Hopeful Thinking

     My favorite piece of Star Trek scripture is “resistance is futile.” It’s one of the many concepts in that series which align with spiritual teaching. Of course, in spiritual teaching the line isn’t accompanied with the destruction of a civilization as it is in Star Trek. Unless of course, you’re doing it wrong.      There’s a nuance to resistance which actually gives power to the very thing, idea or person you’re resisting. In sports, all good offense starts with knowing your opponent. We have to get inside their head. That’s where the single trail ends. Now it depends upon what you intend to be the goal of your offensive action. We presume it is to score, to win. So depending on your definition of the word ‘win’ in this instance you are looking for information that will destroy your opponent. You’re spending time contemplating their weakness. You pump yourself up with rivalry and statistics and cross your fingers they injure themselve...

Thank you for your selfishness. It’s not a bad thing, really. In fact, that, more than any other reason, is what perpetuates both a species as well as a fully-realized, peaceful civilization. But we must examine what selfishness really is to understand why.     The word selfish has dubious origins. It was coined by a cranky archbishop in 1640 for his own use to describe, in the most disreputable terms, the events of his day. To him there was no word sufficiently hostile to describe the unworthiness of human nature as he witnessed it. So he created one. It’s interesting, actually, that he formed a pejorative of the concept of self in the process. He literally made ‘self’ a 4-letter word. He was declaring that the ideas of self-awareness, self-orientation and self-direction are heretical. The gift of free will was apparently not a consideration.     Why did he twist the word ‘self’ in this way? In the Bible, for instance, n...

The day of the longest light is upon us. We know on some level that the occasion is meaningful. And that our rituals and ceremonies and observances add unique layers of meaning for us one turn of the wheel of the year at a time. I’ve always been of the mind that if people like something, there’s something to be learned from it. Good or bad. Or scary. If a tradition develops, there’s something to be explored. If everyone has the same questions, there is something to be answered. Why are so many of our world monuments aligned to the summer solstice? It’s easy to make assumptions about it. To look at a hammer and nail and conclude the building of something, when it’s just as likely the taking of something apart. We should be wildly circumspect about drawing conclusions on behalf of cultures and societies earlier than ours. We prove ourselves wrong so often we might have learned something from that by now. We are too hasty with our conclusions. In the process we miss the parts whi...

I can remember seeing the “Jesus saves“ bumper stickers as a child. I wondered what they meant. Jesus saves what? Sometimes the people who drove those cars turned out to be fairly pushy about their faith. It would come open in a crash rather than unfolding. “Jesus saved you!” And then they’d shout, “Hurry up!” I realize now they were telling me to hurry up and get ready for the second coming they believe to be on its way. But it confused me at the time. It also, however, instilled a deep sense of curiosity. The intensity of people's feelings around that idea was evident to me right away. I wanted to know why. The aphorism “Jesus saves“ ultimately became the second theological question of my life. The first having been what happens when we die. Asking “What did Jesus save?” of people who study this idea generally gets me an answer describing, among other things, the reconciliation of God to humanity. A clean slate. And that it was the crucifixion and resurrection which provid...

The Gospel of Judas was found in the 1970’s but not protected or translated until after 2000.  The National Geographic Society published the translation in 2006. As the infamous disciple who betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin priests, Judas set in motion the events that led to Jesus’s crucifixion and reported resurrection.  As the “authorized” Biblical version tells us, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and later hanged himself with guilt. Throughout the centuries the name ‘Judas’ has been synonymous with betrayal, evil, and shame. But the unauthorized Gospel of Judas tells a very different story. For the record, I am not here to authenticate the Gospel of Judas.  I am not going to attempt to validate the text as either truth or fiction.  Like the Bible, it is whatever it is, provable or not. These are texts which we may look to for inspiration or food for thought.  They are historical reports and open to interpretation as your own faith dicta...

   It is perhaps fairly esoteric, maybe even silly, to have a serious discussion about “mojo.” Maybe it’s even in the realm of the heretical. Mojo is a favorite term of mine I use to describe the energy we send in prayer or when we blow out a birthday candle. American use of the term began in the 1920’s coming through the blues and jazz world, originating in African and Creole words for medicine man and witchcraft. But it also is the name of a spicy sauce from the Canary Islands. I like both ideas.      To me mojo has come to mean a general positive essence which benefits both the person who possesses it and those around them. Its word origins hint at something we have declared to be taboo, while also whispering, “but heed them!” Of course, we could also just give it the general term “energy,” as in “they have good energy,” but somehow it feels too watered down compared to mojo. They have good mojo. It sounds more like a power, or a force fiel...

There’s actually a word for it. Omphaloskepsis. Omm-fallows-kep’-sis. It is the spiritual practice of navel-gazing. Not necessarily a visual inspection of your lint trap, but a breathing through and awareness of the navel area of our bodies as a meditational practice. Today, the term navel-gazing has come to mean someone who is selfish and  self-absorbed or in a constant state of rumination and worry. But that definition is biased. It’s a criticism of the self-aware spiritual practice. It’s a form of ridicule by faith systems who would rather you did not look within to find your higher power.     Who can blame them, really? At the risk of being over-blunt, even unintentionally disrespectful, organized religion is a business with a product just like any other. I say that without criticism, just an objective recognition of the facts. And like any other business, organized religion has and can operate with or without integrity or true value. Wh...