Seeking Authentic Voice

I continue to slog away reading Karen Armstrong's "The Case for God." Typical of Armstrong, it is fulled with detail. I loved the first chapter on prehistoric "religion" and rituals. She argues that The desire to cultivate a sense of the transcendent may be the defining human characteristic.... and this Like art, the truths of religion require the disciplined cultivation of a different mode of consciousness. (and, referring to cave drawings) the cave experience always began with the disorientation of utter darkness, which annihilated normal habits of mind. Human beings are so constituted that periodically they seek out ekstasis , a "stepping outside" the norm. Today people who no longer find it in a religious setting resort to other outlets: music, dance, art, sex, drugs, or sport. We make a point of seeking out these experiences that touch us deeply within and lift us momentarily beyond ourselves. At such times, we feel that we inhabit our humanit...

Songbird. over at RevGals, wonders what five Bible verses are our favorite: My first response is  - any verse I am preaching on. After spending days and hours pondering the readings for any given Sunday and working the text like I'm kneading breading, until it has shape and form and is pliable, I end up loving that text. In the process the text has likewise given shape and form to my life and faith. This is particularly true for those texts that I really struggle with, or those  challenging occassions when preaching seems an impossible task and yet words come.... That said there are some favorite: the woman (Mary) in John 12 who annointed Jesus' feet with nard and wiped them her hair the woman at the well with Jesus in John 4 Matthew 22 - when the pharisee asks Jesus to list the one commandment that is the greatest: "When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a ...

By Karen Armstrong One of the books I'm reading is Karen Armstrong's The Case for God. I've only read the introduction and the first chapter - but find it captivating and interesting. I am drawn to the primal rituals and myths that have shaped and formed our modern religions. I'm also curious to read how she will argue her case for God. She offers this in the introduction: “Religion is a practical discipline that teaches us to discover new capacities of mind and heart.” Pg xiii It requires hard work, practice, and discipline to understand its truths and falsehoods, which only become clear from ritual and practice – one cannot assess the truth of a religion from reading about it. Theology, like music and art contain meanings that will not translate into logical structures or verbal expression. (page xiv) A rationalized interpretation of religion has led to fundamentalism and atheism – fundamentalism chose logos over mythos (logic over mystery). Then she goes on to...

This morning I decided to go for a walk. No matter that the outside air temp was 13 degrees. I was not going to be confined or intimidated by the temperature. I bundled up in my mom's old down coat. It's a long coat from LL Bean, one she purchased many years ago. After she died I saved it, finding it a good coat for winter dog walking. She would have liked that, being a dog lover herself. It's a little too big for me but it was my mom's. And, the added layers I had on under and over helped it fit a bit better than usual. Anyway, I was wrapped from head to toe in down, and an old Irish wool scarf, a hat and some insulated gloves and shoe/boots. I gathered my books and movies and trudged off to the library. I could have driven the car. I walked right past it as I headed out on my walk. But the library is a mere three blocks from my house, an easy ten minute walk. It is really silly to drive unless I am running other errands, which I was not. Now that I think about it,...

(photo by Jan) Jan over at RevGals is thinking about books today and offers this Friday Five Meme: 1. What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them. I've read several books by Julia Spencer-Flemming. I started with the third book in her series and moved on to the fourth. I find the books compelling even though they are filled with, in my opinion, significant errors about the Episcopal Church. For example I have NEVER heard of a deacon, even an Archdeacon on Diocesan staff, being called "Father." Deacons are called Deacons, by title, so it would be Deacon N.N. We do the same thing with Bishops, Bishop N.N. And, some think we should do the same with priests....but so far we tend to call priests, "Father." I've had people call me, a woman priest, "Father." Father in this regard becomes less about gender and more about role....although of course it is still about gender for some. I also think the lead character, a female Episc...

It is cold in Chicago. I'm not complaining, it just is. Cold. My dog comes in from a brief time outside to take care of her business and she's shivering from head to toe. In fact, (she cracks me up), she starts to shiver as she walks to the door, before I open it, before she goes out. Yes. She's Ruby, my short-haired Viszla high strung eight year old. I do put a sweater on her. She also has a heavy duty blanket/coat, like horses wear, for longer walks. The real problem with this cold are the brief bursts of moisture we get at night which promptly turn to ice on the cold ground. Sidewalks are covered in layers of ice. It's treacherous! So, the really real problem with this cold and ice is that I can't walk my dogs. Not only do I fear slipping and injuring myself but I worry about my dogs on the ice. Roxie, my13 year old dog,is having issues with her hind legs, a spinal/nerve degeneration issue. She's very feeble - even as she is incredibly strong and healthy...

I had my first latte over twenty eight years ago. At the time my roommate was a dancer and I was a lighting designer for dance. I lived in a building owned by a group of people, all friends and family, a co-op of sorts, most of us artists. One warm summer night we had a party in the backyard. I wore a fun red strappy dress and we danced for hours to "Thriller." A few months later we had another party ringing in the "ominous" year of 1984, having fun but grateful that life was not really as  George Orwell  had written about. Every morning we ground our beans and brewed our coffee on the stove top in an Italian espresso brewer using french roast coffee beans. In a small pan we scalded milk. The coffee was rich, flavorful, hearty. This is still one of my favorite ways to brew and drink coffee. Years later, with the popularity of Starbucks, I found myself standing in line to buy my lattes - iced soy latte in the summer and mocha lattes in the winter....