Eating Jade

This is Jade, we had Jade for dinner last night and it was strange......

I did not mean to participate so fully in the circle of life, but circumstances obligated me to.  We meant to get 3 hens but ended up with two beautiful roosters.  Unfortunately for us and the neighbors, they thought it was best for the world to awaken at 5:30 am, and 6, and 7 (and they failed to lay eggs).

My idealistic ethos of the moment is to eat fresh and locally.  Its easy to do with our garden, our hens, the farmers market and local butchers.  Killing our own meat, however, brought about a reality that I was a little less prepared for.  I remember watching my dad butcher chickens, rabbits and goats when I was young, but that did not prepare me for taking the life of an animal.  Suddenly I was responsible for not only the life and well being of another living creature, but the time and manner of his death.

This put a whole new perspective on how I viewed something as simple as a roasted chicken.  This was a creature that begged for table scraps and broke into my garden. Suddenly, I felt the need to make his life worth living.  We killed him quickly and humanely, used his feathers for decoration, his organs for our dogs, his meat for dinner and his bones for broth.  He had a good life and a good death.

How much more should we appreciate the animals that do not have a good life.  It seems unconscionable to me now to leave meat to be thrown away at a restaurant or worse, let it rot in the fridge without even using any of it.  Most farmed animals live a miserable life, we should at least let that life and death not be in vain.

Moving On

We made the decision recently to leave our "traditional" Christian church and move on in our search of what God wants for our short human existence.

This is not a decision we make lightly, it took months of contemplation and discussion to decide. What it comes down to is that what we see in the organized American Church is not entirely what we see modeled by Jesus in the Bible.

Jesus spent his life on this earth showing us how to live, how to love and how to worship. He spent his days in the world, eating and drinking with the tax collectors and prostitutes as well as the leaders of the church. He made no distinction based on their "sin". He pointed out more sins in the organized church that among the common people. He did not just go out on Saturday afternoons to the soup kitchen and put in his time, he was involved in their lives. He loved them through not only his words, but through his actions.

I am ready to take the time, energy and money that we put into the traditional church and put it where Christ points. I want to show God's love to the people that would not be welcome in our church or that would be uncomfortable even walking through the doors of a "church" building. I want to have a barbecue and invite all of my atheist, wiccan, gay, christian and agnostic friends, have a beer and a meaningful animated conversation about beliefs with no judgment and call it church.

I am not saying that there is no place in society for the modern American church, because there is. It serves the community well but there are plenty of people willing to put in the time to teach Sunday School, have community events and help out in the soup kitchens.

I want to spend my time with the rest of the world, discussing the differences in our beliefs without judgment, working along side them when they need help, learning what they believe and why. I am fascinated by the history and basis for all religions and the common threads that run through them, I want to celebrate the similarities in our beliefs and debate the differences in love.

I hear stories of gay couples being turned away at the doors of a church or someone with different beliefs being arbitrarily told that they are going to hell and it makes me cry. Why has the church decided that gay people are not to be allowed in the doors, yet adulterers and gluttons are welcomed with open arms? We were told to love God and love each other, everything else is just details. Too often, these ideals get left behind. I want to show the rest of society that not all who follow Jesus are like that, we are not all represented by the bigoted talk show hosts on Fox News, that we do love them and accept them for who they are and want to live life together and share what we believe about God.

A Retroactive Wish Come True

From "Third Wish" by Robert Fulghum





"When you find yourself in a fine place having a fine time, you might remember a time when your life was awful, and how back then you would have wished you were here. But you are here now. Look around you. It's a wonderful place to be. What you have is exactly what you would have wished for, if you had known. A retroactive wish come true."

This last week was definitely one of those times!

The Roller Coaster

I used to ride the roller coaster. I wasn't afraid of the unknown. I would dive into life with no regard for possible failure or disappointment, that was something that happened to other people.

But one day, my roller coaster crashed.

I lived to tell the tale, but never jumped back in the saddle. I thought I would ride it again, I would purchase my ticket, put in my time in line, sometimes even crawl into the seat, grabbing the safety rail, white knuckled, but still there!

Every time, however, just as the cars began to move, I would leap out, leaving behind everything I had invested to get there. But..... I never crashed.

Looking back now, I see the trail of self destruction & wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed in that car, white knuckles and all, and rode the roller coaster to the finish.

Sure, it might be scary, it might even crash, but what if it was ok? What if it was even fun? Would it have been worth it?

I think so.

Today I am back at the roller coaster, I am going to purchase a ticket, stand in line, get in the first car, put my hands up in the air and ride. Just ride.

Mabey I never actually crashed, maybe it was the just end of that ride.

