Spring is approaching, rapidly, or so the buds on the tree branches outside of my balcony’s railing tell me. It seems too obvious to me in the spring that life moves forward, that we experience growth, and that, while we may experience episodes of time that cause those around us to attempt a consolation of “This too shall pass,” we are basically moving through a natural change birthing new possibilities. I haven’t written for quite some time, almost two years, on this blog because I, frankly, found that my own writing was neither what I wanted nor what I wanted to portray of myself, a well educated, highly critically thinking human being. As a trumpeter, we are told to sound a little more cornet-y which means to find the round center of the pitch instead of letting the trumpet control itself with a brassy sharpened edge. While this blog is titled The Edge of Ink, ink a liquid. What liquid is sharp? Often thought-provoking work can bring us to the edge of what we really want.
I read another blog that gave me moments to think about it. I have moved to the south where there are almost as many colleges and universities are there are churches. While I appreciate the historical significance and the architectural experiences I am able to have surrounded with colorful artistry, I am not overly impressed with the need to hear the phrase “the Bible says” consistently. I hear about the Bible more than gas prices, which for me, is the opposite of what I have usually encountered even in my seminary years. With nearly ten years of religious study completed, it still doesn’t impress me to be inundated with what the Bible says about something when my Spiritual education has taught me differently. Not contradicting — just differently than another’s interpretation or my own.
In an effort not to be another scripture spouting seminarian intent on writing about my favorite wisdom verse, Giles’ blog entry pretty much does it for me. I stopped, long ago, looking into a book or a mirror for wisdom. The best Bible scholars in the world when they are asked about how the text should be applied will usually state something to the effect of — carefully, intentionally, prayerfully.
I mainly use the Bible with supportively educational purposes. I accept a lot of things about it, but I don’t accept that Wisdom can be embodied on a page. Wisdom is an experienced experience. She is lived. I don’t think that I even look to the Bible for a specific purpose. Do I read it regularly? Absolutely! I know a lot of stories, histories, instructions, social constructs, and family and gender variances through the texts. Combined with language and historical training, I can dig through words and create a hermeneutic that works within a systematic structure to dazzle those with diploma scrolls.
I get Wisdom from trees. I like trees. Trees are simple. They are created, grow, and have the stability that most people don’t have. I am more at home in prayer with trees and plants. Nature does it for me. If I had a prayer closet, it would be shipped like a national forest. It’s just how it is. This is where Wisdom is found, prayerfully in the woods. Remember that one who sings prays twice. Taking a tuneful stroll through the trees may be the wisest thing for all of us to do.
Shalom.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Meta-Physical Assurance
The last blog I wrote attracted people to my life which it does from time to time. Other than the people who thinks it's just fun, it attracts people who are afraid for my salvation and my contact with other gods. Well, I am a metaphysician.
The word metaphysical scares people. It simply means beyond the physical. To most people where I live, it means crystal wands, yoga gods, and the loss of salvation. Well, no. Not every metaphysician twirls crystals or energizes wands in the moonlight. It also doesn't bother me that have energized crystals, believe in healing herbs, and accept healing properties beyond the physical. I accept miracles and miraculous healing.
I was specifically asked about chakras. I accept the energy zones that science has recorded in these areas of the body are than in other areas. I also accept that certain cultures refer to them as chakras. I am okay with and without the terminology. What is scarier to me in these encounters and moments is that people think salvation is at stake? It exhibits how young a believer is to me.
Salvation is not earned. It is already there for acceptance. People cannot be good enough to earn eternity. It is impossible. All living things have energy. Even God is Spirit. Those who are afraid of energy work are afraid of healing. God is bigger than that. God wants us to be healed and is with us everyday. There is no need to be afraid. A healing fear of God is reverence not separation. To intentionally separate oneself from God is wrong. This happens in young believers who are earning salvation. There is no need to do so.
Rest assured. Whosoever believes... shall be saved.
The word metaphysical scares people. It simply means beyond the physical. To most people where I live, it means crystal wands, yoga gods, and the loss of salvation. Well, no. Not every metaphysician twirls crystals or energizes wands in the moonlight. It also doesn't bother me that have energized crystals, believe in healing herbs, and accept healing properties beyond the physical. I accept miracles and miraculous healing.
