tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20757825585458303632023-11-16T12:19:32.114-05:00RoboPARoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-49188023186030534372013-02-14T09:17:00.001-05:002013-02-14T09:17:40.949-05:00From the Back PorchThe view from the back porch of the church, instead of within it's four walls, is the analogy that Jerry Wright uses for his individual spiritual journey. He writes about it here: <a href="http://www.jungatlanta.com/articles/spring09-backporch.pdf">http://www.jungatlanta.com/articles/spring09-backporch.pdf</a> The article is fantastic, and really sits well with my psyche right now, as I too feel like I'm on the back porch (by choice) of the church looking out into the vast fields before me that I couldn't see when I was inside. I'm seeking fellow travelers on this journey. Over the past few weeks, the transference that was part of a current friendship was made conscious (thanks Guild for the work we are doing around shadow and transference!), and I began to see how I've been trying to force someone out of the paradigm that they wish to stay in. I apologized, and it's all good, but it does highlight what Jerry says at the end. He rephrases a quote from Jung during his Terry Lectures on psychology and religion, to talk about those he seeks to help. I feel the same. Here are both quotes (Jung's and then Jerry's re-phrasing):<br />
<br />
<b>Jung</b><br />
<i>I am not...addressing myself to the happy possessors of<br />faith, but to those many people for whom the light has gone<br />out, the mystery has faded, and God is dead. For most of<br />them there is no going back, and one does not know either<br />whether going back is always the better way. To gain an<br />understanding of religious matters, probably all that is left<br />us today is the psychological approach. That is why I take<br />these thought-forms that have become historically fixed, try<br />to melt them down again and pour them into moulds of<br />immediate experience. (CW:11:par 148)</i><br />
<br />
<b>Wright</b><br />
My version of that address, as I sit on the back-porch of<br />the Church, is: <i>I am not addressing those for whom the<br />traditional interpretations of the Christian story remain<br />vital and life-giving, but to the growing number of those<br />for whom the old, old story has been so literalized that it<br />has lost its power to stir and feed the soul; those for whom<br />the creeds no longer roll easily off the tongue; those who<br />hunger and thirst for God who has innumerable names,<br />and unlimited manifestations, a God to whom all can bow<br />and none can possess.</i><br />
<br />
Yes, Jerry, I agree. I wish to find those in that growing second category to come along side, so we can learn from each other and the vast community of those out there on a similar journey to find the God none can possess!<br />
<br />RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-12504938499069835592013-02-06T13:01:00.002-05:002013-02-06T13:15:08.314-05:00Church planting vs. Love fellowshipsI could never quite put my finger on why much of evangelical/emergent/whatever church planting methodology just didn't sit right with me. R Jay Pearson, a new favorite blogger of mine, nailed it pretty good, and offers an alternative. Check out the post here: <a href="http://www.rjaypearson.com/2013/02/forget-church-planting-we-need-love.html">http://www.rjaypearson.com/2013/02/forget-church-planting-we-need-love.html</a>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-84853447368601746612013-02-05T08:46:00.001-05:002013-02-05T08:56:41.613-05:00Love and emotionElizabeth Esther continues to speak truth, from her experience, against the emotionally repressive ideas that kept her (and still keep many others in the church) in bondage. Thank you EE, and continue to speak your truth. Here's her latest blog post: <a href="http://www.elizabethesther.com/2013/02/love-is-a-choice.html">http://www.elizabethesther.com/2013/02/love-is-a-choice.html</a>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-3104160634046616802013-01-22T09:02:00.001-05:002013-01-22T09:02:22.412-05:00EmotionsOne of the things that I've come to learn through my inner journey over the past 6 years is that feeling emotions is not only a good thing, it is a healthy and authentic way to live. For years, I was told by people that I was "too emotional", that I should "choose to not feel....insert emotion...", that I should "pray about it", etc. Sadly, the church for me was/is one of the most emotionally stifling places. If we feel, we may doubt, and doubt is bad...or if we feel we may not be happy happy joy and that is unbecoming a Christian...so the thinking goes. I came across this old post from a blog I've really started to love. Elizabeth Ester talks about her experience of feeling emotions. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.elizabethesther.com/2010/07/we-will-tell-you-how-to-feel.html">http://www.elizabethesther.com/2010/07/we-will-tell-you-how-to-feel.html</a><br />
<br />
Thanks for the courage to share this story Elizabeth!RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-9130595075517871042013-01-21T15:42:00.000-05:002013-01-22T08:51:15.037-05:00Jung, Religion, Unconscious<i>This is an excerpt of a paper I'm writing for my first year at the Guild. This is about the role of Jungian thought to my spiritual journey. </i><br />
