant change it appears the only constant is God.
When we engage in community we have to remember that it is in our human nature to try and hold onto things, to disregard the nature of the universe, to ignore the inevitability of change. Although traditions and a link to the past are important, holding on to the past to tightly can be dangerous and even destructive. We witness it in many mainline churches today, shrinking numbers, empty pews, yet there is still a resistance to change.
For those on the left handed path, we are in a unique position to remind those on the right handed path of the nature of the universe, of the constant of change. We should be careful not to destroy the faith of those on the right handed path, for this can be easy. But we must be willing to hold their hand as they face change, remind them of the importance of their work.
It can be like a dance, a dancer's art exists in specific moments, it exist in the movements, in the smells, in the viewers of the dance. In reality all things are like this, everything only exists for a moment, but is it still beautiful no matter what, even if the dance only lasts a few moments, the beauty of it will remain in memory. The church that existed will remain beautiful in the eyes of history, yet we must be willing to acknowledge its impermanence. Change is scary, if nothing else we can offer comfort.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Abundance
Each of us has areas of abundance, each of us has areas of need.
This applies to nearly all things, whether it be financial, spiritual, physical, etc.
To find balance with ourselves, we can give away some of the abundances we have. In doing so we are more likely to find the things that will fulfill our needs.
This is not petty talk to get people to give money to charitable organizations, no this is a key part of long term spiritual health, of finding wholeness, or reaching holiness.
When we give our time to volunteering or serving, or our money to charitable organizations, or simply even lending our ear to someone who has something they need to be heard, we will recieve something back.
I can speak to my experiences working with homeless in New York City, or rebuilding home in the Greater New Orleans area after Katrina. You get back when you put it. Those that you are helping have something to give you. Its not just a way of saying, well if i help these people know, someone else will help me when i am in bad shape, no, you are helped in that moment, you are brought to deeper spirituality, much as those that are being helped gain new perspectives on what is possible.
So go, offer your service, and open your heart to whatever it is you will recieve. The more we can be aware of our own needs, the more we will be willing to give, the more we will be willing to accept, the deeper we will go in our faith journey.
This applies to nearly all things, whether it be financial, spiritual, physical, etc.
To find balance with ourselves, we can give away some of the abundances we have. In doing so we are more likely to find the things that will fulfill our needs.
This is not petty talk to get people to give money to charitable organizations, no this is a key part of long term spiritual health, of finding wholeness, or reaching holiness.
When we give our time to volunteering or serving, or our money to charitable organizations, or simply even lending our ear to someone who has something they need to be heard, we will recieve something back.
I can speak to my experiences working with homeless in New York City, or rebuilding home in the Greater New Orleans area after Katrina. You get back when you put it. Those that you are helping have something to give you. Its not just a way of saying, well if i help these people know, someone else will help me when i am in bad shape, no, you are helped in that moment, you are brought to deeper spirituality, much as those that are being helped gain new perspectives on what is possible.
So go, offer your service, and open your heart to whatever it is you will recieve. The more we can be aware of our own needs, the more we will be willing to give, the more we will be willing to accept, the deeper we will go in our faith journey.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Death
When Christ calls out to the daughter of Jarius to get up, everyone is convinced that the girl is dead. Christ tells us clearly, "She is not Dead, only sleeping" (mark 5:39). Death does not exist, at least not in the way we think it does. This little girl was never dead, only perceived as dead.
What is death.
Fear of death can consume us. If you have ever been around people as they are dying, there are typically two ways of reacting (massive generalization i know), but people in the throes of death, at least those that are in a position to have some awareness and physical/psychological ability to confront it, will either fight it with every ounce of their being, gripping on to life past their time, or they will face it with a kind of calm that eases the fears of all those around them. Again there are many shades, but it illustrates a point. Few can face death graciously, compounded by our society's treatment of death as a failure of "progress".
But I ask again, what is death? An inevitability? A failure? An End?
Or is it a transition, marking the passing of one place to another.
Christ calls us past death, with the promise of eternal life.
Buddhism acknowledges our place in the cycle of samsara, and acknowledges enlightenment as escape from the vicious cycle of rebirth.
Death, in the way that it truly acts in our everyday lives, is nothing more than the fear of the unknown. Fear is a creation of our minds. It plays a role, but can lead to Sin.
When we come to terms with the fact that there is unknown things in the world around us, mysteries we may never understand, then we over come that fear, we escape death.
For those on the left handed path, death is ever present, with the risks that are taken leaving the comfort of village, death could be lonely, possibly building the fear that can grip us. Many don't leave the village for the very fear of death. Yet the village usually deals with death more than the individual on the left handed path. The village witnesses the realities of passing, the suffering and pain that can be associated with it, the very real experience of holding a loved one in their final moments.
Yet those in the village do not always come to terms with their own mortality the way one on the left handed path tends to.
For both Death is present, and yet abstract.
Both need to confront the fears though, both need to overcome death, and at least within Christian Theology, the individual needs to be willing to die.
If we are to appreciate death, if we are to overcome it, to recognize our understanding of it as false, that is a true journey in faith.
What is death.
Fear of death can consume us. If you have ever been around people as they are dying, there are typically two ways of reacting (massive generalization i know), but people in the throes of death, at least those that are in a position to have some awareness and physical/psychological ability to confront it, will either fight it with every ounce of their being, gripping on to life past their time, or they will face it with a kind of calm that eases the fears of all those around them. Again there are many shades, but it illustrates a point. Few can face death graciously, compounded by our society's treatment of death as a failure of "progress".
But I ask again, what is death? An inevitability? A failure? An End?
Or is it a transition, marking the passing of one place to another.
Christ calls us past death, with the promise of eternal life.
Buddhism acknowledges our place in the cycle of samsara, and acknowledges enlightenment as escape from the vicious cycle of rebirth.
Death, in the way that it truly acts in our everyday lives, is nothing more than the fear of the unknown. Fear is a creation of our minds. It plays a role, but can lead to Sin.
When we come to terms with the fact that there is unknown things in the world around us, mysteries we may never understand, then we over come that fear, we escape death.
For those on the left handed path, death is ever present, with the risks that are taken leaving the comfort of village, death could be lonely, possibly building the fear that can grip us. Many don't leave the village for the very fear of death. Yet the village usually deals with death more than the individual on the left handed path. The village witnesses the realities of passing, the suffering and pain that can be associated with it, the very real experience of holding a loved one in their final moments.
Yet those in the village do not always come to terms with their own mortality the way one on the left handed path tends to.
For both Death is present, and yet abstract.
Both need to confront the fears though, both need to overcome death, and at least within Christian Theology, the individual needs to be willing to die.
If we are to appreciate death, if we are to overcome it, to recognize our understanding of it as false, that is a true journey in faith.
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