A few days ago I got onto the bus and sat down. On the seat next to me was a small pamphlet with the back cover facing upwards. It didn’t take me long to realize it was a religious tract. I flipped it over and alas, it was. The title of this particular one was “Can We Be Sure?” and its cover had numerous arrows pointing upwards and downwards. It became quite evident that the topic within was the afterlife.
The first sentence (no pun intended) that greeted me was “Can we be sure we’ll spend eternity in heaven?” This is immediately followed by: “Many people say you can’t be sure. Are they right? Does spending eternity in heaven or hell have to remain uncertain until it’s too late?”
The middle part of the booklet is made up of the story of Queen Victoria of England, and how she wanted to be sure of where she would be in the afterlife. She made an inquiry to the chaplain at a cathedral, but he didn’t know how to be sure. Upon hearing of her question, an evangelist of the time sent the Queen a letter, humbly asking her read John 3:16 and Romans 10: 9-10.
Most people with a passing knowledge of the Bible know the first verse, and the second one is similar. A fundamentalist interpretation of these verses suggests that in order to be assured of a place in a literal Heaven in the afterlife, one must believe that Jesus Christ’s death served as payment for our sins and that he rose from the dead.
The pamphlet notes, by the way, that the Queen wrote him back and said that she did read the verses and that she was now sure. It also states that “the way of salvation is the same for a queen or a common citizen.”
Hmm, where to begin? The rest of this particular piece will not exist in order to rebut the idea of a literal Hell, mostly because I have written about this in other pieces, and partially because I don’t particularly like the word “rebut,” as if we were talking about plastic surgery on one’s posterior. But briefly, I’ll state again that when I think about the words Heaven and Hell, I think about things that we experience in this life, external things that happen to us, or internal peace or unrest.
Instead of discussing Heaven and Hell, I return to the beginning, as that’s a very good place to start. The question was asked, “Can we be sure we’ll spend eternity in heaven?” My first question is: “Does it matter that much to you? Do you spend a lot of time thinking about it?” Perhaps you think about it a lot if you grew up in a church, because it tends to be talked about quite a bit in some churches. And if you didn’t, perhaps you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about Heaven and Hell. I think regardless of your (in)experience with religion, probably everyone thinks of the end of his or her life from time to time.
But can we be sure, I mean really sure? (Remember the deodorant commercial from a few years ago that repeated over and over “Sure? Unsure?” People were comfortable raising their arms in public or being close to other people on the bus if they were wearing this particular product, and if not they weren’t comfortable. Anyways, enough about that.) Personally, I don’t think that anyone can be absolutely sure what happens when they die, because no one has died, taken a video camera into Hell or Heaven, and came back and shown it on Larry King Live. Some people have had near-death experiences, or say that they’ve had experiences when they’ve briefly been dead in an emergency room or on an operating table, but you’re not completely sure. They very well could be telling the truth, or it could be a unique experience to them, or they could have eaten some underdone potato. Many have written about the afterlife – I’m thinking about religious books particularly, and many view these as literal and without possibility of error.
But personally, I don’t think we can be entirely sure. And you know, that’s okay with me, I’m quite comfortable with it. I have my hands full with this life, and find that I have little time to worry about the next one.
And I think that living life unsure of a definite answer to this question and many others can be a great thing. Yes, for some it can be scary, because they’d prefer solid answers to their questions; this provides a level of security. But there are those who, though it can lead them into a certain amount of discomfort, find that living their life is more about wrestling with the questions and coming up with personally true and personally believable answers than making sure they’ve found a one, solid answer. They prefer to explore all kinds of possibilities.
It requires an openness, a boldness, and a deep trust in yourself that no matter where you are or where you go on your way, you’ll be alright, you’ll be okay. The openness and boldness that this kind of life requires also opens the doorway to new discoveries, new truth, and fulfilling, truly personal growth.
I hope today finds you doing well and that you will experience peace and confidence on your journey, wherever you may be today.
_
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Breathe In, Breathe Out
We are dying and being born with every breath.
This comes to mind as I sit in Starbucks on a Saturday night, listening to Sexsmith’s latest, and eating nanaimo bars.
I believe I first came across this particular expression in a Buddhist-themed book. And I’m thinking tonight that it contains truth.
Maybe one of the reasons that we get so stressed out in our lives is because we carry around so much baggage from moments that have gone before, instead of letting them die with each breath. We carry around a lot, perhaps because we have come to believe the falsehood that external events and happenings are the key things that form the definition of who we are. For example, perhaps when we are children in school we are told that we’re the ugly one, or the weird kid. Maybe we are labeled the bright one and are consigned to years of expectation that we’ll get good grades and be the good kid and never fail.
Maybe we do damaging things to ourselves – drinking too much, or putting ourselves in unhealthy situations. Instead of forgiving ourselves and moving ahead, we carry them around and think ourselves unworthy of happiness. Maybe we’ve come to believe that we have some deep, irreparable flaw. We carry the past around like a carcass dragging from our rear bumper.
Then there are things, sometimes terrible and painful things, that have been done to us that we had no control over. Unhealthy home situations, deep inner or outer bruising. And we just have a hell of a time moving on, thinking that we are sullied or damaged goods moving forward.
Sometimes we can almost intentionally wave the flag of the victim, for a few reasons. If we maintain the view of ourselves that we are so messed up, people may stay away and we won’t have to be vulnerable again, where we may get hurt.