<br />
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What I’m wrestling
through is this: is there an Other/God/Sacred Mystery that we come into contact
with at the depths of our being, or do we continue to dive deeper into the
self….and are those things one in the same? Is the quest for deeper Self (Self
in the Jungian sense of that which encompasses our being, and the driving
archetype of wholeness) and the quest to experience God the same? I’m coming to
believe that as I make more of the unconscious (shadow) conscious and
integrated into my life, my self-awareness will continue to increase, I will become
a more authentic and loving human being able to serve the world from my depth,
and I very well may come in to contact with the Sacred Mystery/God (or stated
differently, my God consciousness will also increase).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also am beginning to feel a sense of deeper
connection to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anima mundi</i>, the
soul of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve started to view
events and cultural conditions through a depth perspective, which does not see
us/them and easy answers, but complexity, connection, and shadow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also am starting to see that this is a
lifetime journey that is never complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is a choice to experience the emotional depth and fullness of life,
as opposed to seeing life through only the eyes of ego awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we make the choice for depth, as I have (I
don’t think I really had a choice) we realize that the unconscious is always
expanding, and always in need of reflection, illumination, awareness, and
integration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the journey
continues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
We have not really
discussed the role of archetypes that much to this point, but it
seems to me that this inner journey that I am called into is trans-cultural,
trans-historical, and is aided and described in metaphor, symbol, myth, and story by
both religious traditions and the work of depth psychology (as well as in other
disciplines).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the mystical and
religious traditions pre-date depth psychology, but the work of Jung and others
has given me another lens, another set of metaphors and images with which I can
try and make sense of the reality of the inner journey towards God/wholeness, a journey
that I believe has existed since humanity evolved into conscious awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I very much appreciate the struggle Jung
details in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Memories, Dreams, Reflections</i>, where the image of God he grew up with and that was/is still
dominant in Western culture just did not make sense of his experience and those
of his patients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was bold enough to
“individuate” from the religion of his father, and in a sense felt sympathy for
the struggles his father had as a Protestant minister who had no place to
explore his doubts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jung, as well as other places outside the church, has been a place for me to explore
my doubts about the God image I grew up with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-71835706399743877102012-11-26T10:24:00.002-05:002012-11-28T14:00:51.623-05:00Death of Religion?<a href="http://pcnvictoria.blogspot.com/2012/06/david-tacey-beyond-literal-thinking-in.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Beyond Literal Thinking in Religion by David Tacey</a>. Link to article<br />
<br />
This is one of the better things I've read this year. Tacey proclaims literalism as the greatest sin of religion, the ultimate demise of religion that is wed to literalism, and proposes a return to the metaphoric/mythic if religion is to survive. Some may say that is an extreme position, but I don't think he's that far off. I may blog through the article in the near future.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-71455664295689930602012-01-20T08:53:00.000-05:002012-01-20T08:53:36.860-05:00Dreams, inner work, spiritualityAnother fantastic post by Jean Raffa. It's called <a href="https://jeanraffa.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/ruling-the-inner-chamber-3/" target="_blank">Ruling the Inner Chamber</a>, and she deals with dreams, inner work, and the spiritual journey. I especially love this:<br />
<br />
<em>Contrary to popular belief, authentic spirituality is not just a function of how many souls we save or how well we know scriptures or how hard we pray or how many rules we keep or what we believe or how often we attend our place of worship or how much money we donate to the poor. Likewise, spiritual maturity is not limited to a particular religion or set of beliefs. Rather, it is a function of our willingness to further the unfolding of our capacity for full living, endless loving, and authentic being.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<em>We’re supposed to discover our true selves and connect with the sacred Mystery within. We’re supposed to learn how to accept and love ourselves because that’s how we learn to accept and love others. Every religion has spawned mature spirit persons whose mystical experiences and intuitions taught them that God indwells the soul. This means that our spiritual growth is not just a function of searching for God outside ourselves but also of honoring the “kingdom” within.</em><br />
