On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, I thought it might be good for us in this community to reflect on the things for which we are thankful, to put thought to why this day is about more than just the food and the football games. What is important to you? What made this past year special? Who makes you feel glad to be here celebrating ( Read more... )

Since the topic for this month is Religion, I thought it might be appropriate to discuss Jesus and the reactions associated with him as a person and a spiritual being. The following paper is a response / digest of Marcus Borg's Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Borg attempts to reintroduce Jesus to us as a person, and not a notion.

On Jesus

( Read more... )

**note: this is a reposting in order to clean up some paragraph issues -J

This really doesn't have anything to do with good or evil, but it has a lot to do with dialogue, and communication, which I feel is crucial as things drift further apart.

( The Infinite Subtlety of All Things (or, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Bohm) )

Just a question to everyone, but how do you feel about the statement "no good deed goes unpunished?", or the concept of "doing the right thing" only to find it is more damaging than doing the wrong thing or nothing at all?

I wrote this paper for a religion class called Modern Problems of Belief, and thought it might be a useful topic for discussion. The book, by Pema Chödrön, comes from a primarily Buddhist perspective, but I feel with a bit of effort, anyone can use the lessons in the search for knowledge.

( See what you think )

Grief, when it comes, is nothing we expect it to be...[it] turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical ThinkingI recently read this enlightening book and found it very helpful in dealing with grief and mourning. Author and essayist, Joan Didion, found herself a widow when in December of 2003 her ( Read more... )

A post I just read in religiousdebate really started me thinking about the meaning OF life versus meaning TO life. I've been, for better or worse, leaning towards the view there is no meaning OF life. Bacteria exist to create more bacteria. In kind, people exist to create more people. Without god(s), what "ultimate" meaning of life could there be ? And even WITH ( Read more... )