Sometimes we hold onto awful things from our past because they give us a seemingly valid excuse to not be happy and make progress. This is tempting, because happiness can be hard work. If over the course of your life you have come to steadfastly think poorly of yourself, it can be hard to let the past go and finally embrace the truth of your own wonderfulness.
We do not need to hold onto past moments, which often only result in more stress in our lives.
Each new breath is a fresh opportunity for something good to happen. Each new breath brings a moment in your life that has never been. You can do whatever you want to do in this moment. If it turns out to be pissy, it too will die off and a new moment will be born.
This comes to mind as I sit in Starbucks on a Saturday night, listening to Sexsmith’s latest, and eating nanaimo bars.
I believe I first came across this particular expression in a Buddhist-themed book. And I’m thinking tonight that it contains truth.
Maybe one of the reasons that we get so stressed out in our lives is because we carry around so much baggage from moments that have gone before, instead of letting them die with each breath. We carry around a lot, perhaps because we have come to believe the falsehood that external events and happenings are the key things that form the definition of who we are. For example, perhaps when we are children in school we are told that we’re the ugly one, or the weird kid. Maybe we are labeled the bright one and are consigned to years of expectation that we’ll get good grades and be the good kid and never fail.
Maybe we do damaging things to ourselves – drinking too much, or putting ourselves in unhealthy situations. Instead of forgiving ourselves and moving ahead, we carry them around and think ourselves unworthy of happiness. Maybe we’ve come to believe that we have some deep, irreparable flaw. We carry the past around like a carcass dragging from our rear bumper.
Then there are things, sometimes terrible and painful things, that have been done to us that we had no control over. Unhealthy home situations, deep inner or outer bruising. And we just have a hell of a time moving on, thinking that we are sullied or damaged goods moving forward.
Sometimes we can almost intentionally wave the flag of the victim, for a few reasons. If we maintain the view of ourselves that we are so messed up, people may stay away and we won’t have to be vulnerable again, where we may get hurt.
Sometimes we hold onto awful things from our past because they give us a seemingly valid excuse to not be happy and make progress. This is tempting, because happiness can be hard work. If over the course of your life you have come to steadfastly think poorly of yourself, it can be hard to let the past go and finally embrace the truth of your own wonderfulness.
We do not need to hold onto past moments, which often only result in more stress in our lives.
Each new breath is a fresh opportunity for something good to happen. Each new breath brings a moment in your life that has never been. You can do whatever you want to do in this moment. If it turns out to be pissy, it too will die off and a new moment will be born.
Friday, July 18, 2008
How Do I Live?
Just recently I picked up a copy of Trisha Yearwood’s 1997 collection called “Songbook.” I bought it almost exclusively for the song “How Do I Live,” which was on the soundtrack for the movie “Con Air” with Nicholas Cage. Le Ann Rimes also sings a version of the song, but I prefer Trisha’s.
The song asks questions such as, “If I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be?” and makes statements such as these:
“You’re my world, my heart, my soul.”
“If you ever leave, baby you would take away everything good in my life.”
“Without you, there’d be no sun in my sky, there would be no love in my life, there’d be no world left for me.”
“I’d be lost without you.”
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to love songs and romantic movies, I’m the chief of suckers; I love them! Give me Notting Hill, some tealights, peanut butter, and chocolate, and you’ve won me over!
But really, read the lyrics to songs such as this one, and ask – really? Are those things true?
What is it in my life, or in this world, that makes me whole and what satisfies me? Trisha Yearwood sings, “You’re my world, my heart, my soul. Obviously she is referring to a man (unless unbeknownst to her husband Garth she’s a lesbian, then that changes things.)
Should your world, your heart, your soul rely so heavily on something or someone else? I believe that the answer is no. I believe that the moment we place that level of importance on something or someone outside of ourselves, our relationship to that thing or to that person can become one characterized by unhealthy dependence. If we place ultimate value in something outside of ourselves, during those times that we feel needy we will crave fulfillment from those things. Then comes the unfortunate truth that we may no longer love or appreciate something purely, just for what it is. Love becomes a tool, a method that we use in order to get something in return – whether that be attention or fulfillment. And when our “love” doesn’t achieve the desired result in return, we are disappointed or even angry. This is not pure love.
“If you ever leave, baby you would take away everything good in my life.”
Hmm. Really?
What could make a person pronounce such a thing? One of the reasons is maybe they’ve been blinded to, or lost the knowledge and experience of the wonderfulness that is already inside themselves. Instead they’ve placed their hopes in another person or in something else. This is, I believe, one of the huge problems facing our world. We have forgotten about our inner beauty, or as Elvis used to sing “The Wonder of You.” Each of us is a unique and wonderful being, and absolutely nothing less. I believe that we are invited to be people of power and of a healthy self-confidence.
Each year, thousands of people travel to Niagara Falls to see the marvel of the place. Thousands flock to the Grand Canyon and are amazed at the sight. But most of us don’t realize the magnificence that awaits us when we simply look into our bathroom mirror or take time to get to know ourselves.
Of course, no person is an island. But the things that we do, and the materials that we possess should be performed and acquired not to bring us a sense of completeness, but simply because we enjoy them or they help us on our journey of discovering ourselves and the meaning of our lives. More importantly, the relationships we have with other people, while bringing us much joy, should not define us or our purpose for living. This is hard, but as we learn to appreciate and be amazed at our own beauty, I think we can learn to love others more purely and not because we are expecting to feel more whole or happy in return.
May you know today that you are wonderful.
The song asks questions such as, “If I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be?” and makes statements such as these:
“You’re my world, my heart, my soul.”
