The Beautiful Heresy- Christian Universalism

Am I a heretic? Maybe. If believing that God is all powerful, all loving, wiser than His creation and perfectly willing and capable of saving all of His children makes me a heretic, sign me up.


My Baby's 13!  

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Yesterday, it became official.  It was 13 years to the day since Kayla joined our family.  Our little girl has become a young woman.  In some societies she'd be considered an adult now.  Thank G-d, we don't live in those places and can hang onto her for a little while longer.  It's fun to watch her now. Sometimes acting like a child.  Sometimes acting like a teenager.  And, more often, acting like an adult.  I love those moments where I catch her wrestling with Shayna or playing "voices" like they used to when they were younger. I run and grab my video camera, sneak up on them and record it, futilely trying to capture the moment to stick in my pocket and take with me.

I remember vividly the moment she was born.  She was crying and the nurse told me to talk to her.  I did and she immediately stopped. It was the strangest thing, as if she had been scared and knew my voice and it calmed her.  I remember a couple of days later trying to put the carseat in the car and putting it in backwards.  I thought "Are they really going to let us take this baby home?  We have no idea what we're getting into."  Thirteen years later and  think we've done a pretty good job.  Kayla has brought immeasurable meaning and joy into our lives.  She is turning into quite the young woman.  In many ways she's a typical first born, very much like her father.   I often wonder if it's genetic, if it's learned or some combination of the two.  I'm guessing that when she grows up she'll say we were overprotective (guilty as charged).  But, she's spreading her wings more and more.  Going to high school football games, dances, texting her friends, overnights away from us.  I still get nervous when she's away from us.  But, I know we have to let her go someday. Might as well start getting used to it.  Kayla wants to go to high school next year. It'll be strange and lonely not having her in house with us.

We wanted to make Kayla's 13th a birthday she'd remember.  She had friends over for pizza, then went to Laser Tag from 9-midnight (her mother is a trooper).   I bought her a pair of earrings and a necklace that I hope she'll have for a very long time.  Not little girl jewelry anymore. I reminisced about the days of birthday hats and ice cream and cake with the family.  The days when I was a part of the celebration.  Now, I'm rapidly becoming the embarrassing old man and I pretty much just try to stay out of the way and let the kids have their fun.  The girls wanted to watch a movie when they returned from Laser Tag. Like the overprotective parents we are, we ruled out the first two choices.  But, they ended up staying up until 3 in the morning watching a movie while we slept upstairs.  Boy, how things have changed.

The last few nights I've had dreams of Kayla as a little girl.  Wishful thinking I guess.  As we get older, time accelerates.  I won't use the old cliche of it doesn't seem like 13 years since she joined us.  Of course it does.  13 years is 13 years. But, 13 years when you're 13 is an eternity.  13 years when you're 48 is just a short time.  It's been a short time.  Children force you to mark the passage of time in a way you don't have to acknowledge before you have them. They remind you that you're getting older because you see them change right before your eyes.  They announce that they're now in their "double digits" or that soon they'll be a teenager.  They tell you they're saving up to buy a car (when they're 12).  They look at you incredulously when you tell them you didn't have DVDs growing up.  "Did you have electricity Dad?" It's hard to believe that we have less than half the time we've had with Kayla before she's leaving the house to strike out on her own.  13 reminds you that 18 is just around the corner.  I'll miss Kayla when she's gone.  I already miss the little girl I once had.  But, in the meanwhile, I plan to relish every possible moment I can with her between now and then.



Faith or Belief?  

