Update: Moving

To those who follow this blog, thank you.  I appreciate that.  I've decided to move this personal blog elsewhere and invite you to follow me there.  If you are interested in my more personal posts, you will find the continuation here.  If you are more interested in my spiritual and theological musings, then you will want to follow me at Evolving Christian Faith Network.  Thanks again, and see you there!

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Review: The Path of the Blue Raven

Years back, I read Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian. What a great book for those coming from an exclusivist background (those who believe Jesus is the "only Way" to heaven). Through fiction, McLaren takes his protagonist on a journey through some difficult theological questions that come with living in our world. The most obvious, of course, is how could a loving God could send all those loving people to burn in hell for all eternity just because they didn't "believe" in Him? The journey is one of expanding horizons, a journey that portrays literarily the natural transition from exclusivism to inclusivism (the perspective that holds Jesus above others, but still makes room for them) that happens as we grow spiritually. Unfortunately, those unable to see past an exclusivist perspective will not be able to handle McLaren's book.

More recently (and to the point), I have read Mark Townsend's The Path of the Blue Raven: From Religion to Re-Enchantment. Townsend is an ordained priest in the C. of E. He is also a stage magician. He had always included his stage magic in his religiosity, but eventually his understanding of magic changed. Through experiential reflection and encounters with others of a more nature-based religious perspective, he grew into one who found magic (and I don't mean stage magic) to be truly a part of everyday life, indeed to be life itself. This growing awareness has led him to become a Druid.

His transition from parish priest to Druid has been one of liberation. The context of his spiritual practice in the church was one of dogmatism and highly institutionalized religion. The context of nature, in contrast, was one of freedom, excitement, wonder, and awe. The journey (as the subtitle aptly describes) followed a path from religion to re-enchantement. No longer serving a parish for the C. of E., Townsend reflects on his sense of call and purpose saying, "Now, however, I do not have an institution telling me how to behave or how to do this or that ritual or blessing. I still miss it, immensely, but I am freeer, happier, more myself and more a priest than I ever was." (p. 120)

It seems that what McLaren does for exclusivists, Townsend does for inclusivists as he helps them to connect to a pluralistic perspective (one that values all religious perspectives). To conclude his book, he adds several stories of others. Those voices include Christians who values a pagan perspective, Christo-Druids, and Pagan Druids.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Townsend's journey is, in many ways, reflective of anyone's journey as they grow beyond a parochial religious perspective. And its prose continually invites deeper engagement. I highly recommend The Path of the Blue Raven for anyone interested in learning more about an ever-expanding, personal, progressive religious perspective.

A bonus tidbit that came with this book was an introduction to the Ceile De community. I've enjoyed browsing through their site. It's definitely worth taking the time for a look-see.

Posted via email from Evolving Christian Faith Network

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Building a Muscle

One of the perks of my job is that I get to work from home every once in a while.  This, of course, makes my cat very happy.  Although she is not happy with the distinct lack of attention, it seems to appeal to her more than me disappearing for hours on end.  

Another perk for the night is that my landlord dropped by and put up my Perfect Pull-Up bar.  I don't have any tools (yeah, I know, lame).  And I prefer my landlord drill into my landlord's building.  So, the point is that I now have a pull-up bar (indeed, a Perfect Pull-Up bar) in the doorway to my living room.  

I'm not a big exerciser.  Still, I can't resist the bar over at my friend's apartment.  Every time I walk by it, I have to use it.  My hope is that the same will happen here. 

Behold, my future uber-physique!

*flexes*

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

Posted via email from Silent Echo

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Moving the Blog Back...But Not Really

I have several blogs. My biggest issue with them is that updating was a pain in the ass. I had to copy/paste all the info into all of them for a full update. Therefore, I tended to gravitate to one.

Now, however, I have a posterous account. That account allows me to update them all with a single email. Of course, the different sites may need a bit of a formatting tweak. My tumblr needs a bit of reformatting every time.

Anyway, my point is that blogger is one of the update possibilities. So, I've decided that there's no reason not to set this blog up on my list.

Let the revival of the blog begin!

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Moving the Blog

This has been my personal blog for a while now. I don't intend to move everything over. And, who knows, I may even post something on here from time to time. But for those who want to keep up with me, the place to go is...

http://eclecticmass.net/irreverance

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It's a Good Day

Last night, I got in about 2am from pool (which really makes it this morning). Even though I was tired, I couldn't resist putting in the last disc for Supernatural. Lo and behold, only two episodes left in season four, therefore I watched the whole thing. Bedtime: 4:30 am.

Alarm buzzes at 11am, I hit the snooze and pet my cat...for 3 hours. Yeah, talk about a slow wake up. But is was more than a slow wake up. I enjoy spending time with my cat petting her and listening to her purr. It's very soothing. So it was perhaps less 3 hours oversleeping, and more like 3 hours of cat petting and purring meditation. It was quite nice.

And maybe there was something energizing to it. Since I crawled out of bed, I've taken down my tree (yes, it was still up) and attempted to build my dvd case (which I've had for over a month). I say attempted because the box didn't have a screw packet in it. I had to call the company to have the send me the parts. Normally, I would say to myself, "I'll do it later." But, somehow, I had the motivation to be on top of it. And, to add to my list of accomplishments today, I even cleaned the kitchen a bit. Yes, I cleaned!

Too bad I didn't make it to the laundry.

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Delayed Approvals for Replies

I forgot that I am moderating replies to my blogs to keep out spam. It turns out that a couple have been sitting in the queue...and sitting...and sitting. If you happen to be reading this and you happen to be someone who was awaiting approval, I'm sorry for the delay. I'll try to keep on top of that in the future.

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What To Do, What To Do

I've been running a tight sched through the last several months. Recently, some things have changed, broken down, or morphed. It's time to look at my calendar once again. As a result, I have new time slots that have come available.

I have too many things I want to do. I want to play pool. There is a Monday league for beginners (which I might do okay in) and a Wednesday league for experienced players (which I would be used and abused in). Both sound like fun. I also want to play a tabletop RPG. That would have to start in the afternoon, so it would need to happen on Monday or Wednesday as well. Then, I'd like to start a meditation group up to compliment the group that is watching the Bart Ehrman DVD series, Lost Christianities. From what I can tell, Wednesday is the best evening for that. I would like to spend more time blogging. (I would even prefer to be able to do podcasting, but it takes way more time.) The best time for that kind of activity for me is during the day, which means Tuesday or Wednesday. Then, I'd like to play Halo 2 with my friend Nukem, who is only available early afternoons, which means Tuesday or Wednesday. Then, I want to work on a monthly (?) podcast with a friend of mine who is an atheist to talk about some shallow and deep shit of life. I still think the best name we could have for it would be "Whiskey and Beer," since thats what we'd be drinking during it.

All of these choices have led to paralysis. My guess is I'll go with pool on Mondays (since I can't do it often on Tuesdays anymore). Then Wednesday may be blogging/gaming day. We'll have to see though.

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