Assume...

There is an old joke (at least as old as I am) that may inform my journey (or at  least my rate of travel). Aside - perhaps the best news is that the slower you travel the more you see.


Anyway, the joke (un-embellished short form) goes like this...There once was a farmer named Phillip that was having trouble with the production of milk on his farm.  Being particularly partial to P's he invited a Physiologist, a Psychologist, and a Physicist to assist in finding and fixing this unknown problem.  First to be called, the Physiologist recommended a comprehensive set of changes to diet, exercise, and sleep patterns, that, when followed exactingly for weeks by Pharmer Phillip, demonstrated no improvement in milk production whatsoever. The Psychologist was called in next, and prescribed a series of deeply thought-out changes, including interactive bovine dialog, music coordinated with time of day and lighting, and some carefully measured pharmaceuticals. After much time, effort, and money (talking with cows isn't easy), and absolutely no results, Pharmer Phillip finally elects in desperation to call in the Physicist.  On arrival, and after a brief introduction to cows, the Physicist leans on the fence, and says:

 "Vell, lets see here...  First let us assume ze cow is a sphere"

This says two things to me.  The first is that I must be a little odd to hang onto this as a favorite joke since my days in colllege physics.  The second is that alternate perspectives at least exist for people in physics, although their value is still in dispute if the joke above has any foundation in reality.

So lets get back to the sphere.  My research into Abrahamic faiths points to the assertion by some that there is one God, and that the one God is the foundation of all three faiths.  Assuming that this is true, then how does the model extend to other faiths?  Although my learning is just beginning, it does appear that...

1. God's complexity is higher than man can grasp
2. People assert a personal God, one that relates to them, 
3. Many monotheistic faiths assert that God as described by them is the one true God.

All of these conditions coexist if we realize that it may be everybody's understanding of God that is both different and incomplete.  That  means that yours is wrong, BUT SO IS MINE.

So what's to be done?  The answer to this question also feels clear, at least to this uneducated heathen.  We should...

1. Study other faiths
2. Seek to uncover and ratify the common elements of all faiths
3. accept the fact that there can be both multiple human explanations of anything (presumably including God) that are both true and different.

So back to the sphere.  Perhaps we should start with 

"Vell, let us see here...  Let us start by assuming that God is a Sphere..."

but that we all see only one side, and that we all see things differently.

Or perhaps we should just admit that we are all wise but blind humans (men?), and that God is an elephant :-)

Not that an answer does ME (still a heathen) any good, but...

What does one do in heaven?  If all things are perfect, what changes are needed?  If no changes are needed, what do souls do with all the time on their hands (eternity being a long time and all that)?  What is there for a type A personality to obsess over?  Are there any good projects to work on ?

Serve the Lord - a Heathen perspective

Serve the Lord.  It makes sense, even to a heathen like myself, to serve those that are our superiors.  I can understand this.  It's pretty human to recognize power, and, if one so chooses, to serve power.

But when I say that it makes sense, making sense may mean something different to a Christian.  As a heathen I have yet to see the light, and in that sense "the Lord" holds less meaning and less impact.  "Serving the Lord" is difficult to do with integrity when I have not yet come to know the Lord.

So what's a heathen to do?

While listening to the Pastor's words during the Baptism of a new member of the congregation today something hit me.  I don't need to serve "The Lord" in a Christian sense, but I can serve those that Serve the Lord.  Participating and assisting in the good works of the Church would feel right, and at the same time do good for others.   I don't have to "Serve the Lord" to be of service.

Hopefully that perspective will be good enough, at least at this point in my journey.

The Human Nature of Belief

The nature of Belief.   Where does it come from?  Is it in the water?  Is it in the Air?

Nope.  It's in the community.

I believe (where'd that come from?)  that humans are wired to believe what their community believes.  This is a powerful and scary thing.  More personal study is warranted here, regardless of my journey.

This opens up at least a couple of cans of worms.  The big one is the "metaphysical" issue of how to address the challenge of making sure that the "right" beliefs are adopted by the community.  What promotes truth in a community?  What are the overall conditions that create a community that propagates only the right beliefs?

I like the smaller can.   We can choose to join communities whose beliefs cause the right outcomes.  Ignore the beliefs and focus on the outcomes.  That is an easier exercise, and one that permits action and (beneficial) change.

And that big metaphysical can?  Well, perhaps joining a good community will provide a network of beliefs that provides some answers.  And we won't know until we jump in the water.

The net result - the path to belief in God might be a matter of choosing to join the right community. A simple, and powerful, and scary thing.

Epi Phony (not a spelling mistake)

Epi - The prefix epi from the Greek preposition ἐπί meaning: above, on, over, nearby, upon; outer; besides, in addition to; among;attached to; or toward. (a pretty useful prefix :) )
Phony - The suffix phone or phony having to do with sound, from Greek phōnē: sound, voice, as in telephony.

Put them together and do you get "sound form above ?"

