What a great service there was today. First, it was a pretty full Saturday, many more people where there than one of the Holy Days. The age range was all over the place, though there were many older folks. The music was the thing that stood out the most, besides the sermon which I will get into later. The music was sung by three women and was one of the best traditional church music I have heard, especially when they sang the psalm, "The Lord is my Shepard," Which was also the theme of the Mass.
The readings leading up to the sermon were about Peter and how Jesus is the messiah and is there for those who seek him. Later was the reading about Jesus making allusions to being the Shepard and the Pharisees being thieves in the fold.
What was taken from the readings by the priest was that Jesus is there for those who need him. He didn't take the tact of seeing outsiders and unbelievers as thieves in the fold, which was how an Evangelical church called Blue Sky I went to years ago interpreted it. This fit in with the loving compassionate Jesus that honestly is the one I wish we would see more of in the world.
What I mean by this is what each person believes God or Jesus wants is different...just like the Bible. Each person interprets it in their own way because there isn't a physical entity that can be judged. We're going off the words of the past and the words of priests and pastors. From that though can come great inspiration for good and for evil.
My hope is that the inspiration for good that I have seen it (and what Jesus the man means to me) becomes prevalent and not the Dominionist Jesus who persecutes Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender folks and keeps women unequal. Like any idea or like any living person today, how we choose to use that inspiration is entirely in our hands.
What an amazing adventure and experience my exploration of St. Paul's Episcopal Church was. I came here for the evening prayer that was going to be happening as a way to partially commemorate my job success, but it turns out the event was canceled since the man who hosts it is also a coach. This ended up being an awesome chance to explore the church and find my own ways of meditation and gratitude.
First, the church is beautiful. It is a huge building made up of the Chapel, sanctuary and also a preschool and a pantry that serves the hungry and homeless. My appreciation of the Episcopals has grown even more since coming to Utah. I have not attended a church that did not provide food and resources to the community that the city is in. There were also flyers that provided information to people who experienced abuse and how to get help. Sadly, abuse seems to be ignored by so many organized religions. Power is seen as justification in and of itself and authority is to to be obeyed not questioned...which leaves the door open for a person to use that power to abuse (and later cover it up or victim blaming) as we have seen happen in many religious communities, but especially the conservative ones that have been in the news.
My journey to the chapel started out with me running into a kind woman and her daughter who directed me to the chapel area where Evening Prayer and morning Mass are hosted. Here there is a candle lit for all those who have been abused. I lit one for the victims and survivors before talking briefly to a woman who might have been the priest and after read a prayer out loud in the prayer book before taking a moment of silence.
The silence, sometimes there is nothing more prefect and beautiful. It was there I was able to reflect and simply be while resting after the walk it had taken to get there. Afterwords I found a library, with a ton of books. Every church should have a library...scratch that, any community should have a library. The potential to learn so much is just a flip of a page away.
I was impressed with what I saw and plan on attending a service. It was nice being able to explore at my own leisure though, and to be welcome. I was a stranger and was treated kindly by every person I met here.
My visit to the Cathedral Church of Saint Mark was for me a chance to see a lot of what I like about organized religion, mixed with the reason on why I don't see myself ever becoming a complete believer in a Deity, and why I consider myself Agnostic.
What I like about religion is social action and involvement with helping surrounding area and community, the quiet place for thought it can give as well as a place to think on ethics and in many cases provide good ethics as well as social justice in regards to helping the poor and equal rights and treatment of women and members of the LBGTQ community.
First to describe the location. The church is old, dating back to the late 1800's and has two buildings connected to it. The Episcopal Center of Utah, which is their headquarters and the Hildegarde's food pantry, which provides food to homeless in the area.
The pantry is somewhere I could see myself volunteering because of the direct action and help it gives in peoples lives. It also doesn't discriminate like some religious agencies and groups do in regards to who they help and serve. This living love and treating all with fairness and equality is what I look for in any group, especially one that ties so much of its identity into something greater than itself.
The main building has a gate and garden, as well as a bell at the very top. Inside the Cathedral is the main area with the altar and on the other side a beautiful organ, much like Cathedral of the Madeleine's, the Catholic Cathedral that is the street behind Saint Mark's. The area where we had the service was in a tiny chapel that was right next to the main altar. It was here that the Eucharist was kept and candles covered another altar.
Now for the service. At the service there were four people present, including the priest. The priest was a kind older man from Tennessee. The service began with the Confession of Sin and after Trisagion, which reads:
Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holly Immortal One,
Have Mercy Upon us.
After were the readings, which were Genesis, when Abram is blessed by God and goes out, followed up by Paul's Letter to the Romans about how Spirit can only beget Spirit and Flesh can only beget flesh, and ending with Jesus's famous quote from that day's reading from John about "No one can come through the Father except through me," and that the "Son did not come to condemn, but to save."
The homily described faith as the main thing that Grace is something so beyond us that we can never understand it, but that it gives us more than we know. I understand the idea theologically of Grace but find that I can't fully believe in it or really anything like it...whatever comes from something that I cannot see or know I can only doubt. This is a major reason I don't think I could join most organized religions. I may think there is something greater simple due to probability for the complexity of life and possibilities of the universe. But I cannot know. There is no way for me to test, so I continue to explore and learn and grow. It is in these halls that the ethics of Christ's life are an inspiration to me and the social action in the community of truly living with love towards all.
It was a great service and I enjoyed talking to the priest and two of the colder congregants afterword. We mostly talked about how much Salt Lake City has changed and a bit more of the community of Saint Mark's. Who I look forward to visiting again.
So far, I must say I have had overwhelming positive experiences with Presbyterian Churches and the Presbyterian community. I attribute this largely to having friends who are like family and mentors to me as being a big part of this. This visit was a nice break after a long day and waking up early in the morning sick...it was here where I saw people using their faith in intention and action.
