Hopeful Thinking

It’s a mystery. Similar to the mysterious rituals of many organized religions in the world, the act of confession is considered one of the mysteries of the Roman Catholic faith. But the word mystery isn’t used in the Bible quite in the way it’s used today. The Biblical Greek word mystērion means something which awaits understanding. I like that way of thinking. It implies that one day we will actually get it. It means God likely has faith in us, too. It indicates that someday perhaps some of the mysteries will be solved, or at the very least comprehended to a degree that we are able to make mindful use of them. Psychology and science has helped us better understand some of the arcane traditions of many world religions. The Jewish practice of eating kosher, for instance, meaning to eat within the ancient dietary laws, often has health benefits which could not have been understood by those who first followed them. Islam as well. But since, according to their traditions, it was God w...

First, a bit of scripture: And one of them, a lawyer, asked [Jesus] a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” — Matthew 22:35-40      “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s the second half of what is often referred to as the Great Commandment. The first half being to love God with all your heart. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each tell this story in nearly identical ways about loving our neighbor. Each of them are referencing Moses’ much earlier proclamations of the same. So the idea had been around for many centuries by this point and each of them tells it. One version of the story which stands out to me is Luke’s, however. In...

Prayer is a confusing exercise sometimes. For the non-religious, it conjures up thoughts of compelled speech, rote memorization and even banging one’s head against a wall. We hear scriptural ideas like “ask and ye shall receive,” but how’s that working for you? The likely truth is that what often comes out of our mouths is not what’s coming from our hearts. That’s where the confusion originates. I’d guess it’s not only confusing for us, but for God, too. For how can a prayer be answered when we often send such conflicting messages? How can we get that million we are asking for when our hearts are projecting a lack of self-worth? And how can we have faith in the act of prayer when it seems those prayers are rarely, if ever answered? I can’t say that I fully believe in the idea that all we have to do is ask and what we want will be given to us. At least not in ways that we understand. What of a little boy whose mother is dying? He prays and prays,...

Go ahead. Call me Pollyanna. Accuse me of seeing the world entirely through rose-colored glasses. I’m fine with that. More than fine, actually. I’m proud of it. I wear my optimism like a badge of honor. But that’s just my own worldview. You are free to choose your own. Which one will you pick? When I see talking heads on the news or look at social media discussions about the state of our world it’s easy to see the color of their glasses. There’s enough evidence, imaginary or legitimate, to support nearly any idea. Good or bad. Tragic or joyous. Everything from conspiracy theories, to aliens, to pending global annihilation has a tangible basis for debate. There’s plenty of so-called evidence out there to back up virtually any claim imaginable. We are free to believe anything we wish. So what do you choose? Because we actually do have to make a choice. How we choose determines a lot about how we conduct our lives. Everything from our emotional and physical health to our day-to-d...

My daughter Lavender and I have lots of fascinating conversations. Even though she has challenges in learning, she has very little problem knowing. Once something is adequately explained to her, she always gets it. Better than that, she actually cognizes it and makes it her own. She understands a lot of difficult concepts which many of us fail to ever grasp. Genetics is one of them. Music is of course one of them. But spirituality even more. From the very beginning of our friendship she has been an intellectual companion to my many ways of thinking about philosophy, religion, the law of attraction, history and the concept of time. We’ve also talked a lot about subjects like political correctness. We talk about how difficult it is to do it sometimes. Not because we feel that we shouldn’t strive to find better and more inclusive language. But because we know we aren’t being unloving in our use of them. We’re not like that. To us they’re just words, not slurs. Right? Not diminis...

All around us we find people who are angry, hurt, sick, lonely, vengeful. How do we cope with that? Are we supposed to constantly just look away, trying to think of something more pleasant, ignoring the reality of suffering in our world? Why not? People do it all the time. Early in life we are taught to always do our best. What does that mean? Often it seems that doing our best means living up to the expectations of people we love, respect or admire rather than our own actual best. Exactly whose best are we expected to be doing? The truth is we never don’t do our own version of “best.” We constantly strive to feel better, live better, to end cycles of anger and torment inside ourselves, to be stronger, even when it looks like the opposite. Even when it is the opposite. That is the prime directive of all species, including human. Strive to improve. Work to flourish. Fail in order to succeed. Which brings us to the concept of cap...

After attending an evening vespers service last week I am stuck with a tune in my head. Not just the tune, really. It’s the words. The refrain sings, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” I remember learning the song as a child. Of course it didn’t make much of an impact on me then. But now, hearing those words again after decades of thought on the subject, I don’t really agree with them anymore. Christians are not just known for their love. In fact, the public perception held by the majority of non-churchgoers is that Christians are among the most unloving citizens in our country. I wish I had a bag of canned goods for every time I’ve heard someone say they don’t go to church because Christians are too judgmental. A new seam began to develop in American mainstream Christianity in the years following World War II. A crack then a chasm, polarizing the tradition along a divisive liberal-conservative spectrum increasing in depth as the millennium approached. Why that happen...