Mormons Just Believe: A Lighthearted Departure

"What the ƒ⩏⋤⋉ is this?!"

The Tony Award winning Musical, The Book or Mormon, is a religious satire.  It pokes fun at organized religion, makes light of things some may consider too sacred, and in parts, it's down right filthy.  But having only seen bits and pieces and reading the reviews, the one thing it doesn't seem to do is attack Mormons personally.  They celebrate their strengths even if they make light of their weaknesses... something a lot of us actually do even with our family and friends.

The few doctrinal errors and over-generalizations aside, I think this song sums up the religious experience for many.  Feel free to interpret this however you want.  I believe those for and against can take away a message here.  Personally, I think it's just fun and entertaining.

The Morality and Ethics of Redemption

Blasphemy:

The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk. 

Heresy:

Belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine.  Opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted.

I would like to clarify something for those exceedingly troubled by my personal views.  I am not a blasphemer.  I am a heretic.  While I am sure there are some who make little distinction between the two and find both vile and beneath contempt, I use the word heretic in its proper context and with its true meaning.

I have spoken of Jesus as the archetypal man; the one to emulate to overcome error and realize immortality.  I have also spoken to my belief that christ and redeemer aren't titles for a divine third party but actually reflect introspective metaphysical roles we must learn to take on ourselves for ourselves; as the fabled Jesus did.

Many Christian traditionalists have taken severe issue with my views and some have asked for clarification as to why I would believe such things.  Now, I will attempt to be clear and direct but I trust you will not feel it reflects judgment on you.  It is not my purpose or intent to condemn your revered beliefs.  I only wish to share mine.  I do not claim a higher understanding.

To put it succinctly, I consider vicarious redemption by sacrifice to be immoral... be it animal, human, or divine in nature.  It is reminiscent of an archaic custom practiced by primitive societies where they would ritualistically pile the sins of the tribe on an animal and drive it out into the wilderness to perish.  In so doing, they would rid themselves of their sins.  This is the etymological basis for what we know as scapegoating.  I find the idea that through the punishment of another life my sins can be forgiven to be reprehensible.  It nullifies personal responsibility; the one thing on which all morality, ethics, and our very integrity depend.

This is why I embrace the gnostic tradition of many early Christians and view Jesus not as God but as teacher.  He didn't take away our responsibility.  He didn't undo our errors.  He didn't have a need to forgive us.  He did, however, demonstrate a philosophy for undertaking all of this.  Redemption isn't a single quantitative act.  It's an ongoing qualitative journey of self.

"It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute."

 ~ Aung San Suu Kyi - Freedom from Fear

Forget Me Not

A Lesson in Personal Perspective

One artist of the faith I greatly admire is Dieter Uchtdorf.  While he does embrace much of the orthodox dogma I reject, he spends much of his time speaking to the more founding principles of the Christian movement.  In doing so, he engenders a respect and inclusiveness not always representative in orthodoxy.  For these reasons I consider him my favorite among LDS theologians.

Due to his polished and eloquent nature, instead of paraphrasing, I'd like to share a few excerpts from one of his uniquely focused addresses given to the Relief Society.  Dieter outlined his five pedals of the Forget-Me-Not.

Forget Not to be Patient with Yourself

"I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.  Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. 

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. 

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.  It’s wonderful that you have strengths.  And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses. 

Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey."

Forget Not the Difference Between the Good and Foolish Sacrifice

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth. 

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another. 

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective." 

Forget Not to be Happy Now

"There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings—we hope and seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”  The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event—our golden ticket—to appear. 

This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life. 

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

Forget Not the "Why" of the Gospel

"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."

Forget Not the Lord Loves You

"Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!"

As I struggled to sum up my feelings at the close of this General Conference, an unlikely source of clarity presented itself in his untimely death.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." 

~ Steve Jobs - 2005 Commencement Address, Stanford University

We need not be limited by another's thinking.  Ideas are fluid and are only limited by our imagination and intellect.  Wisdom may be found anywhere we have the patience to look.  Because one intends to lead us down a particular path of particular thinking, that doesn't mean we must necessarily go.  We can learn to follow our own intuition and find our own path.  But it's important to remember not to be too focused on our own trailblazing and ignore the insights of other travelers we meet on those rare occasions our paths do cross.

Conference is an exchange of ideas.  They are not set by established dogma.  We are free to ponder and interpret them as our personal experience and need requires.  This is how I left Conference.

Conference: An Intricate Weave

The School of Athens by Raphael
The Apostolic Palace, Vatican City 1511

Philosophy is to empirical knowledge as axiom is to theorem and poetry is to prose.

Our technology has advanced sufficiently that we are now able to test the veracity of much of our surviving mythology but faith and religion are much more than just a collection of stories.  They are a collection of philosophical ideals wrapped in allegory.  In our science biased world, we want to treat religion as a form of empirical knowledge; something to be proven before it is accepted.  This, in our current stage of intellectual evolution, misses the point entirely.

By its very nature, philosophy is magnificently adaptable.  It is an intricate weave of logic and reason, fiction and fact whose resulting complexity lends itself to near infinite range of interpretation and perspective.  It can broaden the mind and lift the soul.  In essence, it can add meaning and dimension to every day living... all without requiring fiduciary evidence.

I don't need to be a believing devotee of the faith to find Conference useful.  I do, however. need to be a respecter of the artist to fully appreciate his work.  This is how I head into Conference.

“Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.” 

~ Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

There Is A Field

"A militant kind of aggressive religiosity, sometimes called fundamentalism, has grown up in every single one of the major world traditions as a rebellion against this imbalanced world, a rebellion against humiliation, powerlessness and there is a sense of rage expressed in religious terms.

~Karen Armstrong

Twisted and focused by men insane with hatred and fear, this kind of fundamentalism was used against us ten years ago.  There is no excuse or redemption for what they did... at least not in this life... but we must still look objectively at how we fell victim to these predators of spirit.  And victims we are... the perpetrators, their supporters, those who perished, those who lost loved ones, those who stood in horrified witness... all of us

We must, as a people and as a species, move beyond the small and petty definitions of perceived right and wrong and embrace the beauty of difference God has blessed us with.  This is my day's tribute:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. I will meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about

language, ideas, even the phrase each other

doesn't make any sense."

