Saint Michael Parish is a beautiful Church. I mean this in every sense of the world. I have never been to a Church that held such a diversity of age, cultural backgrounds, and even decorations around the Chapel with a mixture of Christmas decorations still up, an angel on a tapestry and figures varying in size throughout the Church.
I came with my girlfriend and we both came out the service feeling hope and uplifted. The service was about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and how baptism and being reborn through baptism is a call to action as the Father described it. Now for me this action goes directly against some of the doctrine of the papacy given that I think that Gay Marriage is moral right and that it's unethical that women cannot become priests. I mentioned after to my girlfriend that, "I would probably make a good Episcopal," for some of the reasons I just mentioned.
Regardless of the many issues where the Catholic Church and I differ, the message still stands of the call to virtue and goodness and what baptism means still stands. It means remembrance, it means a swearing or covenant to live anew or renewing a promise already made. This is something any person can do, since all of us changing all the time and life provides opportunities to grow and change. For Judaism it's the covenant God made with the people, for Christianity Jesus is the New Covenant and for Islam God's covenant is revealed through Muhammad. Every one of the major religions be they Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews or others have that reminder and that call to be better and to live with virtue.
Today in Church I got that reminder through Catholicism and remembering what baptism means...in time I hope I won't need a reminder...that it will always come naturally. But that time is not now and I very blessed to have been reminded that day in the beautiful Saint Michael Parish.
The Children of Abraham Research Thesis. This project is my goal for my final time here at the Evergreen State College. Over break I read tons of books on Interfaith and how to create successful dialogue between people of different backgrounds who are in conflict with one another. This project is an exploration of faith. What a Christian, Muslim or Jew is differs depending on who you are talking too...but there are common beliefs that all share and each claim Abraham as the father of their faith.
Throughout time we have seen individuals within these groups persecute and kill one another in the name of the God who made a covenant with their forefather. History is littered with atrocities committed in the name of God by all these faiths and today it is still done.
In this project I will be interviewing members of the faiths as well as taking surveys of people who I am unable to schedule interviews with. The questions will deal with how each individual sees faith playing a role in their life, what role that faith informs virtue and what Interfaith (respect and dialogue towards members of different faiths) plays a role in their religion.
Also part of the project is up-keeping the blog. I'll be visiting all the Abrahamic faiths largely, but I will also be visiting other religions as well. So I'll continue to post my faith visits. What discussions I post in here will not be in relationship to the survey questions and will be specifically for the blog. Since the survey is a questionnaire and interview, not a discussion.
This is my final quarter at the Evergreen State College and my goal with this project is to build bridges of understanding and respect between the faiths I'm studying and the people whose stories are told. I am hoping to further Interfaith dialogue, peace and understanding with the completed project. May peace be with you and God bless you all.
Eastshore Unitarian Church. I have so many memories in this place. It was here that my the Interfaith (Youth Exploring Spirituality - Unitarian) Organization was made and where I had my first community in Washington. I had my Coming of Age here and traveled to Romania where I made so many friends and have many mentors in the Church. This Church taught me so much. But I didn't sign the book, and don't think I could ever call myself a member. There is so much I agree with in regards to the philosophy and ideals of the Church.
The Church affirms: Love is the doctrine of this church. The quest for truth is its sacrament, And service is its prayer. To dwell together in peace, To seek knowledge in freedom, To serve humanity in fellowship, Thus do we covenant
These are ideals I support.
It took an invitation though, to return and visit the Church. My friend who also used be Mormon like me came with her Mom and it was great catching up with her about college. The sermon was about accountability and how Unitarian Universalism values played into accountability. The reading was a letter that Garrison Kealer had written as character in his radio show in which a man holds himself accountable to his wife for how he wasn't aware of his daughter and his jealousy towards her friend who she had dated at one point. It fit with my theme of virtue being outside a belief in God.
