I can’t speak for my coreligionists, but, personally, I wish they’d break the bad habit of making supposedly authoritative scientific truth claims from the standpoints of theological orthodoxy and devotion to doctrine. The religious mind–which conceives the world in terms of myth, mystery, ritual and wonder–has its own value apart from the rational endeavors of the scientists and the philosophers. The religious mind seeks a unique truth, even when its truth discloses a reality also pursued in other disciplines. Its methods of inquiry and verification are different than those of science and philosophy. Let them dialogue, but let’s not confuse them. Because each has its own truth to offer, religious faith and reason have much to say to one another. In my opinion, we benefit from listening to both and from cultivating a mind informed by both religiosity and reason.
Human beings may separate things into as many piles as we wish - separating spirit from flesh, sacred from secular, church from world. But we should not be surprised when God does not recognize the distinctions we make between the two. Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.
(via invisibleforeigner)
And so I urge you, go after experience rather than knowledge. On account of pride, knowledge may often deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of rest.
I didn’t write this. But I think it’s worth sharing.
Things we’ve all heard before, but sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder..
Health:
- Drink plenty of water.
- Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
- Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
- Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
- Play more games.
- Read more books than you did in 2010.
- Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
- Sleep for 7 hours.
- Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
- Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
- Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
- Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
- Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
- Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
- Dream more while you are awake.
- Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
- Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
- Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
- Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
- No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
- Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
- Smile and laugh more.
- You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Society:
- Call your family often.
- Each day give something good to others.
- Forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
- Try to make at least three people smile each day.
- What other people think of you is none of your business.
- Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
- Do the right thing!
- Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
- However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
- No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
- The best is yet to come.
- Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
(via gardenofsimple)
Life in Christian-Conservative T̶e̶x̶a̶s̶ Barbados
Replace ‘Lubbock, Texas’ with ‘Barbados’ and this says it almost perfectly.
This small island-country is pretty much the Bible-Belt of the Caribbean. And if life in Lubbock Texas seems contradictory and confusing, life here is equally as paradoxical.
Behind the facade of dread-locks, sandy beaches and sunburnt tourists - the Caribbean is a strange blend of extremely conservative Christian culture and fairly liberal behavior.
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
Confucius (Circa 551 BC – 479 BC)
This reminds me of a popular quote from Jesus around 400 years later.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
So often I’ve heard this used to infer that a small group of people who think or act a certain way are the justified ‘in’ group who have found the ‘narrow way’ and that everyone who disagrees with them are on this ‘broad path to destruction’. I’ve encountered this quote being used to SUPPORT narrow minded thinking and shut down any challenged to it. And on the surface you can see why. It seems to say it clearly “Narrow = good, broad = bad”.
But interestingly in Matthew 7 where Jesus says this, he says something very related to what Confucius brought up a few centuries before. Right before mentioning the narrow and broad way, the hard and easy way, Jesus reminds us of the ‘golden rule’.
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
THIS is what causes there to be a broad and a narrow way.
It’s HARD to be selfless and loving. Yet this is what everything else God has been telling civilizations through the ‘laws and prophets’ was all about. This is the core message that we still miss today.
It was not about supporting narrow-minded thinking, or proving that because you are a small group believing x or y that you are ‘in’ and the masses are ‘out’. It’s not even about God playing favorites, or being really hard to please, like a cross tough bouncer who’s letting only the pretty ‘cool’ people who never smoked into the nightclub of a heavenly afterlife.
It’s about following a way that leads to life. Starting with now.
It’s a challenge to the heart of the individual.
A reminder of a hard but fundamental truth.
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love.
Will we choose the broad way of selfishness or the narrow way of love?
Hate brings death - love brings us to life.
I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.
