Fellowship or Hollow-ship?

So what is the nature of fellowship in the modern church? It seems like a nice enough idea, but I've talked to some people who bristle at the idea. I think it must be that there is so much plastic emotion permeating our fellowship halls that spending time with those people outside of church services is not appealing to many.

I'm fortunate to have found a faith group that is so relaxed and easy to hang out with that I don't mind spending time with them throughout the week. But I've been a member of a few churches where the members were a bit overenthusiastic if you know what I mean. If the happiness is forced, I'm out the door.

Have you had an experience with false emotions at your church?

Happy Easter!

Who Needs Help? (#0001)

People have begun to build shanty towns after being foreclosed on due to the current US mortgage crisis.



What are we doing to help these people?

Love and Patience

Christ indicates that love should be infinitely patient. But are there times when unconditional loving is not the right answer?

Sometimes it could be that loving (even when it doesn't seem right) is the right thing to do, but I suppose that isn't always true. Sometimes the loving thing is to stop enabling and start the tough love. It just seems that the experiences I've had with "tough love" are 10% love, 40% self-interest, and 50% bullsh*t. I guess it's all about how you go about loving someone.

How do you help someone you love get the help you think they need?

Avoiding Politics

I've composed various posts on politics in the last few weeks, but have decided to post very few of them. This is just a note to let you know that I will do my best to refrain from commenting on such news as I think there is plenty of other sources of my points of view and this blog isn't called to play the political game.

I hope to have a new post on a different subject here very soon. If you have any opinions on this decision, feel free to post away in the comments.

Letting Go Vs Giving Up

There are passages in the Bible about letting go of this small world and allowing God into your life. The problem is, I think sometimes people interpret these passages as an excuse to stop caring about anything and to give up on life or anything difficult. With Christ as an example for how to live, I think we can see that He isn't advocating that life should be given up easily or that we should take this life frivolously. Considering all of this, I have to wonder where the line should be drawn between being concerned about this life and when to be willing to let go.

I suppose it's a highly personal choice, but I'm hoping you can help shed some light on it from your perspective. When do you let go and when should you take life seriously?

JWSTSOOY #005a: John Hagee

McCain's Incendiary Supporter

So what is it about so many religious leaders saying such stoopid, un-Jesus things? McCain needs to reject and denounce this bozo as quickly as possible if he really doesn't agree with his hateful, brainless, intolerant speech.

WWJVF in 2008?

So who would Jesus vote for? The question was asked a LOT during the 2000 and 2004 race since one of the frontrunners was said to be a born again Christian. This time around, although religion is certainly important, the candidates aren't (yet) being held up to this litmus test.

Assuming the four candidates were Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee (in alphabetical order by first name, BTW), Who Would Jesus Vote For in 2008?

Should Churches Be Taxed?

I haven't really dug into this, and I probably should before opening my big virtual mouth, but I think it's high time churches and other similar religious institutions were taxed. Why aren't they to begin with? Is it because they do so much good for the community? Well, I can think of a few instances where not only have some churches harmed the common good, but also have unabashedly raked in enough cash to make Solomon blush. There are also plenty of non-faith-based organizations that perform excellent community services. I think it's time to rethink this special loophole for churches.

It seems to me that we should instead be giving modest tax breaks to people who work for and people who provide direct services for any organization that brings help to those in need. If those people then want to contribute to the well-being a religious entity of their preference, then such a tax break would make it possible.

I know I'm not really ed-u-ma-cated on this subject, so help me learn! What do you think?

Finished the Pullman Trilogy

So I'm done. Whew!

***Mini Spoilers Below! - Proceed At Your Own Risk!***

I'm not convinced this is the great Atheist treatise so many people wind up believing it is. It's a nice story. Sometimes there are points in the narrative that I wish he would just tell me what he's getting at - almost as if he wants to say something with his allegories, but can't easily put it into words. At those times, his prose suffers, but generally it's a good set of fantasy books.

Yes, there are points in the stories where most religious people would be offended or consider them too controversial (for one reason or another) to be children's material. This is definitely intentional on Pullman's part and impossible to miss (heavy handed?). There are points where the underlying message seemed a bit forced and occasionally disrupt the flow of the story. It's still a worthy read.

I get the feeling that Pullman is less of an Agnostic or a Satanist as he sometimes promotes himself (to great consternation for some and attention in general) and more of a dedicated (reckless?) heretic. In that, he and I are have some points of agreement. In other aspects of faith, we differ greatly. If nothing else, it's a great book for allowing you to examine your thoughts on some very important points of faith. For that, it does succeed and is recommendable. I would argue that, when approached with an open and curious state of mind (i.e. not blindly), the Bible already fills this need in our existing theological bibliography. The inevitable controversy surrounding interpretations and abuses of the Bible, however, creates a vacuum that this trilogy fits into fairly well.

The ending (which I will not give away, but is complete with a thought-provoking "Hmmmmmm" moment) is saved until the very last sentence. If anyone else has read through all three books, let's talk about what it all meant in the comments.