At the evening prayer there was the head of Tent City 4, the homeless community that looks after those in transition and those without. The Eastshore Unitarian Church has hosted them before as have a few communities in the U-District too. It was there the pastor got in touch with him after the service as did I to shoot some contacts who I knew his way to help with making sure they have a space and money for getting a van.
It was at the prayer I saw the inspiration of where that came from. All 3 of the members referenced the new testament and how Jesus praised the poor and how riches did not matter. They talked about how an incarnate God was most at him helping and being with those who had less. There were many powerful prayers, even for me as a non-believer. They also prayed for my teaching in Taiwan in January, which really matters very little in compared with Tent City 4 and the homeless.
It was there that at least in that small group the chance for virtue in action was apparent and where for them that virtue was inspired from. The only downside was one guy went on about the Devil and false Christians which for me again, has always been a red flag. Usually when people talk about a character of malice it is as it is giving them permission to act the same towards strangers and speak generally about people they haven't met and do not know.
Suffice to say it was a great visit and in coming days I'm going to do what I can with connecting people to the Tent City and helping as I can before I leave to Taiwan.
Issaquah Christian Church was an interesting experience, overall good as far as the message is concerned and space being respected. The sermon was about "The Dragon and the Nativity" and worked on incorporating the Devil into the Nativity story (and tying the Nativity into the Fall at Genesis and visions in Revelations). Considering my view of the Supernatural I don't know if God exists, so do doubt the existence of a malevolent force of evil too, I am a bit of an empiricist and skeptic when it comes to the Supernatural and things that cannot be tested. Why I say it was overall good was because of the focus in the sermon.
The focus of the sermon was the "So What?" The nativity story involves the social ostracizing of Mary and Joseph, both by the people in Bethlehem, and most likely Joseph's family if he had any, considering Mary was pregnant when they weren't married yet. It reminded me of how it could just as easily apply to a Gay or Trans couple...kicked out of their family because of their love and the child they chose to care for. In that way Jesus and the Devil as symbols of how we treat one another was very relevant to me.
I know that I can do so much better for living love for others and being there for those who have no one. To me that was what the sermon and service reminded me of.
The music was alright, there was a lot of passion from the singers and the people, and the songs were what I'd heard at most modern Christian services in regards to Christian Rock.
My space was also respected, when I was there I got to remain anonymous and not pressured to join, which is a plus for me for any Church visit.
The structure of the service was announcements, three songs, communion, the sermon, collection, final announcements and then everyone left.
The environment was simple, which I liked, though I wish there had been more talk of social justice abroad...Haiti was mentioned but only as bringing over Christian music and radios...I was hoping education would at least get a mention as part of the mission. The sermon was also good when not taken literally but seen as symbolic as the potential we have with one another and strangers each and everyday.
There are millions of ostracized Mary and Joseph's, just looking for acceptance, home and a safe to be...be it the refugees, the homeless, GLBTQ folks, and those who have been rejected simply for being who they are.
This has been an interesting month in regards to people evangelizing to me about their faith in Issaquah. The first involved an older woman who had lost her social security, and the second involved Mormon Missionaries. I'll also leave a little blurb for facebook friends who have evangelized this month too.
The older woman is a woman I've seen at the Issaquah library when I go there on lunch breaks during work. She always greets everyone (including cars) with a "Have a great day," She is definitely kind and unique. The time she did what I would call missionary work or experience is when she gave my coworker and I poetry about Jesus. She told us, "Food for thought," and then left. Apparently others have had this experience with her too as far as her expressing her faith in any social situation or environment. If you drop by Issaquah and the library you'll probably meet her.
The second experience was also at the library, except outside of it since it was closed. I had just gotten off work and was reading "The Adventures of Telemachus," a great book and one of my current favorites now by Louis Aragon when two Mormon missionaries dropped by. We talked about mythology for a while and they attempted to try and get me to talk about the Church, my reasons for leaving and unbelief were not a conversation I exactly wanted to have so I told them if I had any questions I'd just ask my Dad's family who is almost all Mormon (not to mention just recall memory from when I was growing up and do research). So they asked if I wanted a prayer and who for...My life is great, I don't need anything really. I have an amazing support network, I currently don't have any physical or mental ailments and there are people who honestly deserve others thoughts and actions a lot more than me. So I asked them to pray for the Philippines and those going through the Tsunami and other disasters. It was there the two young guys did the prayer and I used to remember too (and think of best action to take to help those going through that suffering). After they gave me a card the Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, hosted by the Mormon Church (may go for nostalgia, nativity shows were a staple growing up in Elementary school during the Holiday season). They went on their way.
The third thing I've noticed is evangelizing by friends. Most are of the Catholic and Evangelical Christian variety, with a few Mormon family members also doing a post or two, and the majority of the time it is the person doing it by facing the reasons they believe and the honesty in facing themselves, or part of the work they are doing within a community. It is not always the case though, sometimes it can involve targeting of a group such as going against the gay community or sharing links of those who are...and I have trouble seeing how that can be love in any way. In the future I'll do another post explaining why I believe Gay Marriage is a right and how it is just as ethical and gives as much to the common good as any other stable consensual relationship built around a community.
In the end I don't see it as bad. Missionary work can be harmless as long as the one doing the work accepts "no" as an answer or leaves room for other view points and can see the humanity in another person and respect them for who they are, and who uses the opportunity to do service within the community they are in. Any person can live with virtue, and if you're putting yourself out there with your religious beliefs, virtue is the best thing you can do too.
We all advocate are points of view in different ways, the key is how you do it and what you do. Is what you are doing taking the rights away from another? Are you coming from a place of self and ego or awareness of all members of the community? What you do and how you do it are part of what it means, to live with virtue.
The Eucharistic service today was just what I needed for the panic that was to hit later in the day. As I write this I just dealt with my bank account being robbed for the first time, it is kind of hard to remain calm under such duress but the service today did help keep me calm all things considered.
