Foxy wrote:

Marianne Williamson in her book, "Illuminata,"
tells us that:

"The search for God is a lifestyle decision.
Fill your mind with the meaningless stimuli
of a world preoccupied with meaningless things,
and it will not be easy to feel peace in your
heart. Fill your mind with the things of God,
and peace will flow into you like water into
the ground... I've heard it said that
prayer is when we talk to God, and meditation
is when we listen..."

Dear Foxy,

The above is an expression of belief that things of God are sacred and things of the world are profane. That is Christian dualism and not a Jewish belief. Some Christians see celibacy and denial as a good in itself. One is rejecting the things of the world.

Jews see things differently. The world is good. God thinks it is good. Genesis 1:31 "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Food, sex, music, intellectual speculation, seeking knowledge and all other good things were put on this earth for humans to enjoy. A rejection of them is regarded as a rejection of God as we are rejecting what God has put on earth. That does not mean we should enjoy them to excess.

The world is full of things with meaning. Science is one way to find the meaning. The things of God are earthly things if you believe he has created them. Maimonides (1138-1204), the greatest Jewish philosopher was asked how one shows love for God. One cannot physically embrace God. God does not need sacrifices or offerings. Maimonides recommended using the divine mind God gave us to ask questions.

Jews do not regard prayer as talking to God. God has already decided what will be and is not changed by human pleas. The purpose of prayer is to find strength in oneself to live with what God has decided.

Dear David f,

It's always interesting reading your posts.
You extend my perspective on things.
I used to think I wasn't religious, and
perhaps I'm not. I don't like what organized
religion has done to the world, and I've come to
see that true religion is internal, not external.
Secularized organized religions have become,
in many cases, as calcified as other institutions
that form the structure of the moder world.
Our religious institutions have far too often
become handmaidens of the status quo, while the
genuine religious experience is anything but that.

Spirituality is an inner fire, a mystical sustenance
that feeds our souls. I agree with you the mystical
journey drives us into ourselves, to a sacred flame
at our center.

Religion means "to bind back." Its purpose is to
turn back into ourselves, to the well inside from
which we are endlessly creative. God is a well that
does not run dry.

A friend of Abraham Lincoln once remarked about him,
"He's so religious he's beyond religion."

Anyway David, as I said in my earlier posts - to each
his own. I wouldn't dream of imposing my views on
anyone else, nor do I feel that my views are necessarily
the right views for everyone else. They're simply -
right for me. For everyone else - I say - "Whatever
gets you throught the night!"

Take care.

Foxy,
What beautiful words! Most priests I know would endorse them, and often use as part of their sermons. Certainly those who had been secretly ordained in underground Churches in what used to be Communist Eastern Europe some 20+ years ago, and today have a following among the young unparalleled in the West.

When my daughter, while still a teenager, exhibited a similar selectiveness towards religion I told her this sequel to the story about the three little pigs:

After they learned their lesson, and all built their houses from bricks, they wanted to have some beautiful flowers in their gardens. So they went to a nursery and bought some plants. The first pig liked the flower, but not the rest, so she plucked its head and placed it on the ground in her garden. The second pig kept the flower and the stem but threw away the roots with the dirt they came in, because they were not as pretty as the flower. The third pig was wiser, she realised that the beautiful flower cannot survive for long without its roots. She planted the whole lot, mixing its dirt that clung to its roots with the soil of her own garden, etc.

However, you are right as far as traditional West is concerned: too much freedom corrupts and makes lazy those “religion professionals” who should be driven by spirituality; indeed, many among the hierarchy run on "religious inertia", become "calcified" as you put it.

When looking at the empty churches in e.g. Western Europe (and I presume also Australia, though last time I checked it was not as bad as here in Germany) I do not see how "religious institutions" are still the "handmaids of the status quo". More likely, they have become part of a permanent opposition to the status quo, a role they still have not learned how to play properly.

just one point george...>>religion professionals” who should be driven by spirituality;>>..sadly i feel thats where they went wrong

just as the 3 little piggies...have gone wrong..[ok two in your story]...but for me the main failings lie at the 3..the jew fails..because land/war/death/sepperation has become more important...and in common with christianity ritual..[and who says what]..has become more important than the whole flower[god]

i will call out the third..islam as well..[together the three pigs,..have dared to put the messengers..[..may peace be upon them all..]..and the messengers..holy texts..before the living loving good[god]...the personal loving god jesus revealed to mankind

we have seen where..words rituals and messengers..all have become more important than the lifegiver and his creation..[life]..when their reason for being is to bridge this realm[..and the next realm..into union..for our joint creater...

it is written that the veil shall faLL...but that love of neighbour is the sure path to god..[love]..

those serving the lifegiver...seem more obsessed with their own spiruality and rank..rather than bringing the spirit[..the eternal/living loving logic/love[god]..to the people..or rather the people..back to THE wholy/spirit

the churches and the state..are the status quo...they think to rule mankind..when they in truth were called to serve mankind...as jesus revealed ...he who would rule you will serve you...where is the humbleness of the servant..?...reflective..in the works of the church or the state...there isnt any..

they think them-selves..the flower...and as for the common people..roots..stuck in the muck of hell...let the stems and leaves police the roots into submission...

all the while those deluding themselves the flower..thinking..and if we cant convince even ourselves..of the living loving god[grace/mercy]...lets baffle them..[the one gods children]..with man-ure

Dear George,

Thank You for your kind words - and I loved
your "three little pigs," analogy.
It's interesting what you had to say about
the West. I think that many people turned
away from organized religion - but are now
coming back. But they're coming back not
as spiritually half-interested, compliant
congregants that many of their parents were
when they were growing up. They're coming back
with an interest in actually having a religious
experience.

Dear OUG,

Religious institutions, as such, are not the
only arbiters of religious experience. They do
not own the Truth, for Truth as you point out
cannot be owned. Nor should they think they hold
some franchise on our spiritual life. They are
consultants and frameworks, but they aren't God
Himself. We shouldn't confuse the path with the
destination.

oug,
As far as I could understand you (e.g. do you agree or disagree that "religion professionals" - i.e. priests, bishops, rabbis, imams - should be "driven by spirituality"?) I do not think your sermon contradicts what I wrote, except that the "parable of the three pigs" is certainly not about comparing Jews, Christians and Muslims. I think Foxy could understand you better, and I can only endorse what she wrote.

Foxy,
Again, wise words. Confusing the path with the destination is a widespread fallacy, closely related to looking at the finger without realising that it is pointing to the "moon" that many of our atheist friends are prone to.

Religious experience, as well as "compliance" with the teaching of this or that authority or Church, can (and often does) influence one's way of seeing things, but neither of them on its own should be a substitute for an authentic Christian world-view. Maybe this is true also for other religion-friendly world-views.