Let’s get out our shovels. We are searching for the true meaning of Christmas – this season that rushes upon us and is as quickly gone again. Our quest will proceed on the analogy of an archeological dig. Before even breaking the surface, one layer in the meaning of Christmas is commercial. Earlier each year,Continue reading “Excavating Christmas”
Tag Archives: myth
Open-Box Theology
Theology is reasoning (from logos) about god, or simply the study of god. Even simpler, theology is our theories about god, how we talk about god, the words we use to make sense of god. Theology is god-talk. If there is a clear distinction between religion and spirituality, it comes down to this business ofContinue reading “Open-Box Theology”
The Possible Human
Anderson: “Contemporary civilization without ball games and movies would be as incomprehensible as medieval civilization without the Church. Our social reality is shaped by those myths and structures, our personal lives informed and sometimes inspired by them.” In the early flush of modernity, when the codes of the physical universe were being unlocked right andContinue reading “The Possible Human”
At the Threshold
Anderson: “As we become aware of the social construction of reality – consciously, publicly aware – the boundary erodes between the kind of fiction we call art or literature and the kind of fiction we call reality. History becomes another kind of storytelling, personal and social life becomes another kind of drama.” Reality is aContinue reading “At the Threshold”
Easter Reality
Religious high holy days are anchored deep in myth and symbol. These are times when true believers – as well as the larger number of unaffiliated and “occasional pilgrims” – step into the sacred stories and reflect once again on the miracles of old. Too many of them probably do this out of family obligationContinue reading “Easter Reality”
Waking Up
De Mello: “Spirituality is the most practical thing in the whole wide world. I challenge anyone to think of anything more practical than spirituality as I have defined it – not piety, not devotion, not religion, not worship, but spirituality – waking up, waking up!” Human beings are creators, and what we create are worlds.Continue reading “Waking Up”
Resting and Longing
Tillich: “The concern of faith is identical with the desire of love: reunion with that to which one belongs and from which one is estranged. The separation of faith and love is always the consequence of the deterioration of religion.” As I near the end of my conversation with Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard and Tillich on theContinue reading “Resting and Longing”
Embodied Faith
Tillich: “The history of faith is a permanent fight with the corruption of faith, and the conflict with reason is one of its most conspicuous symptoms.” “Reason” as a term referring to a faculty of human intelligence has an interesting history of its own, both on the human-evolutionary and individual-developmental scales. Its ascent in theContinue reading “Embodied Faith”
Ultimate Concern
Tillich: “Faith is the state of being ultimately concerned. The content matters infinitely for the life of the believer, but it does not matter for the formal definition of faith. And this is the first step we have to make in order to understand the dynamics of faith.” If Paul Tillich has recognition in popularContinue reading “Ultimate Concern”
Tracts of Revolution 