Pastor Ray talks of (I wish I could recall the phrase exactly) an unaccountably wonderful and warm sensation that people associate with the transformation from somebody like me who is visually impaired (when it comes to Christianity) into someone that knows.  I might be over-anticipating, but I think I have a sense of what this might be like for me. In my case it could well be tied to the beauty of music.

One of the albums on my iPod is "Highway of Dreams" by Bradley Walker.  A good listen, if you are "into" county (and even if you ain't).  In the past, listening to the songs has been a humanist experience.  Emotions would tug my heart-strings, predictably at the points of human folly and suffering.  Today I found something different.

Exhibit one - "He carried her memory" - a good C&W tale about the sadness and eventual demise of a man  saddened by the desertion by a loved one.  My point of maximum empathy has typically been at the protagonist's eventual suicide. The surprise today was how much empathic pain I felt (for the first time in my life) at the line "and he never darkened another church door".  Wonderful and confusing.

Exhibit two - "A little change" - the ballad of a man "trapped" by a materialistic life, and the derelict asking for some change. The redemption comes with the protagonist's realization that he has strayed, and his plea to Jesus for help in changing back.  His plea carries more authenticity than it used to.  Perhaps I'm learning.  Perhaps I'm being given a little change (for those that listen to the song).

To get back to the pun; Wikipedia (the repository of much earthly knowledge anyway) explains Epiphany as the term used to mark the moment when a person realizes their faith.

And hence the mis-spelling. My epiphany may come as an epi-phony. Catalyzed by music inspired from above. 

By definition it cannot match that other meaning of "phony" that you were worried about.

An Educated Heathen

This Christianity stuff is complicated. At the very least, if I keep going like this I am going to end up a very well educated Heathen.

Today's efforts to understand... The Nicene Creed, and the Pentecost.  At least these are topics for today.  I have no anticipation that a mere day's exploration will yield any significant understanding.

As I said - this Christianity stuff is complicated.  Wish me luck.

Little Bits and Pieces

When on a journey through an unfamiliar land one needs to pay attention to any and all details, because it really is not clear what landmarks and artifacts are significant, and which ones are not.

This weekend is a matter of keeping track of some trivia - I am certain that some of it is important, I'm just not sure which is which.

• Pastor Ray again mentioned the open and welcoming approach of CTK to people of all stripes.  I feel welcome. A very canadian approach in my personal opinion :)
• A pre-requisite to membership is Baptism.  That makes sense once one thinks about it.  I hope I don't end up holding up the process for the rest of my family.
• Pastor Ray also mentioned how important is is to be true to the key elements of The Church beliefs and doctrine (my words, his were better).  I'm delighted to see that there is such a strong sense of integrity.  Even if the details are not important to me, I like the assurance that it's about truth.  Even if I don't complete the journey, it will comply with my personal sense of traveling with honor.
• One other item that came up during the new members class was a story about the enlightening of a well educated philosophy major.  I think that I may have found a guide for my journey.  I'll have to contact the Pastor and see if he can connect us.  (Action - me).  The other sub-text was that the journey will take some time (months to years).  There is comfort in that because it feels like there is some distance to travel.

The service this Sunday was cool.  It was hosted by the High School Youth Group.  One thought prompted by one of the skits was that I could purchase some $5.00 gift cards from Food Lion, and use them to give to the folks that panhandle at stoplights.  That would provide at least some comfort that the investment was being well spent.  Guilt-free giving !

And, saving the best (I guess) for last.  The sermon Sunday was about doubting Thomas.  This is not really a story about doubt, which I would equate to belief with reservation, or skepticism, but about the inherent nature of belief.  Where does it come from?  Where does one find it?  I'm sure that part of the answer is simply "from the people around me", namely a gradual adjustment of assumptions based on the stated beliefs of the community. I'd like to believe (ha ha) that it is something more, but it will require some examination. (Action - me).

* as above, thanks to Paraflyer on Flikr.

The wonderful Messiah (not what you're thinkin' :D )

A quick update post - no significant progress.

Well, Easter Sunday was a minor first on a couple of fronts. It was my first traditional service, and the first when I realized that I am a musical traditionalist.

On the traditional service front I did not really learn / grow / develop much. The Easter Sunday service story is one that even a heathen already knows (at least in outline), so, aside from reinforcing some already-present (and unprocessed) messaging, this was not much of a developmental moment.

On the musical front, reinforced by the preponderance of song at this traditional service, I realized that my strong liking for vocal music persists, as does my love of Handel's Messiah. It is apparently a tradition that members of the church join the choir for a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. It was somewhere between wonderful and surprisingly good. In spite of all of the amateurs all parts were well sung, the effect was balanced, and the impact was real. That piece of music still brings tears to my eyes. Strange outcome for a heathen :D

Another Step (or half step?)

Class
We are philosophically  aligned!  The new-members class at the church described the formal rules of the arm church that we are looking to join as "Liberal".  This apparently means (in this case) that women are treated equally, and that people are welcomed to participate without stringent membership rules.  I guess that the only down-side is that they may let riffraff like yours truly in the door.