“If you ever leave, baby you would take away everything good in my life.”
“Without you, there’d be no sun in my sky, there would be no love in my life, there’d be no world left for me.”
“I’d be lost without you.”
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to love songs and romantic movies, I’m the chief of suckers; I love them! Give me Notting Hill, some tealights, peanut butter, and chocolate, and you’ve won me over!
But really, read the lyrics to songs such as this one, and ask – really? Are those things true?
What is it in my life, or in this world, that makes me whole and what satisfies me? Trisha Yearwood sings, “You’re my world, my heart, my soul. Obviously she is referring to a man (unless unbeknownst to her husband Garth she’s a lesbian, then that changes things.)
Should your world, your heart, your soul rely so heavily on something or someone else? I believe that the answer is no. I believe that the moment we place that level of importance on something or someone outside of ourselves, our relationship to that thing or to that person can become one characterized by unhealthy dependence. If we place ultimate value in something outside of ourselves, during those times that we feel needy we will crave fulfillment from those things. Then comes the unfortunate truth that we may no longer love or appreciate something purely, just for what it is. Love becomes a tool, a method that we use in order to get something in return – whether that be attention or fulfillment. And when our “love” doesn’t achieve the desired result in return, we are disappointed or even angry. This is not pure love.
“If you ever leave, baby you would take away everything good in my life.”
Hmm. Really?
What could make a person pronounce such a thing? One of the reasons is maybe they’ve been blinded to, or lost the knowledge and experience of the wonderfulness that is already inside themselves. Instead they’ve placed their hopes in another person or in something else. This is, I believe, one of the huge problems facing our world. We have forgotten about our inner beauty, or as Elvis used to sing “The Wonder of You.” Each of us is a unique and wonderful being, and absolutely nothing less. I believe that we are invited to be people of power and of a healthy self-confidence.
Each year, thousands of people travel to Niagara Falls to see the marvel of the place. Thousands flock to the Grand Canyon and are amazed at the sight. But most of us don’t realize the magnificence that awaits us when we simply look into our bathroom mirror or take time to get to know ourselves.
Of course, no person is an island. But the things that we do, and the materials that we possess should be performed and acquired not to bring us a sense of completeness, but simply because we enjoy them or they help us on our journey of discovering ourselves and the meaning of our lives. More importantly, the relationships we have with other people, while bringing us much joy, should not define us or our purpose for living. This is hard, but as we learn to appreciate and be amazed at our own beauty, I think we can learn to love others more purely and not because we are expecting to feel more whole or happy in return.
May you know today that you are wonderful.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Pooches and Prayers
What were your favourite cartoons when you were a child? Which shows did you make sure to catch? Perhaps you and I could say that there were shows that we watched almost religiously. They need not have been cartoons either. I will shamefully admit that I was one of the faithful who watched the escapades of Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski on Saved By The Bell, which was followed by California Dreams (I can still hear the theme song in my head.) For me, the “can’t miss’s” included TVO’s Fables of The Green Forest, Global’s Hammy Hamster, and the CBC’s Friendly Giant; oh yes, I even remember which networks they were on! When it came to cartoons, I was into, among others, Inspector Gadget, the Smurfs (until they started using magic crystals – then, as a Christian I stopped watching them,) and Scooby-Doo. It is to the hesitantly heroic hound that I will refer to a bit later on for inspiration. But I switch topics for a moment.
What do you think about prayer? Do you pray? If so, when do you pray? And to whom are you offering your prayers? Are they prayers of petition (i.e. “God, please help me to find a job,” “God, please help me to not look like an ass when I talk to that girl,” etc.) Maybe they are prayers of thankfulness (i.e. “Thank you for the new job,” “Thank you that my voice didn’t crack when I talked to that girl,” etc.) When you pray, do you expect someone to answer you?
I prayed a lot when I was growing up. To answer my own questions, firstly, I was praying to a God who, I believed, was a separate yet close being, someone who looked over the universe and my life and made alterations as he saw fit. Continuing, prayer was how God’s children stayed in communication with him. I thought that it was the proper thing to do to set aside a few minutes during my day to pray, as well as read the Bible. Of course, I often sucked at it, and before long my mind was wandering off thinking about baseball, or the next episode of Star Trek, or sex. Anyways, where was I? Oh ya. My prayers were about asking God to give me things, thanking him for things, and often asking for forgiveness for not measuring up to how I thought he wanted me to live. Did I expect an answer when I prayed? I was unsure about that. I thought that if you prayed long enough you’d have a better shot of getting the desired result. Back then, God bore a striking resemblance to Santa. If you made sure you were good, you’d receive good gifts in return. If you weren’t so good, you’d get either nothing, or a lump of coal.
Now let’s enter Scooby into the picture, though I’m kind of hesitant to do so. I used to get annoyed at how preachers always had to open up their sermon with a clever analogy or story. But…I continue.
You remember the adventures of Scooby-Doo, don’t you? There was Fred, Daphne, Velma (the librarian-type who might have been in the closet,) and of course Shaggy. Although Shaggy was the mop-topped character who was timid and could be spooked by pretty much anything, for our purposes in this piece, he is God. You remember how it went. The gang would venture out to solve some mystery, invariably they’d find themselves in trouble, and it was up to poor old Scoob to come to the rescue. However, before the pooch could actually do anything about it, he’d first have to go to Shaggy (or God) for some Scooby snacks. It was here that Scooby received his boldness, or power. From there he’d scurry off and save the day.