<br />
Thanks Jean for continuing to be a friend on the journey!<br />
<br />RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-37575300704477242432012-01-08T09:13:00.000-05:002012-01-08T11:04:29.159-05:00Psychotherapy as Spiritual Practice, Purgation, Self, etc.Okay, so I've been a little slack with postings on Answer to Job, I apologize. So many other interesting readings have been also getting my attention lately, so this post is about one of them.<br />
<br />
I have been reading over the past few months a book, by psychoanalyst and professor of religion and spirituality at <a href="http://www.pacifica.edu/" target="_blank">Pacifica Graduate Institute</a> Lionel Corbett, called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Cauldron-Psychotherapy-Spiritual-Practice/dp/1888602511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326031698&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Sacred Cauldron: Psychotherapy as a Spiritual Practice</a>". This morning, I came across the section below, where Corbett is talking about the psychological aspects of spiritual growth. When he mentions the Self, he is referring to what Jungians refer to as the center of the total personality, which includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. The Self is both the whole and the center. It is through the Self, I believe, that we interpenetrate with, and find, God. Some Jungians believe that Self=God (or the God archetype), or in other words, Self is all there is. Others, like me, believe that Self is where we make contact with that which is totally Other, or God. So, when he speaks below of the call of Self, I would offer that this call is the call of God through the organizing totally of our psyche, which is the Self.<br />
<br />
This passage below really resonates with me, as I have been trying to find words for the journey I've been experiencing over that past 5 years or so. I would say that I'm still in the period of purgation that he describes below. Here is the passage, from pages 118-119:<br />
<br />
<i>Spiritual development may begin as a person gradually develops a spiritual longing; we realize there is something more within us, something more that we need besides our usual lives, a deeper source of meaning even when life seems to be proceeding well on the surface...We cannot produce this longing; it comes upon us autonomously. Sometimes such an awakening seems to happen for no apparent reason, or it may be triggered by a numinous experience that makes us aware of spiritual reality...These experiences may be seen as a call from the transpersonal Self...[</i>to answer the call<i>] We have to give up our existing image of ourselves and face some hard truths. A sacrifice of time, money, and energy may be necessary. It may be difficult to accept that the hegemony of the ego is over. It may be difficult to let go if one suffers from fragmentation anxiety or if status and success have been used to buttress a fragile sense of self. It is difficult to be responsive to the promptings of the Self if one is preoccupied with survival.<br /><br />If one accepts the call, one has to develop a relationship with it. There follows what was traditionally referred to (</i>in mystic writers<i>) as "purgation", meaning the necessity to face the shadow or problematic personality traits such as self-importance, possessiveness, greed, fear, and envy...Painful feelings are not obstacles to spiritual development but signposts that indicate...the doorways into the soul's deeper places. After the awakening, the period of purgation is often experienced as a period of darkness; at times one does not have the strength to go on. This stage may last for years, during which the person may be in therapy. At these periods, one reevaluates one's values and beliefs and may either recommit to a religious tradition or leave it entirely. </i><br />
<br />
I would also offer, one can recommit to a religious tradition, but with a different lens and perspective on the richness and symbolic nature of their religious tradition, which is where my leanings are right now. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-9236243282081667622011-12-27T08:35:00.002-05:002011-12-27T08:35:51.850-05:00Encouragement on the JourneyIt is always encouraging to find fellow travelers on the journey of life. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like comparing people's experiences. It can tend to universalize an experience, and exclude those who do not share them. There is nothing wrong with learning from others though, as long as we maintain the intersubjectivity between us and respect the experiences of the other. Jean Raffa has an excellent blog post that resonates with me. My experience is similar to her's that she describes in the first few paragraphs. Take a read:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://jeanraffa.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/gated-religions/" target="_blank">Gated Religions - Jean Raffa</a><br />
<br />