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Mardi Gras (53) - 24Feb09, New Orleans (USA)
One thing about Christianity that struck me as odd, even as a child ,is the notion of how important belief is. I could never understand why G-d was more interested in me believing than anything else. Why is belief a virtue? The way I was taught Christianity it didn't matter what you did. What mattered was what you believed. Belief was taken to mean the acceptance of certain facts. The harder the facts were to accept, the greater the belief (or faith). Belief that the Old Testament bible stories were literally true. Belief that Jesus was born of a virgin. Belief that Jesus was killed and rose again. If you were to be "saved" you had to wrap your head around these things. That's easy when you're a child. It gets harder as you become an adult. I was told that no other religion had this requirement. Christians would say with great pride the thing that separated their religion from others was it was not what you do that matters but what you believe. Not one to just take things at face value, I always wondered "Why?" Why would G-d set things up this way? On the surface, and as it was presented to me, salvation was rather easy in Christianity. Other religions made you work hard. You had to live up to a standard. (BTW, that standard was impossible to live up to according to what I was taught. ) So, trying to achieve "salvation" without belief was like running on a treadmill trying to reach the finish line in a race. Christianity didn't require you to do anything. Oh wait. Not do anything except "believe", maybe the hardest thing to do at all. How does one force oneself to believe something? You can't. I was told as long as I held on to this belief I was safe. But, the moment I let it go, I was doomed. Oh I know, they told me "once saved always saved". They told me you really don't have to do anything except.... However there was an exception to this rule. If I ever let go of this belief, obviously I had never really been saved. My favorite prayer and my favorite passage of the Bible, one verse I could always quote without hesitation was "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." (Mark 9:24). I tried, I tried hard to believe.

It's clear in the New Testament that Jesus put great value on "belief". Right? I mean He blasted people for their lack of faith. Once again, what may appear to be so clear to those who think their Bible was written in English by the hand of God is not so clear when we start looking at the original language. We have what has become a poorly translated word that has caused us modern people a great deal of confusion and many of us a great deal of suffering. The word translated as "faith" in the New Testament, is the Greek word pistis. Pistis is better translated as "trust", loyalty, engagement or commitment. When Yeshua was asking people to believe, He was not asking them to believe in a set of claims. He certainly wasn't asking them to believe in His divinity. He was asking for commitment.- commitment to a way of life. Commitment to way of looking at life and their fellow humans. He was asking for people to set aside the cares of this world and focus on what is truly important. He was looking for people who would spread the good news, who would live lives of unbridled compassion, who would love everyone (even tax collectors and other sinners). This is the pistis he was talking about that could move mountains. Not a belief that by having enough "faith", we could magically move the mountain. But, that people with such commitment living out that commitment could accomplish anything they set their minds to.

When the New Testament was translated from Greek into Latin, the word pistis (the noun) became fides (or loyalty). Saint Jerome used the Latin verb credo that was derived from cor do "I give my heart". He could have used opinor "I hold an opinion". But, he did not. When the Bible was translated into English credo (the verb) and pisteuo became "I believe". Actually this was not a bad translation-at the time. In 1611, the word "believe" meant something different than it means today. In Middle English to bileven meant to prize; to value; to hold dear, related to the German belieben (to love). So, belief meant loyalty to a person, binding oneself to that person or holding that person dear. Many people think (and I was taught) that Yeshua did miracles to prove His divinity. But, as Karen Armstrong points out in her book The Case for God, many people did miracles and no one ever claimed they were divine. People we are familiar with, Moses, Elijah, etc. did miracles. Contemporaries of Yeshua like Honi the Circle Drawer (brought the end to a drought) and many others performed all kinds of miracles, including miraculous healings. Yeshua did not perform miracles so that people would believe He was divine. I believe He performed the miracles to point to the power of G-d, the power available to anyone with the faith (dedication, commitment, love) to tap into that power.

Over the centuries, mankind has bounced back and forth between two extremes. There are periods of time where we acknowledge the mystery of G-d and in which philosophers, theologians and mystics have said you can say nothing about G-d. During those times they have even gone so far as to say G-d does not exist, G-d is a nothing (no-thing), G-d is not a being. These were not atheists saying this, but believers who realized that G-d is beyond all conception, that G-d is beyond description and that, in fact G-d is beyond existence. G-d has been called the "Ground of Being". They made it clear that G-d is not a being and to think so is the beginning of idolatry. But, people cannot be satisfied with saying nothing about G-d. So, we use language, we use symbols. That's OK. That's what we do. It's in our nature to seek to try to understand. The problem comes when we think we've got G-d in a box. When we think we have G-d "defined" we are putting limits on the limitless. Then, the theist thinks he has G-d all figured out. But, in reality what he has done is he has created an idol. This idol some people realize is just that. It's too small. It's merely a projection of humankind- bigger perhaps. Smarter- yes. Maybe even better. But, it's just another being among many beings in the created universe. The agnostic challenges the theist "Show me this god of yours." The theist confidently replies "There he is" and the agnostic becomes an atheist.