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

13th-century Persian, Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

Halfway to Nicaea

Mosaic: Church of the Loaves and Fishes, Tabgha (Heptapegon) Israel

Photo by hoyasmeg

The Truth of Immutability

"The belief that Christ was married has never been official church doctrine. It is neither sanctioned nor taught by the church. While it is true that a few church leaders in the mid-1800s expressed their opinions on the matter, it was not then, and is not now, church doctrine."

Official Statement

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Dr. Robert L. Millett is the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.  He is also a professor of ancient scripture and emeritus Dean of Religious Education.  For the past 30 years, inter-faith dialog has been a focus for Dr. Millett.  He takes a rather pragmatic view of LDS doctrine.  Back in January of 2008, I had the opportunity to hear him speak.

Dr. Millett was the invited guest on the Peabody Award winning national public radio program Speaking of Faith.  The 2008 presidential debates had fallen into a sort of dogmatic quagmire as largely misunderstood and misrepresented concerns of Mormon culture and belief dominated the political discussion.  Dr. Millett was called on to help frame that discussion by sharing some of his thoughts on Mormonism.  During the course of the conversation one rather unassuming question led to a startling and even evocative response:

"I wonder, you know, is revelation still happening and are there teachings that stop making sense at times or are there new ideas that arise?"

Dr. Millett framed his answer in a then recent controversy surrounding author Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.   He paraphrased the official church response to the debate regarding the san greal (holy grail) or the mythical cup used to capture some of the blood spilled at Jesus' crucifixion and the sang real (royal blood) or the inference that Jesus married, had children, and established a holy or royal line of progeny.

"The scriptures are silent as to whether Jesus was married.  It is true that early church leaders may have offered their opinion on this matter, but those opinions did not then, nor do they now, constitute the doctrine of the church."

So far nothing too extraordinary but how Dr. Millett interpreted its significance really was.  He declared this statement establishes the idea that while Mormons revere, honor, respect, and uphold their church leaders, they do not believe in a form of prophetic infallibility.  He went on to acknowledge the church continues to formulate its truths.  Sometimes it even revises and expands on core doctrines and understandings.

"And so we — as we, as we move into the 21st century now, and as we begin having a greater focus upon Christ and Christianity and Christian principles, I think there is a tendency to look back and say, 'All right, what are the central saving doctrines? And what are some other things we, A, don't know much about, B, just don't seem to be in harmony with what, with what — and where we are now?' And I think that's taking place more and more."

Mormonism is extraordinarily young in terms of religions.  It was less that 200 years ago that Joseph Smith triumphantly proclaimed that sacred Christian scripture was no longer closed and began presenting his revelations and additional texts.

"Compared to the Christian church, which has been at this for a couple of millennia, we're about halfway to Nicaea. And so... cut us a little slack, will you? Give us a little time. We're in the religion-making business, and this takes time. It takes centuries. And trying to explain the faith and articulate the faith, that doesn't come over night.  We've really only been about that for 20 or 30 years."

Now I realize Dr. Millett tailored his presentation to non-Mormons.  He used language unfamiliar to most anyone who's sat through Mormon services.  But Dr. Millett represents a growing trend within Mormon intellectual circles to tone down religious rhetoric and to finally speak more pragmatically about the evident changes in LDS culture and theology.  He is still one of the church's foremost experts on the gospel and is tremendously influential in preparing the next generation of LDS theologic thinkers.

The Information Age has had an extraordinary effect on not just Mormonism but religion in general.  Information and resources that were once difficult to access are now just a few key strokes away.  Research that was once obscure now only requires a simple internet search engine to discover.  The free flow of information requires a new approach to theological conversation.  A new tone of inclusion and respect of difference is required to reach a more informed populace.

In a way, Dr. Millett has summed up my personal journey... looking back and identifying central doctrines I find helpful and moving on from those ideas that are not in harmony with what and where I am today.  Traditional Mormon doctrine has tried to present itself as static and immutable.  Dr. Millett has given us a rare glimpse into the mechanisms for refining understanding if not out right change evident within the faith.  For this I am grateful and, in some small measure, feel more connected to the tradition of my forefathers.

Unto Every People

Moving Forward

Many of you have asked that I comment regarding the 1978 Revelation of Priesthood and the history of racism in Mormon scripture, doctrine, and culture. For the past several weeks I have been contemplating how I may add productively to this conversation. There is certainly no shortage of material to inflame modern sensibilities on the subject.

Individuals must be allowed to change. Organizations, even religious ones, are a collection of individuals. It is sometimes tremendously difficult for an individual to accept responsibility for error. It is even more difficult for a collection of individuals. Mainstream Mormonism has chosen to reinterpret or de-emphasize some of their history instead of fully acknowledging it. They are a hierarchal society dependent on a perceived line of authority from the first leaders down to the present day. While they don't claim infallibility, they do expect it. Perhaps this is why it is so difficult for them to view this subject candidly.

I am not going to attempt to itemize a historical case for racism in Mormonism. The evidence is there plain enough to see... if one chooses. I find it disturbing and vulgar. Racism always is. But our collective history is replete with disturbing chapters. America institutionalized racism. None of us escaped unscathed. It affected our families, our communities; the very moral fabric of our nation. It stands to reason our faith was also adversely affected. Mercifully, our sensibilities continue to evolve.

Mainstream religion has always played a stabilizing role in society... binding us to the past as we march head-strong into the future. Rarely is it a catalyst for social change.... that's not its traditional role. If anything, it goes kicking and screaming. As societies evolve so do our concerns and our need for answers. Religion eventually bends, reinventing itself over and over to meet those questions. If we were forced to abandon every faith with a history of intolerance and prejudice, there's no question we would be a faithless society. Ours is a world defined by evolution not by perfection. Religion need not be perfect. Every religion has a history of intolerance and yet every religion has principles for over coming it.

Like many conservative religious sects in 19th century America, Mormonism was guilty of racial injustice... and the echoes of that injustice reverberated clear into the late 20th century. Doctrine and practice conflicted with gospel ideals. It was problematic and painful for those who chose to see it for what it was. To try and call it something it wasn't would only demonstrate the extent of our ignorance. I will not do that but I see more benefit in exploring what Mormonism has become instead of dwelling on certain troubling elements of what it was.