The good news that I want to share with you, something that I’ve been slow to learn, is that we have both Scooby and Shaggy within us. I believe that we have the source of everything we need – power, strength, courage, etc – right inside of us. I have no problem with prayer, I’ve even picked it back up after ceasing supplication for quite a long time. But now when I pray, it is not a plea for help from someone or something far away to come and give me something I do not have. Now when I pray I almost always sense that my prayers are going deeper, not higher. They are reaching within, not outside of myself. I am starting to realize that you and I have all the tools within ourselves, everything we need for a fulfilling life. I think of the Bible verse that says: “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness.” While I flagrantly take it out of its context, I find some truth in it.
Part of it has to do with how we view God. Rather than being a person separate from ourselves, God, I believe, is a being who lives within us and within everyone around us, no matter who we are. It’s just that so many of us are unaware.
I think that up to this point, life has been holding the back of our bicycle seat as we clumsily learn to ride. But it is urgently waiting for the day when we no longer need that security, when we can ride on our own. It doesn’t mean that we forget all the lessons we learned, but now we have the tools necessary to move ahead believing in our capabilities.
I believe that God does not want us to be needy. If we use the parent-child analogy that even the Bible employs, and God is our parent, well what do parents want? I could be wrong due to lack of experience, but I think that parents want their children to grow up and become strong, to be their own persons.
Giving up the idea that prayer is about asking for things that are foreign to us is tough stuff. One of the reasons for this is because it requires us to stop rejecting ourselves and begin to have faith in ourselves. Growing up, I thought that the object of our faith was God in Heaven. Now that I’m starting to see God in me, I suggest that when I believe in myself, I believe in God – they’re inseparable. Are we perfect? Of course not. But the problem is with realization rather than our natural state. What we require from others is not power or wellness or wholeness. We require only the encouragement to go deeper, to take the plunge, and find the answers within. Similarly, we truly help others when we encourage them to see themselves as they are – someone with God inside of them who can have the courage to be whoever they want to be. It’s sort of like the saying, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." We should never try to lead people to a state of dependency on something outside of themselves, but rather we should remind them of the power that is within them. I think that this is the main obstacle to changing our beliefs about prayer; there's a reluctance to actually believe in ourselves. Another reason though, is that people in positions of spiritual leadership may use prayer as a method of control. If you consistently tell those under your guidance that they are needy and dependant and that they must ask for help that lies outside of themselves, they buy into it (again, because of the lack of belief in themselves,) and they’ll keep looking to you for the answer.
Anyways, I certainly have a lot to learn about prayer. In the meantime, though, I pray that you and I will realize that we hold the limitless power of God within us.
What do you think about prayer? Do you pray? If so, when do you pray? And to whom are you offering your prayers? Are they prayers of petition (i.e. “God, please help me to find a job,” “God, please help me to not look like an ass when I talk to that girl,” etc.) Maybe they are prayers of thankfulness (i.e. “Thank you for the new job,” “Thank you that my voice didn’t crack when I talked to that girl,” etc.) When you pray, do you expect someone to answer you?
I prayed a lot when I was growing up. To answer my own questions, firstly, I was praying to a God who, I believed, was a separate yet close being, someone who looked over the universe and my life and made alterations as he saw fit. Continuing, prayer was how God’s children stayed in communication with him. I thought that it was the proper thing to do to set aside a few minutes during my day to pray, as well as read the Bible. Of course, I often sucked at it, and before long my mind was wandering off thinking about baseball, or the next episode of Star Trek, or sex. Anyways, where was I? Oh ya. My prayers were about asking God to give me things, thanking him for things, and often asking for forgiveness for not measuring up to how I thought he wanted me to live. Did I expect an answer when I prayed? I was unsure about that. I thought that if you prayed long enough you’d have a better shot of getting the desired result. Back then, God bore a striking resemblance to Santa. If you made sure you were good, you’d receive good gifts in return. If you weren’t so good, you’d get either nothing, or a lump of coal.
Now let’s enter Scooby into the picture, though I’m kind of hesitant to do so. I used to get annoyed at how preachers always had to open up their sermon with a clever analogy or story. But…I continue.
You remember the adventures of Scooby-Doo, don’t you? There was Fred, Daphne, Velma (the librarian-type who might have been in the closet,) and of course Shaggy. Although Shaggy was the mop-topped character who was timid and could be spooked by pretty much anything, for our purposes in this piece, he is God. You remember how it went. The gang would venture out to solve some mystery, invariably they’d find themselves in trouble, and it was up to poor old Scoob to come to the rescue. However, before the pooch could actually do anything about it, he’d first have to go to Shaggy (or God) for some Scooby snacks. It was here that Scooby received his boldness, or power. From there he’d scurry off and save the day.
The good news that I want to share with you, something that I’ve been slow to learn, is that we have both Scooby and Shaggy within us. I believe that we have the source of everything we need – power, strength, courage, etc – right inside of us. I have no problem with prayer, I’ve even picked it back up after ceasing supplication for quite a long time. But now when I pray, it is not a plea for help from someone or something far away to come and give me something I do not have. Now when I pray I almost always sense that my prayers are going deeper, not higher. They are reaching within, not outside of myself. I am starting to realize that you and I have all the tools within ourselves, everything we need for a fulfilling life. I think of the Bible verse that says: “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness.” While I flagrantly take it out of its context, I find some truth in it.
Part of it has to do with how we view God. Rather than being a person separate from ourselves, God, I believe, is a being who lives within us and within everyone around us, no matter who we are. It’s just that so many of us are unaware.
