Mars Hill Church (U-District Campus - Seattle) - October 31st 2010

          Mars Hill Church is a Church that I have heard a lot about. It's pretty young, currently going on it's fourteenth year of existence since Pastor Mark Driscoll founded it. The Church has grown quickly and has expanded all over Washington State. What are the beliefs of Mars Hill and what was their service that I attended on Halloween like?

     First I want to describe the feeling of the U-District Campus of Mars Hill. The Church was a mixture of old and new. There were stain glass windows and from the outside the Church looked like a Chapel. Once inside though, it was much more modern. There was a large screen from which Driscoll's sermons were posted and lyrics for songs. It was like being in a Church mixed with a movie theatre. The Church quickly filled up and I understood why in the announcements they were splitting the 10 o' clock service into a 9am and 11:15am service to make the building a no longer a fire hazard. There were mostly young people in the audience and the one guitarist in charge of music was one of my friends from High School.

     The beliefs of Mars Hill are more in line with Calvinism. God's love plays a part, but God's judgment is one of the large themes. The rode to Heaven is seen as a narrow road, and any bit of straying from the Bible and Jesus is the road to Hell without confession of disobeying the Bible. I disagree with this perspective since I think the essence of the Bible gets lost in the dogma. I do think it is one of the roads to living virtuously though. Even though I think that path is not a path for many people, including myself...and it is a path that has been used to abuse power and oppress in the past and the present.  

     The church was very much built upon the Pastor who had founded it. Though there was a Pastor the U-District Mars Hill Church, we would not be hearing him preach. The other Churches were the support for Mark Driscoll's pulpit. This reminded me of the early Churches  in the United States during the Great Awakening and Second Great Awakening which were built around the personalities, perspectives and charisma of their leaders. In that way Pastor Driscoll functions like a modern day Joseph Smith. I don't like this very much because it becomes a suppression of ideas when only one person's ideas control what a book full of myth and mysteries holds. The mysteries like in any story, are there to be discovered, and revealed, not to be controlled.
 
       The sermon that we watched televised by Pastor Mark Driscoll was about bullying and how to defeat bullies (not giving them power) and how a person will go to Hell for an Eternity if they do not accept Jesus as their savior. Which was how he defined "blasphemy to the Holy Spirit." I found the sermon about bullying prevelant and good. I saw how it applied to many situations and of the importance of standing up for oneself and beliefs.
       The part about Hell also made sense as far as Pastor Driscoll's interpretation of Jesus's word meant too. I disagree with it, cause I believe any person believer or non-believer can live virtuously, even if they will always be messing up. Accountability to self and those you love be it God, family and friends is something that goes beyond Christianity and is part of living virtuously.

       This was my first Hellfire sermon. For a hellfire sermon though, it was pretty chill. The theme of religious bullying applies to Mars Hill as it does to any group...and I hope Pastor Driscoll realizes that. Any person who believes that their interpretation is the world of God is setting themselves up to be a bully. As was said during the sermon "Relationship with God is personal." Which I see as applying to all religions and their relationship to the Divine and their quests for Virtue. Any leader can be a bully in any organization, and that's what any group no matter what religion they are, needs to watch out for.

    At the end there was a call by the Pastor for anyone who wanted to be saved to come forward during communion. Like Generation Church I watched the many faces pass me by and was happy for them. They have found a way to be accountable to God and themselves as I have found mine. I was blessed to visit and I was grateful for the sermon shown and attending the Church with my friend Sarah.

  

Evergreen Hillel (Evergreen State College, Olympia) - Shabbatluck - October 22nd 2010

      What is Shabbat? Shabbat is the seventh day of the jewish week and the day of rest in Judaism. Ah, Shabbat, I have so many memories on this day. Days with my adopted family celebrating each others existence. I remember celebrating Shabbat after service at Bet'Alef Synagogue and I remember the first of week school this year celebrating my first Shabbatluck with Evergreen Hillel.