In a universe as wonderful and confusing as our own, how could we possibly hope to show someone G-d? If I say show me yourself? To what do you point? Are you your body? Most people would say I am not my body. My body is made up of completely different material than it was just 7 years ago. So, if I am the little boy I was at 10 or even the man I was at 40, it's not because of the atoms that make up my body. Are you your memories? If you are struck with Alzheimers or amnesia you don't cease to exist. Just a few decades ago people thought they had the nature of the universe all figured out. Atoms were these hard solid objects that combined together to make everything. Now we're finding out the material universe is mysteriously made, consisting mostly of space and infinite possibilities. Nothing is solid, even though it appears to be solid. Light- is it a particle or a wave? Yes. Light behaves like a stream of particles and like a continuous wave, depending on how you look at it. If we can't figure out exactly who we are and exactly how our material universe operates, what makes us think we can clearly define G-d? When the theist attempts to answer the agnostics questions, he is doing the best he can using a finger to point to the moon. But, the finger is not the moon.

Over the decades, my beliefs have changed. In a sense, I guess I believe less than I ever have. I don't take the Old Testament Bible stories literally anymore. No talking snakes in the Garden for me. I doubt Jesus was born of a virgin. If you asked me now if G-d even exists, I'd answer "Not in the way we think of existence.". But, my faith has grown stronger. I have more confidence than ever in what G-d is and that G-d binds us all together. I have confidence that G-d will never leave nor forsake me, G-d cannot because I am made of G-dstuff. When I go to look for G-d now, I don't look for a being outside myself, I get still and look for a spirit within myself. Christians say all the time that G-d is spirit. But, in truth, most don't believe it. I confess I still have the remnants of that idol . I still picture G-d as a old white guy sitting on a throne unless I consciously reject it.



Jesus was asked by His disciples to show them the Father (G-d). Jesus replied with this:

John 14: 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

If there had been atheists around during the time of Jesus, I can imagine this conversation taking place.

Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people. An atheist in the crowd interrupted him. "Jesus, I say to you this God of yours does not exist." Jesus answered him "You have spoken well my friend. The mysteries of the Kingdom have been revealed to you. Now, go and serve G-d."

Tolerance?  

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A sheared tree's fuller, more conical shape.Image via Wikipedia
What is tolerance?

Company Memo
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: October 1 , 2009

RE: Gala Christmas Party

I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd , starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols... feel free to sing along. And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00 PM. Exchanges of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees!

Our CEO will make a special announcement at that time!

Merry Christmas to you and your family,

Patty

*************

Company Memo
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: October 2 , 2009

RE: Gala Holiday Party

In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognize that Hanukkah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on, we're calling it our "Holiday Party." The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians and to those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas tree and no Christmas carols will be sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment.

Happy now?

Happy Holidays to you and your family,

Patty

****************

Company Memo
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: October 3 , 2009

RE: Holiday Party

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a
non-drinking table, you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request,
but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only", you wouldn't be anonymous anymore.
How am I supposed to handle this?

Somebody?

And sorry, but forget about the gift exchange, no gifts are allowed since the union
members feel that $10.00 is too much money and the executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy.

REMEMBER: NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

*****************

Company Memo
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
DATE: October 4, 2009

RE: Generic Holiday Party

What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 th begins the Muslim
holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours.
There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time
of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs. Perhaps the Grill
House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party or else
package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?

Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet, and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms.

Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men,
each group will have their own table.

Yes, there will be flower arrangement for the Gay men's table.

To the person asking permission to cross dress, the Grill House asks that no
cross-dressing be allowed, apparently because of concerns about confusion
in the restrooms. Sorry.

We will have booster seats for short people.

Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet.

I am sorry to report that we cannot control the amount of salt used in the food .
The Grill House suggests that people with high blood pressure taste a bite first.

There will be fresh "low sugar" fruits as dessert for diabetics, but the restaurant
cannot supply "no sugar" desserts. Sorry!

Did I miss anything?!?!?

Patty


*******************

Company Memo
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All F*%^ing Employees
DATE: October 5 , 2009

RE: The F*%^ing Holiday Party

I've had it with you vegetarian pricks!!! We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the
"grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your f*%^ing salad bar,
including organic tomatoes. But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They
scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream
right NOW!

The rest of you f*%^ing wierdos can kiss my *ss. I hope you all have a rotten holiday!