The service was meditative and it was small, I was one of the other two people there. It also was a bit of a history lesson since the lesson was around "Holy Men, Holy Women" which took examples of Saints and people who lived Christ like through history and incorporated them into the reading. The reading was about King Alfred who was able to save a lot of the history in England from the invasions and also commissioned the creation of schools in England. The readings had to do with wise kings, and he is seemed to fit that description for his time, according the reading.
It was here I realized it much easier to meditate though when there is a large group. I right around the altar with the other person in the small pews nearby and at times it felt like the ritual of the prayers was overtaking the point of them. It was after the Eucharist that I had the chance to start letting everything sink in, before that there were chants and prayers that I've read in every mass, which were hard to think on during the process of because we simply would move on to the next part of the service.
The Pastor was kind though, and I do plan on grabbing coffee with her at some point. The Church of the Resurrection is a beautiful Church.
One thing I've noticed while doing these visits, they've helped me with expressing my own beliefs. As much I appreciate the High Church and the rituals of Christianity, I don't think I'll ever be a Christian. Knowing that God exists for one thing, and all the miracles of the book, not to mention seeing things in the older book as Good are steps I cannot take, for any leap I need more certainty than I've experienced, I need more proof for claims so great. If I had to define myself I would consider myself an Agnostic Humanist and definitely closest to the Unitarian Universalism faith that I grew up in through high school. It's ethics most match up to what I see as the closest we understand Good at the current time, though I do consider my experiences with Christianity and Buddhism to have also influenced my beliefs within humanism and mysticism.
What an interesting experience today. This is one of the few places where you have to be in it and there isn't observation. When I arrived the leader of the Healing Rooms gave me a form to fill out with who I wanted to pray for. My Grandma has been on my mind lately and how bad her cancer has gotten, so I wrote that down and after included refugees, those who have been furloughed by the government shutdown, and those who have lost loved ones.
While the men looked over the prayer and the form I filled out I talked to the Pastor of the Bread of Life Church, which is a Chinese Christian Church. We talked about Nanjing for a while since I'd taught in Jiangsu Province last year and I learned they have a seminary there as well as one the Bible Printing centers so whenever someone in their church goes to Nanjing they get them there for cheap. He was a really nice guy and great to talk too.
After they'd gone over the form I was invited in and the main guy who was the oldest in the group talked about how Christ is like the King the world and all healing happens through him and they are simply ambassadors. After that they anointed me with oil on the forehead and prayed for me and my Grandma.
It was a powerful experience, at a few places I've been too (including Peru, and some of the Buddhist Temples in China) I've had the experience of vertigo during my time taking place in an event. It is something that always fascinates me because I can never predict it except it is always tied to experiences like this one regardless of the religion it comes from.
After the prayer the pastor gave me a Bible passage to help ("The Word of God is our food and guide you must live in it to be guided,") he and the guy who was leading said in their own ways. The passage was Isaiah 30:19 - "People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How
gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will
answer you."
After the leader said to read the Bible, believe in Jesus as God and to be a part of a community of believers. I don't think I'll ever be able to any fully, the possibility sure, but not when there are so many other possibilities out there, some that are much more probable giving me more reasons to doubt than to believe. My Grandmother is a believer, one of the strongest believers in Christ I know, so today this really was to honor her. I was grateful for the kindness of the people there and the experience that occurred. I don't see myself ever being a part of that world, my doubt towards all supernatural things is pretty strong, no matter how open I may be to the possibility. Today the possibility is still enough to give a prayer for all those suffering both family and otherwise.
My experience at Mountain Creek Christian Fellowship is one of the best ones I've had since starting this blog. This church is active in social justice, you are made to feel welcome while still being given space, both men and women are pastors (which is pretty usual in Free Methodist Community's I have learned) and I got to see how that social justice is tied to their religious faith.
Due to traffic in Seattle on my way back I was late to the service. Once I arrived it was the last song, testimonies had apparently already happened (as I would learn later, and offerings). The setup was that in the above picture, except there was a light on the stand similar to a Unitarian chalice that was meant to represent the congregation being the light of the world and bringing that light out into the world. I was greeted at the door by a nice older lady who gave me a cup full of goodies...talk about welcomings. She was also very sweet too and didn't mind that I was late.
After the song the pastor spoke. She also gave the prayer before the two missionaries who had been teaching the required Biblical course that Rwanda, and two other countries in Central Africa require (she was also an ordained minister) and her husband was the Doctor over there teaching surgery at the school that the Free Methodists International organization had set up. It was wonderful seeing the actual action of social justice...quite a few communities I've been to are only focused on internal happiness of the group, making them more like a social club rather than living action in the world. Their spreading their belief in the trinity was part of what they did too, but I noticed it was where they saw their motivation coming from for the humanitarian work in the first place.
The service took place at the senior center where the Church volunteers a lot, and also uses for throwing clothing drives for homelessness and also working the soup kitchen in Issaquah...this is local social justice and actions of love that I greatly appreciated about this community too. Afterwords I talked to members of the congregation and met the pastor.
It was there I learned that sometimes the pastor is there at the office across the street. I think I shall be visiting at some point and learning more. In my travels it is always nice to find a community that sees outside itself and lives the good of social justice that religion can inspire. Today's visit was a very nice and unexpected surprise.
Initially I was going to name the blog the three main themes that I noticed when I visited the Adventists, but I realize that it doesn't quite capture everything experienced during the service. For this reason I chose just to title what it was. Suffice to say, there is a lot to tell.
First off the Seventh-Day Adventists are really kind, and not in the overly nice in your face kind of way. I never felt pressured at any point during the service. This was a major plus over the course of the experience and allowed to take in the rest a lot better.
There were four types of prayers that were done. The first was Thanksgiving which were two songs about how Jesus is returning someday. They were older style, and the preacher on the piano had a good classical voice.
Next was the overall prayer after reading Psalm 100, which was about thanks which then lead tol the second part which was asking people how God h ad helped them in their life. From here there was the description of bringing peace after a prayer or connecting with family in a positive way in relation to the Church, physical healing, time with friends or time with family and community.