I think that up to this point, life has been holding the back of our bicycle seat as we clumsily learn to ride. But it is urgently waiting for the day when we no longer need that security, when we can ride on our own. It doesn’t mean that we forget all the lessons we learned, but now we have the tools necessary to move ahead believing in our capabilities.
I believe that God does not want us to be needy. If we use the parent-child analogy that even the Bible employs, and God is our parent, well what do parents want? I could be wrong due to lack of experience, but I think that parents want their children to grow up and become strong, to be their own persons.
Giving up the idea that prayer is about asking for things that are foreign to us is tough stuff. One of the reasons for this is because it requires us to stop rejecting ourselves and begin to have faith in ourselves. Growing up, I thought that the object of our faith was God in Heaven. Now that I’m starting to see God in me, I suggest that when I believe in myself, I believe in God – they’re inseparable. Are we perfect? Of course not. But the problem is with realization rather than our natural state. What we require from others is not power or wellness or wholeness. We require only the encouragement to go deeper, to take the plunge, and find the answers within. Similarly, we truly help others when we encourage them to see themselves as they are – someone with God inside of them who can have the courage to be whoever they want to be. It’s sort of like the saying, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." We should never try to lead people to a state of dependency on something outside of themselves, but rather we should remind them of the power that is within them. I think that this is the main obstacle to changing our beliefs about prayer; there's a reluctance to actually believe in ourselves. Another reason though, is that people in positions of spiritual leadership may use prayer as a method of control. If you consistently tell those under your guidance that they are needy and dependant and that they must ask for help that lies outside of themselves, they buy into it (again, because of the lack of belief in themselves,) and they’ll keep looking to you for the answer.
Anyways, I certainly have a lot to learn about prayer. In the meantime, though, I pray that you and I will realize that we hold the limitless power of God within us.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Us & Them
This is a piece of writing I shared at my birthday party on July 4, 2008.
We see examples of “us” and “them,” and examples of separation all the time, every day. Walk into any coffee shop in the city – and trust me I’ve been in a lot of them – and you’ll see people who are seemingly altogether different from the person standing in front of them in line. Some people are short; others are tall. One person is a school teacher; the other is mentally challenged. There’s white and black, Hispanic and Asian. One person is wearing a Jewish kippah; the other wears a hijab. He is straight; she is gay. One wears a suit; the other looks as if he hasn’t seen a bathtub in months.
One of the biggest things that I’ve been learning in the last couple of years is that even with all our differences, we are one with everyone around us. This makes us uncomfortable sometimes, because we would rather steer clear of those who are so obviously different than us. How many times have I crossed to the other side of the street just to avoid a homeless man begging for money? How often have we sat next to someone on the bus who wreaks of alcohol and discreetly shaken our heads as if to say “I’m glad I’m not like her.”
But what if we were able to see past the exterior and realize that underneath it all, there is a living soul that is very much like our own. Craving to live, craving to express, and longing to both give and receive love. How differently would we look upon and treat others if we started out of a profound realization of our commonalities with those we’ve up to this point simply labeled “different.”
When it comes to religion, I can think of no better purpose, no better cause for religious people to focus their energies on, besides enhancing the lives of others, than that of bringing people together and celebrating our unity in the midst of diversity.
There is a wonderful verse in the Bible that says that in light of Jesus, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one. All are accepted and God’s love is available to all. It’s a great verse, but it doesn’t quite go far enough.
Many of you know that my religious beliefs have changed over the course of the last few years. If you didn’t know, you probably sensed that when you got the invitation to this evening and saw it was being held at a Unitarian church.
I am very thankful for my upbringing in the Christian church. I grew up going to church and Sunday school on a regular basis, and in time was involved in my youth group and on music teams. I believed that in order to go to heaven when you died, you had to accept that you were a sinner, and believe that Jesus died for your sins, and ask him into your heart to be Lord and Saviour. I didn’t have much of a problem with this belief until near the end of my Bible college days, when several questions came up, such as the belief that only those who accept Jesus are saved, and that everybody else had eternal punishment coming to them.
I ultimately said goodbye to this belief, and for a few years removed myself from church altogether, but I still believed in something “More.” Gradually my concept of God changed, and I can say, along with author Howard Thurman, that: “It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew, Protestant nor Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, nor Moslem.” Our job is not to go into the world to convince those of other belief systems that ours is the right way, or that they need to become like us. The good news is that divine love is open to all, there is no “if” involved. “If” you can recite the creed in complete honesty, “if” you are a Christian, then you gain access to the love of God.” There is no “if.” My only job now is to learn to love and to be loved in return. Hell is not a place a person may go to when they die. People experience hell on a daily basis in this life, when they have lost sight of God’s love or don’t think they are worthy enough to receive it.
There is no need for separation between us and the neighbour we haven’t met, between us and the person on the other side of the world who lives in a shanty town and doesn’t have enough food or clothing. There doesn’t need to be an us and them, only a “we.” Also, there need not be a separation between ourselves and God. As Jesus was able to say that he and God were one, so we can say the same thing. We go through life asleep or unaware of our oneness with the divine, but it is there. The reason that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God is because it lives inside of us. So our job is not to bring some set of foreign doctrines to those of another faith. Our job is firstly to look inside ourselves and re-discover the goodness and love that is already there, and then to help those around us realize their unity with God.
In the last year and a half or so, I have been very fortunate to have found the Unitarian congregation, which has helped me to realize that people with widely different beliefs can come together and form a community, and also the Unity Centre, which teaches that we are one with everyone around us and we are one with God.
