Divinity

[vaneramos]

It is a breezy evening. I sit in my car with the window rolled down, waiting for a friend to leave on an excursion to Hamilton. I'm reading I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me, by Hugh Prather. He talks about "a spiritual way of seeing." Spirituality has been a sensitive topic lately. I doubt there's a spirit, or that it's distinct from the

Comments

[vaneramos]

Exactly. I do believe it's worthwhile lifting the Bible, for instance, from the tatters of literalism.

And speaking of metaphors, I remember one from the Sermon the Mount that tore my heart open when I was 19. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin."

As a sufferer of clinical anxiety, I notice that passage's message is still profoundly relevant to me: instead of worrying, take a lesson from the patience of nature, and learn to live in the present.

[ubermunkey]

But this desire still seems a blind, irrational grasp for security in the dark.

I love your writing. Really moves me, makes me feel, has me grasping for beauty and meaning, and for now that is enough.
love
c

[vaneramos]

That's the thing really, and maybe grasping is all we need, and to keep ourselves honest.

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon crafting an email, but I'm overwhelmed by it and won't send it all, not right now. It's all good thoughts, anyway.

Love,
Van

[eloquentwthrage]

I wish I understood what you're trying to say. Are you saying that unless you take the Bible literally, you shouldn't take it at all? I'm confused.

[vaneramos]

Not at all. Maybe you're looking for something too conclusive in my words. I am merely an atheist reviewing his attitudes about faith, and not coming up with anything new

[bitterlawngnome]

Have you ever read the Seth / Jane Roberts materials? It doesn't talk about god in the Xian sense, but has some interesting things to say in that area.

[vaneramos]

No, I hadn't heard of those. I have a hard time taking psychics at face value, so it's interesting that, according to Wikipedia, Roberts herself maintained skepticism to the end of her life. The passage I read of hers (not dictated by Seth), suggesting that we need "a new myth of man and his beginnings," was quiet compelling.

[bitterlawngnome]

Well the thing with the Seth material is that it stands up just as well (or poorly) if you assume she made it all up rather than chanelling it. I have found it to have practical useful applications, and when it comes to this kind of stuff the proof is in the pudding.

[leafshimmer]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful and profound words, which I'm only now getting round to reading.

hugs, Shimmer

[vaneramos]

Shimmer, I'm glad this resonated with you. I enjoyed reading about your odd dream this afternoon.