The third part was a silent prayer which for me ended up being more of a meditation on prayer. When I thought about all I was grateful for I realized how prayer or meditation does help with awareness. Its like when a person realizes who they are is connected to other people and the world as whole...be it environment and nature, technology, and other human beings. I've had this experience intellectually before and emotionally, this time was a mixture of the two I guess.
Afterwords there was a final song and then prayer requests where members of the Church prayed for people in the congregation present or away who had requested it. It was beautiful overall except for the darker part. Satan was mentioned a few times at being the responsibility for problems and trials and there was hope of Jesus coming soon and expectation of him coming soon because of all the problems in the world. Both those things are a bit of a red flag for me with any community since Satan and Demons when used are usually used to not help those with mental illness or to treat those who don't have anything psychologically wrong with them like Gay and other LGBTQ folks. It becomes a very unhealthy way of controlling people and taking advantage of groups that are vulnerable already (not to mention the improbability of demons or Satan in the first place beyond a metaphor or the darker side of ourselves...again, metaphor). This also plays into "End of Times" speak which can lead to drastic unhealthy action in how outsiders or people who have left the church are treated. If the end is coming soon and I HAVE the truth. I must save.
Overall I would say it was a positive experience though. I talked to people after and they were kind and again, not pressuring. I do plan on catching an actual sermon one of these Saturdays too...and get a better idea of the beliefs of the Adventists.
After quite a long time, the blog has returned. It's a shame the return can't be under happier circumstances. Having been dealing with illness I found I finally had time to make one of the visits I'd been intending to make to the Christian Science RSO (student group) on the avenue.
Suffice to say it was a fascinating experience. Christian Science reminded me of a few other faiths. It's hymnal is similar to hymns I'd heard in the Mormon Church and Lutheran's. The layout was a bit different from a lot of traditions I'd been too, but that might have been because it was a student book.
It began with a 2 readings (from the Bible and from the main book Mary Baker Eddy the founder of the faith wrote: "Science and Health with Keys to the Scripture." This was read after the hymn that was sung after the readings and prayer. The Book and the Bible are seen as the Pastor and it's the committee's involved with organizing it that create the sermons that all Churches do, based off the 2 books.
The silent prayer was a good chance to reflect at where I am today and how lucky I am even with all the challenges that have been going on for a while (health) or recently risen.
The day ended with another song to end and afterwords a discussion where I mostly listened as a Catholic asked about if Christian Scientists believed in the healing power of books or other objects? The answer was a major now and that the whole point is that Christian Science tries to help people heal as Jesus healed, or realize that they can, as well as living in relationship with God. Jesus is not God, though he is seen as the perfect human being that all should strive to be like. In this way it was much more based in mysticism and how Buddhism is expressed on how any person can possibly achieve Enlightenment (and in both these Christian Science and Buddhism, many thoughts on how to get to that point).
In that way it was more Unitarian (Jesus as Example but not Deity . The most important part of the Bible that the student lead group (with 2 professors present) said was that "We are made in the image of God as expressed in Genesis" all else is second to this in how we see ourselves and what we accomplish.
The people were kind without being overbearing or attempting to convert so it was a good experience and a great way to kick the blog back into gear. At this point though I think I'll be expanding it into other topics. Where my own journey leads, I'm not sure, but my doubting of the supernatural has not diminished and skepticism towards religious groups and the corruption that comes with human organizations as a whole.
I was reminded of why I enjoy doing things like this though. I enjoy meeting new groups and getting to know the people. I think it's improbable that I'll ever believe in the supernatural, my doubt is a bit too strong for that (and reason why I find more truth in philosophy) but there is still value. Religions like people are changing and where it goes will be shaped by the practitioners and the world around them.
It's been a while since I've done a faith visit. Partially due to job searching (which has now been resolved) and partially from ambivalence and wondering where to go next...while not wanting to do a repeat visit to a faith community. Well today I would learn a little bit about this sect of Methodism as well as see some old mentors of mine and become re-acquainted with Interfaith. A part of myself which I don't think will ever go away.
The Interfaith event that brought me to my first Methodist Church was the Interfaith Amigos. They are a rabbi (Ted Falcon), pastor (Don Mackenzie) and sheikh (Jamal Rahman) who became friends after 9/11 and sought to use their mystic perspectives within their faiths to try and bridge the divide between different religions, but specifically the major 3 that came from Abraham. Rabbi Ted and Sheikh Jamal have been mentors to me in regards to Interfaith and their first book, "Getting to the Heart of Interfaith" was one of the major books I used for my Senior Thesis on how to promote successful interfaith between the 3 major religions from Abraham.
Before the event started I talked to Jamal and Ted for a while before running into someone who I will talk later about (future post later).
The event was built around their second book they put out, "Religion Gone Astray," I brought the first book that I already owned and used for my Thesis for the book signing afterword. It started out with the three talking about 9/11 brought them together and what they believe is the core of each faith. For Judaism "Oneness" for Christianity "Unconditional Love" and for Islam "Compassion." They talked about this and also tackled the problems within their faiths such as the history of their faiths in regards to the rights of women, gays and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The big thing on homosexuality and the Arab-Israeli conflict that were mentioned is how those who hate do not know people of other religions or the group they are hating and how in their personal and experiences they've had together have seen on the grassroots level those divides going away with getting to know "the other," with the end goal of helping others to get rid of the exclusivity within faiths to having the Truth, since so much conflict comes from that.
They demonstrated this with quoting the most exclusive passages from their scriptures and then interpreted them to give them new meaning or what they believe the original meaning was.
Example, "I am the way the truth and the light, no one can come to the father except through me." To mean God is the way the truth and the light, no one can come to God except through God. Since "I am" is the name of God in the Old testament.
From my experience I do have some issue with this but that's mostly due to the fact that there is no way to know if this or the traditional Trinitarian interpretation is correct. Which is why I am so agnostic when it comes to religion.