Now, the reason I never joined the Church and don't feel I could. Politics. Even if your Church functions as a Democracy, corruption and jealousy still happen. Hell, we see this in the debate between Republicans and Democrats. There will always be fear and resistance to new ideas and change. Interfaith in Eastshore Unitarian Church was that change. My Mom who founded the Interfaith movement in the Church was isolated by leaders in the Church who saw the movement and the youth visiting different faiths as threatening, as well as Mom's charisma. Even a liberal church can be as close minded in regards to change as a conservative church. It's in those moments that values get forsaken. When a people feel threatened they commit evil...we see this in the Middle East and in conflicts all over the world. It's in times like this that we are given the chance to stand by the values that make us who we are and define us. To stand up for virtue. No leaders in the Church did that, and I never signed the books because of it. This was when I became fully disenfranchised with organized religion. The same essential problems I saw with all the big faiths in their most conservative, traditionalist expressions was expressed in the Eastshore Unitarian Church. The after affects of the Interfaith Movement among the youth died when my Mom left and none of the youth who I went to youth group and YES-U with attend the Church anymore.
I think the Unitarian Universalism Church is a great church for anyone believes in virtue and it's in the Unitarian Universalist faith where Agnostics, Theists, Deists, Atheists and more work side by side for improving the world. The thing to remember though is it's just as open to corruption as any other organization and that like any religion...your experience is what you make of it. I wouldn't trade any of my memories or friendships from the Church, and I will visit it again the future...but I cannot join. Whether you're religious or not, please remember to live with virtue.
One of the reasons that I do this blog is because of the friendships and connections that I create in my exploration and journey through the different ways of honoring a greater power or higher ideal. Today was no exception. This afternoon I had the pleasure of talking to Pastor Ryan from Our Savior Lutheran Church.
The conversation began with us sharing our backgrounds of how we ended up where we are in our faiths. Pastor Ryan grew up a Nazarene which was historically more puritanical in it's beliefs of not dancing and similar practices being seen as taboo. It rose out of the holiness movement of John Wesley. John Wesley is known through sanctification of every Christian and bearing witness to the Holy Spirit in people's lives. The Church of the Nazarene is a Methodist denomination which rose out of opposition to the clergy of the Church of England. The "Don't ask, don't tell" aspect and tabooness to dancing and things like it in the modern Nazerene church turned him away from the Nazarene faith and to Lutheranism.
We talked about the conflicts that come up in miscommunication between people and how tied it is to culture as well as religion and the difficulty of getting past surface level in regards to solving conflict but keeping peace.
We also talked about understanding and how our families are all over the political spectrum and how we differ from some of members of our family in religion and politics but that it has no affect on how much we love them.
We talked about confession in regards to faith when I brought up that I think breaking past the levels of small talk or similarities is taking responsibility for one's faith and one's faiths mistakes as well as one's own mistakes. We talked about Luther's bitterness and anti-antisemitism and the wrongness with that and how all religions and people have played the role of persecuted and persecutor. It was wonderful to talk about it and I hope more leaders will do so, healing can only happen by recognizing past and current mistakes, only then can healing happen with the forgiveness afterwords.I think confession is one of the most beautiful parts of faith but is needed in a larger context. In the Interfaith conversations that need to be had, or conversations between people who have conflict with one another...accountability is needed so that people can heal and become better individuals and cease to "Other"ing one another.
I believe in the virtue that is that the core of every religion and that every religion calls their members to be accountable and to live with love and charity towards one another. I hope I can bring that out in my quest for bringing peace between faiths and people who are in conflict.
Pastor Ryan talked about his faith and Christ being ever present in people's lives. It was from this presentness that the stories in the Bible have meaning beyond their mythic and in some cases historical basis. For me this is the virtue that is in all of us that we are capable of. Whether it's through belief and relationship with whatever form God is to a person, or simply noticing ones actions in every day life and choosing to live right action...this is what I believe in. I believe in living virtuously and that God can help develop that virtue. I also believe it is possible to develop virtue in oneself without belief in a God.
I was grateful to have been able to talk to Pastor Ryan and develop the friendship and look forward to more talks and hanging out in the future.
Christmas. I must out of all the holidays my family celebrates it's the holiday filled with the most memories. Whether it was Christmas in New York City, growing up in Utah, Two Michigan Christmases and the Christmases here in Washington.
What does Christmas mean to me? I think the thing it has consistently meant to me is love. Whether it's the story and mythos behind an omnipetant deity becoming a human baby, the sharing of love with family, friends and girlfriend.
I wish the spirit of love and giving that comes and Christmas was more then just once a year though. Service is something that I need to be better and improve myself in. There are so many problems in the world...both family, friends and strangers.
I think the message of Christmas is that service and sacrifice is something greater then a single event or holy day (holiday). It is something that matters in what we do every day and how we treat others and ourselves. So far all who celebrate Christmas. A very merry belated Christmas to you.
