This was originally posted on the Washington Post's On Faith page.
I consider myself deeply religious. I was born a Jew and I love my people and our culture. I could not be prouder of what, in our long history, we have brought to the world. But that is not what makes me religious.
What makes me religious is the way I experience life and the way I try to live it. In his book Edith the Good, Spencer Marsh's implicit thesis was that Edith Bunker's every reflexive reaction to any situation was what the writers thought Jesus' reaction would be. Marsh had it right; that is the way Edith was conceived. I'm not in that league by any means -- Lyn and our children will certify that -- but everything tells me that the world would be an exquisite place to live if we were all able to respond to life as Jesus did.
That is "mamaloshen," a Yiddish word describing the understanding that comes when one's common sense derives as much from the soul as the mind. The Sermon on the Mount is simple mama-loshen. And anything that ain't mama-loshen doesn't square with my religious sensibilities.
Of course, to most religionists these observations are dismissible. To them my words lack scripture, theology, and ecclesiastical weight. Still, ever since my early twenties when I smoked my first good cigar, I have felt that if there were no other reason to believe in God, Havana leaf would suffice. I've had similar epiphanies while biting into a ripe peach, a just-ready piece of Crenshaw melon or a great ear of corn.
I've sensed God's presence while sitting in the back of a dark theater where a comedy was playing, watching an audience of a thousand strangers coming forward as one, rising in their seats and then falling back, as people do when they are laughing from the belly. I've fallen in love with a total stranger, several aisles and many rows away, just at the sound of his or her distinct laugh. And I've experienced God's presence -- Him, Her, It, nobody's been there and come back to describe God to me -- in the faces of my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and every time throughout my working life when I've gone to bed with a second act problem and awakened in the morning with the solution.
I love writing this because I think that this subject -- the "What's it all about, Alfie" question -- is the best conversation going. Just plain folks, unfortunately, can't get into it, because the rabbis, the priests, the ministers, mullahs and the reverends -- the professionals -- have a corner on the subject. The authority of their stained-glass rhetoric can be, and is often intended to be, intimidating to those of us who either lack a depth of knowledge in scripture or know scripture but choose to come to God in their own way and in their own language. And so, the sectarian rivalry and sanctimonious bickering about moral superiority and spiritual infallibility that occurs among the professionals often assumes a greater importance than the religious experience itself.
In this arena I am a groper (an Unaffiliated Groper, since I have not joined a congregation) incrementally feeling my way toward greater understanding. And I am on Nature's timeline where a century may be less than a blink. On that scale, as a mere 87-year- old, my search is in the early fetal stage so forgive me my lack of certainty as I seek meaning in life.
As my compact with our Maker develops, I believe it unique to me. I believe all our compacts with that entity are totally unique. No two alike. Take three hundred or three thousand people, sitting knee to knee in the same pews, praying together week after week, year after year, from the same sacred text, and I submit that no two congregants are having the same inner experience. But we are all nurtured by the same things in nature and our capacities for awe and wonder.
I like the metaphor of the thousand-mile river. It passes through time zones and climate changes occur along its path. Responding to the changing climate, the trees, shrubbery and vegetation along the riverbank changes also. But it is the same water responsible for nourishing every bit of growth. There are spiritual waters, call it the River of Reverence, that nourishes all of us who grope for understanding on a journey that will last all our lives and beyond.
There should be a Church for people like us.
I swam in thought down the thousand-mile-river. What a peaceful journey.
I remain, 2sunny
unfortunately, in my personal experience, atheists have been as unwilling as fundamentalists to have an honest, respectful discussion of these issues. when the discussion begins with "you're stoopit for believing there's something 'bigger than man' out there", there isn't much wiggle room for honest, respectful discussion.
My sentiments are similar, yet my internal experiences may differ.
Fanned...
Fascinating.
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
I never thought I'd find myself inside another church, but a sense of community and belonging is a valuable thing, and living in the ever-widening Bible Belt makes community even more important. Anyone who is looking for true openness and acceptance would benefit from checking out their local UU "church." :)
Just one example. Let's take solus christus out of Christianity. Christianity would turn into Judaism our Islam by tomorrow. They are not set by some weird professionals and ministers in their dark basements to enforce morals onto people. That's what uninformed atheists say. Every christian will come to the same 5, let's call them, pillars just by reading the Bible. Thus a doctrine is more like an observation or analysis of what you experience when you talk about "seeing and feeling God" rather than a separate idea.
And what you my borther have sounds like mysticism to me. You should know that the fastest growing part of the church is the one with Christian mysticism: Pentecostals and members of charismatic churches. They gained 500 million members in the last 100 years and are very decentralized.
You might want to pay attention to the fast growing movement amongst the Christians.. it may be being usurped by those greedy for power and domination, some folks like these: http://www.alternet.org/news/145796/heads_up%3A_prayer_warriors_and_sarah_palin_are_organizing_spiritual_warfare_to_take_over_america_?page=1
You could go to Australia, Africa, Asia, South America everybody will say that (Protestant) churches have to fight for social justice, peace and equality. That's why I still can't understand what the f%& is going on here. Why are the churches supporting wars? Why do they oppose social justice in form of government assistance, and universal health care?
It makes me an.gry.
There is a church for people like us, Norman. It's an entire planet filled with beauty and wonder, if you care to look for it.
Your story was both eloquent, and stirring. Thank you for sharing something so obviously from your heart, and so rich with meaning. There is in fact a church for people like us, and I think you brought that to our attention.
You are a master storyteller, and it always refreshing to hear your thoughts.
So, I simply encourage the author of this article to "call together" whomever he pleases .
You put into words what so many of us have trouble articulating in your expressions and reflections of your spirituality.
About 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about 33, he hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."
In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and sins honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.
How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven't got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.
God's name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, "My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours." -Isaiah 55:8
"The Beatitudes spun for the 21st Century" @
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=819&Itemid=195
But what I stumbled over was the vague assumption of what Jesus was like—how he reacted. We don't really know that. But what we do know from the Synoptic Gospels is a guy who had lots of different moods—from patience to anger, from friendliness to reclusiveness. What keeps me respecting his figure is that it's a human figure. What makes me crazy is the 1-dimensional take on him. But everyone gets to their own spiritual maturity in their own time.
Power struggles and debates were common among the early Christians and Individual churches determined which texts were read, and they all had their favorites before man made doctrine and dogma was laid down.
Constantine announced he would pay for fifty illuminated copies of scripture to be bound, and thus the biblical canon was established and sealed.There was fierce debate among the bishops about what should be included and what left out. The proto-orthodox, who had now become the dominant voice, determined what was heretical for everyone.
The proto-orthodox demanded much-loved scripture to be burned, usually because it did not fit their understanding of God.
Many of these texts were considered Gnostic. Gnosis is defined as knowledge discerned intuitively. Gnostic texts offer deep mystery that is discerned via intuition, not rational thought.
This is not the way for fundamentalists.
The rest:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=824&Itemid=195