Seeing them being upfront about the human rights issues within each of their faiths, as well as ways to bring out the best in each of their faiths reminded me of why I'd been drawn to interfaith in the first place. They stated early on where the major problems at interfaith events were when people talked about their similarities and only that, or people talked about their differences...in both cases it missed the personal reasons for why a person is a member of any faith in the first place and moves it away from the interaction at hand to the abstract...which tends to kill connection in religious dialogue. The personal is where the connection happens and where there is the possibility for change.
After they sang there theme song, "It's all one and I am as I am." In Arabic, Hebrew and English their dialogue ended and it was opened up to questions. Most of the questions were understandably for Jamal since right now Islam does have the most problems related to the issues that were discussed. He did a good job answering the questions, as they all did. For all it was showing how they saw the core teaching relating to the context and history of the passages or how their religion has gone astray on human rights and their personal experiences with it.
It ended with coffee, treats and a book signing and I had the pleasure of talking to a retired Methodist pastor and the pastor of the Church, before and after the event...which will be a story for another a day.
First want to start out by saying, next time in Oregon I will be visiting other denominations and religions. I'm planning on moving down there eventually so there shall be much exploration of the religious communities down there.
Now, the visit. Saint Mary's is one of the most beautiful Churches I've ever been in. It reminded me of the Churches and Cathedrals in Italy and had a very calm ambiance. The stained glass windows had the stations of the cross, their were two beautiful images of Mary on the sides of the seat and in the center was the Vatican II Altar as behind it underneath Jesus on the cross was the pre-Vatican II Altar against the wall.
The place spoke of it's one hundred year history simply in the artifacts that made up the inside of the Church.
The sermon was about the calling of people to be "Shepards" and used one of the Old Testament Prophets and Jesus when he realized the people needed a Shepard. The thing that stood out to me on the Jesus story was it involved him running away from the people to a different town because he was tired...this surprised me in a big way since I'd always been told God comes to those seeking Him and if Jesus is God he wouldn't run away, since the story sounded as if the people had been seeking him.
As a counter part this is good on the part of a teacher. Words and messages can only really be fully appreciated and applied when brought beyond the person. Whether it's Buddha or anyone else from philosopher or scientist...it reminds me of a quote my friend told me:
"Religion is like a boat. It's good to bring you across the river, but once you reach the other side it would be silly to carry it."
To carry the analogy further one could break the boat and carry the pieces and use them for fire wood later on for the journey on land or to rebuild it later along a different water source. What we read and learn doesn't leave us fully. It shapes us in the moment of reading and in applying it. But it is no longer the person who it was learned from, it isn't the teacher it is something different.
On the core message of the sermon, we all will be servants and leaders at different points in our lives. It comes with following passions, with applying the knowledge learned and by living virtuously. If religion inspires you to live it more, more power to you...but I'm becoming all the more certain that I won't be joining any religious groups houseboats. Too much of it doesn't make sense to me and doesn't seem to help necessarily with promoting virtue in how we live and treat our fellow men.
What an experience the last year has been. The experience of the people, the history, religion and my time as a teacher are memories I will never forget. I might be teaching one last year in China as well, though that is something I'm still figuring out.
Religion in China is complicated. Historically it has been used to both promote the status quo of power (power of the gentry and noblemen through Confucianism and the Emperor as "Son of Heaven") while also acting a force of resistance against the gentry in government, as seen by movements such as the Yellow Scarves, the Taiping Rebellion and others. Many times they were used to empower the people by having communal food for all and other means of supporting the families who joined said movements.
An interesting point is that even the Cultural Revolution could not do away with the old traditions. The old ways were never fully crushed. This past school year I worked in the countryside and took part in Mid-Autumn Festival with my colleague who is also a friend and saw the fruits that were laid out in honor of the Moon Festival and in hopes of wealth and success.
First I want to mention Confucianism and how important it has been historically in relationship to education. When Confucianism became the base for the hypothetical reason for lords being able to advance, China became one of the earliest meritocracies. This focus on reading, writing and general knowledge in Confucianism is a part of the Chinese system that lives on this day, and is something any nation can learn from.
I also visited Linggue Temple in Baoying a few times and witnessed how much a part of life it is for the community. The Temple is an important part of funerals, marriages, births and festivals. A few years ago I saw Fajing Temple in Hangzhou serving the same purpose. Religion in China helps with facing all the different parts of an individuals life.
Though like America, there is also the corruption and connection to Money. At Linggue Temple my friend and I would get conned by a man who worked there and I would witness in Suzhuo the Xuan Miao Taoist Temple and it's connection to money by blessing gold at a gold shop that sat just outside the Temple...that whole area was the market and material meeting the ancient rituals and philosophy that contradicted said materialism.
China has also had a great diversity of faith. The Abrahamic Faiths of Judaism, Islam and Christianity have all settled to some degree in China (less so Judaism though), as well as the ancient traditions that still carry on and the big three of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
The big three with a few exceptions still live the contemplativeness of their past teachers. Many a Buddhist and Toaist Temple can still be found on top of a mountain, and most temples are designed to be large spaces...like a cathedral. You can get lost in reflection and can see how nature is always changing and impermanent in the fish, plants and turtles that are living within the Temples.
There will always be more to write, but these are some of the major things I noticed during my amazing year teaching in China.
Today was the day I would be seeing much more of the Christian community that makes up Nanjing. The church was St. Paul's Church, an Anglican Church founded in 1923. When I arrived it was crowded as in the main Chapel a wedding was being prepared for. It was a bit overwhelming because of all the people...I then got a call from my friend who let me know where the English service was, which was in a smaller but more spacious, less crowded area in a different building.
The theme of the service was the love of God. As the program said at the beginning, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
When I arrived it had just begun so I caught the scripture reading and Apostles Creed before the hymn and then sermon.
The first thing I noticed was how humble the place was. There was a single wooden cross in front of red drapes and the altar where the people would go to speak. The second thing I noticed was the music. Those old English hymns when sung by a good choir are some of the most heavenly things in the world. That was a major good that I experienced today, was the beauty of those hymns.