It's comforting to think our chosen traditions are free from all the unpleasantries of error. I'm not saying we must necessarily acknowledge that fact... just that it's sensible to be fair. Do not hold another's tradition to a higher standard than your own. If you haven't examined your own unpleasant and deficient past, don't obsess over someone else's. History provides invaluable perspective by giving us an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. Often those lessons were hard earned. But as individuals, we must be firmly planted in the present. As evolving beings, we are only responsible for our own thoughts and actions. We comprise the religions of today... not the specters of the past.

All this said, it's worth noting that had Joseph Smith survived to lead his followers west, I believe we wouldn't be having this discussion now. He wasn't perfect in any sense but I do believe his views on race better match our 21st century sensibility than most any of those who came after him.

EDIT---

The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888 - 1963

A Utah Historical Society Essay by Patrick Q. Mason

Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons
on the DocumentaryChannel

Q&A: Perfection in Imperfection

The Great Salt Lake

Part One

I never expected this blog to attract attention.  I assumed it would remain largely undiscovered except possibly by my family and closest friends.  Unsurprisingly, they remain mostly uninterested.  What is surprising is the level of interest shown by complete strangers.  

I've been collecting some of your email.  Several of your questions are quite provocative.  I'm not quite sure how to or even if I should tackle them.  That's not to say I don't have an opinion... I certainly do.  I want this to be an inclusive place where we're all served.  Focusing on divisive issues is counter-productive without mutual respect.  It may take some time for me to find just the right way to share my thoughts.  So until that moment comes, we'll hold off on the more incendiary material.  That said, there are some reoccurring themes I am prepared to answer more fully even though I have already touched on them here in the past.

Do you consider yourself a Mormon?

While I don't embrace much of their more creed-defining philosophies, I do share their expectation of faith and find some of their unique and intrinsically Mormon beliefs helpful.  This is understandable since they were my introduction to mysticism and faith.  Non-Mormons may pick up on certain "peculiarities" in my more Christian beliefs and wish to classify me as such but Mormonism does require a level of orthodoxy I fail to embrace.  So no, I do not consider myself a Mormon.

If not the Mormon Church, which church do you affiliate with?

Does it really matter?  We're human.  We aren't designed to be perfect.  Our perceptions aren't perfect.  Our memories aren't perfect.  Our reasoning isn't perfect.  And our understanding is unequivocally not perfect.  Our imperfections define us as much as they challenge us.  Our chosen faiths are no different.

All traditions suffer from error and inconsistency... including my own evolving faith.  In fact, I believe faith to be a philosophical exercise to conceptualize our imperfect existence without the need of it to be perfect itself.  It's the act of struggling with and working through faith's imperfections that actually give it any meaning at all.  This differs irreconcilably from a principle tenet of Mormon belief know as the Restoration.

To clarify this point, I would go so far as to say from the fantastical perspective of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god, there would be no sizable difference between a Catholic and a Hindu.  A Buddhist and a Mormon.  A Jew and a Muslim.  Or even an Atheist and a Spiritualist.  God would look at all of us as effectively the same given our stupendously limited development.  And so, I regard sectarianism with both amusement and concern.

The idea that at some future point, humanity will bask in a singular religious utopia is quite unsettling because it would negate the principle of agency.  I envision a world embracing the pluralistic ideals of peaceable coexistence where none reign supreme and the chaos of diversity is its own reward and its own beauty, where we learn from one another and compete in good works.


Do you support Church leaders?

It is in the context of pluralism that I emphatically reject the need or benefit to any ecclesiastical authority.  I consider it a potential evil and a distinct danger to the advancement of humankind.  That said, I recognize many Mormon leaders to be good, decent, well-intended individuals.  I support them in their roles as fallible mortal beings struggling to find meaning and purpose in this life.

This brings me to two related topics.

(Continued...)

Q&A: Faith-Science Equivalence

The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1487

Part Two

(Continued.)

How would you define yourself religiously?

The short answer is, I really don't.

I have dedicated an entire blog to faith and belief.  I use terms very familiar to the religious.  I speak of the spirit, priesthood power, resurrection, life after death, perfection, and even God.  As unsettling as this may sound to some of you, I probably have more in common with an atheist than the emotion driven spiritualist.  Faith allows me to conceptualize mysteries I struggle to understand.  I sense the profound correlation between "faith" and the tightly bound mysteries of the universe.

There are principles of quantum physics being explored to explain the mysteries revealed in the Global Consciousness Project that I find easier to contemplate if encapsulated in philosophical terms like "soul" or "spirit."  The concepts of complimentarity, quantum superposition, quantum entanglement, and mass-energy equivalence likewise, can take on spiritual connotations when discussing the nature of "reality."  I don't have the scientific vocabulary for that.  To contemplate consciousness, existence, immortality, and purpose, I turn to philosophy... but the various fields in physics also explore these very same concepts.  I see a faith-science equivalence where contrasting reasoning and vocabularies are applied in the exploration of analogous issues.

This brings us to the million dollar question; 

Who, do you believe, is God?  

The short answer is, I don't know.

My god is not the Mormon god.  In fact, he's not even the Christian god.  He's not just some bigger better version of me.  He is something profoundly different.  I guess a more important question would be; "What is God?"  To me, God is a philosophical construct of something yet to be identified in physics.  Maybe it is something so far beyond our abilities to comprehend in a scientific context. he will always remain firmly within the protective bounds of philosophy.

Mathematics is the language used to describe the laws of physics.  The divine beauty and symmetry are evident.  I wonder if God is not author of mathematics and if the very laws of physics themselves are God.  On my plane of existence, sentience is the natural result of ever increasing complexity in a biological system.  I reason God to be a sentient derived from a similar process of increasing complexity but on a scale that transcends the multiverse.  Gnostic thinkers postulate we are but minuscule manifestations of God's own consciousness and that, in reality, the whole of the universe is God.

I really don't know if I am any closer to being right... but I find much more comfort in not knowing than in the vision of reality postulated by religious absolutists.  Their concepts seem uncomfortably small in my understanding and estimation.

