do i really know, or do i just react?
This morning I had my 3rd Georgian Tradition pre-initiate lesson. It was, as they all have been, quite wonderful and full of things to think about. What has been the single most useful tool I've gotten out of it so far (and which I'm feeling is the single most useful tool I'm going to get out of it due to its deep wisdom, simple structure and incredibly challenging and rewarding nature) is the idea of un-brainwashing. Simply put: question everything. It's a way to sift through what you know, what you believe, what you don't know and where and when your emotions are directing your life--and in what ways.
It's not an unusual tool, it's not a mystery or secret, but the way it's put in Georgian just resounds so well with me.
It's the thing that I always kept in my mind and my heart since I first heard it years ago from Yvette Smith. At that time, I was younger, fresher and still working on the beginnings of my recovery from my fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Now, I'm at a place where I can use it differently.
So, I just got back home from going to Whole Foods for a few sundries (Tiger Balm and Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Oil Soap) as well as a few impulse purchases (fruit salad, these amazing corn chips and fresh salsa). On the way to and from, I was listening to Speaking Of Faith on KPCC. Krista Tippet was speaking with a woman who's name I can't recall, but who is a Jewish scholar. The topic was the Jewish understanding of Passover, the Judeo-Christian biblical account of the Exodus and other Jewish teachings, writings and culture around the event and its celebration.
As usual, the minute I heard the words "Bible", "Christian", "Jewish", etc. my hackles went up. But then, I realized that was just bad programming and that the Gods had given me this opportunity to learn something. I literally had to continue fighting that reaction every time language that couched these things in absolutes (such as capital "B" bible--things that are embedded in our language), but I did my best to listen and learn and question.
What I got out of it is how much like our Pagan faiths and teachings so many of the Jewish teachings are. How, even though they have a book that comes from ancient times, how little can actually be known as regards sorting fact from fiction and even more, how useless much of that effort is--like fiction, the truth is in the concept and essence and the mystery of experience as much, if not more, than it is in facts.
Even more, when I got back into the car after leaving the store, there was mention and discussion of the Jewish tradition of questioning the teachings; the tradition of argument and challenge that helps elucidate spiritual truth. There it was right in plain sight: Question Everything.
Lesson reinforced.
It's not an unusual tool, it's not a mystery or secret, but the way it's put in Georgian just resounds so well with me.
It's the thing that I always kept in my mind and my heart since I first heard it years ago from Yvette Smith. At that time, I was younger, fresher and still working on the beginnings of my recovery from my fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Now, I'm at a place where I can use it differently.
So, I just got back home from going to Whole Foods for a few sundries (Tiger Balm and Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Oil Soap) as well as a few impulse purchases (fruit salad, these amazing corn chips and fresh salsa). On the way to and from, I was listening to Speaking Of Faith on KPCC. Krista Tippet was speaking with a woman who's name I can't recall, but who is a Jewish scholar. The topic was the Jewish understanding of Passover, the Judeo-Christian biblical account of the Exodus and other Jewish teachings, writings and culture around the event and its celebration.
As usual, the minute I heard the words "Bible", "Christian", "Jewish", etc. my hackles went up. But then, I realized that was just bad programming and that the Gods had given me this opportunity to learn something. I literally had to continue fighting that reaction every time language that couched these things in absolutes (such as capital "B" bible--things that are embedded in our language), but I did my best to listen and learn and question.
What I got out of it is how much like our Pagan faiths and teachings so many of the Jewish teachings are. How, even though they have a book that comes from ancient times, how little can actually be known as regards sorting fact from fiction and even more, how useless much of that effort is--like fiction, the truth is in the concept and essence and the mystery of experience as much, if not more, than it is in facts.
Even more, when I got back into the car after leaving the store, there was mention and discussion of the Jewish tradition of questioning the teachings; the tradition of argument and challenge that helps elucidate spiritual truth. There it was right in plain sight: Question Everything.
Lesson reinforced.