   Shabbat really is a time of community. The prayer that is said is gratitude for bread and wine and after those prayers it is interaction and getting to know people. Today getting to know people started earlier. I talked to one of the coordinators Ben for a while about the summer and then other people started arriving.  We all talked about past schools and Evergreen. It was awesome and I made more friends.

      Last Shabbatluck I felt disconnected after the prayers since there were to many people. Whenever there is a lot of noise and people my body gets fatigued. This Shabbatluck was small, so the fatigue didn't come.I was grateful for the delicious food, for the old friends present and for making new friends.

     Ben did the prayer on the candles and the bread. Then we all ate and talked about life and school. The food was delicious and the company was good. I didn't ask any questions about people's personal faith, and what their religion means to them, but I plan on doing so. Today was about one of the most important parts of religion, gratitude and the community.

Saint James Cathedral (Seattle) - Taizé - October 15th 2010

      What is Taizé?  Taizé was created as an ecumenical Christian Order...meaning it was an order that is made up of Protestants and Catholics. It was created in France by Frère Roger who was feeling saw what France was going through after World War 2 and though it was struck by poverty and suffering but great inner freedom. This lead to his founding of the Ecumenical order of Taizé also called the Taizé Community.

    This Friday I would attend Taizé for the second time in my life. This time it would be with my girlfriend and our friend Kyle.  My experience of Taizé was me falling asleep. I was in early high school and chants...well, chants, heat and a crowded large room, and no intellectually stimulating discussion usually means I would shut down.

    I have changed a lot since then. I still enjoy the good sermons, and I will always be one for discussions. It's why I made discussions such a major part of the blog (I promise to post more)! What about silence though? Music without anyone telling you what to believe? It was around late sophomore year, to Junior of High School where I would discover how much these moments mean to me. It's in the silence we discover more about ourselves and the world. The music, scripture reading (which is done at Taizé) are the essence of discovery in silence and embracing the internal mystery of the self and the universe.

   Initially the service was disconcerting...I was expecting a sermon or a Mass since it was in a Cathedral. So arriving to music and discovering there was no Priest or sermon and that it was music, prayer and silence was a huge surprise. I soon discovered "The Body of Christ" and "The Faces of God" during the course of Taizé when I embraced the experience.

     As the three of us sung, behind me I could hear an old couple singing off tune. Around me were people from all over Seattle who each sung with a difference voice full of passion (if off key). The off key singing added so much more to the angelic singer whose melodic voice pierced the Cathedral and cut through to the soul.

    I didn't see anything fantastic like mythical beings...I saw people. At one point the figurine of a Byzantine style painted Jesus was brought down from the altar. People bowed and kissed the symbol. I felt awkward at first, but when I went up...I looked beyond the symbol...at what it meant in that moment.

    "I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me."  in Matthew 25: 33-40

   What it meant for me as I looked at the painting was seeing Everyone's face that came to mind, Christian or No. I know it's not how the "Body of Christ" is traditionally seen. But, I figure if there is a Higher Power out there, It would be looking out for everyone, and therefore all would be a part of it. The people I know are virtuous overall (family, friends, Love), and I think that capacity can exist within everyone.  If there is something that is the essence of the Good and a part of humans out there, I hope it would recognize that too, and see Itself in all It's creations.

    Talking with my girlfriend and Kyle afterwords was amazing. I hope to attend another Taizé worship again in the future.

      

The Problem of Evil - Greeners 4 Christ, Evergreen State College, Olympia - October 12th 2010

        What is the Problem of Evil in regards to the existence of God? The classic argument is: If God is all powerful and all good he would prevent all the evil in the world from occurring. From this premise God is then either: All powerful but not good or all good but not all powerful. This is the classic argument and that was the argument the Campus Minster Greg was answering with Christianity and the Bible as a response to the claim.

     Before the Christian response was brought up, the establishment of there being Good in the world was established in the forms of love, beauty, and from what I gleaned virtues. Through the good and evil of humanity being recognize, I saw the full human experience given recognition.