I especially love this, as I could have written it myself if I could find the words:<br />
<br />
<em>For many years, literal belief in the doctrines of my religion (Christianity) was enough to satisfy my spiritual hunger. But the strain of containing my beliefs in a tightly enclosed, left-brained compartment labeled “Religion” while repeatedly coming up against a Mystery that encompasses the entire universe eventually wore me down. At the age of 37 my ego waved a white flag and surrendered its need to feel safe and in control. In leaving the gated community of my religion, I entered a Dark Night of the Soul that lasted nine years.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<em>I returned from the desert with a new way of seeing and living.</em><br />
<br />
For me, I am still learning what that new way of seeing and living could look like. I know what I'm letting go of (inherited God images, etc), but I only have a glimpse of a new way at this point. Depth psychology and the mystic tradition are helping to paint the picture of the future, but I'm still, daily, filling in that picture on the path of individuation.<br />RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-19695749159593260642011-12-18T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-18T15:00:05.871-05:00Answer to Job - 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Jung prefaces the book with a section called Lectori
Benevolo.<span> </span>He starts this section with
this, which lays the groundwork for the rest of the book:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">…For, in what
follows, I shall speak of the venerable objects of religious belief.<span> </span>Whoever talks of such matters inevitably runs
the risk of being torn to pieces by the two parties who are in moral conflict
about those very things.<span> </span>This conflict
is due to the strange supposition that a thing is true only if it presents
itself as a <i>physical</i> fact…”Physical”
is not the only criterion: there are also <i>psychic
</i>truths which can neither be explained nor proved nor contested in any
physical way. (LB, 553)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is interesting to me that we
still see this battle between two camps: literalists who claim that we can’t
have faith UNLESS it is backed up by physical facts; and atheists who claim
that we can’t have faith BECAUSE it cannot be backed up by physical facts.<span> </span>I would not presume to think these are the
two camps Jung had in mind, but it is something I see today.<span> </span><span> </span>Jung
continues to describe the psychic nature as autonomous of the physical, and thus
of religious experience and language arising out of transpersonal, unconscious processes.<span> </span>These resultant religious statements…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">are filtered
through the medium of human consciousness…That is why whenever we speak of
religious contents we move in a world of images that point to something
ineffable.<span> </span>We do not know how clear or
unclear these images, metaphors, and concepts are in respect of their
transcendental object.<span> </span>If, for instance,
we say “God”, we give expression to an image or verbal concept which has
undergone many changes in the course of time.<span>
</span>We are, however, unable to say with any degree of certainty…whether these
changes affect only the images and concepts, or the Unspeakable itself…There is
no doubt that there is something behind these images that transcends
consciousness…(LB, 555).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Jung is drawing the distinction between the
conscious expressions of unconscious God images, and the ineffable God that
these images point to.<span> </span>He concludes this
section by clarifying that he is addressing these images, these metaphors that
we see in Job, and doing so not as an objective intellectual, but as an
emotionally involved subject.<span> </span>He
concludes with an important statement for my theologically minded friends: “I
do not write as a biblical scholar, but as a layman and physician who has been
privileged to see deeply into psychic life of many people”. </span></span>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-28885719906477662192011-12-18T13:35:00.001-05:002011-12-18T13:39:44.545-05:00Answer to Job – Intro<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So as my first foray back into blogging after some time, I
decided to go easy on myself and blog through C.G. Jung’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Answer-Job-Collected-Works-Bollingen/dp/0691150478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324233231&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Answer to Job</a>. Actually, this will be quite a challenge
(both in the material and in the blogging), and I am going to really work at
being consistent in my writing of new posts. </div>
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A little about Answer to Job from the back cover:</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Considered
one of Jung's most controversial works, Answer to Job also stands as Jung's
most extensive commentary on a biblical text. Here, he confronts the story of
the man who challenged God, the man who experienced hell on earth and still did
not reject his faith. Job's journey parallels Jung's own experience--as
