The Energy Inside You

When you think you’re exhausted, inside you there are many deeper pools of energy from which to draw.

The Fundamentalism of Atheism

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3820/way_beyond_atheism:_god_does_not_(not)_exist

This is excellent (from Nelson French).  Negative theology is where I would place myself, though I must admit that I am willing now to make some statements:  “God is not a thing, but energy in its purest, rawest, and ultimate form”; or “We should stop using the word ‘God’ and start saying ‘Source’ or “The All’ or ‘The All That Is'”; or “God is nothing (no/thing).”  Of course, my statements are inherently limited and limiting because of the nature of language, but I still believe that we can speak in proximate terms.  In any case, Wallace is correct:  atheism is generally an inversion of fundamentalism.  Very well said and apropos.

Free Will

Free will often means the choice to do what we should do anyway.

The Maple Tree and Me

There is one main difference between me and the maple tree in my backyard.  It is always who it is.  Sometimes I forget that about myself.

Wisdom Requires Mistakes

You do not acquire wisdom without making mistakes.

Creation Never Stops

Gen 1:1: “When God began to create . . . “: Creation never stops.

Heart and Mind

Feeling is the basis for all thought. The heart is the foundation on which the mind is built.

Harvests

Fallow times lead to harvest times.

Carrying Our Ancestors with Us

Ex 13:19: Just as Moses carried the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, we all carry our ancestors with us wherever we go.

The Present and the Future

Not knowing the future is a gift allowing us live in the present.

Randomness and Design

How do we make sense of the simultaneous existence of randomness and design? Both are fundamental, but apparently mutually exclusive. To make sense of that is shalom, wholeness, integration.

Where Are we?

While we live, we appear to be in one place at a time. After we die, we are everywhere.

Fear

You do not overcome or quash fears. You embrace them and move forward.

“Does Your Language Shape How You Think?”

This is illuminating (via Dianne Bazell): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html

“The idea that your mother tongue shapes your experience of the world may be true after all.”

Translating “God” and “Lord”

Because of the anthropomorphic connotations of the English words, “God” and “Lord,” because of the human tendency to use “God” as a thing or object (thereby objectifying “God”), and because of their inherently gendered meanings (”Lord” as opposed to “Lady” and “God” as opposed to “Goddess”), these words have too much baggage to use in current translations of the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, I often replace “God” with “THE ALL” and “LORD GOD” with “ALL THAT IS.” For “LORD,” I simply use “SOURCE.” This will no doubt prove strange for many readers, but de-familiarization is part of the process of reacquainting oneself with the deeper meanings of the biblical text.      These translations also have the advantage of preserving the actual significance of the Hebrew words which have become ossified in English (and other modern languages) translations and consequently lost their original meanings.

YHWH comes from the Hebrew word, “to be” (hayah), and is explicitly associated with being, becoming, existence, etc. By using a verb to describe the Divine, early Jewish writers imply that the Divine is fundamentally not an object or a thing, but rather that it is relational in nature. One might describe it as “energy,” because it is a force, not an object. The English word, “Lord,” reflects the Hebrew vowel pointing of YHWH as adonai (a – o – ai), used by Jews from antiquity to the present day to avoid saying the Divine name. There are other circumlocutions used by Jews to avoid saying the Divine name:   e.g. “the name” ( hashem) and “the place” (hamaqom). By using “SOURCE” or “ALL THAT IS,” I maintain the original meaning of the word without using the Divine name.

Elohim  is the word that normally translates “God” (from El, the chief deity of the Ugaritic pantheon), but it is a plural form that naturally implies a multiplicity of deities. In the Hebrew Bible, it normally indicates the deity of the Jewish people: the One God, the Eternal. Occasionally it directly indicates more than one god (such as in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22), but even there the notion of oneness persists. As a plural form, Elohim suggests that one cannot limit the Divine to a single thing (which a singular form would connote) and actually implies that the Divine is so all-encompassing that no thing falls outside of its compass. Elohim means unity. From a metaphorical perspective, one might see the Divine as a choir rather than a soloist; here the many become one. This is why the term, “monotheism” (which implies singularity rather than oneness or unity) is inadequate for describing the Jewish and Christian concepts of Divinity. “THE ALL” preserves the all-encompassing character, relationality, unity, and oneness of the Divine.

See how I do this in “translations of Genesis by larry” in “about mystic scholar”: http://mysticscholar.org/about-mystic-scholar/translations-of-genesis-by-larry/

Our Ancestors Inside Us

Our ancestors are inside us all the time. How could they not be? Like tree roots or river beds, they are part of our internal landscape.

Idolatry

Idolatry is seductive because anything can be idolatrous, including worship of God.

The Power of Metaphors

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/?src=me&ref=general

How metaphors affect our behavior.

“Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text: Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22)”

By Laurence H. Kant

1) “Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text:  Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on  Mt. Moriah  (Gen. 22)”: “Part 1,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 77-109; “Part 2”  Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 161-94

2) “Arguing with God and Tiqqun Olam:  A Response to Andre LaCocque on the Aqedah,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 203-19 (this was a response to an article by André Lacocque, “About the ‘Akedah’ in Genesis 22:  A Response to Laurence H. Kant,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 191-201)

AqedahArticlePart1a; AqedahArticlePart2a; and AqedLacocqueResp1

What is the Key to Receiving Spiritual and Creative Messages?

Sometimes doing nothing is the key to receiving creative and  spiritual messages.

When Do Gateways Appear?

Gateways exist inside us, appearing in the world when we are ready.

Isaac Meditates

“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at sunset”: Gen 24.63.

(Meditation means both “meditate” and  “study” in Jewish interpretation and bears both connotations here, along with “stroll.”)

Lost in the Woods

When we’re lost in the woods, we can use a compass or follow a stream. When we’re lost in our lives, we can use the intuition of our gut and heart through which our true self and the Source speak.

Each of Our Lives is a Sacred Story

Each of our lives is a sacred story. Learn how to tell it so that others may learn.

When will a Gateway Open?

No one can say when a gateway will open for you.

What is a Gateway?

A gateway is not an object in space and time, but a gap in space and time that allows us momentarily  to be in a place without boundaries.

Interdependence

I am because you are.

Keep Going

Keep going. Success depends on persistence. Keep going. You don’t ever know when your moment will come. Keep going. You just never know.

Chris Henry and Organ Donation

This is quite a moving story:  http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/nfl/CdypPOxkRyMWxJjEkoxYqBr_XWjB6WQe

Our Lives as Sacred Stories

Each of our lives is a sacred story. Learn how to tell it so that others may learn.

Waking World and Dream World

Both the waking world and dream world are real. The question is: How do we interpret them?

Teaching Others

We live each of our lives not only for ourselves but to teach others.

Who is Adam?

Who is Adam? An androgynous being created from the earth’s soil. We are all Adam, part of the earth.

Learning Lessons

How many lifetimes does it take to learn a lesson?  As many as it takes to learn the lesson.

Revolution

The world does not need a revolution, but it needs leaders who can respond to the revolution that is already happening.

The Death of Old Institutions

When old institutions die, new ones are born.

Free Will

Free will means the choice to be who we are.

Pause Between Breaths

A pause between breaths: silence, the voice of God, the Source.

Good Ideas

All good ideas are gateways to deeper realities.

Fear and Courage

Fear is natural, but so is courage.

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