I was specifically asked about chakras. I accept the energy zones that science has recorded in these areas of the body are than in other areas. I also accept that certain cultures refer to them as chakras. I am okay with and without the terminology. What is scarier to me in these encounters and moments is that people think salvation is at stake? It exhibits how young a believer is to me.
Salvation is not earned. It is already there for acceptance. People cannot be good enough to earn eternity. It is impossible. All living things have energy. Even God is Spirit. Those who are afraid of energy work are afraid of healing. God is bigger than that. God wants us to be healed and is with us everyday. There is no need to be afraid. A healing fear of God is reverence not separation. To intentionally separate oneself from God is wrong. This happens in young believers who are earning salvation. There is no need to do so.
Rest assured. Whosoever believes... shall be saved.
Friday, September 9, 2016
My Request of All Evangelists
Today, I was approached by an evangelist. Poor soul. He wants so much to share his faith with others that he is confronting them with his belief and with his struggle. To me, he is young in faith. It is wonderful that he wants to share his belief and his faith. He is born-again as this culture promotes, yet does not seem to educate beyond " Jesus is Lord. I struggle with..." Interestingly, I just purchased my first Bible shirt that I have had in years. I used to only wear these mass marketed and produced items that are marketed for Evangelical Christianity. I love these things. I purchased it because 1) I am revolving my clothes, downsizing them, and replacing three with one, 2) I needed to choose one, and 3) I liked it. Of course, since it has a Biblical reference on it, the direct correlation that it has to be something more than a shirt.
To some, this is the equivalent of a Dallas Cowboys shirt for Christians. It's our team, so we need to wear it and advertise our faith with pride and marketing. To me, it isn't even a form of evangelism as it is something that I have always done. I started wearing them when I was young in faith not that I am completely wizened or old in it either. It saddens me to see people young in their faith doing the same things that I was told to do that brought sorrow into my life about my faith. This young evangelist was motivated to zealously share his struggle with marijuana, yet spoke in a soft tone that he believed in Jesus as Messiah, that he lived, and that be believed in both the New and Old Testaments. He needed to shout his sins, but only dare speak the name of his Messiah.
Evangelical Christianity does this. I don't understand it as, for a group of people determined to be in the Word of God, that they seem to skip going into their prayer closet in order to confess their sins and instead boast of their struggles to follow Christ. It seems arrogant to me to boast in my own sin instead of what Christ has done. At the same time, believing in Jesus doesn't change temporal imperfections. I am not healed because I believe in Jesus in the same manner as a dentist pulling an abscessed tooth. While I believe in miraculous healing, I found the dentist's chair to be more miraculous for my constant pain than most drawn out prayers attempting to heal personal imperfections, brokenness, and illnesses. I find scientific mistakes like penicillin to be of more use than warm fuzzy Jesus thoughts or shouting confessional sins to purge the body. I'd much rather boast in my dentist and his awesome staff along with my other doctors as being the hands and feet of God working to heal the world than in what I find to be a struggle. Although, I also don't mind addressing the struggle.
Dear Evangelists, struggle to praise God. Struggle and strive to praise and boast of the grace that God has found in his creation. Strive to boast of the healing energies in the world. Strive go forth to bless and serve the Lord. Seek Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with your God. Struggle with these three things first and those who carry the Good News will be unable to refrain from being the hands and feet of God in the world. Learn to love your selves as God loves you. Love, A Child of the Most High Merciful One
To some, this is the equivalent of a Dallas Cowboys shirt for Christians. It's our team, so we need to wear it and advertise our faith with pride and marketing. To me, it isn't even a form of evangelism as it is something that I have always done. I started wearing them when I was young in faith not that I am completely wizened or old in it either. It saddens me to see people young in their faith doing the same things that I was told to do that brought sorrow into my life about my faith. This young evangelist was motivated to zealously share his struggle with marijuana, yet spoke in a soft tone that he believed in Jesus as Messiah, that he lived, and that be believed in both the New and Old Testaments. He needed to shout his sins, but only dare speak the name of his Messiah.