Again, I hope I haven't troubled any of you.  My beliefs are my own.  I'm not here to correct or even influence your own spiritual path.  I believe, in the spirit of mutual respect, we can learn from one another and appreciate our differences.

"The really amazing thing is not that life on Earth is balanced on a knife-edge, but that the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural constants were off even slightly.  You see, even if you dismiss man as a chance happening, the fact remains that the universe seems unreasonably suited to the existence of life - almost contrived - you might say a put-up job."

~ Paul Davies, The Mind of God

The Charter for Compassion

The paleontological record is pretty clear.  We are the product of behavior modification that has continually altered our social systems and spurred cognitive and technological adaptation for as long as our ancestors have been classified as genus homo; latin for human.  All species of the genus, except homo sapiens sapiens, are now extinct.  We are the evolutionary victors from among 15 known in our evolutionary family. Our emerging history of the social evolution is as astonishing as it is enthralling.  Beyond mere "survival of the fittest" shared with all life on earth, there is compelling evidence of cooperation and mutual adaptation among our human cousin species that made us possible.  One example, we owe our amazing immune response to an incredibly rare interbreeding between homo sapiens and two archaic human species among whom our ancestors coexisted; homo neanderthalensis and denisova hominin.

Social evolution has always been characterized by gradual development... that is, until now.  Until the last two or three centuries. most of humankind lived much like their ancestors did for at least the last 10,000 years or so or since the emergence of agriculture.  We now live in a mechanized connected world dominated by rapid developments in technology and communication.  Social evolution has been replaced with social revolution.  In this escalating complexity, human society is undergoing change our biology could scarcely prepared us for.  Some say our very survival depends on how successfully we adapt.

The psychological strain of this unprecedented rate of change can not be overstated.  The fact our populations increasingly struggle to cope is self-evident.  Today, the fastest growing segment of the burgeoning mental health industry is the phenomenon of "pop" psychology and its companion; self-help.  This product is not necessarily esteemed for its credentials as vetted theory by accomplished psychologists, anthropologists, ethologists or neuroscientists but for their widespread reception by the general population.  It is often tailored to appeal directly to the prevailing "common sense" aesthetic of its intended target audience.

Self-help is not always incontrovertibly without value... but caution is advised.  Unchecked, some consumers find themselves running from one popularized concept to the next in a desperate search to find that single silver bullet to right everything wrong in their lives... often in a near addictive state.  However, considered and consumed in a thoughtful manner, some of this material can enhance our understanding and enlighten our perspective.

Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) is a nonprofit dedicated to "Ideas Worth Spreading."  This past June, author Karen Armstrong made her TED prize wish known: The Charter for Compassion.  It has already been affirmed by tens of thousands including His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, His Eminence Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the esteemed Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr and many many others.

I've long thought of Karen Armstrong as a sort of religious anthropologist; combining spirituality, history and human psychology.  Her book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, is proving to be very thought provoking.  It presents a stunning fact based argument supporting the biological evolution of compassion and human altruism.  But more importantly, it focuses attention on the widening psychological disparity plaguing modern society in the 21st century.

As a solution, Ms, Armstrong suggests a concerted effort to advance the principles of compassion.  She speaks of a collective exploration to achieve a higher level of compassion beyond the generally passable, every day expectation of today.

While the steps outlined seem somewhat obvious and even cliché, I am impressed with her sense of urgency.  It compels me to look more closely at what she is proposing.  Sometimes the best solutions are the most straightforward... even in a complex world.  Cliché or not, I see value in her idea and the necessity for practice.

It may be too idealistic to hope for but lasting change is rarely immediate.  Any transformation, even on a personal level, would be promising.  I have no doubt I will walk away from this experience a little changed.

Good and Evil: Distinctions Blurred and Benefits Realized

Liberty Park - Salt Lake City Utah

Part 2

Moving forward two days; Independence Day!  My recent experiences still never too far from my thoughts, I attended two family functions; my own and that of my dearest friend.  I took great satisfaction enjoying the diversity of personalities.  Some call the quirky jostling "dysfunction" and "harmful."  I imagine unchecked it could be.  It certainly isn't always easy but difficulty isn't a reliable measure of harmfulness.

When we are injured and suffering either emotionally or physically, our ability to recognize and appreciate the miracle of family is often tremendously diminished.  Patience and understanding are always the first to be sacrificed in such situations.  I am all too guilty of this and know this to be true.

I know my family... and in optimal condition, I understand and appreciate them the way they should.  This holiday was nearly optimal for me.  I so enjoyed their company.  Yet, as we said our goodbyes, I regret not all of us were feeling optimal and a poor choice of words set into motion hurt and suffering.  I left beleaguered; not knowing how to help make things right.

Then something extraordinary happened.  For maybe the first time, I found myself in a very familiar setting; comfortably enjoying family... but not my family.  I'm usually quiet and shy and maybe, to a certain degree, I still was but I experienced something unique... at least to me.  I noticed a familiar dynamic.  The players were different yet they shared the same identical personality characteristics I grew up with in my family... except there, they were totally redistributed as if like a deck of cards where they were shuffled and all dealt new hands.  I could see aspects of my parents, sisters, brother, nieces and nephews all represented in unique combinations.  The reactions and interactions played out in familiar ways... right down to the moments of hurt and suffering.

I think what was so extraordinary about the experience was which personalities acted and reacted.  Like watching a familiar movie shot from completely different angles, it provided some much needed insight into the inner-workings of my own family because I wasn't emotionally vested in any of the outcomes. Too often we take for granted our abilities to weather criticisms and judgements.  Too often we take for granted our abilities to read and anticipate the moods and reactions of those so near and dear to us.

Our most intimate relationships are our families.  They are both the safest and most dangerous of all relationships in an emotional sense due to their profound nature.  Mormon doctrine teaches we foresaw our lives, our living conditions, our life companions, and we "lept for joy" in anticipation for our earthly existence.  I share that belief.  But I also have the nagging suspicion that these intimate relationships we call family are far far more complex and older than we dare imagine.

I believe in a cyclical process of life and learning where we live again and again until all of life's lessons are learned; perhaps not reincarnation in the common sense but something.  Those we know as family follow us from probation to probation.  We continue to play profound roles in each others lives... because we have unique lessons to learn from one another.  Our bond truly is eternal.