    The group who came was small. I was one of five people. There were Alex and Ariel who I have done Comparative Religion Contracts with Greg as my co-sponsor. I've enjoyed discussion with them. The other two people were Sandy from Beijing and another student whose name I can't remember. 

   After Greg had established the premise of the Problem of Evil in relation to God there was a break in which music was played by Alex. It was worship music I've heard at other Churches but felt more powerful since the group was so small. I noticed again how much worship songs sounds like love songs...replace God with someone's name and you have a romantic song being sung to someone you love, which is what worship is built upon, love.

    After the music we read John 14 where Jesus tells his apostles he is going to the Father to set up a place for them in the Kingdom. He will always be with them through the Holy Spirit, which will be internal and inside of them. It's in this passage that there is "No one comes to the father except through me." This quote is actually one of the things I find limiting as far as the love not being unconditional and being limited. I'll get to that later though.

      My friends discussed their experiences of feeling the Holy Spirit. Like in Church and during prayer and experiencing the peace that Jesus promises to give to his people in John 14. I could relate moments that I've had with family, friends or in different religious communities, like mosques, gurudwaras, synagogues and churches and especially when with girlfriend.

      In the end the answer to the Thesis is that God chooses not to destroy Evil in the world because it is up to us to accept God and destroy the evil in ourselves so that we can reach Him and the Good at the end. He wouldn't be good if he took away choice. We experience trials and suffering in order to grow and become virtuous. In doing so, we are always striving for the good to become a part of it.

     This could work to an extent, but it discounts those who live virtuously and those who never heard of Jesus during, before and after his existence. Which in the end make the choice existing in the first place not entirely good since other good individuals' goodness does not matter because they don't believe the exact definition of God that John 14 gets at, I find this not loving or fair since there are so many virtuous people of different faiths and virtuous atheists and agnostics.

      Suffice to say the exploration of different people and leaders within Christianity's thoughts on this question will allow me to explore the different interpretations on this question more...and see if the dilemma of those who were never given a choice and the virtuous people aren't who aren't Christian is answered. There are other questions to, but this goes along with the exploration of the theme of "The Problem of Evil" in regards to Christianity.

     I was grateful to make new friends and get to know old friends as well as getting to experience their faith with them. 

    

Prince of Peace Catholic Newman Center (University of Washington - Seattle) October 3rd 2010

      What can I say about the University of Washington Catholic Newman Center? I have so many mixed memories there. I've volunteered in the 9pm Choir for 2 quarters. I've made friends with the community. I've heard sermons that have made me want to leave and others that went beyond Christianity in their content. I've made friends with some of the priests, experienced visions, and shared countless unforgettable moments with my girlfriend here. 

     Before I get into the bittersweetness of my visit this day, I need to state my biases upfront. Most of you already know how anti-hierarchy I am when it comes to God, especially when the hierarchy is unequal in leadership and completely male dominated. I could write an entire book on everything I disagree with the Catholic Church on (like I could with most Conservative or Orthodox faiths). For a very brief list though, the fact that women serve under priests, even if they've fully devoted themselves to God, homosexuality being seen as a sin, and irresponsibility in regards to stopping the spread of AIDS and STDs trouble me. These are part of the list for my own personal disagreements with the Church...which you will find mirror my disagreements with other religions as well.

    The things I like about Catholicism are the mystery and symbols. This is an essential in all religions and especially prevalent in Catholicism. This is expressed in the Eucharist, the Trinity and the ritual. This is part of religion in which I experience imagination and feel something. A fully intellectual faith becomes nothing more than a poor classroom experience. It's in the myths that the magic happens. The other essential part of religion is the people. The people are why it exists. I came to the service with my girlfriend and her cousin and had an amazing time with both of them just being present during the service. 
       The Priest's sermon was about the importance of doubt and how all that's needed is a mustard seed of faith in order to achieve great things. The reading was from the story in which Jesus says the same thing to his apostles when they ask him to make their faith stronger. I found this to be a good liturgy. People need to question and doubt in order to understand what they believe. It's in doubt that we come to know what is that matters to us and what we do have faith in. This was one of the better services I have heard in a while in my visits.