Evangelical Christianity does this. I don't understand it as, for a group of people determined to be in the Word of God, that they seem to skip going into their prayer closet in order to confess their sins and instead boast of their struggles to follow Christ. It seems arrogant to me to boast in my own sin instead of what Christ has done. At the same time, believing in Jesus doesn't change temporal imperfections. I am not healed because I believe in Jesus in the same manner as a dentist pulling an abscessed tooth. While I believe in miraculous healing, I found the dentist's chair to be more miraculous for my constant pain than most drawn out prayers attempting to heal personal imperfections, brokenness, and illnesses. I find scientific mistakes like penicillin to be of more use than warm fuzzy Jesus thoughts or shouting confessional sins to purge the body. I'd much rather boast in my dentist and his awesome staff along with my other doctors as being the hands and feet of God working to heal the world than in what I find to be a struggle. Although, I also don't mind addressing the struggle.
Dear Evangelists, struggle to praise God. Struggle and strive to praise and boast of the grace that God has found in his creation. Strive to boast of the healing energies in the world. Strive go forth to bless and serve the Lord. Seek Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with your God. Struggle with these three things first and those who carry the Good News will be unable to refrain from being the hands and feet of God in the world. Learn to love your selves as God loves you. Love, A Child of the Most High Merciful One
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Forgiveness: Choosing to Step Forward
My understanding of forgiveness has been highly influenced by the several different people and sources. Instead of people in this entry, the sources seem to be more influential in my life. The two sources that have influenced my understanding of forgiveness and choice are Scripture and 12 Step programs.
First, my participation in 12 step programs was voluntary and because people convinced me that it was something that I was in need of at the times when I was a part of them. I fully participated, and several specialists who actually listened to me removed all of the question about whether or not I was addicted to anything that I may have been doing. Having stated that, I believe that in some way, everyone is an addict. It is in human nature to be addicts. Addictions that take over a person's life are very real, and lots of people with them need others to admit that they have the same problem even if they don't have the issue. To me, at this point, 12 step groups fall into two categories: cult groups cells or critical thinking small groups. They discuss spiritual and topics while claiming not to be religious. Unfortunately, they are religious as they have a means through which people break addictions, and ultimately, accept a High Power, God, or something out there greater than themselves.
The number one thing that I learned in the 12 step programs was the phrase "God of your own understanding." This concept caused me to begin searching for exactly that. The other things I learned from the meetings and programs is the phrase "As if." These two things were specifically important to me because I was 1) earning my original religion degree at the time and 2) deciding how I was going to live my life by my own values like everyone else in their early twenties. I DO NOT believe or accept the concept of "As if." If someone is doing something as if it matters, then it is an admission that the activity doesn't matter. I am more from the Yoda philosophy of "Do or do not. There is no try," as taught in my middle school band room. Well, every band room I have ever been in.
Having a Higher Power or God of my own understanding changed my entire life. One of the main things that I live from that experience is that I do not need to run around forgiving people for what they do to me, and I don't need to accept what other people want me to do because they want me to do it. The critical thinking involved in the 12 step programs comes from knowing AND using a person's knowledge and education. The role of a sponsor is one of a guide and not someone who sets the goals for another person. The importance of critical thinking is in knowing what you know and what you don't know.
Because I have a God of my own understanding and a relationship with that God, I know that I am NOT God. Scripture definitely informs the reader that I am NOT God. Even for God, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Now, I am not worried that I or anyone else has committed this sin because if you are concerned that you have then you haven't. The point for me in Mark 3:29 is that there are sins that even God doesn't forgive. Since I am NOT God, then I don't expect that I will be able to forgive everything that people do to me, and I don't expect other people to do that for me either. I don't expect people to live in the same relationships for their entire lives.
Forgiving someone is a choice as is holding it against the person. I don't believe that it is my position, role, or personal expectation of myself to forgive other people, especially to convert them to my point of view. I just don't. I did for part of my life and decided that living that way was killing me. I lowered my expectation myself and relied more on scripture that people are only the vessels for God. We are the hands and feet of God in the world. We are not the means or have the power to forgive people or to convert them to believe anything. This is God's work and not man's work.
The only real choice for me is to create the boundaries that I need in my life. This doesn't mean that I love people less, am not living in community with others, or that I am not a forgiving person who cannot be trusted. This means that I spend time evaluating the situation and make an active choice based on my education and knowledge of what I know and don't know.
Since the majority of people I know in the 12 step programs do not use power effectively, which I have studied and gained degrees in over the past 20 years, I do not recommend them to people. If knowledge is the point, then read the literature and make your own decisions about addictions and other manifestations of the 12 step programs; however, the understanding of the literature has to be placed into a historical context. Powerlessness doesn't mean choicelessness.