Maharishi Maheshi Yogi Left Us on Tuesday

Who was Maharishi Maheshi Yogi? Although many influences were quickly awakening American spiritual sensibilities to Eastern religious practices, Maharishi can be arguably considered one of the earliest and most influential Eastern spiritual influences during the Summer of Love. He was the founder of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Pop culture icons from the Beatles to Donovan, Mia Farrow to Clint Eastwood, David Lynch to the Beach Boys followed him at some point during American culture's fascination with Maharishi and TM.

He died on Tuesday, but as he purportedly told the Beatles when their manager died, we should, "[not get] overwhelmed by grief, and to -- whatever thoughts we have [...] to keep them happy, because any thoughts we have of him will travel to him wherever he is."

Is Coffee Evil?

I know the Mormons aren't crazy about coffee, but I have to wonder aloud why this is so... and why the rejection of this by non-Mormons seems pretty universal. To understand more, here's a quick quote from Mormonism for Dummies:

The Lord's response, contained in D&C section 89, covered far more than just tobacco; it also restricted the consumption of wine, liquor, meat, and hot drinks (today interpreted to mean tea and coffee of any temperature). Although many Mormons understand this scripture as suggesting that all caffeine is bad and should be avoided, this idea isn't official Church doctrine; the Church allows members to decide that issue for themselves, and some members choose to drink cola.

Sounds a little strange to me, but then I'm not the intended audience.

Having said all of that, yesterday I decided to restrict my consumption of coffee (and other caffeine-containing comestibles) to one mug in the morning (about 12 ounces). Yesterday I was really sleepy for a good portion of the day and today I'm more awake in general, but still feeling a little disconnected. Why put myself through this? Although this is the season of Lent (where many people decide to give up something and reflecting on how they are connected with "things" in this world), my reasons are more personal... I hate being addicted to anything and I had begun feeling the morning coffee ritual was necessary to get through the day. Also, my sleeping patterns have been screwy lately, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

What, if anything, are you giving up for lent? And what do you think of coffee/caffeine from a drug/ethics perspective?

So what is this thing we call "doubt"?

Doubt, as you may have guessed I would say given the last two posts, is the result of unresolved feelings about our imperfections. In the same way our rejection of our imperfections is completely dysfunctional and can lead us to desperate solutions (i.e sins) that distance us from God, others, and our true selves (i.e. the result of our sin), the continuation of the unresolved feelings leads us to replay those feelings in our minds without resolution. This is guilt.

If our sins hurt other people, this guilt intensifies. It's often intermingled with a sense of responsibility and/or justice which can lead people to confuse the two. Letting go of our negative associations with imperfection is different than letting go of responsibility. One can be done without the other. Since we are more familiar with a clear definition of responsibility, we sometimes let go of that thinking it will solve the guilt and fix the underlying association with our distrust of things imperfect. The truth is the exact opposite.

Realizing that God will forgive your sins and then making amends for how those sins hurt everyone (including yourself) is the first step. After that, the more nebulous, complex, difficult, and rewarding step is to embrace your imperfections and love yourself. This allows you to love others and God more fully as well. You take responsibility for your sins and also take the steps necessary to resolve your guilt.

So what's the most important commandment? Say it with me...

I'm rambling again, aren't I? Help me out here!

Imperfection isn't Sin

Here are my quick, unfiltered thoughts on this subject, but I need your help to work through this!

Sin is what separates us from God, others, and our true selves. Imperfection is what makes us unique. Confusing the two has lead generation after generation into self-doubt, judgement, and sadness.

We seem to spend so much time covering up our imperfections... trying to live up to some ideal that nobody can achieve so we will feel loved and important. (bear with me here) Only reflections from the past, whether they be tangible like photographs or intangible like memories, are given the general cultural approval of "perfect"... but even these are imperfect in their own way. They are an illusion and (as a result) not everyone agrees what they are or how to achieve them. Striving to meet those conflicting expectations is impossible, damaging and pointless. Ultimately it distances us from loving ourselves.

Look: All there is in this world is the journey and if we fill up that process with hollow pursuits, we're more easily led to things that promise a big payoff, but only distance us from loving ourselves (imperfections and all). That is the definition of sin.

Instead, we should make the most of our time and enjoy the journey. You can choose what to fill it with. Make it something beautiful and wonderful. Does someone else not approve of that? Sounds like that's their issue... Not your's. Let go of all the crap you carry around... or at least put it down for a while. I think you'll find it allows you to pick up something much more satisfying. When you stop worrying about your imperfections and loving yourself because of them (maybe just in spite of them at first until you get the hang of it), you have more room to love other people's imperfections. Then you're loving (!!!) which brings you close to others and God. Just try it!

I will struggle with this for the rest of my life. And you should too. It's good.

Perfection is Imperfection

First of all, I've finished the Subtle Knife and have made good progress in the final book of Pullman's trilogy, the Amber Spyglass. But we'll chat about that another time...