Learning: Line of  Inquiry #1 - the Nature of God.
Learning is different than being taught.  I'm planning to learn. (how's that for a wishy-washy commitment?).  Part of the active learning investment has been to do some reading, starting with "The Science of God" by Schroeder. I'm just part of the way through, but it has started some interesting trains of thought.

One fundamental assertion of the book is that Science and Genesis are aligned, with respect to describing the first 15 billion years of the universe.  The presentation is logical, even if I am not sufficiently schooled in either cosmology or religion to be able to fact-check all of the components of the argument.  One of the questions that this part of the book initially left me with (as it might any heathen) was,  why is this so important that they align?  So what if our understanding and representation of either cosmology or Genesis is incorrect?  As we learn more they should get closer and that should be enough.

The "aha" is as follows.  This is important because the Bible is the word of God, and as such cannot be wrong.  If the Bible contradicts observations of the real world, then we must resolve the contradiction.  That of course sends me into another line of inquiry - "how was Genesis written?" How did the authors (I know - I have a lot to learn) know what to write, without the knowledge imparted by the scientific community of the 21st century? Did the authors share an understanding with Schroeder of the time dilation aspect of the first 7 days that is asserted by Schroeder, or was it a matter of simply transcribing  the word of God?  What did they transcribe it from?  Also, what motivated the choice of  7 (logarithmically time-dilated) days as the model?  Why not just use vague sorts of "long time" language.  It looks like I need to understand the complete history of the bible, once I have completed aligning the Bible with my pro-science predisposition.

There is so much to learn :D

New Members Class

Last Sunday was new member's class.

Not much to log, except that I hold the honorary posts in the class of...

• Token Foreigner (the only person that did not originate in the good ol' US

and

• Token Heathen - the only person in the class without a Christian upbringing.

Pastor Ray noted that my "Heathen" status was too bad, and the conversational context overlaid the meaning that it was too bad that I was in the class.  Our class leader called him on it - good hilarity all 'round.

It is worth a couple of notes before we go too much further.  

Dictionary.com defines Heathen as follows:

–noun

1.

an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; pagan.

2.

an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.

I may self-referentially call myself a heathen, and perhaps even get called one, with which I am fine.  The intent is to use it with the implied context that... 

1) does not contain derogatory connotations - I do not wish to demean myself, 

2) does not impart any dishonor or disrespect on the church that is my guide in this journey, and 

3) is fun and humorous.

Please post a comment if this (or anything else) is anything less than respectful and appreciative.  My intent is levity - I like to laugh, but if it's not right, I'd delight in changing for the better.

Back to the Story.

The only other observation of note from the new members class is that, on announcing my "heathen" status, Pastor Ray commented that "we'd have a number of talks" (paraphrasing).  I am delighted that he would be willing to make that investment.

Sounds like a good old Lutheran (or Canadian) "welcome - come on in".  What a great start.

Before the Beginning

First - Some History:

I'd better lay down some of the preconditions to this experiment / journey / revelation / ?.  Some of the history that I carry into this trek into the unknown.  I'll edit this post from time to time, as I recall or perhaps even  better understand my past.

The rule - nothing in this post can pertain to or be influenced by anything that happens after Jan 01 2009.  It is an arbitrary date, but one that I am sure represents history from a Christian spiritual awakening perspective.

Some points in my history that might be important.

• Grandpa - devout and restrictive Presbyterian.  Real big on authority, and on hellfire and damnation.  I never knew him, but his approach to things sure influenced my Dad, which in turn had a big influence on me.
• I went to Catholic sunday school once.  I was about 6 or seven I think.  All I recall is being extremely distraught at the thought of Christ on the cross, unable to bear weight on his wrists and relieve the pain in his feet, or on his feet to relieve the pain in his wrists.   Apparently I cried all through Sunday school, and all the way home.
• I used to help an old girl-friend when she went to teach Sunday school.  She used to refer to me as "her heathen".
• My Mom died when I was in 11th grade.  That event convinced me that there was good in even the most painful thing, largely due to the positive manner in which Mom bore her multi-year battle with cancer.  Out of that event I ended up convinced that being and doing good was important (a trivialization, but this is a short intro).  My best friend's mom died a month later, of a similar cancer, in an experience that seemed to me to be filled with pain and denial.  I became an informal humanist, he became a Mormon.
• more and deeper later.

My "Heathen" Status

It is worth a couple of notes before we go too much further.  

Dictionary.com defines Heathen as follows:

–noun

1.

an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; pagan.

2.

an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.

I may self-referentially call myself a heathen, and perhaps even get called one, with which I am fine.  The intent is to use it with the implied context that... 

1) does not contain derogatory connotations - I do not wish to demean myself, 

2) does not impart any dishonor or disrespect on the church that is my guide in this journey, and 

3) is fun and humorous.

Please post a comment if this (or anything else) is anything less than respectful and appreciative.  My intent is levity - I like to laugh, but if it's not right, I'd delight in changing for the better.