reported in The Red Book: Liber Novus--of descending into the depths of his own
unconscious, confronting and reconciling the rejected aspects of his soul.</i></div>
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Some preparatory comments on style and language are in
order. The book is broken up by section
(I, II, III, etc) and by paragraph number (557,567, etc.). When I quote the book, I will use the
following designation: (VII,643). Also,
Jung, as a product of his culture, uses exclusively masculine pronouns. When quoting, I will use Jung’s words, with
the caveat that I personally avoid the use of such pronouns in my own writing. He also refers to God with masculine
references. Same caveat applies for me in this case as
well. </div>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-58309651207154760422011-05-06T08:36:00.001-04:002011-05-06T08:37:49.474-04:00Worth the ReadGrab some friends, open some wine, and read and discuss this. I think you might find it interesting.<br /><br /><a href="http://thomstark.net/copan/stark_copan-review.pdf">http://thomstark.net/copan/stark_copan-review.pdf</a><br /><br />It will take some time to read through, but it's worth it.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-88549720274891922372010-12-07T09:23:00.000-05:002010-12-07T09:26:44.682-05:00Great PerspectiveI enjoy reading the <a href="http://www.hbo.com/in-treatment">HBO website for In Treatment</a>, where 3 psychotherapists discuss each episode. In discussing Frances' final episode, Rachel Seidel, MD has this perspective, which really resonates with me:<br /><br /><em>...if we are to live our limited-run lives well, we have little choice but to accept uncertainty and loss, and in the face of that, to find and create ethical and meaningful love where and when we can, so that we can live our lives as fully and as humanly as possible. </em>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-88240143074147567542010-11-15T10:08:00.000-05:002010-11-15T10:14:04.169-05:00Vulnerability, In Treatment, etcSo, as many of you know, I have an strong interest in psychology, particularly depth psychology and Jungian and post-Jungian approaches. One of my favorite shows right now is <em>In Treatment</em> on HBO. I've been following the blog of a Jungian analyst, who provides outstanding play by play from each episode, as well as her thoughts on it from a psychotherapy perspective. Her blog is here: <a href="http://www.jung-at-heart.com/jung_at_heart/in-treatment-season-3/">http://www.jung-at-heart.com/jung_at_heart/in-treatment-season-3/</a><br /><br />Her commentary on this week's Jesse session was interesting. She is talking about how Jesse is dealing with being adopted, and making himself "bad" to avoid the pain of the choices that were made that were out of his control (by his real parents for example), and she makes this statement: "Many of us unconsciously prefer to be bad rather than weak."<br /><br />I would offer that the "bad" could be replaced with a lot of things. Many of us unconsciously prefer to be…fill in the blank…rather than weak. We prefer to be driven and active, we prefer to be the leader, we prefer to be apathetic, we prefer to be a follower, etc etc. Not that being weak means you can't be a leader or be active. I'm talking about when that gets in the way of our vulnerability. Why is being weak so disdained in our culture? I define weakness as vulnerability, as not having to live life according to an agenda…either yours or someone else's. Planning is good, being driven by agenda…not so good. It is making yourself so vulnerable in a relationship (marriage, friendship, whatever) that you give a voice to the "other". It's an egalitarian view of relationship, where there is mutuality to the voices that speak within a relationship. The voice of the other is vital as we seek what Jung called individuation: to make the unconscious conscious and integrated in to a holistic life.<br /><br />Why is weakness so disdained??? Or do you disagree that it is disdained??RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-70633111634175654122010-09-15T14:34:00.000-04:002010-09-15T14:35:59.181-04:00Lim-beck-annityThanks Rachel for saying what I've been thinking!<br /><br /><a href="http://rachelheldevans.com/beckianity">http://rachelheldevans.com/beckianity</a>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-7099755270258798022010-03-11T10:09:00.000-05:002010-03-11T10:10:37.362-05:00Great Post on Stage 4 Faith<a href="http://notreligious.typepad.com/notreligious/stage-4-faith.html">http://notreligious.typepad.com/notreligious/stage-4-faith.html</a><br /><br />One of the best things I've read in awhile. Really speaks to me as a stage 4 person.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-8101319725207206352010-02-18T10:35:00.000-05:002010-02-18T10:38:46.513-05:00Glimpses...part 1In the first post on this deconstruction/doubt topic, I talked about how I’m in a state of deconstruction, with only glimpses of what a reconstructed faith would look like. In this post, I would like to talk about some of those glimpses, i.e. what are characteristics that we comprise a reconstructed faith. Think of it as puzzle pieces. At this point, I’m not sure how the pieces will come together and what the reconstructed faith will look like. Here are the glimpses:<br /><br /><em>A Continually Deconstructing Faith</em> – Whatever the reconstructed faith looks like, it will always be subject to further deconstruction. Sounds oxymoronic, but it’s true. Even after my faith is reconstructed, that doesn’t mean I’ve arrived and finally have it nailed down. As I said previously, there are always human constructions that are built up around our core (relationship with God, others, self) that inhibit the full expression of love in those relationships. Some call it sin, missing the mark, whatever. To continually allow the Other (God, others, self-reflection) to challenge our core is the path towards wholeness.