The sermon was from a brother of the church. He was quite passionate and talked about how love of Jesus means claiming souls. This line reminded me of how Christianity and Islam are the most aggressive religions historically when it comes to gaining converts (through peaceful and military means). For a while a lot of it was good and I thought he was describing virtue really well (carrying for the sick and for others, as well as loyalty to friends), and then he went off on a tangent. He brought gay marriage into it and seemed to be saying two things:
1) Those who believe in Gay Marriage are moral relativists and that "The world is" (which isn't not always true).
2) That there are false prophets in the Church who support gay marriage.
His words reminded me of how unwelcome the Church can be to people and how the love isn't unconditional, but conditional. The ironic thing in it was that some interpretations of Jonathan's relationship to David was in fact homosexual and that was what he was using to illustrate how we should love and be loyal to God (unlike Saul who used David for his vanities).
Besides the end of the sermon/tangent, it was a really enjoyable service. It was great being there with my friend I'd made last week. Afterwords I joined him and his friends for Lunch and their had a discussion with one of them in regards to Christianity versus philosophy in what should be valued. Both of us believed in truth and virtue the difference was I doubted the Bible and Christ as God (Christ can be a great example for how to live I think, just like Lao Tzu and the other great men), but I do think admitting ones own flaws and being honest about it is the only way to move forward and to grow as a person (or for a peoples to grow).
Where we differed most was I believe our relationships to others and our own actions are the most important thing that we know (living virtuously and growing), as well as the quest for truth. He believed that the truth came down from Jesus and that humanity is so broken that only belief saves us (via reward in the afterlife due to Jesus's sacrifice on the cross).
He brought up the C.S. Lewis Trilemma of Jesus being "Lunatic, Liar or Lord," as proof of Jesus's divinity, which for me didn't quite do it. There have been many throughout history who were delusional on some things but still super smart and ethical on others. He was flawed and human like them. What makes him different?
He's a kinesthetic learner and all about experience. His experiences with people who are believers and through church and relationship made him who he is. For me that's true as well, but so much of my experience of learning is through books, hearing, introspection and that was when we realized how our ways of learning compliment one another.
I told him I'd pray to Jesus and see what happens. Though I don't know if that's the best way to check the validity of Christianity (check it's claims) in regards to greater truths or the revelation it claims to be. Historically a lot of it doesn't hold up literally (Exodus, Genesis, Noah's Ark), but that doesn't change the value of the stories (though their are some un-virtuous practices in the Bible done in God's name).
It was a great day and it reminds me why I do the blog. It's about the human relationships and the quest for truth...it's the discussions and the learning that comes through discussion, study and experience.
Today has been an interesting day. I've met with friends and talked philosophy and teaching in China, ran into a philosopher from Kentucky who is teaching math and physics here and experienced an interesting sermon.
I figured with the time I have left in Nanjing I should revist St. Paul, and also visit the Temple before I go. Both are interesting places from what I experienced before, and in the case of Daming Temple, heard about.
The sermon today touched on the Problem of Evil, and to a degree the nature of belief and faith.
First I arrived early and sung two of the songs with the congregation, while also catching up with Durin, a college student who I had met there last time I had visited. After that there was the songs and readings, all which focused on the reality of God being there and the desire for God, before leading up to the sermon.
The readings were a psalm, and a chapter in Mark in which Jesus heals a woman who is healed by her faith in him, and his healing of a dead twelve year old girl.
The sermon started with the pastor telling a story about a sixteen year old believer he knew who died of cancer. He mentioned how he didn't know why events like this happen if God heals and that it had initially caused him to doubt. He eventually came back and tied this story to the story of a missionary in the 19th Century whose daughters had died in a shipwreck, and when he had passed the shipwreck on the way to his wife how his belief in God had caused him to have peace in his soul.
"What is the state of your soul?" He asked the congregation.
My thoughts were...'I don't know if I have one...I really have no way of proving if it exists or not. Where is the soul? What is the soul?'
He ended with making a claim that God seeks those who trust and have faith in him, like the woman who had faith and healed and the young girl who had been dead. If Jesus is "The Way, the Truth and the Light," my experience of the relationship has been an unknown, much like the existence of my soul, except Jesus's stories remind us of the importance of integrity with the world and living with truth and honesty in all that we do.
That is something I do believe in. virtue and integrity, it may be hard to fully define but it is something that can be defined and experienced without the questions and unknown. If Jesus Christ is God, I'll always be open to knowing that, but right now Jesus is unknown as anyone else in the past where I can know how others thought of him and what others believed him to be, but if I believed that without any doubts...I'd be lying to myself and that would not be living with virtue or integrity.
Today was my first day visiting a Christian community in China and my
first Christian faith visit this year. What an experience it was.
I went with my friend that I made here in China recently who is a Christian and together we went to go check it out.
The Nanjing International Christian Fellowship (NICF) services take
place on the 5th floor of a hotel. The room is quite big with many white
seats. The stage is red with lights with NICF in white letters. To the
right and left of the stage where the band is set up (surrounded
greenery) there are two projectors. You need a foreign passport to
attend due to regulations by the local government.
The
congregation was extremely diverse. With people from all over Africa
(including the lead singer and the reverend), the UK (another singer),
America, Singapore and many other areas.
The service began
like many an evangelical service I've attended in the States. It had the
Christian rock feel was concert-like. The songs that were played were
"We Gather to Worship" (the main opening worship hymn I've heard at
modern evangelical churches) and "Trust and Obey" which kind of rubbed
me the wrong way...but that's to be expected given my agnosticism I tend
to have.
After that the Reverend spoke on his sermon about
faithfulness. He said that by being obedient to God we are rewarded but
faithfulness is needed too. He was funny in some of the comments he
made:
"God is wants us to be diamonds for faithful people are
rare and like diamonds. Most stores don't actually sell real diamonds,
it's glass. So husbands by your wife a gold ring."
"In the
old days men used to pay a bridal fee, so there wife had to be obedient
cause they owned her. It is not that way nowadays so much (implying it's
a good things it's changed). But God owns us."
