New Becoming

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 ...

Alright...I admit it. I can be negative sometimes. There I said it. Confession can be good for the soul. If you've noticed the negative bent in my blog posts, I won't deny it. Maybe I'm using a blog to vent some frustrations and to learn how to become more positive. I don't have any trouble being positive at work. I enjoy counseling others through their fears and low moments in life. I can see their progress and celebrate the journey with them. What I am falling prey to is the negativity bias. It is a human leaning toward finding the drama or flair in that with which we disagree. Saying what I don't believe in is easier than saying what I do believe in. In fact, I can sniff out religious propaganda faster than a televangelist can ask for money "in the name of the Lord"! But this hair trigger can lead me down a very negative path. My hope is to become less charged by the negativity I see in Western religion and right-wing politics so I can evaluate ...

I remember a bumper sticker from my childhood that read simply "Question Authority". At the time I was all about "toeing the line" or following the rules, so I would scoff in my small mind at how unruly the driver of that car must be. I remain just as quick as anyone to put others in boxes with very little information and with very little time having passed in getting to know them (or just avoid them). These boxes are our brains' way of categorizing for understanding. So to some extent it is natural and helpful. As a counselor, I attempt to refrain from placing my clients in tiny boxes. Luckily, I get to ask my clients any and all questions pertaining to their concerns so I learn a lot about their minds and how they process information often in a relatively short period of time. Maybe that's why I'm not very social at parties. I make an effort to NOT counsel others when they aren't seeking it, so other social interactions can seem empty or shallo...

Once in a while I'll be doing book reviews of new releases by authors who are in the process of becoming like I am. I want to honor their efforts toward illuminating a higher consciousness of what it means to be spiritual in a search for God. This week I read The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Jesus by Tripp Fuller. It's clear he's got a passion for both small-batch beer and God-knowledge as he "...provide[s] ingredients for [readers] to brew their own faith." He intersperses his evolving brand of theology including ideas from current and past leaders in Christianity with cheeky quotes from four Church iconic roles: The Deacon, The Elder, The Bishop, and The Acolyte. Tripp Fuller wrestles with the labels of skeptic and believer stating they both live within us. He's all for asking questions of our faith to address our doubts much like our Jewish fathers asked for millennia before us. He also addresses the language of Christianity by creating a new com...

My process of becoming is not limited to my spiritual life. I want to become more integrated into a social and growing cultural structure that I don't trample with a large environmental footprint. Several aspects of my life collided in the last year to make bicycles rise to a much higher priority level. First, my wife and I have friends who are bicycle nuts. And I mean that in the most loving way! They just finished their second bike tour in Europe. Their first was in Denmark and more recently they circled The Netherlands. They lived in Traverse City, Michigan and they embraced the in-town lifestyle by having only one car and biking to complete errands and for fun. We rode with them a couple of times and the feeling of freedom that I felt in going at my own pace while taking in my surroundings was good for my mind and my soul. Second, my wife and I were fortunate enough to travel to a bucket-list destination in the summer of 2014 to Sweden. It is a country that we were drawn to...