Popular psychology likens healthy living to cleaning out one's garage.  In their opinion, it is a garage filled with the junk of our own making where choice pieces may be dusted off and repurposed but the majority of seemingly broken and useless trash should be quickly and unceremoniously tossed in the garbage and carted off for disposal.  Some even espouse, for the sake of a clean garage, to just torch it and all its contents and move on rebuilding a new garage without looking back.

I view my garage differently.  It's something inherited where I was promised I could find all the needed tools and supplies for successful and healthy living.  Sure, I may have added a few things in my time as owner... the dust bunnies, a few discarded burrito wrappers and the occasional cup and straw but the shelves remain relatively untouched.  You see, the previous owner was something of a MacGyver.   In his case, he had eons of creative experience and an intimate knowledge of who I am.  Turns out those shelves of seemingly eclectic trash aren't worthless after all... and the act of sorting and cataloguing the multifarious collection provides me with the increased ability to respond effectively and creatively to all of life's challenges.

Our families, for good and especially bad, help us learn to respond effectively and creatively to life's ups and downs if we but take the time to properly sort and catalogue.  We glean real experience and practical knowledge from the high pressure interactions of such an intimacy that only family can provide.  Only then will we not take for granted those tools and supplies we were given.  It is a difficult task that takes a lifetime of struggle... with no hope of complete success.

In short, we inherit a pile of junk from our parents.  Spend a lifetime trying to sort it all out.  Then end up passing it on to the next generation.  Like it or not, this is the beauty and continuity of cyclical progression.

"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself." 

~ MacGyver

Good and Evil: Where do we place the bar?

Pražský Orloj - Prague Czech Republic

Part 1

"Are there, infinitely varying with each individual, inbred forces of Good and Evil in all of us, deep down below the reach of mortal encouragement and mortal repression -- hidden Good and hidden Evil, both alike at the mercy of the liberating opportunity and the sufficient temptation?"

~ William Wilkie Collins

I had a very thought provoking holiday weekend.  It started Saturday at my building's swimming pool with my nephews noticing something at the bottom of the deep end...

The actual act of swimming down, turning over, noticing the near severed tongue, staring into the wide lifeless eyes of someone still 9 feet below the surface, then cradling his cold discolored body, pushing through to the surface cheek to cheek, feeling no pulse or life... there was something oddly peaceful and reassuring in that moment; a palpable sense of the continuity of both life and spirit.  The imagery was uncomfortable at first... because it was unfamiliar.  I've had to process it and accept it.  However, the accompanying behavior and reaction from the poor man's family continue to trouble me.

As we broke the surface of the pool, I called out for help.  They snorted and asked if I was kidding yet still couldn't be bothered to pull themselves up from their lounge chairs.  I struggled to push him out onto the deck.  They looked on with only mild interest letting two young men rush in to help.  As my friend and mother approached to start CPR only then did one of them venture close to curb her morbid curiosity.  Realizing it was her brother, she went completely bizerk hysterical.  Soon the man's adult daughters and his wife joined in.  In all my life, I have never seen such a transformation from complete indifference to human life to an unspeakable level of insanity.  Wailing, pounding, screaming, howling, pushing, flailing, tossing things about... it caused indescribable panic and fright among the small children present.  So horrifying in ways no dead body ever could be, the young had to be whisked away in states of shock and disbelief.

I watched my mother, whom I adore with all my heart, struggle in her failing elderly body to do what she could to save that man.  I imagined in that moment it was her lying there and asked myself if I could ever have reacted like this man's family... to scoff at pleas for help, to decline involvement in a stranger's moment of desperate need, and then have a complete disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the young in a moment of grief.  I realize these people were under extreme duress but does that excuse their actions?  Like someone who instinctively hides behind a child during a shootout, there's something not quite right... something fundamentally broken.

It seems such behavior is now considered the norm... and excusable.  "We all react to emergency situations differently."  "They were in shock."  "You can't really blame them given the circumstance."  And my personal favorite, "How would YOU feel?!!!"  Really?  Is this really ok?  Are we excused to act like this now?  What does this say about our evolving human sensibilities?  What does this say of us as a civilized people and of our culture?

I am terribly troubled by ordinary acts of compassion and human decency being considered extraordinary while shameful acts of cowardice and selfishness are considered acceptable and even normal.  Returning someone's lost valuables isn't noble... it's proper!  Pulling someone from a pool isn't courageous... it's decent!  Protecting those who can't protect themselves whether they be young, old, infirm or just unaware isn't heroic... it's humane! We shouldn't be astonished by good behavior.  We should be horrified by bad.

(To be continued)

Bloom Where God Planted You

Illustration from "The Conference of the Birds"
Photographer Unknown

Embrace Fate

"Since love has spoken in your soul, reject 

The Self, that whirlpool where our lives are wrecked; 

As Jesus rode his donkey, ride on it; 

Your stubborn Self must bear you and submit - 

Then burn this Self and purify your soul; 

Let Jesus' spotless spirit be your goal. 

Destroy this burden, and before your eyes 

The Holy Ghost in glory will arise." 

~ Farīd ud-Dīn ‘Attār (Persian Muslim Poet, 1145 - 1221 CE)

I'll be quite honest.  I'm usually not one to enjoy "marathon" poetry.  Penned in 1170 CE, the Mantiqu 't-Tayr, or The Conference of the the Birds, is an epic Persian poem of about 4500 lines.  While translations differ, I found the story extraordinarily insightful.  As the best known allegory in the West next to The Thousand and One Nights of Aladdin fame, it really is worth a read.

It recounts the arduous journey of a large group of birds desiring to go and know their beloved king, Simorgh in the far off land of Simorgh.  (Simorgh being a well known flying creature in Iranian mythology.)   The birds are led by the passionate and enthusiastic hoopoe who answers the many objections and questions the other birds have regarding their journey.  Often, the birds are identified by species and have a corresponding human type.  For example, the nightingale symbolizes the lover and the finch, the coward.  Many of the hoopoe's answers include several stories to illustrate the particular point being made.  At first reading, these illustrations seem very obscure.  This is intentional.  The reader is being asked to look at some problem in an unfamiliar way.

