Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Quote Board

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love." - Mother Teresa

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." - St Francis of Assisi

Karl Barth was once asked to sum up the entire bible/gospel into one sentence. He repiled:
"Jesus loves me, this I know; for the bible tells me so."

"We should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same father and creature of the same God?" - Voltaire

The Interview with God

This is a beautiful poem, but it is even better if you see the presentation here: http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD
I dreamed I had an interview with God. “So you would like to interview me?” God asked.“If you have the time” I said. God smiled. “My time is eternity.”“What questions do you have in mind for me?”“What surprises you most about humankind?”God answered...“That they get bored with childhood,they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.”“That they lose their health to make money...and then lose their money to restore their health.”“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”"That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”God’s hand took mineand we were silent for a while.And then I asked...“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”“To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.”“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”“To learn to forgiveby practicing forgiveness.”“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.” “To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most,but is one who needs the least.”“To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.”“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”"Thank you for your time," I said humbly. "Is there anything else you would like your children to know?"God smiled and said, “Just know that I am here... always.” -author unknown

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Sati speaks of Silence

In Sati, by Christopher Pike, Sati is a woman who says she is God. Regardless of whether or not this is true, she hold meetings where she shares the most profound and amazing truths with people. Here are some of my favorites:

"You were not born to suffer. If, in spite of what I tell you now, you choose to be miserable, then you do so for your own sake, not for mine. There is hardly a religious of mystical tradition in the world that does not describe God as eternal bliss. This being so, why should anyone suffer for God? It makes no sense. Therefore, my first and deepest wish for all of you is to be happy. Just that simple- be happy. On the other hand, I do understand that you all suffer, to one extent or another. I will tell you why. You have lost the awareness of the two sides of my nature, of your nature. I am silent and I am active. I am both simulatenously. You are both, too, but you experience only your active side. You have forgotten your inner being, which is pure silence. You search endlessly for permanent happiness in a place where nothing is permanent. Here I am getting philosophical, and that is a shame because truth is always very simple. There is a state that you as a human being can aspire to that includes an awareness of both sides of my nature, a state beyond all sorrow....
Enjoy your life. No curse hangs over you, nor did it ever. No devil chases after your soul. Sing and dance and be merry (Jamie's note: see Ecclesiastes). But in your play, remember that the goal of the game- and there is a goal- is to find me." 42-43

"Answers given in words create more questions, even while they are being spoken. Only in silence is there perfect communication. One only finds God by grace, and grace alone. Grace is like the sweet rain that falls from the sky. You are like cups. You have to catch this grace as it falls." (95)

 

My Church and the Carillon

So I've been wanting to start this blog for a long time. I actually created it in May. But today, during a staff meeting at my church, I got so angry and filled with arguments that I knew it was time. Plus I've been reading "Sati" by Christopher Pike and have been wanting to post quotes from it. I have been inspired...so here it is. Chapter 1: My Church and the Carillon

For those of you who don't know, a carillon is an electronic keyboard system that plays bells. You can hear them at many churches Sunday mornings, and sometimes even at certains times every day (i.e. noon). My church has never had one. We used to have a real bell in a real bell tower. But since our building burned down, we've gone without it. And ever since there has been talk of purchasing a carillon for the building. Mind you we have no money, we are in the red, and we're looking for more money to increase our ministry. But people have been fighting and pushing for this carillon thing. So okay, Sunday, the proposal was passed to get one. However, the money will not come from the church, it will come from the pockets of people who wanted the carillon to begin with. What convinced the congregation to vote for it was what the leader of this carillon mob group said, "This won't cost the church anything." Sounds good right? No harm in that, right? Well I think "WRONG!" If people spend their money of this carillon thing, I feel they will be less inclined to spend MORE money on things like supporting the ministry of the church through pledges/donations/etc. But even more so, I look at it this way. All these people who have all this money, are wasting it on a carillon instead of : helping people in need, caring for the ailing, teaching our congregation, our youth and our community about God, supporting the millions of starving people in Africa and every other third world country, etc etc.

yeah so instead (this could be the pro-carillon argument I suppose), we spend $9,000 (i overheard this figure in a meeting) on some electronic bells because other churches in the community have one (meaning downtown beloit is already filled with electronic bell music... oh sorry this is supposed to be pro-carillon... but seriously, is the carillon supporting the ministry? Does it help us as a church work together to do God's work and help those in need. NO!....) But we are supporting the Carillon making company which is keeping people with jobs which I guess supports our economy. But pro-carillonists are really only saying, "Now we have what everyone else has! Yay" Kind of like a 4 year old who sees his peers with the new $200 Power Ranger Turbo Multi Engine Truck/Monster combo and whines/complains to his mom that he wants one cuz everyone else has one, and even though the mom is a single mother working three jobs to support her family, she buys it for him anyway. And you know what will happen to that $200 toy? It may be played with for a few days, weeks, maybe even up to a month. But then it will break, be ignored, not used to its full capacity or potential, not even all the special features that cost so much will be used or discovered, and eventually it will be sold in a garage sale for 50 cents. ahhhhhh it reeks of selfishness. I thought I could expect more from a church. Now I know how Jesus feels. He is probably shaking his head at us. Cuz I know I am.

(...see Luke 12:13-21. The Parable of the Rich Fool)
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Jamie 1:1

In the beginning, when Jamie's thoughts were a formless void, there came a magnificent light of awareness. Jamie had an idea. And it was to create a blog about religion, society, and possibly a little politics. About morals, and values and our current generation. About things that make me think, that make me confused, that make me wonder. So welcome to my inner sanctuary of mental turmoil. Please post comments. Please post questions. And please come back.
God Bless,
Jamie