Listen to the wind, it has things to tell you
"Listen to the wind, it has things to tell you", was a quote used by a PBS author to describe what is going on when you awaken at 3:00am.
The mystic who is credited with the phrase was encouraging his readers to 'not just roll over and go back to sleep', but stop and think about the why of it all.
Why do we wake at 3:00, or 4:00 am at times?
For what ever reason, I was up at about that time last night.
And remembering this sage advice, I decided to get up and think, or listen to what bubbled up.
Clarity seemed to happen, though when I awoke this morning after my think, it seemed so far away emotionally.
I have some fears and concerns about Z and me.
Our marrage, will we make it.
This evening we stopped in for our weekly coffee night at a new place for us, Standard and Pours coffee shop in the old Sear Building on the south side of town. (A HUGE monstrosity of a ware house/office building that has been converted into apartments.)
So far so good on the coffee.
Z and I reconnected there on the love seat that attempted to eat Z whole.
I shared with her those fears that had kept me up...
Our spiritual differences (paganism scares me).
The house move/not move, sell/not sell delema.
The health issues...
We talked it out and faced them, together.
An interesting conversation about religion in our lives, Christianity and Catholosism and their affects on modern humanity bubbled up.
I wish I could quote/reconstruct the conversation as eloquently as "Waiter Rant" does, but my brain, so far (I AM learning meditation which helps such things), isn't that attentive...
What would life be like without the constraints that these entities have created?
Christianity, evolved from Catholisism, adopted by the Romans, by a people wanting to exert control over the masses. (paraphrase from Z).
I struggle to believe in a system in which I grew up, was told certain things by parents and the Bible/Church only to find out in adulthood are not Biblical and not "Christian".
"Be good or you won't go to Heaven".
Except for a brief mention of it in (if I remember correctly from Perkins school for the Laity) Matthew, "Heaven for the Good" is NOT a Biblical belief.
Neither is Hell.
Jesus didn't say, "be good and you'll get to heaven".
This is a Greek idea.
What about Christianity's (derived from Jewish, Jesus was after all, Jewish) hostility towards the old earth religions?
"Mine's better, and BIGGER, than yours!"
Confusing...
How to See G*d for G*d thru the lens of small men's thinking?
Where do we go after we die?
Teller from Pen and Teller, the magicians had an essay on NPR's "This I believe" series.
And I struck me as sound.
He does not believe in Heaven, Hell, or G*d. Because with out them, we don't have second chances to be jerks, we have to live our best each and every day. With religion and the concept of forgiveness, we give ourselves the permission to be mean or cruel to each other. And our "out" for such bad behavior is, "G*d will forgive us our sins. We don't have to stive to be "perfect" ourselves.
By example, Z pointed out how corrupt the Catholic church has been, how they shove atrocities under the rug in an effort to maintain control, and thus power...
Sound like some first world governments I know...
On that note, a coworker told me that, "you must get beyond the small things in life that bother you, because if you get caught up in small things, you will never become bigger than that 'problem'." (paraphrased, see above).
On to bigger and better things!
The mystic who is credited with the phrase was encouraging his readers to 'not just roll over and go back to sleep', but stop and think about the why of it all.
Why do we wake at 3:00, or 4:00 am at times?
For what ever reason, I was up at about that time last night.
And remembering this sage advice, I decided to get up and think, or listen to what bubbled up.
Clarity seemed to happen, though when I awoke this morning after my think, it seemed so far away emotionally.
I have some fears and concerns about Z and me.
Our marrage, will we make it.
This evening we stopped in for our weekly coffee night at a new place for us, Standard and Pours coffee shop in the old Sear Building on the south side of town. (A HUGE monstrosity of a ware house/office building that has been converted into apartments.)
So far so good on the coffee.
Z and I reconnected there on the love seat that attempted to eat Z whole.
I shared with her those fears that had kept me up...
Our spiritual differences (paganism scares me).
The house move/not move, sell/not sell delema.
The health issues...
We talked it out and faced them, together.
An interesting conversation about religion in our lives, Christianity and Catholosism and their affects on modern humanity bubbled up.
I wish I could quote/reconstruct the conversation as eloquently as "Waiter Rant" does, but my brain, so far (I AM learning meditation which helps such things), isn't that attentive...
What would life be like without the constraints that these entities have created?
Christianity, evolved from Catholisism, adopted by the Romans, by a people wanting to exert control over the masses. (paraphrase from Z).
I struggle to believe in a system in which I grew up, was told certain things by parents and the Bible/Church only to find out in adulthood are not Biblical and not "Christian".
"Be good or you won't go to Heaven".
Except for a brief mention of it in (if I remember correctly from Perkins school for the Laity) Matthew, "Heaven for the Good" is NOT a Biblical belief.
Neither is Hell.
Jesus didn't say, "be good and you'll get to heaven".
This is a Greek idea.
What about Christianity's (derived from Jewish, Jesus was after all, Jewish) hostility towards the old earth religions?
"Mine's better, and BIGGER, than yours!"
Confusing...
How to See G*d for G*d thru the lens of small men's thinking?
Where do we go after we die?
Teller from Pen and Teller, the magicians had an essay on NPR's "This I believe" series.
And I struck me as sound.
He does not believe in Heaven, Hell, or G*d. Because with out them, we don't have second chances to be jerks, we have to live our best each and every day. With religion and the concept of forgiveness, we give ourselves the permission to be mean or cruel to each other. And our "out" for such bad behavior is, "G*d will forgive us our sins. We don't have to stive to be "perfect" ourselves.
By example, Z pointed out how corrupt the Catholic church has been, how they shove atrocities under the rug in an effort to maintain control, and thus power...
Sound like some first world governments I know...
On that note, a coworker told me that, "you must get beyond the small things in life that bother you, because if you get caught up in small things, you will never become bigger than that 'problem'." (paraphrased, see above).
On to bigger and better things!
posted by karlthebunny at 8:37 PM
4 Comments:
Christianity doesn't say oh, I can do what I want and then just ask for forgiveness...and no, the Bible doesn't say be good and go to heaven, it says believe, and go to heaven. Yes, the Catholic church has made a mess of things, but show me a large group of people with power, and I'll show you a group that has/will make a mess.
Paganism, isn't all bad, some get together and pray for others, they get together to define how to behave towards others and believe in something bigger than humankind. The current church tends to throw out the mystic side of Christianity, which is wrong. That's where paganism has a strong hold. It teaches other ways of worshipping. You can chose who/what.
Ah, a dialog!
I haven't had comments in awhile and it's nice to see someone is 'out there'.
Christianity doesn't. But someone in the church has promoted that concept.
"Pay a fee, get a repreave".
I friend of mine who is living with his ex wife, quite happily, describes their arrangement as, "living in sin".
Someone told him that to believe, *whether it's religious or not*, or right or not.
"Sin" means "with out G*d".
His house is anything but, "with out G*d".
So why do we do these things to ourselves and to each other in the name of "G*d"?
Two men can not be in love with each other and want to express it and have all the benifits of "regular" couples, because someone says "it's UnG*dly".
And so we make it a law and their love "illegal"...
Jesus promoted love.
As did Gandi.
And Dr. King.
I guess anger and hate are easier.
I was not taught the Bible in church, but what men SAID the Bible said.
What's the truth?
That's my complaint.
I read somewhere that to sin means to miss the mark. So in a sense we are always sinning but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It just means we have to improve ourselves. It's unrealistic to think we won't make mistakes.
That's why I'm an anthroposophist, which is a spiritual philosophy. It presents ideas and you reflect and ponder them. It is highly inner directed, unlike most religions where they tell you what to do.
Paula
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