God is a giver of choice. This choice is for each individual alone and cannot be genuinely coerced in any way. What is the choice? Freedom and not forgiveness.
Be free.
First, my participation in 12 step programs was voluntary and because people convinced me that it was something that I was in need of at the times when I was a part of them. I fully participated, and several specialists who actually listened to me removed all of the question about whether or not I was addicted to anything that I may have been doing. Having stated that, I believe that in some way, everyone is an addict. It is in human nature to be addicts. Addictions that take over a person's life are very real, and lots of people with them need others to admit that they have the same problem even if they don't have the issue. To me, at this point, 12 step groups fall into two categories: cult groups cells or critical thinking small groups. They discuss spiritual and topics while claiming not to be religious. Unfortunately, they are religious as they have a means through which people break addictions, and ultimately, accept a High Power, God, or something out there greater than themselves.
The number one thing that I learned in the 12 step programs was the phrase "God of your own understanding." This concept caused me to begin searching for exactly that. The other things I learned from the meetings and programs is the phrase "As if." These two things were specifically important to me because I was 1) earning my original religion degree at the time and 2) deciding how I was going to live my life by my own values like everyone else in their early twenties. I DO NOT believe or accept the concept of "As if." If someone is doing something as if it matters, then it is an admission that the activity doesn't matter. I am more from the Yoda philosophy of "Do or do not. There is no try," as taught in my middle school band room. Well, every band room I have ever been in.
Having a Higher Power or God of my own understanding changed my entire life. One of the main things that I live from that experience is that I do not need to run around forgiving people for what they do to me, and I don't need to accept what other people want me to do because they want me to do it. The critical thinking involved in the 12 step programs comes from knowing AND using a person's knowledge and education. The role of a sponsor is one of a guide and not someone who sets the goals for another person. The importance of critical thinking is in knowing what you know and what you don't know.
Because I have a God of my own understanding and a relationship with that God, I know that I am NOT God. Scripture definitely informs the reader that I am NOT God. Even for God, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Now, I am not worried that I or anyone else has committed this sin because if you are concerned that you have then you haven't. The point for me in Mark 3:29 is that there are sins that even God doesn't forgive. Since I am NOT God, then I don't expect that I will be able to forgive everything that people do to me, and I don't expect other people to do that for me either. I don't expect people to live in the same relationships for their entire lives.
Forgiving someone is a choice as is holding it against the person. I don't believe that it is my position, role, or personal expectation of myself to forgive other people, especially to convert them to my point of view. I just don't. I did for part of my life and decided that living that way was killing me. I lowered my expectation myself and relied more on scripture that people are only the vessels for God. We are the hands and feet of God in the world. We are not the means or have the power to forgive people or to convert them to believe anything. This is God's work and not man's work.
The only real choice for me is to create the boundaries that I need in my life. This doesn't mean that I love people less, am not living in community with others, or that I am not a forgiving person who cannot be trusted. This means that I spend time evaluating the situation and make an active choice based on my education and knowledge of what I know and don't know.
Since the majority of people I know in the 12 step programs do not use power effectively, which I have studied and gained degrees in over the past 20 years, I do not recommend them to people. If knowledge is the point, then read the literature and make your own decisions about addictions and other manifestations of the 12 step programs; however, the understanding of the literature has to be placed into a historical context. Powerlessness doesn't mean choicelessness.
God is a giver of choice. This choice is for each individual alone and cannot be genuinely coerced in any way. What is the choice? Freedom and not forgiveness.
Be free.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Primal Happiness
People are generally driven by primal needs when they don't even ask another person what that person has to say about anything. For example, the group of people who sat around to discuss me. Never actually spoke with me, personally -- the group. They accepted one person's interpretation of what I said, but that person never told me that she was reporting what I said to someone else. She never said anything about telling other people that she was discussing my home or anything that I was doing. She obviously thought that she was already entitled to a certain role in my life. No. She is not. Then, they sat around discussing where I needed to go and where I was allowed to live. Then, what happened, a man named Brian, who is usually inebriated showed up to tell me that I needed to go to the Community of Hope to get help and beg for money because he prayed about it. I'm not supposed to worry about anything because "you'll get a girl." The amount of social control via the verbally stated Christianity in the city I live in is tremendous.
