A friend and blog follower of mine posed an important question after reading my recent post “Where is God?” Here are his words: The traditional God was a human-created myth that is no longer needed, and any debate over God’s reality needlessly wastes time and energy, and leads to conflict. Better to just leave itContinue reading “Peaceful Soul, Creative Spirit”
Tag Archives: mythology
Where is God?
As an advocate of post-theism I stand in an interesting space, with suspicious theists on one side and suspicious atheists on the other. As they debate the literal existence of god, I want to know what god means – not what did god mean by this commandment or that Bible story, but what the mentalContinue reading “Where is God?”
Christian Mythology Through A Post-theistic Lens
After leaving Christian ministry as a church pastor my journey has taken me deeper into the frontier of post-theism, and it’s been my new “calling” since then to clarify the meaning of this emergent form of spirituality. I have worked hard to distinguish post-theism from its progenitor (theism), as well as from its much youngerContinue reading “Christian Mythology Through A Post-theistic Lens”
Why Spirituality and Religion Need Each Other
In their effort to distance themselves from irrelevant and pathological forms of religion, many today are identifying themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” This general move across culture has also tended to brand religion itself as inherently irrelevant (outdated) and pathological (extremist and/or delusional). The so-called New Atheists have promoted this identification in their advocacyContinue reading “Why Spirituality and Religion Need Each Other”
Deconstructing Yourself
One important application of the idea that meaning is constructed by our minds and not discovered in reality is in the way it forces us to see ourselves in our constructions. The meaning we put together and project onto things is itself a symptom of our deeper insights, aspirations, ignorance, and insecurities. Our product revealsContinue reading “Deconstructing Yourself”
The Five Facets of Meaning
The brand of humanistic spirituality I ascribe to regards human beings primarily as creators, and what we create is meaning. This brings in another key concept as it relates to meaning itself, which is that meaning is created – or constructed and projected – rather than intrinsic and merely awaiting our discovery in objective reality.Continue reading “The Five Facets of Meaning”
The Rapture of Being Alive
In his interview published under the title The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers voiced the popular idea that myths are an ancient (and largely discredited) means whereby human beings have searched for the meaning of life. After a pause, the scholar of mythology Joseph Campbell replied, People say that what we’re all seeking is aContinue reading “The Rapture of Being Alive”
Being You
Take a few moments to reflect on the difference between what your life means and how it feels to be alive. The meaning of your life isn’t simply a given, is it? Instead, it is something you have to think about. Indeed, thinking about what your life means is itself the very process whereby itsContinue reading “Being You”
The Leaders We Need Now
Every age and generation has a need for capable leaders, for those who are able to see a bigger picture, understand what’s happening, and help the rest of us through the doors of necessary change. A leader is not always the one up front, with the loudest voice and getting all the attention. A trueContinue reading “The Leaders We Need Now”
Dead Certain
Other animals will engage in violent conflict with members of their own species over territory, resources, access to mates, and protecting their young, but only humans kill each other over ideas. We will go so far as to commit suicide in the act of destroying those who don’t agree with us or whose values areContinue reading “Dead Certain”
Tracts of Revolution 