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"At Heaven's fading,
The WORD gathers in rivers.
My current seeks it."
- Haiku, from http://seeksit.org
How Do You Imagine God?
God in America and USA WEEKEND Magazine are partnering to explore Americans' images of God.
How do you imagine God?
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Oh, my Spirits! The term "imagine" is perfect. That is to say that my favorite deity among the Ancestors requires me to vividly and proactively imagine her in order to make her fully functional. (Some people call this imagining 'prayer'.) Her name is Dalle, and she is the foremost ancestor of the known universe, the one who shepherded it into being.
The name 'Dalle' comes from French and Gothic roots meaning 'channel' or 'valley'. It is pronounced to rhyme with 'gal pal' and 'canal'.
Dalle is the Divine Strongmother who begat the Universe. Yet She is merely an imaginary friend.
Dalle is the mother of God (not to say that she is superior-children often surpass their parents), yet She is only a fantasy heroine from a bedtime tale told to your wide-eyed children.
To know Dalle is to understand that these absurdly contradicting roles are inseparable. Each of us constructs our reality using our senses and our minds: our 'imaging faculties'. Indeed, we are completely trapped in our world of limited sensory inputs and our biological processing unit, the brain. From these, we form a personal narrative that interprets our experiences. And this is the tale we teach our children.
If Dalle is to assume Her lofty role as the dynamic 'voice' of creation and evolution in this universe, She needs nothing more than your inquiring mind. By no means must you accept her. Rather, she implores that you endlessly and intensely seek to question her.
If you don’t find imaginary friends or fictional heroines to be useful, then you are left to face either the logical inconsistencies of an absolute deity, or an impersonal and mute, perhaps indifferent or even hostile foundation to your 'ultimate reality'. Dalle urges you to examine the imperfect yet compelling characters that populate your day-to-day reality and consider extending its limits.
The image is from artist Jonathon Earl Bowser, and depicts Dalle in her manifestation as mother of the universe using a human form. But in general, Dalle is not a spirit who created man in her image. Her pure image may claim human features, but her 'body' extends infinitely into the veil of unknowability out of which our universe emerged.
My Beliefs
I believe ...
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(This is my personal Credo statement, established with the help of fellow seekers at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, MD) I believe that the really, really big setting for our existence—the outermost shell of reality—is a place devoid of meaning: a random, indifferent maelstrom where Paradox reigns supreme. Yet even there I find meaning, or at least pleasure: A good Paradox gives me great joy!
I believe that the really, really tiny building blocks of existence are similarly beyond purpose and blend into a veil of pure Paradox. Science can probe ever deeper but it will not reach an end.
I believe that in between these infinite extremes finite pockets of purpose and meaning naturally form, if only for a time. Simple example: flipping a coin and getting 10 straight heads. I believe that we (I and the reader) dwell in one of these shared “sacred spaces.”
I believe that the choices I make through life either build, strengthen and nurture the quality of the sacred space, or diminish it through benign usurpation or through actively pursuing selfish, evil or sinful ends. I believe that if I do nothing, the sacred space will decay. It requires active support; thus it calls me to witness for good—to radiate it like light, to manifest it through love, and to work for it daily. And I am likewise called to be vigilant for and to quarantine evil—within my heart, my mind, my actions, my community, my world, indeed my universe.
I believe that I was given consciousness (the capacity for prayer) in order to more efficiently strengthen the sacred space that begat me. I tap into the noble channel, that which will enrich and nurture our shared sacred space, through outreaching prayer—prayer that seeks the best of living example and the vast embedded wisdom of the “Hosts”: the wide community beyond my mortal reach that has sustained and built this sacred space over the time of its existence.
I believe I am then called to follow this noble course in all my daily affairs, witnessing for it to all whom I meet. I believe that my personal primary call to social action is to convey by the written word the noble course for humanity as I have recognized it. I do so through story telling; because it was through story telling that I came to understand this noble course in the first place.
I believe that via the noble channel I make the sacred space more welcoming for those to come. And I believe my imprint on that sacred space endures: my descendents will reach to me in prayer, just as I reached to my ancestors. Thus I will join the community of the “Hosts.”
Finally, I believe that our sacred space encompasses, in its largest manifestation, the entirety of our observable universe. And I believe as John Burroughs once said: “There is a constant becoming; there was no beginning, there can be no ending.” Therefore I believe that my choices ultimately make a difference in the very fabric of our present universe; moreover they contribute to the design of the coming Cycles: the universe(s) that our present one will somehow beget.
Meanwhile, in the fullness of time our universe seems destined to fade: our sacred space must come to an end. I believe all things must die because the reality of dying is what makes growth possible. Yet I believe that the patiently fashioned noble design for our sacred space (“THE WORD”) came to us through a veil of birth already well formed, like DNA; and I believe it endures beyond the veil of death. Our currents shall congregate and move to fresh horizons!