It is a game to claim Christianity and live anyway people want more than anything else. The problem with it here is that I am Biblically literate. I don't know every single word in the text; however, I do know that an actively using alcoholic's advice, even while claiming prayer and a belief in Jesus, is not sound advice. Even God communicates with individual people about their lives. The reason people don't communicate with others about situations and events is directly because of the risk of being wrong or for the need for personal change. Having a stand point and expecting everyone to fit the mold devalues divine creative design.
Everyone has a "fix" for that person's community. Some people think that it is hiding the homeless. Some people think it is imprisoning the poor or incriminating transgender people. Some people think that it is alcohol and others think that it is their own personal quest for happiness. Lots of people think it is their enforced Gospel stance, yet they don't understand that they are persecuting the same people who are working with them and helping to support them. Why? Sameness.
Sameness is primal. All too often someone will say to me, "but you have more ______ than me. I only have 2." This happened last night. Ownership is about choice. The person who said it to me is constantly drunk or looking for the next drink. I don't spend any money on alcohol. I don't spend any money on drugs. I am constantly accused of being active drunk or a drug addict all of the time. Why? People need others to be just as depraved as they feel. They don't have anything, so they don't think other people should have anything. The same person was surprised that I owned plates. Why? He claims he doesn't have any and claims that it makes him more poor than me.
The U.S. Mexico border to include parts of New Mexico have a poverty arrogance. People are proud to be poor. It's an odd game of who can live on less money. Who can own less? Why? Personal pride is the means through which most communities have striven to find their identities. Poverty is a game. Poverty is primal.
In poverty, people literally work to marry people still to have children to attain wealth. Why? People aren't valued as human beings as they need to be. In most families, the leader's happiness is what attains group cohesion.
For example, in my family of origin, most of us bonded together because we wanted my grandmother to be happy. After she died, most of us didn't talk anymore. Why? We were together for her to be happy. Her happiness was more important than our conflicts. Without her, the family would actually have to contend with the relationships that we never really built as we were bonded around one person. That person wanted us to be happy and make our own decisions. After she died, so did our family freedom. All of a sudden, no one was allowed to choose anything. Everything was about someone else's religion.
I earned a degree in religion because it was something that wasn't ever forced on me as a child and was a means to explore something new at the university. We were never forced to go to church or believe in anything when I was underage. It has only been since I have been over 30 that belief has been forced at me from other adults who mainly don't 1) know anything about me, 2) have any real training what they believe, or 3) accept difference of any kind.
When the final answer is "Just say Jesus. It makes them happy," belief is dead. If my faith is a matter of someone else's happiness, then a personal relationship with a deity is dead. When everything is about emotion, then it is doesn't matter that we can also think and believe. Every feeling is real. Not everything is a feeling. Causing poverty to convert people to your point of view because it is good for that person's soul is religious oppression and immaturity. Belief isn't an emotion. Entitlement in a belief system is arrogance. Choice is freedom. Working to make another person's life more difficult is the role of the Devil in the book of Job. Specifically working against another person because of an emotional state is, therefore, evil.
The Evil One works against people following God. I find it to be interesting that my kippah means that I don't have any kind of relationship with the Abrahamic God people find in the very scriptures that they quote to tell me that I 1) need to repent, 2) have turned away from Jesus, or 3) am wrong for worshipping with those Jews. Praying in a Jewish temple meant to some people that there is no Jesus there. My mode of living was recently questioned at a bus stop by someone who wanted to know if I was still worshipping with the Jews. Instead of religious discrimination clauses being able to be defended, people can now just claim that they need to approve of another person's "mode of living." Really?
I know a lot of devout Christians from temple. An omnipresent deity is not confined by brick and mortar. Primal instincts can be captured and imprisoned. God bless all of Remnant Israel.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
If: I Have One
Scene: While on the bus, people literally looked through the top of my shopping bag to see what I had in order to decide if I was allowed to have it. I had just been to Walmart and had gotten a shower caddy to organize art supplies as they worked really well in the classrooms in which I have been serving. I was asked, "how much were those markers at Hobby Lobby?" by someone probably half my age. I did not get them there as even with the 40% off coupon they would be more expensive that at Walmart. These two women literally had a conversation about my belongings because they have decided that unless they have something, then it isn't okay for anyone else to have anything. I know this because I had also purchased a small re-useable lunch bag and a re-useable ice block for it. The mother literally said, "it's okay to one that since I have those in the freezer." Then, the other said, "I moved those to the deep freezer." Then, the mother said, "Things have piled up on my night stand. Do you think I should get one of those?" She was talking about the shower caddy. So, I said, "they are on clearance."
