Sometimes we want the world to be black and white. Sometimes we think that we can find all the answers to all of life’s questions and lock them into place like the pieces of a perfectly geometric puzzle. It’s comforting to think that there is always a right, clear, objective answer. But life doesn’t always work that way. Some things aren’t black and white and obvious; they’re confusing and murky and more than a little unexplained.
I believe that objective truth is out there, the problem is that we can’t always see it clearly. Many people claim to have the right way. Thousands of religions and viewpoints claim that they have an exclusive hold on the truth about God, meaning, and life.
I believe that there is not just one right way. This doesn’t mean that different things are true at once, it just means that there is not one right way to live or one right thing to believe. I believe the unexplained can be beautiful.
The purpose of this blog is to explore these unexplained things in life.
First, a little background. My sister and I are former evangelical Christians who have now left the faith due to doubts about the belief system. We wanted to learn about different beliefs and viewpoints about the world, so we started studying. But we realized that we could only learn so much by reading. We knew that best way to learn about these viewpoints was to experience them first hand. So we started visiting churches and religious groups. This blog is going to be about our experiences going to various religious services, as well as our own thoughts on the many unexplained things in life.
Our viewpoints are fairly similar, but we don’t agree on absolutely everything. (What sisters ever do?) I consider myself an agnostic. My sister leans more towards theism; I toward atheism. I don’t see that there is much solid evidence for God’s existence. I think that if God does exist, it is impossible for us to know what he is like.
That being said, I am fascinated by religion. One can be a spiritual person even if they don’t believe in God. Humans throughout all of history have had a sense of spirituality and expressed it in many different ways; through rituals, worship, paintings, music, and emotion. We’re spiritual animals by nature. I think fundamentalist religion causes a lot of harm in our world, but a healthy religion or spirituality can be an enrichment to our lives.
We’re going to start posting about our experiences at some churches as soon as we can. We love a good discussion, so please send some comments our way!
-Carmen
It is true that it is impossible to KNOW what God is like, but we can experience Him.
ReplyDeleteYou say that we all have a sense of spirituality expressed in many ways; through rituals, worship, painting, music, etc. I agree with this too. The question is - what defines in us the understanding of beautiful reality of these spiritual expressions? What makes us to ultimately reject fake art or ugliness? What tool (in you) are you using to process these realities? I do not think that understanding of beauty comes from KNOWING it.
Evgeni Kirianov (found your blog on the Facebook)
Yes, I agree that we don't really understand beauty either. And I like to think we can experience God in the same way too---sure maybe it's only a blend of emotions and a simulacrum of what we think God would be like... But that's a pretty sorry alternative, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, even Orthodoxy (in all it's awesomeness) claims to know things about God. (i.e. that God is a trinity, that Jesus was the incarnation of God, that God inspired the Bible...etc.)
Thanks for the insights! Glad you found the blog.
Monica
Considering God as only a human emotion is indeed a sorry alternative. I do not see spirituality as an emotional reality. It is something that comes upon us, and it is something that we need to interpret. The question is how should we interpret it? Do we rely only on ourselves or should we use the experience of people who dedicated their lives to the cultivation of understanding of spiritual reality? I do not refer here to the various gurus with different teachings cooked for everybody who is willing to choose what "feels good" for ME. In Orthodoxy we study the lives of so called "saints". They are selfless.
ReplyDeleteSo, besides getting answers directly from God, we can "observe" the lives of other people who were on the spiritual quest and who, seems to be, succeeded to understand certain things better than us.
PS: Thank you for trying to go deeper in your thought process. This is inspiring.
Evgeni.
I see what you mean about not relying completely on ourselves to interpret it, but I don't think we should necessarily rely completely on others either. I don't doubt that the saints were very intelligent and trustworthy people, but they were most likely relying on teachings of others before them, who in turn relied on teaching of others before them and so on... I guess what I mean is that just because these people believed in the Bible doesn't make it true. Which is why I can appreciate the traditions of Jesus, the bible, and the saints, and study their teachings. Yet I don't believe very word they say. I look at teaching of leaders of other religions and they often say things that don't agree with the Christian leaders. So that is where I am left to myself to a certain extent to discern who is right and who isn't.
ReplyDeletePS: You're welcome! Like I told you in church, I love a sane debate! : D
Monica
The saints did build on the teachings of those before. It's not like they just were automatically handed everything on a silver platter. They had to go on a journey towards God, like everyone else. The only difference is that they made it farther than most others when their time ran out. It is for this reason that we revere and honor them, and look to them to find ways of progressing farther on the journey (although we always have to be content with where we are. Not everyone is called to be a saint in this sense of the word).
ReplyDeleteAlso, if God exists, then He can reveal things previously unknown to the saints. I love "if, then" statements (believe it or not, I learned those in geometry!).
ReplyDeleteI agree that the saints should be honored and respected. but they were still working within the context of one religion, so in a sense there were handed certain things to them on a platter, though not all.
ReplyDelete