meaning

Perhaps the greatest barrier to sociable and fertile discussion between religious and non-religious folk is the question of God.¹ God is THE defining barrier between Theists and Atheists—for example. And almost as potent: defining God or gods separates adherents of one religion from another. That is: Theology is perhaps the most divisive undertaking in human history—next to war, anyway. Kinda seems backward, doesn't it?

continue reading "The Problem with God"

We begin our lives satisfying physical and material desires. But eventually most of us will begin an ancient journey searching for Meaning. The first is material, while the second is immaterial—or spiritual. Brian McLaren describes the material quest as “boiling down to earning and buying and selling…eating and drinking and having fun…respiration, digestion, elimination, ovulation, ejaculation, gestation, reproduction, antiquation, expiration.”¹ The search for Meaning cannot be so easily described.

continue reading "Searching for Meaning"

My sister lost her husband of thirty-one years last week. It all happened rather quickly and Tuesday was the quickest that we could get out to see her to share some grief, and to begin to find some meaning for it all—especially for her as she begins to forge a new identity as half of what was, toward all of what needs becoming. But to some extent, every one who had any ties of consciousness with Fred needs to readjust to the loss, because true friends and loved ones are actually a part of us in this respect—we take each other into our selves. She has received many comments, cards, phone calls, and emails as evidence to the often surprising extent to which one person can affect many others through their lives, and consequently, also in their death.

continue reading "Life, Death, Grief, and Finding Meaning in the Commons"

In many corners of the globe there is a growing crisis of meaninglessness. This condition includes deep, visceral feelings of separation, accompanied by profound uncertainty about personal identity and purpose. Separation disconnects us from family and other group relations, while lack of self-knowledge leaves our selves nowhere to be found. Not only do we not know where we are going—we don't know where we are at. We are cut adrift in a sea of meaninglessness.

continue reading "The Crisis in Meaning"

By faith the quest is taken;

in motion life comes alive;

from living the meaning is found;

by meaning faith does survive;

to render another go-round.

Readers -- Hopefully this end  up more as a dialogue than a sermon:

Some may object right off the bat with the Deconstructive approach that I will be using.  For clarity, I find no better way to allow us to see the magnitude of the problem before us.

To begin, I want to enter into the concept of Economy -- not money, but value.  Meaning is tied very closely to value in the full circle of existence, so we will try to keep it close.  By Economy, I mean as it relates to Faith -- its meaning and value.  It may appear that this is a very unique usage of the word economy, but I hope to demonstrate that our existence lives in the realm of Economy in all phases of being.

continue reading "Why the World Does Not Comprehend a faithCommons"

Life is a struggle. It is a pursuit of needs and wants and the avoidance of pain, injury and death. It is joy in accomplishment and in the presence of loved ones, and it is disappointment in failure and loss. But life is continuing to live in spite of all. In fact, we might define life for conscious beings as choosing to live and to thrive nonetheless.

The creative struggle of the human animal is, in the least, the struggle to carve out a niche to survive in on the shear cliffs of human consciousness overlooking the black abyss of nothingness. Some are more “creative” than the rest of us, but each of us faces the unforgiving world of surprising challenge, and, most importantly, we are conscious or it. We are not merely following a program to procreate, as some would have us accept. It is this consciousness—this knowledge of Good and Evil—that makes us so sorely aware of the toils and pains that life brings our way even as we strive to engage life.

continue reading "Carry On Nonetheless, and The Meaning of Life"

As I struggle along the path to understanding Faith in our emergent, quantum, relative, global world commons¹, I'd like to offer this working definition of faith.

 

faith: n. due diligence to relationship

 

continue reading "A Working Definition of Faith: v1"

The terms 'faith,' 'belief' and 'believe' are terribly misunderstood in the Christian world nowadays, and are in dire need of reappraisal for useful application in the complex, global and post-modern world. Although human relationships have changed and become increasingly intertwined and complex since the days of the classical age, the age from which we get the scriptures that inform the Judeo-Christian world view, the essence of faith is still the glue that binds us together in our many and varied relationships. Without it, we are just so many individuals competing with one another for our daily bread. But with it we are together an army of God—or better yet a multidimensional, synergistic, symbiotic network of mature, giving, selfless selves. It's time to grow up, or at least to accept that we have done so and adjust our interpretations accordingly.

More tomorrow, I hope. Meanwhile, check this out: The Patron-Client system and Hebrews 11:1.

continue reading "Still Redefining Faith"

Each of us lives our lives somewhere along a continuum of faith. At one end of that line is full-blown, vibrant, purposeful, faithful living, while on the other end of this faith continuum is utter meaninglessness—nihilism.

This is not the “faithfulness” that you may have heard mentioned in religious circles that describes dutiful adherence to rules and gold-star attendance at meetings and functions. Neither is it a “faithfulness” that puts others above oneself at all costs. That's codependence. Nor is it faithfully coughing up the right answers to the right theological questions. It is instead a life full of faith in meaningful living.

continue reading "Faith, Meaning, And Life in the Ages"