Myth gluttony and my diet

December 9, 2006Posted inMyth2 Comments

I was thinking the other day about how often I seek after sources of myth that will further inspire me in my spiritual walk. I watch beautiful sunsets (the best ones come in winter on the east coast), I listen to some good music, I pop in some of my favorite movies, I re-read some great books from the past – the Bible most of all, play video games where I am a hero who saves the day, etc. To experience each one of these is to be reminded of the beauty of the divine in my life and my importance and value in God’s eyes. However, it seems to me lately that I have had too much receiving and not enough giving. I feel imbalanced.

Church and the perception of God

December 6, 2006Posted inReligion, TheologyNo Comments

Elise got me thinking about another fascinating (although in real life, painful) subject: How the dogma and behavior of a church are in part a reflection of that organization’s perception of God. If religious life is composed of being forced to follow a list of dogmatic rules (not drinking alcohol, going to church 2 times a week minimum, tithing 10%, mandatory baptism, mandatory bible verse memorization, etc.) then that organization’s perception of God is one who is distant and needs to be appeased by good behavior. I used to attend a church like this myself and HATED it. I have found that there are some people that do not think of God this way but still attend a church like this. To me however, it is a loosing battle. This society that supports oppressive dogmatism will steal away their good perception of God and it will instead mold it into the one the church affirms. Only integrity will help you survive and get you out.

Messages From Myth

November 29, 2006Posted inDivine Revelation, MythNo Comments

I have written before about the power of myth in my life. Myth is visual imagery, a story, a song, a smell, a dream, and even a touch that communicates spiritual truth right into our hearts and bypasses our minds. In truth, it can be communicated through any of the senses. Mythic messages come to me daily – accompanied by feelings that can only be described as deep joy, borrowing C.S. Lewis’ word, and they remind me about spiritual truths in my life. Here are some of these messages or glimpses of truth that I have received in these many different ways in the last 20 years:

Revelation (a response to Elise’s question)

November 17, 2006Posted inAtheism, God, Religion2 Comments

This is a response to a question Elise had about my understanding of how God reveals himself to people, and how I understand atheism in all of this. Please believe me when I say that I am just like the next guy trying to figure this stuff out. This post represents my best current thinking, and I am not at all 100% sure my thinking is solid, but I am just doing my best I can.As a Christian, I do not believe Christianity is the ‘One True Religion,’ and all others are absolutely false, but rather that Jesus spoke the clearest revelation of spiritual truth than all others. All religions have some truth to them, some more than others, but to me, Jesus’ teachings and the God of the Old Testament, who I believe to be one and the same person, seem to me to be the most purest written revelation that is available to men. That is why I believe it was called the good news. Its the clearest, most direct answer to how to live the spiritual life. All religions, including atheism, are like lights in darkness – some are brighter, some are darker – I simply want to follow the brightest light of all.

God and the natural world

November 6, 2006Posted inGod, Theology, WorldviewsNo Comments

I remember when a girl down the street from me died.

Her name was Andi. She was only 3 years older than me and a senior in my high school. I was friends with her younger brother, who would get together and talk about video games and cross-country running with my other good friend. It was a terrible shock to our small rural neighborhood. She lived with her parents and her brother in a renovated farmhouse, and our whole neighborhood, who were mostly Christian, got together at her house to express their grief with the family. One neighbor tried to comfort the parents by saying that God was in this somehow, and I remember my father coming home upset by that comment and told me so. “You should never say such a thing, he told me – who knows that stuff… it’s better just to cry with them and just shut up.” I was too young and stupid to understand, but I never forgot what he said. Her parents moved away not too long after and we never saw them again.

Beyond the extremes

October 29, 2006Posted inBook Review, Religion, Theology4 Comments

One of the reasons I started this weblog was to develop a decent theology through writing and good feedback that will eventually land me somewhere between the two extremes of Reformed Theology (Calvinism) and liberal forms of Arminianism. Part of my quest for answers includes reading literature by authors who fall into the Reformed Theology camp who have beliefs that I am repulsed by. But, just in case I misunderstood the few men who I discussed the subject with, I thought I would go buy a book by one of the leaders of the movement and make sure I understand. I don’t want to be tripped up by semantic confusion.

Desire and fulfillment

October 28, 2006Posted inDesire, WorldviewsNo Comments

If there is no hope in the spiritual life other than to acknowledge that it theoretically exists, then the longing for more and the desire for the mysterious will never be satisfied. The longing is all that there is to be had. Is simply the longing for something mysterious enough to give meaning to my life? I would argue most definitely not. Not in my experience. Hope and longing without fulfillment breaks the heart.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Prov. 13:12)

To be drawn to the mystery and the joy we find in our pursuits is not enough. After experiencing all pursuits, they come up empty to me. They were not what I was looking for. I must find the source of the mystery or desire that was behind them.