YHWH as Angry Buddha

Athensboy made an interesting comment. After discussing the common complaint of Old Testament “mean God” vs. New Testament “nice God,” he concludes:

I suggest looking into the practice of Zen. Clear mind, no fault, yin/yang balance, be here now, stay in the moment, fetch the wood and carry the water, keep a heart full of peace and grace, keep gratitude in front of any attitude, cause harm to nothing and no one and live today as if you will surely die tonight. No readings or interpretations necessary.

But of course Zen has interpretations. Does the dog have the Buddha Nature? When will the oak tree become a Buddha? From interpreting Chou-Chou to self-participating in the controversy, it is certainly not always obvious to the Practitioner what the true Way is. I don’t believe anyone who has truly tried to walk the Way would think it so easy.

Tracts in Tracks

Ben Simpson has an interesting question under “Gospel Tracts a Thing of the Past?”

Is the tract still a viable means by which to communicate the gospel?  Or, has it ever been?  What are your thoughts on tracts?

He also suggests that the Blog may be the modern replacement for the tract. For anyone unfamiliar with tracts, they are generally short cartoon books that evangelize Christianity in the most propagandist terms you can imagine. They’re often focused on raising strong emotions and fear of damnation and Hell. Associating homosexuality, other religions and drug use with demonic influence is a common theme. Chick Publications is a leading producer.

Forcing balance

Gather round, at let me tell you the power of prayer. Do not ask the Universe for things you do not want. She will give them to you in abundance.

Goddess Bless, bring balance into my life. Clearly what I needed was another job. And in the mysterious ways of Life, I really did, and so the right job came in the right way. The way I couldn’t dodge.

Koyaanisqatsi

Life out of balance. Unbalanced life.

It is time for a change. Five months since I’ve come here. At first it was because I was ready to change what drums I beat upon. For a time I had little to say on these things. Then it became habit to stay away. And then came unbalance.

We have so many roles in life. Worker, philosopher, lover, volunteer, parent. And I had all these balls flying in the air, and I was pretty happy with it all. We’ve built most of the huge treehouse, I’ve convinced dozens of people to fly to Ireland to rent a castle with me, I’ve had a great time camping with my oldest son, I finally replaced the kitchen door. But for a while now, I’ve let The Job take over. Out of balance.

Readings

It’s been a little while since I’ve had time to write. Other concerns have demanded some attention, and between traveling and working all hours, the universe has reminded me again to slow down. Which is to say I have a cold. And when I have a cold, I generally go to bed for a couple of days, read and otherwise catch up on this and that.

I was several chapters into What’s So Great about Christianity, a book which I recommend others read but which I often wish to throw at a wall, when I began to hear those quiet little questions I only hear when I stop the incessant chatter. Why are you reading this? Are you really learning or just fencing? D’Souza makes some interesting points, but his often reverse causalities are unlikely to sway my thinking very far. When he descended to the defending Anselm’s Ontological argument, I knew there was little left here to be mined.

We have such a little time, and we given one great gift in the universe: our choice of how to use that time. With the thousand thousand limitations we put on ourselves, we still have so many choices we can make. And so I decided to step back and look again at those things that build, and for a time let go of fighting those things that destroy. We must defend the castle walls, but what is the point if we never sing?

Giving Thanks

It is right to give thanks and blessing when we eat. Food is so important, and so much goes into providing it, that mealtimes are an important time to stop for a moment and give thanks. It is also the easiest of rituals to introduce into our lives, and the importance of ritual is something we’ve lost track of in the modern, Western world.

Grandmother’s wisdom

I was reading this link from leisureguy’s blog, “11,000 couples later, gay marriage largely a nonevent in Mass.” It got me thinking about a discussion I had with my grandmother some months back when she asked after my friend who’s “a bit funny.” By that she means “in a committed, homosexual relationship.” I had the honor of being there when he said his vows as he was there when I said mine.

She asks after him often, and she always whispers “your friend” in the same voice she whispers “black” when the race of a person comes up. And as a conservative Christian, she does not approve of homosexuality. But of course, she doesn’t completely approve of black people, either. But still, she asks after him. And she has no malice towards blacks. She is what she has been for a long time now, and what she learned to be from an early age. Loving and racist and homophobic and still loving.

Review of The God Delusion

As promised, I’ve posted my full review of The God Delusion.

Comments around WordPress

I’ve been quiet here for a couple of weeks, but mostly because I’ve been spending my blogging energy chatting elsewhere. For those interested in following along on some of the discussions, or curious about what blogs I find interesting, here are some of the more interesting ones:

• When Wal-Mart is better than the FDA, something’s wrong – leisureguy
• All Christianity is “Cafeteria” Christianity – leftcoastlibrul
• How Much Should Churches Engage in Politics? – writenow
• 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 – cindyinsd
• On Heresy – epiteleo
• Atheists Know the Bible – leftcoastlibrul
• Giving the devil his due – leisureguy
• The Dangers of Making America a “Christian Nation.” – leftcoastlibrul
• 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 – cindyinsd

Upcoming here: Review of The Black Hole War, a book I didn’t plan to review here but has some interesting religious implications; review of The Art of Reading Scripture; a bit longer discussion of The God Delusion; and some early thoughts on my current reading: What’s So Great about Christianity, one of the better Christian Apoligetics I’ve read (outside his poorly researched critiques of evolution). I’m only a quarter of the way through. I still want to throw it at a wall sometimes, and I think he misinterprets a lot of history, but he brings actual facts to the discussion (which is very unusual) and makes several arguments that are worthy of actual debate. He’s even changed my thinking on some aspects of Christianity’s historic influence on Western society (I think his argument makes a better case that Western society has had a great influence on Protestantism, but I’ll go into that deeper later). If you want a very interesting and comprehensive discussion of this book, see Ken Ponder’s review on Amazon.

And I want to finally get back to some discussions about pantheism itself. I’ve been so distracted with so many interesting books.

Further notes on A Biblical Church

In A Biblical Church, I note the commune nature of the Church of Acts, and my position that this is the Biblical example that modern churches should follow if they consider themselves Bible-based. I’ve discussed this with several people, but Polycarp’s comments are the most considered rebuttal I’ve received.