<br /><br /><em>A Post-Foundational Faith</em> – Previous to my deconstruction, the Bible acted as the foundation of my faith; or stated more accurately, MY interpretation of the Bible acted as the foundation of my faith. I believed that “the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it”. I believed that the Bible had the last word on all matters, including science, sociology, psychology, etc. As I began to re-evaluate this, I discovered that I was operating under what philosophers call Foundationalism. It is a belief in an indubitable (beyond question and self-evident through reason) foundation that all other beliefs are built upon. I think this understanding of the Bible is a product of the Enlightenment and would be foreign to the original writers/hearers of the Scriptures. Coupled with postmodern interpretation theory and the role of community in interpretation, the indubitable foundation of the Bible and my individual interpretations is no longer valid for me. Much more could be said about the tie between Enlightenment rationality, individualism, and it’s affect on interpretation, but that will suffice for now. My foundation is God’s love (but…even that needs to continually be deconstructed….what is Love? What does it look like? How would the oppressed hear the message of God’s love?)<br /><br /><em>A More Holistic Faith</em> – This sort of ties to what I said above about the Bible. After studying the cultural, historical, and generic understandings of the Scriptures, I now see that the Bible is a very mysterious, sometimes paradoxical, sometimes violent, beautiful collection of stories, laws, poetry, myth, etc that details the God/human interaction throughout history and during specific cultural and historical settings. It’s not the final word on all matters of science, psychology, etc, nor was it intended as such. When I say holistic, I mean a faith that sees all truth as God’s, whether it comes from science, sociology, literary theory, etc. I’m still processing through how the Bible fits with all that. Some, like Wesley, used a quadrilateral of scripture, reason, tradition, experience…with Scripture being primary. Others, like John Franke, use terms like “norming norm” for the Scriptures in light of culture, tradition, reason, etc. Not sure where I land on this yet. If the Bible is to be primary, or the mediating source (which I’m not convinced of at this point), how is it to be so? Is it based on the story it tells, the authority of it (a whole other can of worms), something else??<br /><br /><em>A Move from Believing the Right Things to Believing in the Right Way</em> – Stole this one from Peter Rollins, but I like it. It’s a move from rationality and mental agreement with doctrines to how what I believe affects me. Does what I believe make me more loving towards God and others? If not, then no matter what the “doctrine” is, I am not believing it in the right way. It is believing with a humble open hand instead of a dogmatic closed fist. It’s moving from either/or dualistic thinking to both/and thinking.<br /><br />Four is good for now. More to come. Thoughts anyone???RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-46691639038069624202010-02-10T08:44:00.001-05:002010-02-10T08:50:54.581-05:00Quote about questioning...I thought this quote was appropriate to these latest posts. I just received <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Christianity-Questions-Transforming/dp/0061853984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265809550&sr=8-1">Brian McLaren's new book</a> in the mail yesterday. While I probably won't be able to dive in to the book until some of my class reading is done, I did come across this quote at the beginning of the book. It's Brian quoting someone else:<br /><br /><em>Never accept and be content with unanalyzed assumptions, assumptions about the work, about the people, about the church or Christianity. Never be afraid to ask questions about the work we have inherited or the work we are doing. There is no question that should not be asked or that is outlawed. The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all. - Vincent J. Donovan</em>RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-85621372306507274882010-02-08T13:52:00.000-05:002010-02-08T13:53:51.407-05:00Doubt part 2As a follow-up to my previous post about doubt/deconstruction, I thought I would address a question I got from a trusted friend. How far is too far when it comes to deconstruction? or stated another way, is it possible to go too far?<br /><br />For me, the answer is no, it's not possible to deconstruct too far. Let me qualify that though. If one's intention is to: know and love God deeper, know and love others deeper, know and love oneself (and how we were uniquely created) deeper, and know and love God's creation deeper, then no, you can not desconstruct too much.