Friday, April 29, 2011

Irrationality


When it comes to spirituality, I love God- but I have less of a fondness for the religious institutions he comes packaged with. I know this seems hypocritical of me as a former preacher, but even as a reverend I was never as much about the church as I was about the message, and the God. It’s why I’ve always been one for people forging their own paths around these things, and finding their own way to the God of their choice. You’ve got to have choice about these things, otherwise you aren’t believing, you’re being forced to do something you don’t want to do. And that’s not the right relationship.

You see, everything comes down to relationships, in the end. Religion is nothing if you don't have a relationship with it, or to it; it's all about that relationship, that love, that companionship. It's about how you view your relationship with the planet, with the people on the planet, with your family, with your surroundings. In the end, religion comes down to that fundamental relationship. Christianity, at it's core, is about relationships as well. This works no matter how you view the Bible; through a literary lens, or an anthropological one, or through a religious one (like myself). Translated well, the first relationship between Adam and Eve was one of egalitarianism; one only needs to be around a woman to know she's at least equal or superior to a man! The relationship between humans and God is not the omniscient angry power sending forth the outcast weaklings, but of the father offering freedom to his children. I personally believe that, though the science is incorrect, there is meaning in the version offered by the Bible. There is also meaning in the creation stories of Buddhism, of the Hindu, of the Native Americans. Because all of these stories speak of relationships. Even Atheism is a statement of relationship, in a way-- a relationship to the tangible, to the solid of the Earth. 

I suppose what I have to say is in the end it doesn't matter what you believe, just that you have faith in something. I myself believe that God began the ticking of the Earth; that he gave us freedom to do as we wish; that he has a plan for each and every one of us; that each of us must attempt to love others, forgive them for hurting us, and avoid violence as much as possible; respect other people's cultures; respect other people's beliefs; that He gave His son to keep us free; that my God is strong enough to support anyone; and that my God is love. He loves you, whether you care about Him or not, and I love you, whether you know it or not. I'd really say that this was mostly learnt from my dear wife, who was wiser at the age of 16 (when we met) than I will ever be in all my years. Bless her.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Stuff

At one point or another, you get to the age where you start to lose the thoughts in your head to the world around you. So I started this blog as a favour to my granddaughter, who made me promise I'd keep my thoughts somewhere safe, or at least relatively safe in comparison to my actual head. I figured that one of these blog things would be as good a place as any to send my ramblings. The girl who comes by to look after my cats helped me set all this up. Not so good with computers, myself, what with me being a very old man, who hasn't aged as well as he could in any case.

I suppose in the end my thoughts end up being along the lines of rambling paths, leading up to a briar rose patch; too tangled and too long and maybe too old as well, and ending up in odd unpleasant places.. Mostly I'll be musing on religion and philosophy, as I am an old windbag and a retired reverend, but there'll also be nonsense about nonsense rhymes and puns. I have a bit of a weakness for puns.

In 2000 we moved to the small apartment I currently live in, in London. It was mostly to by nearer my kids, and my grandkids, but I'm thinking about looking for a place in the country since that's no longer so much of a concern. My mobility is getting to be a bit of a problem, but some fresh country air will probably do me, and my granddaughter, good. And I'd definitely appreciate being out of London, what with the crime rates and all. Finances should be less of a issue, or at least I'd hope so, since I've been saving money from my teaching of Latin and Hebrew to some of the students who go to the schools in this area. I used to teach piano, but that's become more difficult lately. And, of course, with the depression my savings have been a little wobbly, but not so much it's painful.

And that's about it. Some rambling, odd musing, and lots of puns. I hope you can put up with it all!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Nonsense

One fine day, in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight,
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other,
One was blind and the other couldn't see,
So they chose a dummy for a referee,
A blind man went to see fair play,
A dumb man went to shout "hooray!"
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to arrest the two dead boys,
If you don't believe this lie is true,
Ask the blind man-- he saw it too!