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Hello!
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Jan. 5th, 2005 @ 06:10 pm
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Hi.I'm feelin': Just saying Hi! Music & Sounds I Hear: None |
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I can't believe it. Someone I know fairly well from online correspondence and various articles he's written has been shafted. He's an Episcopal Priest, but also a Druid. (For those of you who don't know that much about Druidry, just take my word for it that it in NO WAY conflicts with true [i.e., non-Fundamentalist] Christianity.) He has been asked to step down from his position at the church. This is just another modern-day Witch Hunt! I'm also in seminary, but I'm of the Unitarian Universalist denomination, which is an extremely liberal path. There are many pagan ministers in the UUA -- some don't advertise the fact, others are fairly open about it. But the Episcopal Church is another matter. What doesn't seem right is that it sounds like this person is denouncing Druidry in order to remain in his church. While I have no problem with that since I believe everyone has a right to whatever path to God they choose, it just seems strange that someone SO Druidic, so full of the Celtic Spirit and love of nature, would do that! Well, I need to look into it a bit more. This story affects me, too. I firmly believe in Druidry and its compatibility with Christianity, and I know that education is all that would be required to fix this. Yeah, of course there will be those who are unwilling to learn, unwilling to listen, and unwilling to open their hearts in the way their own teacher, Jesus, told them to do. I have a new Quest. I have to educate people about us Druids. I'm not going to hide behind the Cross OR the Flaming Chalice! I wonder how a lecture on paganism or Druidism would go over at the seminary?.... I'm feelin':  angry Music & Sounds I Hear: TV - Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone |
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Well, I haven't been very good about posting here, have I? :-P I think I've finally gotten into the groove of seminary. I had a rough start, as did most of my classmates, but I'm sailing along fairly well now. Most people don't realize the amount of work that goes into seminary. I certainly didn't! A friend told me she read somewhere that seminary training involves more reading than any other school does. I believe it. Fortunately, I really enjoy reading, so it's making it a bit easier. Eventually, I'll figure out a way to put a column on the left or right side of this page and put links and pictures of the books I'm reading. If any of you out there in cyberspace have read them or might like to, I'd love to hear from you. Maybe I'll spend some time on trying to figure out how to do that tonight. I have to mention the elections. Of course, being a Druid and a Unitarian Universalist, one could probably guess my favorite candidate. (Hint: not Bush!) I personally like John Edwards better than Kerry, but I'll take him as a VP just as well. I'm just so tired of the way Bush has run this country -- he's so vengeful, so hateful, so violent. Even though I don't consider myself a pacifist, I think this whole thing could have been handled so much better. I'm feelin':  blah Music & Sounds I Hear: Wind Chimes |
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There is simply not enough time to study in seminary. [All the second and third-year students say, "DUUUHHHHHHH!"] Of course, I knew that going in from what everyone's been telling me, but it's quite another thing when you finally experience the load of work that needs to get done and the negative amount of time they allot for you to do it in! The good thing is that it's extremely interesting to me. Now that we're getting into Biblical interpretation, I'm starting to see just how much most Christians don't know about their own religion. Just transliterating passages from the original Hebrew script shows that a psalm is written with each consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet beginning each line. And it's not just a cool bit of trivia -- there is a reason for this (but too long to go into here). Amazing! Reading some of the authors who wrote around the beginning years of Christianity would make one thing that in order to be Christian, one must also hate the Jews. THIS IS NOT TRUE NOW, but it WAS true of many of the early Christians. I never realized how deep the anti-semitic feeling was, even though a Roman had ordered Jesus' crucifixion. I'm feelin':  jealous Music & Sounds I Hear: Healing Music CD |
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I was asked in class today, "What do you do for your daily spiritual life?" Gads, there's so much! I live with the constant awareness that everything I do, every day, every minute, is spiritual in nature. If I accept the premise, and I do, that All Is One, how can anything NOT be spiritual in nature? Reading, study, meditation, and ritual are all things I do daily that are "obviously spiritual." More than anything, I read. Reading makes me think about new ideas, and give me new ways of looking at things. Reading inspired me to try new things, and to think new ways. And it is in reading that I can learn from others more experienced than I. And yet there are still those I meet who tell me that one cannot read about spirituality, one must practice it. So, why are some activities deemed spiritual while others are not? We're ALL One, we're ALL God. Literally. I remind myself throughout the day of the reality of existing as a spiritual being by lighting candles, reading devotionals while relaxing with tea, listening to "Communion with God" CDs, meditation, etc. I also made webpages that replect spiritual ideas and concepts. I was also asked, "What has been one of the most frustrating experience you've ever had?" It would have to be dealing with people who are not seekers, who don't remember why we came here, and who cling to being a victim. Talking to someone who refuses to use, or simply doesn't have, critical thinking skills. Dealing with people who try to force their religion on you. Yet all this tells me is that I need to develop compassion and patience. I'm feelin':  thoughtful Music & Sounds I Hear: Drum Medicine CD |
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