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My most powerful moment of belief was ...
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UNDERSTANDING INFINITY (a foundational episode, the first of four such moments of 'revival' of my spirit)
It happened when I was about fourteen; and the memory is now so worn out from revisiting, that it boils down to a still image, almost as if it is a picture hung up on my bedroom wall.
I was sitting at a table in the library of my high school in Pennsylvania. I remember the place as being bathed in bright light, very welcoming, despite some nasty winter weather outside. In this light-filled space, I sat idly contemplating the concept of infinity, as I often did in those days.
And suddenly I “got it.”
There in that welcoming library full of human wisdom, I smiled. Perhaps I sighed. It was more than an epiphany, and yet less: it was something fundamental and elemental. All I needed to do was smile and nod knowingly. Pondering the abstract mathematical concept of infinity had led me to a worldview that has permeated my being ever since. I realized that (and here’s where one’s words for the ineffable inevitably become inadequate) the infinite-nature is embedded within, not at some remote and unreachable end. It is there to be experienced in everything around me. Suddenly whatever I touched, whatever I beheld, expressed its infinite-nature to me.
In that moment, and forever after, I understood that I am the last link of a chain that has only one end—only one! That end is not “now,” not “here,” rather it is a permeating essence—the very essence of actualized being.
Again, if this sounds like a bunch of gibberish, it is because words, like all physically rooted things, are only the last links, not the chain of their full meaning. Literature is full of attempts at describing this kind of transformative experience. Choose the one that most clearly speaks to you.
Fast-forward forty-five years or more, and I’ve expanded that simple first spiritual encounter into a full personal “theology.” It declares that I only half exist—a child of the finite world—desperately clinging to the “working end” of that chain (which I now recognize as my “raft” or “leaf”). In equal measure I fail to exist at all, subsumed to the whole of infinity all about me as I let go and soar along the length of my chain (now envisioned as the “River of Truth”: the chain’s simple links have become the river’s diverse and shifting currents).
Infinity need not be profound or mystical or seething with hidden raw power the way a God seems to need to be. It needs no insistent agenda at all, and yet it will not go away. The inquisitive mind forever seeks it.
Infinity is not a place you can get to—not, that is, until you let it get to you. And then it is a place that you come from. You gaze back now, incredulous at all the superficial stuff of the finite world, and marvel at the sheer tenuousness and ephemeral nature of the reality that such end things must contend with. Herein lies the true wonder: that of the great wealth and complexity that these half-existing finite things have managed to accrue.
Given all the wealth and diversity of material existence in our universe, it is not surprising that people are quick to cast stones of doubt at the role of the infinite in their lives. It would seem that our world has transcended the need for such an intangible foundation.
When I get too caught up in my worldly life—when its complexities and pains begin to well up and overwhelm me—I have to remind myself that, by taking all these things around me to be fully real, I am casting my own stones of doubt. On what basis do I think that the rock I cast will even approach the target, when my first premise—the one that leads me to choose a rock of doubt—has no preeminence? Why have I used that precious fleeting moment of bending groundward to pick up a stone of condemnation, when I could instead plant a seed of gratefulness? The ground at my feet bears a mighty burden. I should thank it for holding me up.
My greatest moment of doubt was ...
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In concert with the understanding of my infinite nature, and the purely objective, impersonal attributes of 'infinity' as a deity, and with my typical adolescent rebellion, I began to question the Presbyterian faith in which I grew up. There was a seminal moment in Sunday School one day, when we were discussing philosophical questions and the teacher asked us to choose sides: one side would argue the existence of God, the other would argue that God didn't exist. I chose to join the latter group and was deeply struck by how fervently I found myself making these arguments!
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My spiritual life means...
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more to me every day. I appreciate it so very much because I lived without it for so very long. (I call that my forty years in the wilderness.)
The biggest misconception about my faith/belief system is ...
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That it lacks the conviction that one can have for an all-knowing creator. This may be true of some who espouse the position that "everybody has the right to believe what they want." They may not care about salvation - of themselves or of anybody else. I vehemently defend the right of everyone to pursue their own course of belief down Dalle's ever-evolving River of Love, Truth and Wellness. But I also understand that her river has swift central currents and disconnected swirling eddies that get you nowhere.
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My spiritual role model is ...
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At present she is the wonderful young pastor of our church (the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, MD), Rev. Paige Getty. Here she is preaching at the Service of the Living Tradition at the UU Association of Congregations National General Assembly in Minneapolis in June 2010.
The tenet/practice/teaching I appreciate most about my faith is ...
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Without question, the single most valuable tenet to me is the unswerving committment to critical thinking and open mindedness. The moment one stops seeking truth is the moment truth stagnates and begins to shrivel into irrelevance. The River of Love, Truth, and Wellness is always moving, restless, evolving. No written text can capture any more than a snapshot of this dynamic process.