A pagan view of Christianity

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Mooreheads Musings , and he mentioned an article on the website Witchvox.com by Jedi Gordy titled "The Future of Paganism". He writes in part -

"This article is on something most of us dislike: Christianity. But it is more on how modern Paganism is BECOMING much like Fundamentalist Christianity. We claim to be enlightened (which we should be to become the third degree) . We claim to be tolerant. We claim to be righteous and pure. Then tell me this: Why do I hear so many of us slamming the “big three” (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and calling those who call us out on our hate-speak “Christians” or other names?

I know many people of the “enlightened” path that know not where their religion was founded (for all religions are made by man, this coming from a Pagan) . Example: many people will fight hard and long to prove that Wicca is THE OLDEST religion when there is not a hint of archeological evidence to show that it was around before the mid twentieth century.

Why do we, the “wise” and “enlightened” ones follow propaganda like sheep? Are we not as bad as those we claim to not be? Or are we worse because we are ignoring the log in our eye to point out a splinter in theirs?

Also, some claim Paganism, Wicca or Witchcraft a harder system to get into. Not true, as some places (not most, but a few) will make any idiot a priest or priestess. I know a few idiot priestesses and priests who shouldn’t have even been given a first-degree initiation. So there we make ourselves look like idiots.

Another issue I have against the way some of us are behaving is that we associate ourselves with those whom should not really be given the power of clergy. By that I mean that they are deceitful, backstabbing, and treat others unkindly. Now many of you will say, “They aren’t true Witches/Wiccans”. In that case, how can Christians behaving badly be true Christians? "

I love where he is coming from! It is so refreshing to see that there are those outside of Christianity who see our church like I see our church. It is so disheartening to watch as some "leaders" of Christianity drag Christ's name through the mud and make our job of loving the world so much harder.

Yes, the Christian church has a dark history and there are awful things being done in our God's name, but that is not the core of what many of us are. Jesus came and told us to love on the world, be in the world and take care of the world!

There are a lot of people in our church that could take a lesson from this pagan! Don't look for the bad or stereotypical behavior of a person and judge them before you even know them (or after for that matter!). We are all God's creation and our only responisbility is to show them the love that God commanded us to show. Condemning to hell (not our job!) and turning our back on them (not love!) are not in the list of things Jesus instructed us we were to do.

Whimsical Holiness

Hugh Halter brings up the concept of Whimsical Holiness in his book "The Tangible Kingdom" and I love it!

Jesus told us that there were some things that we should not do and we (most of us) agree that doing these things is sinning. But there were a lot of things that Jesus told us we should do, and by the same logic, isn't not doing these things also sinning? Things like loving your neighbor, loving your enemies, helping the poor and treating your spouse with respect.

Whimsical Holiness is simply being like Jesus. It takes into account both sides of this equation. This radically changes the way that we view the people around us and the way we live our lives.

Whimsey in this case is the ability to laugh, make light of or downplay the words, behavior and worldviews of those around us, but definitely not in a condescending manner. Whimsey allows you to spend time and life with people regardless of thier beliefs without casting judgement. It allows us to all feel comfortable enough to be ourselves, feel loved and feel accepted as human beings. It's not making an issue about anything that is not the main issue. Whimsey is the missing element of Christlike love in today's world.

Whimsey is not being turned off by an off color remark, a bias bourne of upbringing or a tendancy to drink too much beer. Whimsey rejoices in the fact that everyone is different and God loves us all. Whimsey is not turning our back on someone because they swear, but appreciating the rest of what they say, it is not rejecting thier view of what God looks like to them, but allows us to share our view of God and appreciates the similarities and then go on living life together from there.

Halter says, "Jesus came not to judge the world, but to save the world. You can't save the ones you judge." This is so true. So many Christians distance themselves from the "world" and live in thier own seperate "safe" environment turning thier backs on the ones that Jesus told us to love. It is not love if you pity them from a distance and the only contact that you have with them involves a condescending attitude, donating cash to an organization to assuage your guilt or hitting them over the head with the four spiritual laws. Many Christians miss out on the list of things that Jesus told us to do and modeled how to do by spending his time and efforts with those who needed his love and attention the most. He hung out with the tax collectors and the poor, he had conversations with people who were shunned by society and he forgave those who hurt him.

If more of those who profess to follow Christ acted like the example that Christ gave us, the world might not have such a poor view of Christianity as a whole. If we walked in the steps of our teacher, covered in the dust of our Rabbi, doing exactly what he did, Christianity as a whole would be welcomed with open arms by society and the true path that Jesus came to lead would be available to all of the people who feel turned away at the door of the Christian church.

Bodga Sunset

San Juan Capistrano

Koi in the Sky

I believe in the Sun

Even when it does not shine

I believe in Love

Even when it is not shown

I believe in God

Even When he does not speak

Fall Images

Autumn Leaves

Floating Leaf

Toah Nipi Sunset