Monthly Archive for September, 2011

You know what they be, right?

Well, once upon a time I was a pretty good one! If you disagreed with me I could come down on your head pretty hard with good old Bible Verses. Dueling Scriptures was my game. I knew exactly what every Scripture meant. I knew what the author intended. I was a genius!

Not!

One of the things that I was very much blind to how far OFF I was from BEING what it was that I was SAYING the Bible meant. If you believed baptism was valid by sprinkling, I could nail you. If you though there were five sacraments, I could nail you. If you thought……….enough already.

I THOUGHT a lot, but ACTED very little.

You see, it was very evident to those whom I was THUMPING that I was not BEING what I was saying we were to all be. How can you love the Bible, defend it to the death, and bash others over the head when they have a differing doctrine while still believing in capital punishment, wars, and violence of any sort?

How do you do that?

Celibate priests focused on abortion, heterosexuals focused on gay-lesbian lifestyles, and liberals-conservatives focused on social issues and policies that were to their liking only. The only thumping that should be going on is when you hit yourself upside the head for being so critical, judgmental, and non tolerant!

How could that happen, you ask?

It’s the same concept that we lay at the foot of the DEVIL. You know this guy? He has a preference for RED, a proclivity for evil-doing, and believe it or not he has a tail! How weird! You see he is the universal pinata, the world’s punching bag, and the guy that gets blamed for just about everything, even when we’re the ones at fault- especially when we’re to blame.

The same goes for God.

How is it when a tsunami, major hurricane, or a massive volcano occurs we call it an “Act of God”? Should that be an act of the guy in the red tight pants too? Just askin’.

I mean you can do the slightest thing and tick God off in a second, so goes the thinking of many. In the Old Testament we have the name of God being evoked to invite a bear to eat some kids for calling a prophet “baldy”. Sheez! How sensitive is this God, or his prophets?

There are just too many toxic ideas of God prevailing today. And, the worst part is that they’re mostly coming from the church that says that they worship Him. Maybe that’s why we see the figures in America that tell us for every person that joins the church, three leave! They’re still looking for God, just not the toxic image many churches present.

Those leaving are looking for that GOOD NEWS, that unconditionally loving God.

What are you looking for?

What have you found?

I have often times wondered how my life would have been different if I had not been so indoctrinated in SIN MANAGEMENT.

Where would the world be today, if our focus was on LOVE and not SIN?

But, let’s take this a bit deeper. What if we hadn’t made sin such a personal, individualized matter? What if we looked at the pressure cooker that kept sin focused on individual wrong-doings instead. Let me explain using Pope John Paul II as a reference point.

He’s pretty high up on the integrity scale, right?

It was he that brought to our attention and especially the Catholic Church the greater accountability that the church had when he spoke of “structural sin and institutional evil“. Ouch. Could he have been talking about Catholicism itself, religion without clothes, or dark church?

Me thinks so!

Unfortunately most religions have so majored on everyone’s individual sins that the church and all of it’s foibles got off scot-free. Whether it’s the Catholic church priest scandals of child abuse or the Protestant scandals of infidelity and financial mismanagement, it’s becoming more clear that individual sins run rampant in those very institutions that are being called upon to free the individuals of their sins.

Why not focus on love, mercy, grace, and the GOOD NEWS instead of the preoccupation with SIN of whatever ilk?

Why not?

The term is understood by many ALCOHOLICS; however, it applies to many CHRISTIANS as well.

The difference is that most Christians don’t know it.

Christianity got side-tracked, maybe hijacked (starting with the Roman emperors), and finally encased in religious jargon, dogma, doctrine, ritual, and empty traditions. After the Emperors had stated their desires in various councils (can you say Nicea?), Catholicism was firmly locked in on foundational principles such as Mary as a virgin, a Trinitarian Godhead, and Jesus as the only begotten Son.

Whatever happened to the GOOD NEWS?

What about TRANSFORMATION of the individual?

You see, even the best remedies for alcoholism (can you say Alcoholic Anonymous?) fell short of the goal, much as Christianity has done. A report early in the life of AA, even though they were getting some great results, said the following, “Most alcoholics while delivered from drinking were still childish, emotional wrecks, and argumentative.”

The term for such is….Dry Drunks!

It’s the same story, different verse, for most many Christians. The church majored on minors, focused on externals, cleaned up the outside of the cup, but did little to transform the individual. It’s still the case today. Reformed alcoholics no long drink or do drugs, but they are far from being able to navigate life from any angle: dry drunks!

Christians can speak the religious language, recite Bible verses, maybe even tithe; however, they beat their wives, molest their kids, and have a divorce rate equal to or greater than those outside the church: dry drunks! Survey after survey has shown little or no difference from Bible-thumping Christians and church avoiding agnostics. Much of the religious “fast food” has left their members in their addictions, pride, war-like attitudes, class consciousness, and intolerant of other religions: dry drunks.

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!

Translation! Are you ready to get real, down in the dirt, honest and open, and jump into the mysterious stream of the Spirit?

What say you?

Once upon a time I had a great office. There were two couches, a table to allow for six people to meet, a large desk, and literally more than 2,000 books.

Oh yes, I had a TV and surround sound music.

The TV was going 18/7. Fox news was always in the background. If anything important was going on anywhere in the world, my ears would perk up. And did I ever have some of the best smooth jazz music. Once everyone left I could shake the pictures off the wall with the volume!

This was of course before iTunes and Pandora.

Tonight I went looking for the music to the recent movie Drive. I had totally forgotten my Pandora account. But, I did remember that I had forgotten. In other words, I suddenly realized how changed my world had now become. There is no TV in my office. My office more often than not is OUTSIDE with nature. Music? I have little time for it.

Quiet is the desired environment. Listening is the goal. Being is the motive.

Strange stuff- this life.