These were
some of his humorous if at time off color comments. He was good at
quoting scripture and was a pretty classy guy (he was dressed in a
suit). Besides the things I've written about before on how my own morals
differ from Conservative Christianity, I do think he had some good
points, especially on how faithfulness in friends and others should be
valued. He was also big on forgiveness (he mentioned a preacher caught
with a prostitute who came back...I wondered if he would feel the same
about anyone else though who wasn't coming form a place of power and had
made a mistake).
Because of this I felt much more connected
talking to my friend afterword about the service and religion as a
whole. She made me realize how much I still wrestle with it in having
belief or no and I realized I may be doing that for the rest of my life
(which I don't mind...I usually discover so much and it does mean I
might find the truth eventually too).
The music wasn't
really my thing since I find reflective music like chants or hymns are
where I feel the most aware of how far I've come and still have to go.
Celebration music has it's place...but when I'm thinking about God in
that sort of environment, it tends to make me sort of disconnected since
in the jubilation short term gratification through joy can takeover the
mind versus the wholeness of what it means to be human, flawed and
hopefully growing that can come from a more quite traditional
environment...where things are allowed to the surface and with it the
choice of what to do with it next.
This entry will be one of my more stranger entries in the Faith Blog. For one it's not a proper house of worship. The Museum was once the home of a Ming General before the Taiping rebellion conquered Nanjing and made it their capital. It then become the home of the leader of the rebellion.
The quarters themselves are wonderful in their layout. At the entrance as you pass by the trees you meet a bust of Hong Xiuquan that greets you as you enter. Behind him is a painting that looks like a propaganda poster with him riding in his white and yellow robes being greeted by cheers from the peasants. The man himself was born Hakka and failed the Imperial Exam three times.
Inbetween he experienced a vision which he would later interpret as his meeting of God and Jesus. He would believe that he was then told that he was Jesus's younger brother. This would inspire his movement which in turn was inspired by Protestant tracts he'd read growing up.
The Taiping rebellion believed that as an end goal the land should be redistributed the peasants and that those who have nothing should be then receive something more as part of his Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He never did this and had it as a work progress "To be initiated at a certain time." So he could tax to fund his rebellion and Kingdom. He was pretty fanatical in his religious devotion, at one point creating an edict that the men and women would be separated until he agreed they should be together again.
What is also fascinating is how much he still kept the old ways though. There were royal robes and dragons that decorated the hall, and though there was peasant art of the animals of the countryside, what represented royalty were still grand dragons.
In a way this showed the corruption of power, and also the power of inspiration and visions. He started a whole new way of being and because of his inspiration coming from the state of the peasantry is a bit of a hero to the Party in China. He was the first to propose land distribution and a highly organized resistance to Imperial and Colonial power.
He was also probably a bit nuts...which makes me think of all the others who have taken them for themselves. Whether it was John the Baptist, Elijah, Moses, Muhammad, Jesus and others...They weren't exactly what you called stable. Unlike the other people of this time period and religious heroes of China...these people rocked the boat. Not like Confucius, Laozi and Buddha who at the core saw change as being gradual and inevitable and therefore to upset harmony would be to go against virtue, since it would be failing to recognize how all people are connected and part of a greater whole.
I think I relate much more to them, even as I find inspiration in the prophets and monotheistic holy men who did a lot of good and a lot of bad in their decisiveness and shaking of the status quo.
Since the creation of this blog this has been my second visit to a Lutheran Church. My how I've changed in that time. I've found myself going between Agnostic Theist, to all out Theist, and even considering Christianity. Before I go into where I am now though, I should tell about the Church since Gloria Dei actually made me all the more conflicted on what being a Christian means and if I could do it.
Gloria Dei is a beautiful Church. The sanctuary stretches up like a dome is made with wood pillars around the cross that is on the altar in the center. Which I've found to be a common Lutheranism. Protestantism in general is more concerned with "Christ is Risen" and the empty tomb, versus the Orthodox and Catholics whose focus lies on artistic interpretation of Jesus on the cross.
The community is involved with Interfaith and is active helping the homeless, Alcoholics and Narcotics anonymous, education in Africa and peace between religions. The music is also powerful too, with a pipe organ and the sound of old church hymns to the sound of bells.
The sermon proper was about Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and "Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you." During the sermon he used this line to make sense of the barbaric laws in Leviticus in that the spirit of what God intended for his people was harmony and love between individuals. The laws should have never been necessary but it was people trying their best to understand what loving each other meant in their very limited way...in a way that in practice harmed many people (being stoned to death, sold into slavery, ect).
The spirit of the law interpretation makes sense to me. Much like the United States Constitution, it's when the spirit of the Constitution is followed that Gay, Women and all the rights of those who weren't Anglo-Saxon land owners were advanced. It was the spirit of the law that changed African Americans being seen as 3/5 of a person to full people deserving of rights they and all people deserve.
So can I believe in the Spirit of the Bible? The Spirit of Jesus? Rather then His words and actions that contradict love, justice and mercy(and his own message on these things)? I don't know. But I'm much more open to it and find it to be truer then the contradicting messages in the words and actions in the Bible. In the end, I guess I'm where I started. I am a seeker of truth wherever it may lead. Much more open to Christianity, and certainly a believer in the Spirit the faith is built on. For now, the most I can do is remain open to God and the Universe and see what happens in my journey.
Discussion and dialogue. The very act of either is opening the self up to possible arguments, superficial connections or in the best cases, getting below the surface and the formation of friendships. This was not the goal of the SPSCC Forum though. I wish I had been though, given that the building was completely full of all the people who had come to learn or to re-validate their beliefs. The goal of the forum was to present 4 different perspectives on 3 big questions. Which I think would have been more powerful had it included small group discussions after. For what it was worth though, it was extremely educating on learning a Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist perspective on "The Meaning of Life," "Humanity's Problem" and "How to fix humanity's problem." Each representative was given three minutes to respond to each question with a little time after for questions from the audience.