Eventually, one by one, the birds abandon their journey.  Each giving particular excuses as to why they can not go on.  Ultimately, the group numbers thirty birds.  In Persian, "thirty birds" is si morgh.  These thirty meet the final challenges represented in the seven valleys traversed; Talab (Yearning), Eshq (Love), Marifat (Understanding), Istighnah (Independence and Detachment from Desire), Tawheed (Unity of God), Hayrat (Bewilderment) and, finally, Fuqur and Fana (Selflessness and Oblivion in God).  Ultimately, they arrive in Simorgh.  They find no mythical king.  They only see each other and their reflections in a vast lake... they, the si morgh or thirty birds, are the Simorgh!  They now understand the true nature of God, their king.

I suppose God could have kept those birds close at hand... in the land of Simorgh but without the struggle to reach him, those birds would never have recognized him.  We are all placed where we are for a reason.  Particular struggles, designed to teach us exactly what it is we need to learn to reach our required level of understanding, have been provided by the Almighty.

Instead of regret for things we didn't have the foresight to change, or dissatisfaction for things we hadn't the power to make different, we need to embrace our fate and, as the fundamental Pentecostal motto goes, learn to "bloom where God planted you."

Freedom of the Mind

Columbia River Gorge - Oregon

From This All Other Freedoms Spring

I'd like to share a few quotes from what is now considered the final testimony of Elder Hugh B. Brown.  Elder Brown served in the LDS Quorum of Twelve Apostles from 1958 to 1975, and in the First Presidency from 1961 to 1970 under President David O. McKay. The excerpts below come from the final chapter of An Abundant Life; The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown and affirms the worth of education and open-minded free thinking.


"Some say that the open-minded leave room for doubt. But I believe we should doubt some of the things we hear. Doubt has a place if it can stir in one an interest to go out and find the truth for one's self."

"There are altogether too many people in the world who are willing to accept as true whatever is printed in a book or delivered from a pulpit. Their faith never goes below the surface soil of authority. I plead with everyone I meet that they may drive their faith down through that soil and get hold of the solid truth, that they may be able to withstand the winds and storm of indecision and of doubt, of opposition and persecution. Then, and only then, will we be able to defend our religion successfully. When I speak of defending our religion, I do not mean such defense as an army makes on the battlefield but the defense of a clean and upright and virtuous life lived in harmony with an intelligent belief and understanding of the gospel. As Mormons, we should do with religion as we do with music, not defend it but simply render it. It needs no defense. The living of religion is, after all, the greatest sermon, and if all of us would live it, we would create a symphony which would be appreciated by all."

"One of the most important things in the world is freedom of the mind; from this all other freedoms spring. Such freedom is necessarily dangerous, for one cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong, but generally more thinking is the antidote for the evils that spring from wrong thinking.

More thinking is required, and we should all exercise our God-given right to think and be unafraid to express our opinions, with proper respect for those to whom we talk and proper acknowledgment of our own shortcomings. We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it. The church is not so much concerned with whether the thoughts of its members are orthodox or heterodox as it is that they shall have thoughts. One may memorize much without learning anything."

These days, many find comfort in the "surface soil of authority."  The institution of church, not the gospel itself, seems to constrict our "God-given right to think" and substitutes it with copious amounts of sanctioned orthodox material in the form of handbooks, lesson manuals, and so on.  While such material isn't bad in and of itself, it is all too easy to replace the importance of "intelligent belief and understanding" and the hard earned self-discovery that entails with the notion all questions have been sufficiently answered and all worthy mysteries deciphered.  Spiritual growth becomes more a matter of memorization... all we need do is follow the prescribed course of "correct" thinking.  The worthy allegory of scripture, the beauty of self-discovery, the very process of enlightenment itself... they all cease to have any real meaning and are lost in the pages of good intentions and well defined creed.  

Some erroneously conclude that heterodoxy threatens the stability and strength of the community when it really gives us opportunity to test our ideas and convictions; strengthening our resolve and forging a stronger faith.  Orthodoxy is the soft soil of authority.  Heterodoxy is compacted, rocky, and hard... it makes us jostle uncomfortably one with another... forcing us to reexamine and test our convictions again and again... allowing us the opportunity to drive our roots of faith deep so we may be well anchored in times of adversity.

The Dignity of Difference

Arches National Park - Utah

The Most Noble Sanctuary

"O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into separate nations and tribes, that you may know one another."

~ Qur'an 49:13

During the process of my philosophical reawakening, I made a surprising discovery; my love for Islam.  I know many westerners cringe at the thought.  Most only know Islam from what they see on television today.  The traditional homeland of the faith suffers from unremitting hostility fueled by extremist fundamentalism and totalitarianism.  The result has been some of the most heinous human rights violations imaginable.  Unfortunately, the very same was said of Christianity during Europe’s Dark Ages.  I tell you now, Islam is in its dark age.  If they are to be judged solely on today, it stands to reason Christianity should never have been allowed to survive to the modern day.  But we knew Christianity to have a solid foundation in Jesus and his chosen apostles.  Likewise, Islam has a foundation every bit as impressive.

It is a familiar and unfortunate human failing to discredit and malign our enemies.  Centuries of unremitting hostilities during the various Crusades, the Spanish Reconquista, the trade wars of the renaissance, and the Western colonial expansion period have left us with a confusing legacy mixed with lies and half truths intended to substantiate and strengthen the Western cause.  Western theologians and historians have only recently begun reexamining Islam in an attempt to separate fact from fiction.  Some of their “discoveries” are astounding and bare testimony to the continuity of the human spirit as our similarities far outnumber our differences.

Muhammad lived in a violent, desperately brutal society and he managed to bring peace to that world. Now this may come as a surprise to some, but he did it through peaceable means not by force.  Suffering persecution in his native Mecca, he was invited by the neighboring waring clans of the large agricultural oasis of Yathrib to mitigate an end to more than a century of devastating tribal blood-feuds.  Drafting the Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīna, Muhammad established a peaceable and diverse democratic federation encompassing the eight Medinan tribes and the Muslim immigrants from Mecca.  This alliance included Muslims, Arabs, Jews, Christians, and pagans... each vested citizens of this new society.