It struck me as I was driving home last night (and in the past) that I really love those moments in church where everything goes wrong. When the next overhead slide has the wrong words, I rejoice. When someone singing into the microphone forgets the lyrics or plays a wrong chord, I beam with happiness. When things go wrong, Everything is right.

So many churches spend Monday through Saturday desperately hunting down and eliminating these "embarrassing" moments... as if imperfection were abhorrent in the eyes of God. I see it is exactly the opposite. The moment my church has such a polished product that we consecutively have "perfect" services, I'm out the door. (btw: I don't think it will ever happen)

We should celebrate our blemishes! After all, if God is perfect, the only thing that differentiates us from Him may be our imperfections. Although they might not seem wonderful to us, they're all we really have. Isn't there something wonderful about that? If God had wanted us to be nothing more than exact clones of Him throughout our life, don't you think He would have done just that? And yet here we are... warts and all.

And I love it. Now go be imperfect and rejoice!

The Subtle Knife - Making progress

So I'm making excellent progress through the Pullman trilogy and am just about finished with the second of the three books: The Subtle Knife. The author's intentions are radiantly clear as never before. There is no doubt of what's going to happen in the third book nor of what the outcome will likely be:

*Spoiler Alert*
-=Here's another chance to look away if you intend to read the books=--

What's coming is an epic battle between God (as the establishment defines it) and "what is right" (i.e. what Pullman and his sympathetic characters believe). It's most likely going to have the main female character (Lyra) become an unwitting hero who is sacrificed for the betterment of mankind. Knowing the difference between our reality and that of this book (and what Pullman has said he thinks), the establishment will likely win and the "morale" will be that this is a bad thing but that we have a choice to reject our notion of god to create a better world. I'm not sure there is not some sympathy to be shared with this vision, but I can see why many people would have trouble with this collection being marketed to children. Then again, think about what kind of pollution is fed to kids in the name of the Church these days.

We'll see what happens... What do you think?

Finished the Golden Compass

***Spoiler Alert***
-=Skip this message if you're planning to read any of these books and don't want to know what happens!=-

I've finished the first of three books in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy: The Golden Compass. If you've seen the movie, you haven't actually been exposed to everything in the first book. It is toward the end of the book that Pullman begins to reveal more what could be considered the true intended nature of this work.

At this point Lyra meets up with her uncle/father Lord Asriel and we learn more about his experiments with dust (and his true nature) - he isn't really as admirable as I had been led to think. It seems that this character is used by Pullman to exemplify people who consider all sorts of ecumenical reflections on the Bible and yet still come away with selfish, poisonous interpretations. If I'm to understand the intent of Pullman's words, knowing that he has been publicized (intentionally or otherwise) as both an atheist and a satanist, I might assume this is what he would consider to be the "best" result from trying to merge religion and science short of rejecting God and the Bible. Assuming we put aside this (IMO) flawed conclusion, I think there is much good to be derived from what he has brought to the table.

There are many people who read (or think they've studied) the Bible and use it to justify all sorts of awful things. It all comes down to interpretation. The beauty of having a tool like the Bible is that (with the exception of differing translations) it isn't really changing dramatically at this point - at least not like it was 1900 years ago. It can act as a kind of gestalt, against which we can see the true nature of a person or an organization. To come to the conclusion that the Bible itself (or the Koran, an astronomy book, the daily newspaper...) is evil would be a mistake. I'm not sure that this is what Pullman intends. I still have two more books to read in this series. We'll see...

What do you think?

Update on Golden Compass

I'm making good progress on the audiobook of Philip Pullman's Golden Compass. So far, I see little to get excited about in terms of a covert plot to turn our children into atheists. Maybe I'm missing something, but there we are. I would say I'm a little more than a third done and I've heard some decidedly negative things coming from his representation of the human political manifestation of faith (the church) but then I guess I agree with him on that.

Remember kids: Heresy is an imperative in this modern world.

Who cares what's coming?

What will happen in the future?

The more I contemplate this question, the less interested I am in the answer. We simply don't know. Some people have proven somewhat adept at prediction, but more often than not these predictions are completely wrong or have to be interpreted in hindsight to seem accurate. Where's the value in that? I've never seen much. More often than not it seems that the end result is people getting whipped into a frenzy over some potential horrible ending when no such fate comes to fruition. It's just a distraction from the Kingdom which is at hand... within reach... not in the future nor in the past.

I have come to somewhat of an epiphany on this subject and it boils down to a simple (I think) well-crafted sentence that came to me in a moment of clarity:

This is not the end of times
except that you wish to make it so.

What do you think?

Taking One for the Team

So I went to see The Golden Compass last night. I know it was supposedly watered down, but it didn't seem particularly anti-God to me. In order to learn more about the hubbub surrounding this release, I decided to purchase read the book upon which this movie was based. In fact, I bought the three-book trilogy "His Dark Materials" (The Golden Compass is the first of these books) and plan to read them all to see what's up. I'll report back to this blog as I make progress and will prepend all my posts with *Spoiler Alert* whenever appropriate (which I anticipate will be often).

Stay tuned and remember to keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times during the ride.