What is the meaning of life?
The first to answer was Muhammad Ayub representing Islam from the Islamic Center of Olympia. He quoted the Quran, specifically the verses, "God says I have created people to worship me," and "Blessed is he who created life and death so that we could be good." From this I took the meaning of life is to worship God and through our worship of God be good, which he articulated also as being able to face God on the Day of Judgment.
The next to respond was Paul Jones the pastor of Reality Church in Olympia. He said that the meaning of life was to worship God and that through our worship of Jesus who is God we would be made good. To quote him directly, "There is a purpose that can be known, but not within ourselves, only within Him," and "We are He was quick to show the difference between Islam and Christianity by talking about God as the Trinity, being the Union of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and God as having no beginning or end and us as characters in the story he wrote. I took this meaning the meaning of life is God and letting God shape the individual which was similar to Islam.
Next to speak was Rabbi Seth Goldstien of Beth Hatfiloh the Reform Jewish Synagogue in Olympia. He expressed the meaning by using three stories from Torah. The first story was of Genesis and how man is made in the image of God and because of it holds the divine spark of God which is articulated through mercy, creation, compassion and creativity. Because we were made in the image of God we therefore partners with God in his ongoing creation.
The next story was of Sinai and Moses's receiving of the commandments from God. From this became the purpose of our relationship to one another and our relationship to God.
The third story was the Exodus, and the story of moving out of slavery to freedom and our responsibility to repair the world as we and the world transform.
Together I took this to mean our meaning is to be partners with God in creation, live in relationship of respect for another and to work to heal the world.
The final person to speak was Kelsang Tsoglam of the Mahayana Buddhist Center of Olympia. She expressed meaning as cultivating peace in the heart so that we may create that peace in the world. She said it can't be mandated or legislated but can only come through individuals finding of inner peace and helping others find inner peace as well.
What is humanity's Problem?
The first to speak was the Rabbi this time around. With each question the professor hosting the forum would switch the order around. The Rabbi's answer to the question was that humanity's problem was being human. We are fallible and not God and that it's in recognizing our humanity that we can overcome it. He said the way of moving forward knowing that we are human is through the liturgical cycle of atonement and repentance and that is how we can overcome are evil inclinations and be good. "We are in a constant state of becoming." Humans are change. He also expressed one of the problems is fundamentalism which he saw as denying our humamanness.
After the rabbi the Nun spoke of what she believed humanity's problem was. She said it was our inability to make ourselves happy. We are so focused on outside material things to be happy that we lose state of true happiness coming from within.
Next Muhammad Ayub spoke. He expressed humanity's problem being that we have a sense of hopelessness, lack of direction, greed and racism and are unable to achieve balance. He said the answer is in the Quran and that "By remembering God you find balance in your heart." As well as the words of Prophet Muhammad who said, "You are not a true believe until you love for others, what you love for yourself." It is by remembering this that we advance in God Consciencesness.
The last to speak was the Pastor. He said, our problem is pride. We don't like God being in control of our story and that was the reason for original sin and our rebellion against God. We were once perfect because of God, but because we chose self over God we have been suffering since. God declared us "dead" because of sin.
How to solve humanity's problem?
Some of the questions were answered partially in talking about the problem, but there was still more said by all. First to speak was the Buddhist Nun who reiterated that we need to solve our own problems first. She used the analogy of the airplane and that before you put the oxygen mask on another you need to put it on yourself. When a person is at peace that peace effects others and that is how the problem is solved, by more people achieving peace in their heart.
Next Mr. Ayub spoke, he expressed the solution was through the 5 Pillars of Islam, which are:
1) Testimony to God and prophets and in doing recognizing the many attributes of God.
2) Pray 5 times a day, and in doing so achieve balance through the honoring of God.
3) Charity and the giving of 2.5% of savings to the poor. Egalitarianism and looking after the widows, orphans and those who have the least in society.
4) Fasting during Ramadan in order to gain greater will power and to remember those who have not.
5) Haj - The pilgrimage to Mecca in memory of the past and to form more connections.
"A friend is someones story we have heard. An enemy is a story we have not heard."
Next was Pastor Jones who said the solution was not through doing more good works then bad. That the solution is faith in Jesus Christ and the Trinity of God not through certain behavior modifications. He believed that God would bring about those behavioral modifications in us though through our faith but that can only happen through repentance as a coming back to God. God puts the oxygen masks on us in the plane. In the end he said God will rule over creation in relationship with Him.
Last to speak was Rabbi Goldstein. He first made a joke about using another airplane analogy but couldn't think of one. Rabbi Goldstein said that the solution could be found in the Torah and the commentaries on the Torah known as the Midvash. He used one of the commentaries as an example where there are angles arguing with Moses on why he should receive to Torah when it comes from God. In the end Moses wins because he establishes that humans need to the Torah in order to be good and establish holiness in the world. He shows that the angels don't have the same problems as people do so it is really only people who need the Torah. He closed saying the answer is to live righteous and holy life and in doing so we bring each other close to one another in the Divine.
After there were a few questions in which I learned that Islam and Judaism do not believe God inhabits the individual like with Christianity. On the question of the afterlife and beginnings and endings the afterlife was also discussed. Islam describes it depth having 1/3 of the Quran cover it, Mahayana Buddhism defines it as it as continuum where Karma keeps recreating it. How a person dies depends on what they are reincarnated into in the next life. God and life are eternal in Judaism and God is most concerned with our actions in the now and for Christianity God was the beginning and is the possibility of being eternally present or eternally absent based on our choices.
Now it would be difficult to really describe all my thoughts on everything that was said. I learned a lot about all four faiths today. I wish the Nun had brought up more points about Buddha's teachings though, just as I wish there could have been small group discussions after. One thing I respect about all of these faiths is their call for virtue. Whether it's through believing God is making them virtuous, through submitting to God, to co-creating with God or living by Right action I believe that is the essential Good that I wish more members of these faiths and all people would turn too.