Finally, I think that maybe one reason why people tune religion or any talk about God out, is that religion and God are seen as being out of touch with day to day life, or are against most of the things that we enjoy doing. But as far as I’m concerned, each of us has God within us and the more we realize our own inner worth and goodness, the more we experience God. And if we are one with God, we can experience him…or her - at any time, no matter what we’re doing. While I am very glad to have found churches that teach things that I believe, you can experience God just as much when you’re planting a garden as you can while you’re praying in church, when you’re singing a hymn or raising a Heineken, when you’re listening to a sermon or having sex.
It is my hope tonight that you realize God’s love, which lives within yourself, and that we would all realize that we’re in this life together.
We see examples of “us” and “them,” and examples of separation all the time, every day. Walk into any coffee shop in the city – and trust me I’ve been in a lot of them – and you’ll see people who are seemingly altogether different from the person standing in front of them in line. Some people are short; others are tall. One person is a school teacher; the other is mentally challenged. There’s white and black, Hispanic and Asian. One person is wearing a Jewish kippah; the other wears a hijab. He is straight; she is gay. One wears a suit; the other looks as if he hasn’t seen a bathtub in months.
One of the biggest things that I’ve been learning in the last couple of years is that even with all our differences, we are one with everyone around us. This makes us uncomfortable sometimes, because we would rather steer clear of those who are so obviously different than us. How many times have I crossed to the other side of the street just to avoid a homeless man begging for money? How often have we sat next to someone on the bus who wreaks of alcohol and discreetly shaken our heads as if to say “I’m glad I’m not like her.”
But what if we were able to see past the exterior and realize that underneath it all, there is a living soul that is very much like our own. Craving to live, craving to express, and longing to both give and receive love. How differently would we look upon and treat others if we started out of a profound realization of our commonalities with those we’ve up to this point simply labeled “different.”
When it comes to religion, I can think of no better purpose, no better cause for religious people to focus their energies on, besides enhancing the lives of others, than that of bringing people together and celebrating our unity in the midst of diversity.
There is a wonderful verse in the Bible that says that in light of Jesus, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one. All are accepted and God’s love is available to all. It’s a great verse, but it doesn’t quite go far enough.
Many of you know that my religious beliefs have changed over the course of the last few years. If you didn’t know, you probably sensed that when you got the invitation to this evening and saw it was being held at a Unitarian church.
I am very thankful for my upbringing in the Christian church. I grew up going to church and Sunday school on a regular basis, and in time was involved in my youth group and on music teams. I believed that in order to go to heaven when you died, you had to accept that you were a sinner, and believe that Jesus died for your sins, and ask him into your heart to be Lord and Saviour. I didn’t have much of a problem with this belief until near the end of my Bible college days, when several questions came up, such as the belief that only those who accept Jesus are saved, and that everybody else had eternal punishment coming to them.
I ultimately said goodbye to this belief, and for a few years removed myself from church altogether, but I still believed in something “More.” Gradually my concept of God changed, and I can say, along with author Howard Thurman, that: “It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew, Protestant nor Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, nor Moslem.” Our job is not to go into the world to convince those of other belief systems that ours is the right way, or that they need to become like us. The good news is that divine love is open to all, there is no “if” involved. “If” you can recite the creed in complete honesty, “if” you are a Christian, then you gain access to the love of God.” There is no “if.” My only job now is to learn to love and to be loved in return. Hell is not a place a person may go to when they die. People experience hell on a daily basis in this life, when they have lost sight of God’s love or don’t think they are worthy enough to receive it.
There is no need for separation between us and the neighbour we haven’t met, between us and the person on the other side of the world who lives in a shanty town and doesn’t have enough food or clothing. There doesn’t need to be an us and them, only a “we.” Also, there need not be a separation between ourselves and God. As Jesus was able to say that he and God were one, so we can say the same thing. We go through life asleep or unaware of our oneness with the divine, but it is there. The reason that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God is because it lives inside of us. So our job is not to bring some set of foreign doctrines to those of another faith. Our job is firstly to look inside ourselves and re-discover the goodness and love that is already there, and then to help those around us realize their unity with God.
In the last year and a half or so, I have been very fortunate to have found the Unitarian congregation, which has helped me to realize that people with widely different beliefs can come together and form a community, and also the Unity Centre, which teaches that we are one with everyone around us and we are one with God.
Finally, I think that maybe one reason why people tune religion or any talk about God out, is that religion and God are seen as being out of touch with day to day life, or are against most of the things that we enjoy doing. But as far as I’m concerned, each of us has God within us and the more we realize our own inner worth and goodness, the more we experience God. And if we are one with God, we can experience him…or her - at any time, no matter what we’re doing. While I am very glad to have found churches that teach things that I believe, you can experience God just as much when you’re planting a garden as you can while you’re praying in church, when you’re singing a hymn or raising a Heineken, when you’re listening to a sermon or having sex.
It is my hope tonight that you realize God’s love, which lives within yourself, and that we would all realize that we’re in this life together.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old. For the first 20 some years of my life I considered myself a Christian. I grew up in Port Burwell and have lived in Kitchener, Ontario for approximately 10 years. I am a decent writer and singer. I like to read and write. I drink a lot of coffee. I pun a lot. Somewhere along the road I started listening to country music, and now that's almost all that I listen to. I like candles.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old. For the first 20 some years of my life I considered myself a Christian. I grew up in Port Burwell and have lived in Kitchener, Ontario for approximately 10 years.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old. For the first 20 some years of my life I considered myself a Christian.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old.