They live in a house; I live in an apartment. I don't have a deep freezer. Nothing except a lamp and my glasses go on my night stand. Keeping my bedroom very simple and nearly empty has caused me to be able to have dreams again. The clock is under the main shelf on it as I have to maneuver my arm to get to it in an odd way. I can't accidentally shut it off. What these women are communicating is that they are striving to live on what they think is almost nothing. They are living in scarcity when they have far more than I do. They live with 8 people in the same house, and the daughter was jealous that her grandfather had bought her sister hygiene supplies when she didn't have a job. There's more to the story as the sister, the "baby daddy," and the new boyfriend are all unemployed and living in the same house with two children.
Without proper hygiene supplies, the woman can't possibly become employed. They tried to say that she was hitting rock bottom, and everything was her fault. Well, they are envious of shampoo, yet are upset that she has two kids, living with the grandfather, and had two live-in men with her while she's unemployed. I'm just a person on the bus they don't know, and they needed to figure out if I was allowed to have an ice block while trying to figure out if I was choosing the correct parts for my lunch. They need to be able to approve of what someone else is allowed to eat at work. Why? They need to control because they are controlled by objects and ideologies that have told them that they need to control others.
Most of the time, answers people have in conversations don't matter. I have learned in the city where I live that I have literally buy my way out of their constant evangelistic techniques because none of it is based on belief. It's a constant demand for money. People don't need what they think they need. People who have enormous houses and are easily bought because they buy into the American philosophy that more is better. I am growing some of my own vegetables, and their scruples are deciding whether or not I am allowed to choose to by an ice block. They live in a house -- they have more than me. People with five cars have said that I have too much. I don't have one.
I have simple keys. There are no key chains. There are no decorations. They are simple. I wouldn't trade my dreams for a TV in my room for my anything. I am simplifying. I dream.
I am blessed indeed.
They live in a house; I live in an apartment. I don't have a deep freezer. Nothing except a lamp and my glasses go on my night stand. Keeping my bedroom very simple and nearly empty has caused me to be able to have dreams again. The clock is under the main shelf on it as I have to maneuver my arm to get to it in an odd way. I can't accidentally shut it off. What these women are communicating is that they are striving to live on what they think is almost nothing. They are living in scarcity when they have far more than I do. They live with 8 people in the same house, and the daughter was jealous that her grandfather had bought her sister hygiene supplies when she didn't have a job. There's more to the story as the sister, the "baby daddy," and the new boyfriend are all unemployed and living in the same house with two children.
Without proper hygiene supplies, the woman can't possibly become employed. They tried to say that she was hitting rock bottom, and everything was her fault. Well, they are envious of shampoo, yet are upset that she has two kids, living with the grandfather, and had two live-in men with her while she's unemployed. I'm just a person on the bus they don't know, and they needed to figure out if I was allowed to have an ice block while trying to figure out if I was choosing the correct parts for my lunch. They need to be able to approve of what someone else is allowed to eat at work. Why? They need to control because they are controlled by objects and ideologies that have told them that they need to control others.
Most of the time, answers people have in conversations don't matter. I have learned in the city where I live that I have literally buy my way out of their constant evangelistic techniques because none of it is based on belief. It's a constant demand for money. People don't need what they think they need. People who have enormous houses and are easily bought because they buy into the American philosophy that more is better. I am growing some of my own vegetables, and their scruples are deciding whether or not I am allowed to choose to by an ice block. They live in a house -- they have more than me. People with five cars have said that I have too much. I don't have one.
I have simple keys. There are no key chains. There are no decorations. They are simple. I wouldn't trade my dreams for a TV in my room for my anything. I am simplifying. I dream.
