“Nail in my hand from my creator,
You gave me life - now show me how to live”
- Audioslave, Show Me How To Live (2002)
Photo above by Tom Rolfe. Photo below by Pixsellr.
Recently, I responded to an article on Internet Monk.com about the movie Cloverfield (which I highly recommend, by the way) and the impact that world-spanning natural disasters would have on the meaning behind the Book of Revelations. I was clear that I wasn’t a Christian and was just putting my two cents in for discussion purposes. One of the other readers of that article noticed my comment and moseyed on over to my About Me page to read about my journey towards becoming a minister. Under the pseudonym “Texan,” he then directed a comment to me under the same article that read:
“I just read your blog & your ‘about me’ section. I hope you find what you are searching for, and I pray it is Christ. “Unitarian Universalism” is not the answer I’m afraid.”
Now, I can appreciate that he was hoping the best for me, or at least what he considers to be the best, but there are several things that bother me about this comment. First of all, he didn’t have enough common decency to say this on my blog instead of hiding it on someone else’s. Not only was it an off-topic comment and thus disrespectful to Mr. Spencer, but it was also very telling as to this person’s true perception of non-Christians. Did he think I wouldn’t let the comment stand if it was posted on my blog? I’d like to
think I’m pretty welcoming of criticism and debate as long as it’s constructive and respectful.
And, of course, there is the casual dismissal of my denomination and the patronizing tone; meh - I could let that slide to be honest. No, what bothered me most of all was the implication that because I am still searching, that I had not “found Christ.” I don’t think this gentleman quite understands what religion and spirituality is really about. He’s missing a vital piece of the puzzle and doesn’t even realize it. If he had, he would know that finding Christ has nothing to do with being Christian.
Simply put, religion is about learning how to live with meaning. That is the sum of all religious experience boiled down to six words: “Learning How to Live with Meaning.” If you are a Christian, it means you follow the teachings of Jesus on how to live. Buddhists, on the other hand, follow the suggestions of Buddha on how to live a good life. I call myself neither simply because I don’t think it is necessary to follow one teacher in exclusion to all others. You wouldn’t go to school to just learn math to the exclusion of all other subjects. Why learn how to live from only one spiritual teacher?
I think the biggest mistake, however, is the assumption that searching can only be for those who have not found Truth. Quite to the contrary, searching is Truth. If you’ve stopped asking questions and settled on one particular list of beliefs, you haven’t found the Truth, you’ve given up on it. Revelation is on-going, Genesis is still in process, and there is always something new to learn. Perhaps I should pray that Texan comes to this realization, although I doubt he would see this as a blessing. It is more appropriate to let him find his own way, as we all should.
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February 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
About Truth… one of the best quotes about Truth I’ve ever heard comes from Jesus Christ, Superstar wherein Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?” Even at the tender age of 12, I thought that sentiment was quite profound… because Truth is NOT unchanging law. It’s personal, and we all do have our own Truths. Sometimes our Truths dovetail with other people’s Truths. When this happens on a large scale, it may seem that there is only one Truth… or that “our” Truth is the only true Truth.
Answering the question “what is truth?” has always been something I’ve come to view as an ultimate rebellion. So many people just accept what they’ve been told, and neglect to question, neglect to find their own truth. We all DO have our own Truths, and when we answer “are mine the same as yours?” in the affirmative, then we find community.
The Truth that I’ve found has actually changed… evolved, really… over the years. And because I keep trying to answer the question “what is truth?” the evolution of my Truth continues. I rather like it that way. Because then I can continue to say, “your truth is not the same as mine… let’s compare ideas and learn something new from one another.”
February 4th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
My guess is that as a result of our searching have some things that we have settled on more or less permanently. Eg that Truth is about searching etc.
My guess is that there are parts of the human experience that are shared - that we all have the capacity for joy, compassion and so on. It would take an awful good argument to convince that this wasn’t, in some sense at least, the truth. But then, as you say, figuring out what this means will mean a lifetime of searching perhaps.
One book by an evangelist called Skinner was entitled: If Jesus is the Answer What is the Question? A worthy thought I think.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Hello Kelly,
Are you a carpenter? You must be - you’ve hit the nail on the head…
Puns aside, I’m glad you see where I’m coming from. Thank you.
Namaste.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Hello Evan,
That actually sounds like an interesting book… Have you read it? I’d like to have your opinion - there might be a trip to the book store in my future. Thank you
Namaste.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:54 am
LOL! I’m SO not a carpenter… I generally hit my thumb with hammers, which would explain why I stick with less dangerous tools like paintbrushes and computer keyboards.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Well apparently in your universal search for truth and meaning, you haven’t looked very deeply into christianity. Either that, or you have and you didn’t like what you saw. Being a Christian is not just following the teachings of Jesus. If that were true, then He would have never said, “21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”.
(Matthew 7)
He also said in John 14:6,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”.
Now my question for you would be this: Who do you say Jesus is? Because either He was the Son of God, and nobody comes to the Father but through Him like He said, and that’s the truth…..which would render every other religion null and void……….or perhaps he was merely a lunatic with a megalomaniac complex who didn’t know what he was saying………
………or He was a liar.
And if He was a lunatic or a liar, then that would render christianity and ALL His teachings null and void.
Sort of a catch 22, isn’t it?
Truth is either true, or false. If it’s false, then logically it isn’t truth. We can’t say that everything people say is true, is true. It’s either true or it’s not. The world is either round or it’s flat. It isn’t flat just because I believe it’s flat. Science has proven that it is round. I can go around saying it’s flat, it’s flat, it’s flat…..but that doesn’t make my statement true.
But back to my comment on Matthew 7. In that scripture, Jesus said, out of His own mouth, that there will be many people who did good things in His name, and followed His teachings, that He will ask to depart from Him, call cursed, and say He never knew them.
So if being a Christian isn’t just about following Jesus’ teachings, then what is it?
It’s about having a relationship with Him. He will say He never knew people, because of just that…….they never got to know Him. And if you’re going around chasing after this religion and that one, then sadly, you’ll never get to know Him, either.
Best wishes on your search for truth. Keep thinking logically, and you’ll end up with logical conclusions.
Love,
Tonya B
Columbus, Ohio