I am Mark Andrew Alward.
I am Mark Andrew.
I am Mark.
I am.
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It seems increasingly clear to me that life isn't about acquiring "stuff." This is fairly clear when it comes to material things, like clothes or music or other things that clutter up our apartments or homes. However, I think it is also applicable with spiritual things. I am seeing how the spiritual journey isn't primarily about acquiring new knowledge or adopting a new set of beliefs. I think the spiritual journey is more about the stripping off. From the time we enter this world, we start acquiring things, from the moment we are wrapped in our first blanket and handed to our mother. Then there's diapers, and clothing. As we grow older, we learn to deal with different life situations that come our way. We put up defense mechanisms to deal with negative environments. We mimic other people's actions to gain approval. We start buying clothes or music because so-and-so is cool, and, well, "they" wear those kind of clothes. Then we may adopt certain religious doctrines because we believe that we need to acquire something in order to be acceptable to God. We believe we are needy.
But then we come to a place where we realize that nothing outside of ourselves brings us true peace.
And that's where the stripping off begins. We cast aside the worth that we have placed on all the things and beliefs that we've acquired, and start realizing the miracle that we are not as needy as we thought. We start realizing our natural worth and beauty. The labels that we've acquired, whether positive ones such as "good speaker," "future pastor," "funny," or negative ones like "fat kid," "socially awkward," "weird," they all start falling off. We finally start realizing that the problem is forgetfulness, not that we are needy. We forget about our place within God. We have been ripped apart from our sense of wholeness. And so the answer is not to reach out and to demand that something or someone complete us. It is better to turn inward, and to realize that we already have everything we need inside of us.
No labels, and nothing external will do. Perhaps that is part of the message of God's supposed response to Moses when he asked God for his name. God didn't respond "I am Howard, son of Bob. I am ruler of the universe." God simply replied "I am that I am." God is complete within herself. Jesus was said to have caused an uproar when he stated to a crowd of inquirers that "Before Abraham was, I am." Jesus realized his place within the divine. When his followers ask him who he is, he returns the question. "Who do YOU say that I am?" He placed no labels onto himself. He knew at the core that he was one with God. That was a heresy that shocked those who heard him. But we must go one heresy further, and that is to boldly state our unity with God. Nothing else will do, no labels. I am one with the divine and so is every person that I see around me. Therefore I am one with everyone around me. Life is about stripping off all that we have clothed ourselves with, or that others have caked onto us, and realizing that everything we crave we already have. This realization calls for a radical boldness. My name may be Mark Andrew Alward. I may write and sing decently, I may (or may not) be able to tell a good joke. But "I am" not any of these things, no label fits. I am simply that I am. And when we use this as a starting point and realize our unity with God, everything starts to change.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old. For the first 20 some years of my life I considered myself a Christian. I grew up in Port Burwell and have lived in Kitchener, Ontario for approximately 10 years.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old. For the first 20 some years of my life I considered myself a Christian.
I am Mark Andrew Alward, and I am almost 30 years old.
I am Mark Andrew Alward.
I am Mark Andrew.
I am Mark.
I am.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems increasingly clear to me that life isn't about acquiring "stuff." This is fairly clear when it comes to material things, like clothes or music or other things that clutter up our apartments or homes. However, I think it is also applicable with spiritual things. I am seeing how the spiritual journey isn't primarily about acquiring new knowledge or adopting a new set of beliefs. I think the spiritual journey is more about the stripping off. From the time we enter this world, we start acquiring things, from the moment we are wrapped in our first blanket and handed to our mother. Then there's diapers, and clothing. As we grow older, we learn to deal with different life situations that come our way. We put up defense mechanisms to deal with negative environments. We mimic other people's actions to gain approval. We start buying clothes or music because so-and-so is cool, and, well, "they" wear those kind of clothes. Then we may adopt certain religious doctrines because we believe that we need to acquire something in order to be acceptable to God. We believe we are needy.
But then we come to a place where we realize that nothing outside of ourselves brings us true peace.
And that's where the stripping off begins. We cast aside the worth that we have placed on all the things and beliefs that we've acquired, and start realizing the miracle that we are not as needy as we thought. We start realizing our natural worth and beauty. The labels that we've acquired, whether positive ones such as "good speaker," "future pastor," "funny," or negative ones like "fat kid," "socially awkward," "weird," they all start falling off. We finally start realizing that the problem is forgetfulness, not that we are needy. We forget about our place within God. We have been ripped apart from our sense of wholeness. And so the answer is not to reach out and to demand that something or someone complete us. It is better to turn inward, and to realize that we already have everything we need inside of us.