Drive drunk and die,

The B*tch from H*ll!!!

******************
Company Memo
FROM: Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director
DATE: October 6 , 2009

RE: Patty Lewis and Holiday Party

I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery and I'll continue to forward your cards to her.

In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23 rd off with full pay.

Happy Holidays!


Joan
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Jesus Religion- Book Review  

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A 6th century mosaic of :en:Jesus at Church Sa...Image via Wikipedia
Someone on a Yahoo group I'm on told me about the book "Jesus Religion" by Louis Charles. I checked out the author (listened to a pretty long radio interview with him and befriended him on Facebook) and decided the book was worthy of a read.  I just finished reading it and I think it is a  good book.

The book examines the illogical and inconsistent teachings of what has become traditional Christianity.  Louis Charles takes us through a brief history of how we got the Bible we have, how the hell doctrine arose, how Jesus was deified by the early church fathers, etc.  For someone like myself who has been on a truth quest about these things for close to a decade now there's not much shocking here.  I found the book to be similar to several written by former fundamentalist Christians who have realized that just doesn't make sense to them anymore.  Not only does it not make sense.  But, it's actually debilitating, fearful, life-sucking religion. That doesn't mean the book isn't original or worthwhile. We each have our own story to tell and, of all the authors I've read, Louis may be the one whose story is closest to my own.

I agree with Louis on most of his points.  The Bible isn't what most Christians think it is.  The doctrine of Hell is a man-made invention (politically motivated) to keep the masses in line. The man people worship as G-d in the flesh wasn't named Jesus Christ.  His name was more like Yeshua.  And, I think He'd be shocked and disappointed to see what is being done in His name today.  But, the tone of the book, to me, was just a little over-the-top in condemning Christianity and church.  I find many people who have left what they now call the Institutional Church (IC) seem to have lost the ability to find anything good in gathering together with other seekers.  I've read several books now that I think are intended to "free" people from the shackles of religion/church. But, rather than just leaving their experience as their own experience they project it onto everyone else and pretty much say we all must leave the church.  I can't agree with that.  I think there is a place for church/community even if the IC for the most part has mucked it up.

Another point that Louis made that I struggled with is the idea that it's better to know than to believe.  I agree that believing/faith are given way, way, way too much emphasis in Christianity. In fact, the way Christianity is taught to many all that matters is what you believe.  You don't have to do anything.  You don't have to practice.  You just have to believe the right things.  And, if you don't believe the right things, you're condemned to hell.  And, I agree it's better to know than to believe.  The Buddha taught to not take any of his teachings based on his word only.  But, to try them out and see how they work in the real world.  Perhaps that is what Louis was trying to say. But, Louis says things like we're all eternal spirit and G-d resides within us and that our physical bodies are not our true selves, etc.   When he says those things, he is expressing beliefs.  None of these things have been directly experienced by him.  I agree with him, BTW.  I believe those things, too.  But, to classify those beliefs as "knowledge" and somehow superior to Christian beliefs is unfair, IMO.

Personally, I have not found it possible or necessarily to abandon Christianity (yet).  I'm operating more on along the lines of what Daniel Helminiak suggested in his book "The Transcended Christian".  To use an analogy from one of the challenges on Project Runway, I'm taking the material from my old wedding dress (Christianity) and creating a new garment from it.  But, Louis does point out two major incompatibilities with Christianity that I have a really difficult time with.  The first is the teaching of "original sin", the idea that we are born defective and alienated from G-d.  Not only that.  But, G-d wants to condemn us to eternal torment for being born the way we are.  The second is related to that.  I was taught that when are are "saved" we are covered with the blood.  Basically we're still rotten to the core.  But, G-d overlooks that since we've been "washed in the blood".

Back to the book review.  Overall, I think this is a good book.  But, the timing has to be right for it to resonate with you.  (When the student is ready the teacher will come).   Most Christians will simply not be ready for the book. Don't buy a copy and give it to your fundamentalist parents or friends unless you want to see their heads explode.  For those who have read books like Pagan Christianity?or other books that take a critical examination of the history of Christianity and the church, you might find it to be somewhat redundant.  But, if you're feeling like something is wrong with Christianity and can't quite put your finger on it, this might be the book for you to help you work through some of that.

Here's a short video from the author about the book.




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