Religion, Philosophy, Spirituality

Having a conversation with a friend, I realized I have my own philosophy on life that, although it does not contradict the teachings of my chosen denomination, is really uniquely ME. I'm not claiming I have some big spiritual revelation that will one day be taught as supplemental commentary or anything. Just that I like to think for myself.

1. I see no need to capitalize names of deities. Or names of my friends, or cities, or any proper noun. in current culture when people write without punctuation and capitalization it is viewed as being less stuffy and proper and more like the average person out there. you are more informal, more on the same level with someone. it is like you are sitting in their living room with a cup of tea and no one cares if you don't have the right punctuation. it is not like you are writing a dissertation, its just a cup of tea in a living room. when talking about god or jesus people know who you are talking about without capitalization. one could argue that capitalization indicates honor and your level of respect, but i would argue that it really isn't much of an honor to capitalize a name. ooh i just hit the shift key so your name would be capitalized, wow aren't you honored by that? or in writing, ooh i just made the same exact stroke, only bigger so it would be capitalized. really, its not such a sacrifice to write in caps. a better way to show your level of respect for god is to love him, and show your love. wear it on your face and wear it in your actions. even if you are writing it online, it will come out in what you say, even if you do not specifically state it, and even if you do not use capital letters.

2. People are jerks. In the words of one friend, "Most people are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling." In the words of Jesus, "You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." In the words of Paul the Apostle, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." But how most people think to deal with those jerks is different based on where you live (China vs America vs Israel), when it is occurring (present day or in the past under different social or legal standards), and just what it is they are doing to you (holding a gun to your head or cursing you out on the elevator).

My philosophy incorporates Jesus' words to love your neighbor like you love yourself, bless those who curse you, do good to those who mistreat you, and treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. I do not believe Jesus said this because he was a pansy. I believe he recognized that we cannot be responsible for others' actions, only our own. I attempt to follow Jesus' advice. I try to be nice to people, because I would want them to be nice to me back. But I have no expectation that they will be nice back. I am nice to them for my own sake, not for theirs. So whatever they do back is not my problem. The only thing I can do is cultivate in myself a sense of compassion for all things. I can not be responsible if they choose not to accept my offer of harmony. I often wonder, when reading my Bible, if Jesus ever used parts of the Buddhist philosophy in some of his teachings.

(Disclaimer: Buddhism has been around since between 600-400 BCE and its philosophy on a whole is not in agreement with the teachings of Christianity, however there are good points that can be used to make Christian beliefs more understandable.)

3. The creation vs. evolution argument. Frankly, we're here now. It doesn't matter how we got here. You cannot change the past, as anyone with an ex can tell you. Given how flawed human nature is, both options are probably wrong anyway. If I had to choose, my brother's ideas that both options are not mutually exclusive of one another makes a lot of sense, but only in his words. I can not put it into my own words, nor do I care to. I do not care how we got here, and I cringe when I hear the violence in my friends' voices when they discuss it.

4. The end times. Yes, the world is probably going to end soon. But people have been saying that since just after Jesus rose from the dead and went back to Heaven. My theory is that Jesus came, and gave people a glimpse of what Heaven would be like. We now have an acute sense that Heaven is not here on Earth, and its outlook seems bleak. Specifically how the world is going to end is highly debated among differing churches. I take the same position as before: I don't care. There is no sense worrying about the future when it hasn't happened yet. Since no one knows the exact moment when the "beginning of the end" will come, the only thing that we can do is live our lives in order to make every moment count. This does not mean go out and get drunk every night or have wild sex parties or ride every rollercoaster in the world. All it means is my philosophy #2. Live in harmony. Live in peace. Love God. Let that love be evident to everyone else. When you love people, do it in a way that says, "God loves you more than I do."

5. Abortion. Human life begins at conception. Killing a fetus is taking a life. Taking a life is not always wrong (commandment #6 forbids murder, not killing- Exodus 20:13). Any further discussion of abortion is not a religious discussion, it is purely a legal and social debate about the implications of establishing laws for or against it, therefore it should not be discussed in a blog entry about religion and spirituality. I personally would not be able to cope with the emotional and psychological consequences of having an abortion, but then again I also don't kill spiders in the house; I put them outside.

6. Church. Why go to church when you can sing music and read your Bible in the comfort of your own home? The quite simple answer is that you can have friends who agree with at least a portion of your beliefs. It is, in a sense, a support group. Church is fellowship, it is not the building, but the people. Having someone, even if it is just one person, to stand by your side while you are struggling with something God is telling you, can make all the difference in the world.

7. Prayer. This is not a Dear Santa letter. God is a being. Prayer is open communication. It goes two ways. No, I don't hear him audibly, although some people do. For me, prayer is like dialing in to the power holding the universe together. God is in the thunder and the wind and the ocean for me, and when I feel his presence, my mind simply puts all the pieces together of the things that I struggle with. And no, God is not just in the wild parts of nature. God is in the songs of the spring peepers, the cicadas, the bullfrogs at night. God is in the fog and the mist on May evenings, and in the warmth of good soil, and in the sun shining through the window while I'm doing dishes. The Chinese have a name for this power that runs in and through everything, sustaining living things; it is Qi.

8. To be continued...

Thats all for now. Is there a topic you would like me to cover here? Is there anything you would like to hear my thoughts on? Do you disagree with anything I've said? I'd like to hear from you.