    After Mass I talked to a man; I don't have permission to use his name so I will call him "The Man." The man was a Church Apologist. He believed the Church had done nothing evil throughout history and that the leaders of the Church were greater than other human beings in their time periods. When I brought up basic history he talked about conspiracy theories against the Catholic Church, apparently standard World History is Anti-Catholic in his eyes. He wasn't willing to admit the Church's persecution of minority religious groups when it was in power.
    The discussion took another horrifying turn when I brought up persecution against Muslims in the United States. He brought up conspiracy theorists about Muslims wanting freedom to worship in America as a Trojan Horse to conquer the United States, since "Islam has always been spread by the sword."
    He's also a faith healer and exorcist. How he holds himself is with humility and kindness...he was an old man...but his words and beliefs towards even his other brothers under God (Muslims...I fear what The Man thinks about the Jews, well he thinks the Inquisition wasn't all that bad) was horrifying.

   What does this mean for the state of the world if we can't even admit the wrongs of the institutions we believe in? If we can't be honest about our mistakes and go about demonizing others and making them devils what does that do except destroy freedom of religion and tolerance towards faiths, atheists and agnostics?

    Today's visit was bittersweet. I experienced the best and worst of people in the Mass and discussion. The ideas of love are embraced while at the same time, when mixed with nationalism and fear becomes a monster that sees itself as pure, when in fact it is a weapon against love and compassion that exists in all faiths.

    After today I will be interviewing followers as well as leaders. A religion only exists because of the people. All of its people.

Chabad of Olympia: The Jewish Cultural Center - Festival of Sukkot, Shabbat - September 24th 2010

       What is the Jewish Holiday of Sukhot? Sukhot is the festival in which God embraces the people, after they've confessed their sins on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. At Evergreen I would pray in the four directions and up and down with the Lulav as Jews were doing around world, in the Evergreen Sukkot. The Lulav is made 3 different types of plants (myrtle, willow, and citron) and also includes a lemon. The Lulav's existence has Biblical basis in Leviticus where God orders the lulav's use on the holiday of Sukkot.   

      Two of the coordinators of Evergreen Hillel drove me to Chabad of Olympia. Once there I helped set up the tables and the Sukhot dinner. Over the course of the day I came to know them as friends.  

     I was welcomed, but I don't think religion and ethnicity combined has helped the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in any way. If anything, it's the reason behind it. You have two peoples who believe they are entitled to the land because of God's will. When you are enacting will of God, anything is worth dying for God's name (at least according to all the martyrs of history). When ethnicity and religion are combined it's easier to have an in-group - out-group mentality, which is the basis behind conflict. It's harder to kill someone who is just like you. But you can kill someone who is an "other."

      Our differences can be great things though. I don't agree with all religions traditions, but I have seen many people find fulfillment and make a difference within in these traditions. Tradition were what I experienced there with the Hasidic Orthodox community of Chabad of Olympia.
   
        I took part in the prayers and songs before and during when we moved to the Sukhot. Afterwords the coordinators of Evergreen Hillel and I talked with the Rabbi about Judaism, Hasidicism and Kaballah.

       Hasidicism is a mystic orthodox tradition that was founded in 1740 by Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer in answer to Jewish legalistic tradition.  I hope to learn more about this specific Judaism. What I discovered that night was the sexes are separated so both of them can be fully focused on God while the Rabbi preaches (I do think this is necessary in any faith, I can understand the want for people to be focused on the prayers and connecting to God though). I also learned that Judaism gave up animal sacrifices around the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Prayers, then became the sacrifice during worship. Orthodox judaism is also the only Judaic tradition in which women cannot become rabbis. The justification I heard was that women are closer to God because they were made from creation (made from Adam) while men need rules,structure and a group in order to be close to God. Women receive that closeness to God by virtue of being women. 

   I have much to learn about the many faiths I will be exploring. Each visit and conversation is another chance to explore the tip of iceberg and beyond of what each religion believes, and through those discoveries more on what it means to be human.