Yes, I am working on something, but...
I was thinking today, as I got the laundry ready to go and before I realized the detergent was in the trunk of the car and that the car was of course in El Cajon with americanstd. (He is working today in the courthouse out in the Land of White Trash and Electric Wheelchairs.)
Since the beginning of the year, I've been reading a lot on Witchvox, listening to pagan music, become obsessed with Norse mythology, etc. Since I'm a Catholic theologian, and a fairly black-belt one, I've been asking myself, "What is attracting you to these?" I have some fairly strong objections to many Wiccans because so many are fluffy bunnies or they collect gods as if they were baseball cards, or worst of all, they use them for whatever purpose, never giving back an offering in return.
Norse tradition and religion interests me because of americanstd because it's such a large part of who he is.
Today it struck me that what attracts me is the connection to nature. In Christianity, there's a pretty strong disconnect between nature and religion. Even Judaism has harvest festivals, such as Sukkot. True, these follow the seasons in Israel, but they're harvest festivals nonetheless.
I can see why Christianity started out this way. It got its start in the cities, particularly among cities with large Gentile populations. Even though the cities relied on the countrysides for food, that's still a world of difference from being agrarian.
Not only that, early Christians thought that Jesus was going to return *any day now* even though Jesus himself said he didn't know when he'd come back. Plus there's my personal belief, strongly backed up by John's Gospel, that the "return" is meant to be metaphorical, here but "not yet". Consequently, the idea of tracking the planting and the harvests were not part of early Christianity.
Even in the Middle Ages, religious ceremonies were held in times of drought and crop blight, but never regularly scheduled.
Steve loves agriculture. I had gotten a respect for the turn of the seasons in Montreal, where winter means frozen veggies and horrible looking tomatoes, pale and hard as rocks. Once I came to California, I started planting my own veggies and herbs. Right now, everyone knows we have the back yard under production and are looking for seeds so we can plant again. (For some reason, stores out here don't seem to realize that they can still sell seeds because hello, it's not going to get at all chilly until maybe November.) We did something for the First Fruit, although next year I'll be sure to destroy it and not eat it.
So yeah. Feeling somewhat unfulfilled spiritually because of this disconnect. Any thoughts?
Since the beginning of the year, I've been reading a lot on Witchvox, listening to pagan music, become obsessed with Norse mythology, etc. Since I'm a Catholic theologian, and a fairly black-belt one, I've been asking myself, "What is attracting you to these?" I have some fairly strong objections to many Wiccans because so many are fluffy bunnies or they collect gods as if they were baseball cards, or worst of all, they use them for whatever purpose, never giving back an offering in return.
Norse tradition and religion interests me because of americanstd because it's such a large part of who he is.
Today it struck me that what attracts me is the connection to nature. In Christianity, there's a pretty strong disconnect between nature and religion. Even Judaism has harvest festivals, such as Sukkot. True, these follow the seasons in Israel, but they're harvest festivals nonetheless.
I can see why Christianity started out this way. It got its start in the cities, particularly among cities with large Gentile populations. Even though the cities relied on the countrysides for food, that's still a world of difference from being agrarian.
Not only that, early Christians thought that Jesus was going to return *any day now* even though Jesus himself said he didn't know when he'd come back. Plus there's my personal belief, strongly backed up by John's Gospel, that the "return" is meant to be metaphorical, here but "not yet". Consequently, the idea of tracking the planting and the harvests were not part of early Christianity.
Even in the Middle Ages, religious ceremonies were held in times of drought and crop blight, but never regularly scheduled.
Steve loves agriculture. I had gotten a respect for the turn of the seasons in Montreal, where winter means frozen veggies and horrible looking tomatoes, pale and hard as rocks. Once I came to California, I started planting my own veggies and herbs. Right now, everyone knows we have the back yard under production and are looking for seeds so we can plant again. (For some reason, stores out here don't seem to realize that they can still sell seeds because hello, it's not going to get at all chilly until maybe November.) We did something for the First Fruit, although next year I'll be sure to destroy it and not eat it.
So yeah. Feeling somewhat unfulfilled spiritually because of this disconnect. Any thoughts?