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Often a sermon invites me to think through what has been presented – and perhaps that is the very function of a sermon. On April 18th the theme was “The Earth without us”. Thomas invoked the Mountains, the Clouds, the Sea etc. and asked us to answer with “Teach us and show us the way”. But I realized that this is a Native American prayer, and that for them that was a living reality: everything was “spirited”, nature was part of their daily life, they interacted with it and prayed to it. They were ONE with it. I think that does not work for us anymore. I think mankind goes through many phases, one of these phases being the ‘communal’ phase, where individuality has not yet developed and the community is One with its environment. From there individuality grew, call it “Ego” – and with it the awareness of being separated. Do we want to go back to that communal phase? I think that even when we want to, we cannot. We Have to go through this harsh phase of Ego. We can outgrow that, slowly, but not by going backwards but by going forward into a next phase – which I think is the phase of Consciousness – being aware of being aware. Were the people in the communal phase unconscious and unaware? No, everything has its own level of awareness and so did they. But the present level of awareness is different; for a large part still steeped in the ego-awareness, but slowly outgrowing that into what some call God-awareness. A new awareness of Oneness but at a different level – not “being part of the web” but aware of being the Web itself.
So there – the sermon served its purpose: reflection.
Thank you Lex for your concise response to the “Earth Without Us” sermon. Please know I am gratified by your last statement: “The sermon served its purpose: reflection.” You are exactly correct—that’s what the sermon is supposed to do. Because we live in a non-creedal religious environment, the sermon is not “the Word of the Lord”, it should instead inspire folks to think about what their own “Word” is.
We gather in religious community, not to hear a proclamation of what we must believe, but an invitation of what we might consider as part of our personal “belief” system, our personal “credo”.
And so, this “blog” may yet serve its purpose of being a conduit for folks to offer their personal ideas of what it means to be “spiritual” and individually responsible for their own “religion”.
Thank you, Sharon, for your entry into this mysterious world of blogging. I don’t actually know how it all works, but I’m trying to figure it out. I agree that this blog “will be a fun place to share our ponderings, questions and our gratitudes.” And that it is a good idea. Let’s keep going and eventually, I figure out how to handle it all. Please submit any ideas (and formulas) for how it might continue.
April 28, 2010 at 8:19 pm |
Often a sermon invites me to think through what has been presented – and perhaps that is the very function of a sermon. On April 18th the theme was “The Earth without us”. Thomas invoked the Mountains, the Clouds, the Sea etc. and asked us to answer with “Teach us and show us the way”. But I realized that this is a Native American prayer, and that for them that was a living reality: everything was “spirited”, nature was part of their daily life, they interacted with it and prayed to it. They were ONE with it. I think that does not work for us anymore. I think mankind goes through many phases, one of these phases being the ‘communal’ phase, where individuality has not yet developed and the community is One with its environment. From there individuality grew, call it “Ego” – and with it the awareness of being separated. Do we want to go back to that communal phase? I think that even when we want to, we cannot. We Have to go through this harsh phase of Ego. We can outgrow that, slowly, but not by going backwards but by going forward into a next phase – which I think is the phase of Consciousness – being aware of being aware. Were the people in the communal phase unconscious and unaware? No, everything has its own level of awareness and so did they. But the present level of awareness is different; for a large part still steeped in the ego-awareness, but slowly outgrowing that into what some call God-awareness. A new awareness of Oneness but at a different level – not “being part of the web” but aware of being the Web itself.
So there – the sermon served its purpose: reflection.
April 29, 2010 at 7:30 pm |
Thank you Lex for your concise response to the “Earth Without Us” sermon. Please know I am gratified by your last statement: “The sermon served its purpose: reflection.” You are exactly correct—that’s what the sermon is supposed to do. Because we live in a non-creedal religious environment, the sermon is not “the Word of the Lord”, it should instead inspire folks to think about what their own “Word” is.
We gather in religious community, not to hear a proclamation of what we must believe, but an invitation of what we might consider as part of our personal “belief” system, our personal “credo”.
And so, this “blog” may yet serve its purpose of being a conduit for folks to offer their personal ideas of what it means to be “spiritual” and individually responsible for their own “religion”.
Thank you, Lex, for starting the ball rolling.
May 6, 2010 at 7:08 pm |
I hope that this blog will be a fun place to share our ponderings, questions and our gratitudes. Great idea.
May 6, 2010 at 8:38 pm |
Thank you, Sharon, for your entry into this mysterious world of blogging. I don’t actually know how it all works, but I’m trying to figure it out. I agree that this blog “will be a fun place to share our ponderings, questions and our gratitudes.” And that it is a good idea. Let’s keep going and eventually, I figure out how to handle it all. Please submit any ideas (and formulas) for how it might continue.
June 2, 2010 at 3:15 am |
It does not seem to catch on – and I think that may be because this blog is so “hidden”. Would it be an idea to put it front-row, on the home page?