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My Faith History
As a child I believed ...
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no more than what I was taught. Like most, I suspect, I absorbed information without evaluating its value. Then comes what I call the "Santa Clause factor", when a child is given this wondeful gift of being able to work out truth for himself. Santa Claus is a very special deity in our society, underestimated, underappreciated, and marginalized in the study of theology. This is a tragic mistake! The more conventional response to this question is that I was raised by devout Presbyterians and attended church and Sunday school virtually every week as a child, up until I began to rebel as a teenager.
My spiritual journey has been ...
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From my teen years and that debate in Sunday School when I realized I was essentially an atheist, I spent well over forty years as first a vehement atheist, then moderating toward agnosticism. I came to accept the very real power of spirituality in others' lives, but wasn't interested in it for myself at all. The understanding of an impersonal transcendent reality posed by the 'deity' called Infinity was enough.
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I was raised as ...
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Presbyterian
Are your beliefs or practices different from your parents? If so, how and why?
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Yes, my parents remain devout Presbyterians. But we have great open-minded discussions of spirituality. Their faith is very liberal, and delightfully open-minded. I love and honor them and have the highest respect for their beliefs.
If you have children, did becoming a parent change your relationship to faith? If so, how?
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I can't say that it did. What it did was greatly strengthen my sense of family and the critical bonds that parents and children forge and retain all their lives, if they are lucky.
How I Practice My Faith
Where and when do you practice your faith?
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Privately in prayer and contemplation, and joyfully in Community at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia.
Does your family practice more than one religion or faith? If so, how do you blend the traditions?
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We have lively conversations. My daughter attended the UU Church with me, but also went to traditional Christian churches and the Young Life summer camp. As her spiritual journey has progressed, I've watched her faith in Jesus strengthen. It is not my path, but we continue to be close and enjoy our theological discussions. She has taught me much about Christianity, and per perspective is profound. Similarly, my parents and I continue to have richly layered discussions on theological and ethical topics. I am truly blessed.
How easy or difficult is it to live your faith? Why?
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It is, of course, a struggle to maintain the Noble Course among the shifting currents of Dalle's River. But there is a wonderful community of open minded and liberal thinkers at my church that make living my faith a delight. As our minister, Rev. Paige Getty says (it's my favorite quote of many from her) "We do theology best in Community."
In my house, the thing that most represents my faith is ...
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I practice my faith internally at home, but the physical manifestations begin with a symbol of Dalle, the origin of the universe, upon which I attached a ring of 'story beads' representing all the ancestral progress that has reached me in the present. To that ring I attached a paper ring on which I wrote a prayer. From then on, each time I have a prayer, be it of intercession, thanksgiving, etc., I write it down on a strip of paper and add to my physical 'prayer chain'. The symbolism is of a one-ended chain, stretching from the unique moment that is 'now' back into the infinite veil of our origins.
The song/book/film that most represents my faith is ...
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Beyond the classic 'amazing grace', none come to mind at the moment.
Religion & the Public Square
What should be the role of religion in politics?
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To the extent that religion emphasizes ethical behavior, I wish it would motivate more politicians to lift their rhetoric out of the gutters of negativity, partisanship, disrespect for truth, and virtual idea-prostitution in which so many of them wallow these days.
Should courses about religion be taught in public schools? Why or why not?
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Yes, but only if it can be done with equanimity -- something like Huston Smith's classic book on the World's Religions would make an excellent text.
Should the Bible, Torah, Quran or other religious texts be taught as works of literature in public schools? Why or why not?
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Literature in the sense of being well written, regardless of topic? The King James bible contains wonderfully expressive passages. But if the question relates to the ideas expressed in those books, then teaching one in isolation from others can be a Pandora's box.
Is interfaith dialogue important? Why or why not?
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Who can argue coherently that good-faith dialogue should be stifled/suppressed/censored? Who? To my way of thinking it is not only important, it is critical. It is the highest calling of my belief system.
Do you feel comfortable discussing your faith with others? Why/why not?
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I'm as comfortable discussing that topic as any other. Of course I'm an introvert, but that's not really what you're asking about. Why? Because I think I have something to say and I truly cherish what I can learn.
Do you feel that you have a duty, because of your faith, to put your beliefs into action? What are some of those actions?
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Personal action: Live well, be an example, build a better frame of reference for others. Social action: seek to lift those least fortunate, intervene personallly where people demonstrate by their words and actions that they are acting out of hatred or malice and imposing an injustice on others as a result.
Are religious beliefs compromised by engaging in politics?
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not automatically
Has 9/11 had any impact on your thoughts about religion? Are you more/less interested in learning about other religions? Do you feel more/less comfortable expressing your religious beliefs?
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not directly, but the discussions that swirl around me do capture my attention. I think these discussions are a positive outcome of the tragedy, if there can be one.
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