<br /><br />If one believes, like I do, that our thoughts about God, others, ourselves, and creation are shaped by culture, context, history, etc, can we also agree that those thoughts are human constructions? Even if we talk about revelation, we still have to say that revelation is mediated through our humanity. No one has the God's eye view of truth. It's amazing how we can think we finally have God nailed down. The church throughout history has thought that, and I would offer that they were/are wrong. Right about things? Yes, of course. Beyond and above deconstruction? No, of course not. And, this finitude (the condition of our humanity) is not something that is a problem, but it leads to a plurality of truth (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Manifold-Witness-Plurality-Living-Theology/dp/0687491959/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265655188&sr=8-1">Thanks John Franke for exploring this topic</a>!).<br /><br />So if our ideas and thoughts are human constructions, my contention is that they are always open to deconstruction. And, in fact, deconstruction should be the normal way of life for someone on the path to an integrated spiritual wholeness. Deconstruction is allowing the voice of the Other (God, another person, another culture, another lens to view things, etc) to be heard and embraced.<br /><br />Next post - I talked about glimpes of a reconstructed faith in the first post about doubt. So, in the absense of clarity, what are some of the characteristics that will be part of a reconstructed faith?RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-78255295068428910362010-01-29T09:46:00.000-05:002010-01-29T09:51:26.862-05:00Doubt and the journeyScot McKnight had a great post where he responded to someone who was experiencing doubts. The post is <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2010/01/a-letter-about-doubt-a-respons.html">here</a>.<br /><br />This post really speaks to me. I would say I'm going through such a stage of deconstruction and doubt. It was initiated by a lot of things, but mainly personal experiences, self study, and dialog with trusted friends/mentors. In the book Made to Stick, the authors talk about the "curse of knowledge". What they mean is that once we truly learn something, we can not really unlearn it, nor can we remember how we thought on that topic before we learned the new thing. An example for me is the Bible.<br /><br />Having studied topics around textual, historical, and social criticism surrounding the Bible, as well as interpretive theories, it is difficult for me to read the Bible “pre-critically” anymore. Will that change? Maybe, but for now, this is where I’m at. I am no longer satisfied with surface readings of a text (and this is all texts, not just the Bible). I also see life more holistically and inter-disciplinary. Meaning, I see value in some of the theories of Jungian psychology for human development and spiritual formation. I see value in what sociology teaches us about cultural formation. I see value in postmodern philosophical understandings of epistemology and truth, and what that can teach us about how we know and learn spiritual things. I see value in the mystics approach to non-dual thinking. I guess what I’m saying is that I no longer see the Bible as the final arbiter of truth on all matters pertaining to life.<br /><br />This has caused friction amongst those who, unlike me, do not wish to question things to a deeper degree. I’m not at all saying one way is better than another, but I am saying that there is a difference in approaches that can cause friction. What I've learned from relational psychology and spiritual formation studies is that I can no longer deny how i'm "wired", and to say that deep thinking is wrong (and I should just be like everyone else) would be to deny who I am. The friction can be beneficial, but at this stage of things, it causes more internal conflict in me than it does positive growth. I can attribute that to what McKnight talks about in the post referenced above, i.e. deconstruction/reconstruction.<br /><br />I would say I’m still immersed in the deconstruction phase; questioning assumptions, re-evaluating my spiritual life, etc. I might say that I have a small glimpse of what the reconstructed faith could look like, but as of yet, nothing tangible. The lack of clarity and tangibility appears to some to be selfishness, uncertainty, indecisiveness, etc. Understood, but nothing I can do to change that at this point. It’s a tension of uncertainty and freedom that I have never felt before, but I could never go back to the place I’ve deconstructed.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-54465561569569536162009-12-04T15:52:00.000-05:002009-12-04T15:54:32.871-05:00Great Post!So, I've been encouraged by a few folks to start blogging again. Mostly because they are probably tired of hearing me talk about all my unformulated crazy thoughts :-) Anyway...I'm giving some thoughts to getting back to writing. In the mean time, <a href="http://blog.jasonboyett.com/2009/12/rant-not-standing-for-christmas.html">this post</a> was priceless, and I agree 100%.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-86004403775147768332009-11-20T14:36:00.000-05:002009-11-20T14:38:04.086-05:00Just had to post this link...