I am blessed indeed.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
The Separation of Church and State
Working in the Education Industry, I hear the phrase Separation of Church and State thrown around a lot. People are concerned about having the word or concept of God in the public schools. With the holiday season quickly approaching, these issues are beginning to arise more in conversation. I completely support the Separation of Church and State in education and completely support religious education in this country. Any government funded school in the United States should be teaching about religion, the differences in practices, and how people are able to reconcile their differences to maintain a cohesive community. Government funded schools should not in anyway be choosing one religious point of view over another through endorsing or prohibiting the practice of one person over another.
It is important to know the difference between enforcing a person's religion and the steps to educate another person about religion while being open to communication and exploration. The person who is chosen to education other people about religion or religions is given an incredible responsibility and gift. This kind of education can be done in a lot of ways. I haven't ever been a student enrolled at a school that was not funded in some way by the federal government. I have always been educated by people who have been given the responsibility and opportunity to teach in multiple ways. When religion is taught without an adherence to a specific belief, then it can be taught through the curriculum.
Art projects are a main way that religion can be taught without enforcing one person's religion upon other people. Art is often the precipice through which other forms of artistic expressions of religion are birthed. Literature springs from art in a lot of ways. Richard Crashaw's The Flaming Heart is a primary example of a work of literature being created from a sculpture combined with theology.
St. Therese had a vision of a cherub piercing her heart with an arrow in a mystic experience. From her experience, artists, musicians, and lyricists created artwork from the point of her experience to our contemporary artisans. Somehow, people think that the Separation of Church and State means that all religious experiences and mentioning of God has to be removed from education. By removing God and religion, every part of the curriculum in every school, essentially, ceases to exist. Literature, music, art, history, science, and even science is removed is there is a literal removal of religion and God from schools. At some point, human beings, both accept and don't accept deities. It is the responsibility of a civilized educational system to educate the students not only in what is accepted by the majority but what is accepted by the minority.
Atheism also needs to be discussed in the educational environments as they are the locales intended for exploration. Schools are not intended for indoctrination. Having places where people are empowered to think about what they are interested in to include God and how people approach or do not approach a deity or deities is a means to provide for understanding and the acceptance of differences. Misunderstanding the Separation of Church and State has caused more problems in educational environments than not. The main way that this is misused is through contemporary evangelism.
Evangelism is often as misunderstood as the Separation of Church and State. To be an evangelist is to merely carry the Good News. It doesn't presume a denominational or even a specific religious understanding. Contemporary American understandings of evangelism are usually directly tied to specific fundamentalist denominations, even though the term fundamentalist is misunderstood as conservative, republican, and mainly, non-denominational or Southern Baptist. Non-denominational is a actual denomination now, so I often find the attempt to say that it is okay to have a religious group in schools is okay because it is non-denominational to be a problem with the Separation of Church and State unto itself. The problems with evangelism are not in the exposition of options. The problems are inherent in enforcing one person's belief over another with the addition of negative consequences for not adhering to expressing belief through certain terms and conditions that are not mutually accepted.
While people tend to think that it is a gamble to give people the right to talk about their religion or God in government funded facilities which causes them to want to ban the topic, it is a gamble. The freedom of choice is often one of the most dangerous responsibilities that people have while taking ownership of their own humanity. Often it is easier to hand over our freedom of choice to others instead of choosing to own of our decisions. Perhaps, we understand our own choices as xenophobic because of the reaction of others around us. Often, while wearing my kippah, people have found it necessary to ask about the difference between Jews and Christians or shout that the Jews killed Jesus at me. I find the first one to be the most intrusive. It usually ends with me saying that there isn't anything wrong with being Jewish after having said that it more than just a religion, but also a race, ethnicity, and culture. This tends to bring the other person questioning me into a standpoint of wanting to know just about religion through which I say that the main difference is the accept of Jesus as the Messiah. I almost had one person throw a fit when I said that it was personal choice that people made. She couldn't handle it and when away in a huff because she was achurchian real believer in her model of Jesus. Jesus fighting is not for believers. Choice is!
Maintaining the freedom of choice to choose Jesus or not is what actually makes Christianity Christian. Without a choice, it isn't Christianity. It is Churchianity. If you a choice isn't inherent within a believer, then that person isn't a follower of Christ or an evangelist. That person is a crusader for a firmly enforced cause. There is no greater support from a nation for Christianity than the Separation of Church and State. If the people are not free to choose, then Christianity is not an option.