This was an absolutely astounding achievement for its day and did not go unnoticed by Muhammad’s rivals.  For six years, he fought a war of survival against Mecca.  The Meccans, who correctly perceived a threat to their long established power as droves converted to Islamic monotheism and trade began to shift to Medina, were intent on exterminating the Muslim community.  Once the tides of war clearly and irrevocably shifted to the advantage of Medina, Muhammad did the unthinkable.  Instead of bringing Mecca to her knees by an inevitable victory through violence,  Medina switched to a campaign of nonviolence that was not too dissimilar from that practiced by Gandhi and other inspiring leaders. For two long years, they persevered.  Finally, Muhammad rode into Mecca with a thousand unarmed followers and sued for peace... a peace favoring Mecca.  So shocking and contrary to millennia of tribal custom, word spread throughout the region, igniting a social revolution.  Within a few years, Muhammad and his followers were welcomed back into Mecca, not as enemies but as allies.

This isn't to say atrocities were not committed by all sides during the conflict.  They were.  But Muhammad had a lesson to teach.  Compassion was the only avenue open for lasting peace.  This set the tone for Islamic expansion for centuries to come.

Because he comes so much later and there is so much more documentation, we know more about the founder of Islam than we do of almost any other major tradition.  His first biographers really tried to document history, maybe not quite history as we know it today, but they certainly presented the prophet in the most realistic light possible.  The al-sīra and hadith collections are biographies and accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of the prophet... providing a very humanizing glimpse of the man who's name means "praiseworthy." 

They reveal Muhammad sometimes having very real and familiar trouble with his wives. People often assume that he had a harem selected for their beauty and subservience designed to cater to his every indulgence.  Far from it!  The wives were often a headache and undertaken for political reasons.  Many were vibrant, intelligent, and, dare we say, insistent.  Surprisingly, his views of family and marriage more closely match our 21st century ideal than what was common in the 6th and 7th centuries.  He attempted to bring more equality and security to women and tried to overturn millennia of tribal custom.  He viewed his wives as both a challenge and a blessing.  He felt it his duty to learn to love, cherish, honor, and respect them as he knew Allah did.

They show Muhammad playing often with his adored grandchildren, even putting little Hassan and Hussein on his shoulders and running around with them.  They recount him weeping over the deaths of family and friends and speak of the comfort and advice given his beloved daughters.  In short, they detail his struggles, vulnerabilities along with the careful striving and literal sweating to craft and utter the astonishing words of the Qur'an. The poetry of the Qur'an is mostly lost in translation, but the Arabic, I'm told, is an exercise in absolute unsurpassed beauty.  Listening to it, I have no doubt.

Muhammad taught that not only Abraham, but Moses, Jesus, Adam are all revered great prophets.  You cannot be a Muslim and deny the truth they taught.  Your Islamic spirit must include an appreciation of these other traditions.  The People of the Book; Jews, Sabians, Christians, and Muslims are indelibly linked.

It is common for the mystics of Islam, the sufi, to exclaim in jubilation that they are no longer a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian; that they are equally home in a mosque, synagogue, temple or church.  They reason once we touch the divine such man-made distinctions become meaningless and we can leave them behind.  This is both extraordinary and inspiring.

Instead of seeing other traditions as, at best, a mistake, sufism inspires us to see them as positive and enriching.  True Islam can give us a blueprint to explore other spiritual traditions and to draw what inspiration we can from them.

"If God had willed he would have made you one nation. But He did not do so, that he may try you in what has come to you. So, compete with one another in good works; Unto God shall you return; altogether; and he will tell you the Truth about what you have been disputing."

~ Qur'an 5:48

Meting Vengeance

From State Hwy. 128 near the Colorado River - Utah

But Seeking Justice

Justice isn’t always a joyful occasion.  Sometimes, it is painful and solemn... or it should be.

I hold to the belief that all men are inherently good... or at least they start out that way.  We are the divine offspring.  Long before coming here, we were nurtured with unconditional love and perfect wisdom, reared in infinite mercy and empathy.  We communed with the gods and rejoiced in blessings of everlasting life.

Our earthy probation is one of necessary hardship and trial.  It is the refining fire that allows for true and meaningful change in our quest for exalted perfection.  We are challenged physically and spiritually.  Failure is not just common but required... but sometimes, however, that failure can be so catastrophic, even the heavens weep from a broken heart.

This is how I would sum up the life of Osama Bin Laden.  A life that started with such promise, filled with love and anticipation, only to end a tortured soul twisted by fear and hatred into profound wickedness.

I know there are some who would argue points of ideology to find purpose behind his madness but so polluted his thinking in extremes, he would have murdered the world to save it.  There is no rationale, no reason, no purpose large enough, profound enough to justify the path he took.  While still greater evils have been wrought by the hand of man for the sake of lifeless ideology, his was still a work of evil in the end.

All that said, the Lord’s is a perfect love, an unconditional love.  I have little doubt that Osama was met at the vail with loving arms and tears of joy by the Savior.  For His is a perfect understanding of limitless mercy and love.

Justice required Bin Laden be hunted down and executed for his crimes.  But ours is an imperfect justice.  Civilized society could not do to him what he inflicted on us without losing itself in such wickedness.  His was a merciful death by comparison; a pale and meager form of justice.  True justice, it would seem, is only for the gods.

The celebratory gatherings marking his execution speak not of justice but of vengeance.  There is no reverence for the sanctity of life.  No honoring the victims of his heinous crimes.  No acknowledgment of all those still suffering under the evil he cultivated.  No respect for God’s unconditional love for ALL his children.

I find celebrations commemorating the violent death of anyone, no matter how deserving, distasteful and damaging.  They’re sickly misguided and savage.  To say they are understandable really only acknowledges our ability to identify with the most base of human emotions.  It just goes to show how little we have evolved as a people and as a species. “They” who were so different from us on September 11th, 2001 don’t seem all that much different anymore.

My heart is saddened by todays events but relieved that this particular is no longer left undone.  May it bring comfort to the rational who contemplate and mourn.  May it silence the civilly insane who revel and delight.