<a href="http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/religious-right-insanity-evangel.html">http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/religious-right-insanity-evangel.html</a><br /><br />Good job pointing out this lunancy Brian. I totally agree with Frank Schaeffer.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-57240958842275912862009-03-24T13:45:00.000-04:002009-03-24T13:46:33.027-04:00Blogging, Trends, Blah Blah<a href="http://www.iamjoshbrown.com/blog/2009/03/23/why-i-dont-blog-anymore/">http://www.iamjoshbrown.com/blog/2009/03/23/why-i-dont-blog-anymore/</a><br /><br />This guy's posting was very timely for me to read. As you can obviously tell, I haven't blogged anything in forever, and those of you who know me on Facebook know that I haven't been there in awhile either. While I don't agree with everything the blogger said, the heart of what he is saying has given a small voice to some of the stuff that has been swirling in me lately about blogging, Facebook, and trends in general. I was actually going to blog about it, but then thought...why? what is the point? I will say this: He makes a great point about voices, and about how this media is starting to propogate the same power structures that exist in culture...stamping out the voice of the margins. I ask...what happen to discernment? What happened to thinking through an issue instead of believing in the latest trend because it's cool? Do people really care about what I (or others) are doing 24X7? And if they do...why?? Anyway, before this turns into a posting about trends, I'll stop. Not sure whether I'll blog anymore. Maybe...maybe not.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-36943885019464964672008-09-19T11:02:00.000-04:002008-09-19T11:04:54.401-04:00Back in school...againSo, since the Lehigh thing fell through, I'm taking a class at Biblical. The class is Theology, Ethnicity, and Gender. It's taught by John Franke. I'm absolutely loving the class so far. It is challenging some things in me, in a good way. More on that later. As far as the Culture, Starbucks, etc. postings....haven't had a chance to work on them, but maybe in the next few months I will.RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075782558545830363.post-40167642633420390292008-07-22T12:32:00.000-04:002008-07-22T12:39:50.994-04:00Starbucks, Culture, Paradigms - 2Let me begin by talking about the “old” paradigm that I see Horace operating under. To be fair, I myself operated under this paradigm for the first 12 years of being a Christian; I also am not saying this is a wrong paradigm. It arose in a particular context (Post-Enlightenment Modernity), and spoke well to that context. There are many characteristics that I could talk about for this paradigm, but I want to focus on just two: viewing faith solely as a belief system to be agreed with and defended against (this post), and an understanding that the Gospel is only about dealing with my individual sin so that I can go to heaven when I die (next post).<br /><br /><br />The tendency in this way of thinking is to view the Christian faith solely (key word there) as a system of beliefs/doctrines, the mental agreement of which constitutes one’s entrance into the body of Christ. Evangelism, or sharing one’s faith, usually entails employing a logical argument for why one needs to “accept Christ”. The “Roman’s Road” for example attempts to reduce the Gospel into a systematic and logical argument using 4 steps. After hearing the argument, the sinner’s prayer (a one-time event) shows one’s agreement with said argument, and secures one’s entrance into heaven.<br /><br /><br />Now, I realize I’m speaking in generalities here. However, I believe it to be the majority mode of evangelism and understanding of the faith in this paradigm, one that I shared, and one that I still see in operation in a lot of blogs, books, churches, dialogs, etc. One is now part of this new belief system. Those on the “outside” do not hold these beliefs yet, so the goal becomes convincing others, through the method of logic and rational argument, why they need to also subscribe to this set of beliefs. More could be said about this, especially how this is tied so much to Enlightenment rationalism, and its inherent belief that “knowing” involves mastery of facts by an objective knower…but that will suffice for now. So, if Christianity is a system of beliefs, and believing the right things is essential to defining who is and who isn’t a Christian, it makes sense to me why Horace reacted the way he did. When the perception is that the system of beliefs is challenged by Starbucks, Sponge Bob, or whoever, it is viewed as those on the “outside” degrading a belief system. The belief system, according to this view, is what constitutes faith, so any challenge to that must be viewed as an assault on Christian faith. If nothing is done to fight against this, so the thinking goes, Christianity is in jeopardy of compromise, of allowing the “competing” system of beliefs to go unchallenged. So the battle is between competing belief systems.<br /><br /><br />Until next time....stay cool, drive less, and enjoy the fruit of the vine.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->RoboPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321756514781845967noreply@blogger.com2