I hope to hear people singing about dreidels and Christmas trees. I want to hear about Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and feel the tinkle of sleigh bells in the air during the upcoming holiday seasons. Perhaps, this year, we will all try to remember that, in the midst of making presents ready, that deities are usually about bringing peace to all people. I know that while I will be light candles at Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year to carry the light of God through the winter season, I will be remembering that it is through living in the light of God that we shine for one another.
Let go in peace through the month of October. May be embrace the Autumn season as the weather changes and the rains begin. Let us walk in love as we choose to be beacons of light in the world.
It is important to know the difference between enforcing a person's religion and the steps to educate another person about religion while being open to communication and exploration. The person who is chosen to education other people about religion or religions is given an incredible responsibility and gift. This kind of education can be done in a lot of ways. I haven't ever been a student enrolled at a school that was not funded in some way by the federal government. I have always been educated by people who have been given the responsibility and opportunity to teach in multiple ways. When religion is taught without an adherence to a specific belief, then it can be taught through the curriculum.
Art projects are a main way that religion can be taught without enforcing one person's religion upon other people. Art is often the precipice through which other forms of artistic expressions of religion are birthed. Literature springs from art in a lot of ways. Richard Crashaw's The Flaming Heart is a primary example of a work of literature being created from a sculpture combined with theology.
Atheism also needs to be discussed in the educational environments as they are the locales intended for exploration. Schools are not intended for indoctrination. Having places where people are empowered to think about what they are interested in to include God and how people approach or do not approach a deity or deities is a means to provide for understanding and the acceptance of differences. Misunderstanding the Separation of Church and State has caused more problems in educational environments than not. The main way that this is misused is through contemporary evangelism.
Evangelism is often as misunderstood as the Separation of Church and State. To be an evangelist is to merely carry the Good News. It doesn't presume a denominational or even a specific religious understanding. Contemporary American understandings of evangelism are usually directly tied to specific fundamentalist denominations, even though the term fundamentalist is misunderstood as conservative, republican, and mainly, non-denominational or Southern Baptist. Non-denominational is a actual denomination now, so I often find the attempt to say that it is okay to have a religious group in schools is okay because it is non-denominational to be a problem with the Separation of Church and State unto itself. The problems with evangelism are not in the exposition of options. The problems are inherent in enforcing one person's belief over another with the addition of negative consequences for not adhering to expressing belief through certain terms and conditions that are not mutually accepted.
While people tend to think that it is a gamble to give people the right to talk about their religion or God in government funded facilities which causes them to want to ban the topic, it is a gamble. The freedom of choice is often one of the most dangerous responsibilities that people have while taking ownership of their own humanity. Often it is easier to hand over our freedom of choice to others instead of choosing to own of our decisions. Perhaps, we understand our own choices as xenophobic because of the reaction of others around us. Often, while wearing my kippah, people have found it necessary to ask about the difference between Jews and Christians or shout that the Jews killed Jesus at me. I find the first one to be the most intrusive. It usually ends with me saying that there isn't anything wrong with being Jewish after having said that it more than just a religion, but also a race, ethnicity, and culture. This tends to bring the other person questioning me into a standpoint of wanting to know just about religion through which I say that the main difference is the accept of Jesus as the Messiah. I almost had one person throw a fit when I said that it was personal choice that people made. She couldn't handle it and when away in a huff because she was a
Maintaining the freedom of choice to choose Jesus or not is what actually makes Christianity Christian. Without a choice, it isn't Christianity. It is Churchianity. If you a choice isn't inherent within a believer, then that person isn't a follower of Christ or an evangelist. That person is a crusader for a firmly enforced cause. There is no greater support from a nation for Christianity than the Separation of Church and State. If the people are not free to choose, then Christianity is not an option.
I hope to hear people singing about dreidels and Christmas trees. I want to hear about Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and feel the tinkle of sleigh bells in the air during the upcoming holiday seasons. Perhaps, this year, we will all try to remember that, in the midst of making presents ready, that deities are usually about bringing peace to all people. I know that while I will be light candles at Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year to carry the light of God through the winter season, I will be remembering that it is through living in the light of God that we shine for one another.
Let go in peace through the month of October. May be embrace the Autumn season as the weather changes and the rains begin. Let us walk in love as we choose to be beacons of light in the world.
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