New Becoming

There is a deep well of knowledge that not everyone knows how to access. Some who access it have no want to share it with others. Some share about the knowledge but they don't share the knowledge itself. Few find the knowledge. Fewer are willing and able to give true knowledge. To find knowledge one must be patient and willing to listen. One must be willing to keep following the path once the seeking begins. For when the seeking begins the finding begins. The found is a myth of the ego. Only finding has value to those who seek true knowledge. To gain knowledge one must be agile and steadfast. Knowledge is not a statue carved of stone. Knowledge is the stone in the path that you trip on. In tripping there is finding. Seeing a little of the stone invites one to see more. One's hunger for knowledge makes one dig the stone out of the path no matter how big it is. The best knowledge is both accessible and hidden in plain sight. To give knowledge one must be open and que...

While Trinity is not named in the Bible, it has been named by saints and mystics through the ages as they tapped into the Flow personified as God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Richard Rohr explores this and other three-in-one concepts as a modern mystic in his book, The Divine Dance. Rohr seems to elevate spirituality by tearing down institutional walls and rebuilding the idea of God through inner experience. He remains gracious by including himself in the missteps of religion through the millennia although he has clearly grown beyond many of its faults. One of the things that sets Rohr apart from many of his religious counterparts is his emphasis on embracing mystery. Mystery "is something that you can endlessly understand." Exposing these ideas aids postmodern seekers in loosening their possible death grip on fundamental religious traditions that may have broken free from Truth. Rohr's level of research is apparent as he smatters the text with quotes from ancient mysti...

I was peering through my kitchen window this morning watching the eastern light begin to illuminate our wooded valley when a bird flew by. It was on its way to warm itself from a cool, and hopefully, peaceful night. Its whole world is the forest near my home. I don’t think about that whole world, or the worlds of others, often enough. I am concerned with filling the holes in my world. There is a selfishness that pervades our postmodern world. There is an entitlement that hides under personal freedoms and fear. These societal ills procreate largely due to poor communication. If I say what I feel or think, what I have done or want to do, I will be condemned. My philosophical hole is more important than your whole. There are several steps we have taken on this path that lead to darkness. I need to take care of myself first. The good thing is that more people are willing to admit they have a hole or a whole bunch of holes. This admission allows us to refocus on the problem and not othe...

"Unchurching: Christianity without Churchianity" is a new book by Richard Jacobson. He seeks to "...paint a picture of the church without filtering the text through the lens of man-made tradition" as well as compare the modern church to the ancient church, and look at church "outside the box and discuss how to make the transition. Unfortunately, the book starts off so doctrinal and full of Biblical literalism that it's difficult to stay engaged long enough to hear how to "unchurch". Jacobson seems to miss the fact that Genesis is a poem. He mentions odd Biblical translations of words but not the textual fallibility that goes with the translations. The book ignores many of the subversive ideals of today's church and gets bogged down in the centuries-old debates of sexism and church leadership that have no bearing on the church outside of stuffy fundamentalism. There is a good recognition of the growing importance of the Trinity in the boo...

2015 was a year of further depth for me personally. On the fleshly side, I found that friendships ebbed and flowed, a new job lead to an intellectual flourishing, and a renewed blossoming in my marriage. On the spiritual side, an unburdening of material possessions, deciding to plan for and transition to a simpler lifestyle, and more readings on exploring my own path toward an open spirituality with the help of some eastern traditions revitalized my overall view of life. I look forward to more of the same in the coming year. More specifically, my goals for this year (goals, because resolutions are so temporary!) include ideas encapsulated in the acronym: MY COW. Uninterestingly, the acronym has nothing to do with the goals. They are: Meditation practice twice weekly Yoga practice twice weekly Churning Class (teaching about travel hacking 6 times/year) Ogham (a board game I created that I hope to produce) Writing informally twice monthly All of these pursuits will have overton...

We consider the shoehorn and the shoe. Sometimes we forget that the foot is the most important part of the equation. Erin S. Lane writes of her longstanding disillusionment with the church in her book, Lessons in Belonging: From a Church-going Commitment Phobe. Her stories seem to reflect a shoehorn attitude that attempts to make a small church shoe fit her expanding foot. She seems to feel stuck in a hierarchy of religious tradition that doesn't make sense to her and that she tries to stay stuck in anyway. Her search feels empty as long as it includes religion and the church. Erin's questions and journey seem representative of her generation that won't stand by and believe what their parents believed. This questioning leads to a healthy belief system that makes sense to the individual who formulated it. Erin tells enjoyable, personal stories that describe her internal spiritual struggle to be real when the church seems sheltered in its tired, old ways. She seems to ...