No labels, and nothing external will do. Perhaps that is part of the message of God's supposed response to Moses when he asked God for his name. God didn't respond "I am Howard, son of Bob. I am ruler of the universe." God simply replied "I am that I am." God is complete within herself. Jesus was said to have caused an uproar when he stated to a crowd of inquirers that "Before Abraham was, I am." Jesus realized his place within the divine. When his followers ask him who he is, he returns the question. "Who do YOU say that I am?" He placed no labels onto himself. He knew at the core that he was one with God. That was a heresy that shocked those who heard him. But we must go one heresy further, and that is to boldly state our unity with God. Nothing else will do, no labels. I am one with the divine and so is every person that I see around me. Therefore I am one with everyone around me. Life is about stripping off all that we have clothed ourselves with, or that others have caked onto us, and realizing that everything we crave we already have. This realization calls for a radical boldness. My name may be Mark Andrew Alward. I may write and sing decently, I may (or may not) be able to tell a good joke. But "I am" not any of these things, no label fits. I am simply that I am. And when we use this as a starting point and realize our unity with God, everything starts to change.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Missionary Position
Okay, I couldn’t resist using this title for an article about religious missionary ventures. But let us begin.I still remember Shahila’s laughter. The time was during the summer about 13-14 years ago, and the place was a first nations reserve in eastern New Brunswick, in Canada’s Atlantic region. That summer, as well as on 3 or 4 other occasions, I along with about a dozen other teenagers and adults, traveled to the reserve and spent about a week and a half living there. We went to share our Christian faith. We spent much of our time holding Bible clubs with the children, and when we weren’t doing that, most of our time was spent just playing with the kids. The environment that many of them lived in contributed to many of the kids craving attention. We would walk around the reserve together. Often, the smaller kids – and sometimes not so small! – would climb on our backs and we’d continue on our way. There was one little girl particularly who stole my heart. Her name was Shahila and she must have been only 4 or 5 at the time. She climbed up onto my back and giggled as we walked around together. It is still a deeply cherished moment of my life.
So what is the point, or should be the point of missions?
From as far back as I can remember, I was taught that the only way to be connected with God was to be a Christian. My understanding of Christianity was that we were naturally sinful (which I thought of as being ‘bad’) people, and that since God (which I thought of as kind of a super man in the sky) couldn’t stand to be around sin, he set up ways that people could gain his acceptance, and be saved from eternal judgment and punishment. First, his people could attain favour through various laws and animal sacrifices (i.e. a lamb,) and then he sent his son, Jesus, to the earth to be the sacrifice, replacing those laws. If one simply believed that Jesus died and literally, physically rose from the dead, they were saved from judgment and given the assurance that one day when they died they would be in God’s presence, in a perfect heaven. Jesus was the only way to be connected to God.
Once a person believed these things, it became their responsibility to ‘pass it on,’ to tell others about the way to God. Words or phrases that I was familiar with and used to describe this act included witnessing or going on missions. I was fairly enthusiastic about mission work (although as a kid it could be difficult to stay enthused or awake when missionaries would come to speak at church and had pictures from far away lands.) When I went to Bible college, I enrolled in the missions program, thinking that perhaps one day I would be involved in mission work full-time. I thought I’d stay in Canada, though, thinking back on it, I should have considered somewhere farther away, like Zimbabwe. It’s a fun word to say, Zimbabwe is. Try saying it a few times…can you really be sad while saying Zim-bob-way…? Anyways, I digress.
What do I think of missions today? After all, I no longer believe that a super-man-type God in the sky sent his son down to be sacrificed for our sins. Nor do I believe that we are naturally unacceptable to God. God, to me, is not a person who turns his face away from you and I unless we accept a certain belief.
So what, if anything, should missions be all about? I believe that a good place to start in re-thinking the whole matter is to stop seeing life in ‘us’ and ‘them’ terms. I believe that everyone in existence is connected; we are part of the human family. Along with that, we must recognize that the people we previously may have wanted to introduce to God already contain truth within them. Combining these two thoughts, world mission is not about ‘us’ bringing the truth to ‘them.” It is not about us who are right correcting those who are wrong.
So what is salvation? I believe that it is about wholeness in this moment, rather than a guarantee for a heavenly afterlife. All around our towns and cities, all around our world there are broken people that are in need in some area of their life, whether that be physical, emotional, or psychological. People face a lack of food, abuse, disease, all sorts of things. Our responsibility is to help our brothers and sisters in their area of need. And I do not believe that one size fits all. Our job is not primarily to present a set of theological beliefs to someone. Why? I believe it is, again, because people are already connected with the divine. Indeed, I believe that each person has the light of the divine in them, and even that each of us is a unique expression of the divine. We are God in the flesh, living and breathing, whoever and wherever we are. The person next to me here at Starbucks looks unfamiliar to me, but he and I are made of the same stuff, and we are connected. This is new to me, (though I’ve suspected divinity in the barista’s here for some time now, because they make a heavenly vanilla soy latte.) :)
If people find wholeness and divinity within them through Christianity, then we should encourage that. And fundamentalism is not the only lens through which one can view and experience Christianity. Whichever religious beliefs help a person become more whole, they should be encouraged to follow them and see their life enriched and enhanced. I like how the Dalai Lama emphasizes that one should not convert to another religion if they are experiencing spiritual fulfillment through their traditional faith. But I doubt that Christianity, at least the fundamentalist view of it, is for everyone. For some, even many, embracing this Christianity might be like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. If a person has a real desire to paint, and it is a gift inside of them and a way of expressing themselves, you should buy them a brush and a canvass, don’t show up at their doorstep with power-tools or a guitar. If a person finds that another view of Christianity, or that Buddhism or Judaism helps them to see God within themselves, they should be encouraged to follow those paths.
Salvation needs to be a personal thing. If it does not ring true within yourself, it is not worth having. God is not someone separate from us, imposing truth on us. God is born in us and experiences life through our eyes and ears. Knowing God and knowing yourself are intimately linked, indeed, they are the same thing.
In conclusion, wherever you find yourself today, and whatever beliefs you cherish, may you know wholeness in this moment, and may we help others to be whole as well. And from my viewpoint tonight in a coffee shop in Uptown Waterloo, that is the missionary position.
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