“He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself”

~Chinese Proverb

Two Easter Crowns

Front Garden - South Jordan Utah

In the Spiritual Spring

"Several summers ago my children found two turtles and put them in the vegetable garden. During a thaw the next February, as I was digging up the soggy soil where the peas go, I lifted a heavy mound with my shovel, and then another. The two turtles had burrowed down for winter sleep, and I had rudely awakened them too soon. So I carried them to a corner of the garden where I would not disturb them and dug them in again. When my wife said that she feared the turtles might be dead, I said I did not think so... though I wasn't as sure as I sounded. I insisted that in spring they would come up. And they did in Easter week.”

~ Vigen Guroian

His essay struck me this time of year.  It is easy to imagine those solemn animals planting themselves each fall to rise again each spring...  like hyacinths and lilies; symbols of the resurrection.  In the fertile bed warmed by the sun, turtles germinate like great seeds.  It is difficult not to wonder at the eternity of life... no doubt, just like the women at the tomb did.  We truly are the perennials of God's creation.

“A bright new flower has appeared 

this day out of the tomb. 

Souls have blossomed 

and are adorned with divers hues,

and have become green with life.

The florescence of divine light has bloomed 

in the spiritual spring.”

~Armenian Ode for Eastertide

God as Mathematician

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory - Coquimbo Region Chile 

E = MC2

Albert Einstein once wondered: “How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience, fits so excellently the objects of physical reality?”  Sir Isaac Newton formulated a mathematical law of universal gravitation that has proved to be better than 99.99999% precise yet, due to technological limitations of his time, Newton himself could only verify to an accuracy of less than 4%.

It was once thought that the universe was comprised solely of a substance called ether.  Matter, it was postulated, was the result of "knots" in this ether.  Knot theory evolved as an obscure branch of pure mathematics in an attempt to explain this phenomenon.  Amazingly, this abstract endeavor now finds extensive modern applications in topics ranging from molecular chemistry, particle physics and even statistical mechanics.  The same exact "knot" equation, for example, can be used to explain stock option pricing and the agitated motion of pollen suspended in a liquid.

So how can we explain these incredible powers of mathematics?  And fundamentally, what does this all mean?  Are we merely discovering mathematics, like an astronomer discovers a previously unknown comet or asteroid? Or, is mathematics a purely human invention?

These really aren’t questions I can answer... but I can certainly contemplate their profound significance.  It is a significance written in symmetry and logic.  The evocative poetry of mathematics transcends experience and attempts to lay bare creation itself.  Whether we want to call that God or some sublime inspiration, it doesn't matter because it's a tangible place where all rational minds can meet.

"Mathematics and logic, historically speaking, have been entirely distinct studies. Mathematics has been connected with science, logic with Greek. But both have developed in modern times: logic has become more mathematical and mathematics has become more logical. The consequence is that it has now become wholly impossible to draw a line between the two; in fact, the two are one. They differ as boy and man: logic is the youth of mathematics and mathematics is the manhood of logic."

~ Bertrand Russell

Faith as Ethical Alchemy

The Bronx Zoo - New York City

Learning to Live Compassionately

The vase where this verbena’s dying

Was cracked by a lady’s fan’s soft blow.

It must have been the merest grazing:

We heard no sound.  The fissure grew.

The little wound spread while we slept,

Pried deep in the crystal, bit by bit.

A long, slow marching line, it crept

From spreading base to curving lip.

The water oozed out drop by drop,

Bled from the line we’d not seen etched.

The flowers drained out all their sap.

The vase is broken: do not touch.

The quick, sleek hand of one we love

Can tap us with a fan’s soft blow,

And we will break, as surely riven

As that cracked vase. And no one knows.

The world sees just the hard, curved surface

Of a vase a lady’s fan once grazed,

That slowly drips and bleeds with sadness.

Do not touch the broken vase.

~ The Broken Vase, By Sully Prudomme 

Translated by Robert Archambeau

The epistles of Paul, those actually attributed to him anyways, are filled with love for people.  He taught we can endure all manner of trial including being crucified as martyrs, have faith capable of moving mountains but if we lack charity, none of that matters.

Surprisingly, true religion is not about believing things.  It is said the Jewish rabbi, Hillel, an older contemporary of Jesus, was once approached by a group of pagans.  They said they would convert to Judaism if he could recite the entire Tora while balancing on one leg.  He responded with, “Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you.  That is the Tora.  The rest is commentary.  Go and learn it.”  (Babylonian Talmud - Shabbat 31a)

Beyond the dogma, endless meetings, planning and herding the faithful, there is an underlying element in Mormonism, and many other religions for that matter, that often goes under appreciated; service.  I’m beginning to understand what religion tries to convey at its best.  It really doesn’t matter what you believe.  Religion is about doing things.  It’s about living in a compassionate way that changes you.  Instead of creeds and beliefs, Judaism and Islam place the emphasis on a collection of practices... like giving alms, prayer, fasting, worship.  These observances are designed to change our inner world.  Each is an opportunity to encounter God.

You also see this in the Gospels.  There is very little doctrine as we now know it.  Jesus isn’t going about giving dissertations on the Godhead, original sin, divinity, or other finer points of doctrine.  He’s going out visiting sinners, traitors, the nonbelieving and unclean... people beneath contempt.  He seemingly valued practice over ideas... much like Buddhism does today.

Religion is a form of ethical alchemy.  As we strive to behave in compassionate ways, it changes us.  Egotism and greed keep us from a knowledge of the divine.  It's not the believing of creeds or the undertaking various sacraments but compassion that allows us the perspective to apprehend the sacred.

The Buddha said that the practice of compassion can introduce us to Nirvana. Jesus said that on the last day, it's those who have visited people who are sick and naked, hungry and in prison, looked after them, who will enter the kingdom of God.  They are the ones who enter God's presence, not those who necessarily have the "correct" theology or the "right" sexual ethics.

So many different faith traditions have come to the conclusion that compassion is the test... it’s the key to exaltation.  I do not believe they all came to this same conclusion out of happenstance.  They came to it because it really does work.

We are at our most creative and wonderful when we are ready to give ourselves away... when we are in the service of others.  Equally, we are the most dangerous, the most unimaginative when we only seek ourselves and our own benefit.  It is in the service of others that we ultimately find ourselves.  When we find ourselves, we find God... not the other way around.