Religious Scholar

What happens when you cross "choke" with "lurch"?

You get "church"!

I wonder if a softer sounding name would make the concept more appealing, as "rock doves" sounds ever so much lovelier than "pigeons"!

I added a poem/reflection titled "50 Meditations on the Love of God" to this site. It is located in the menu to the right, or go to the URL:  www.religiousscholar.com/50-meditations

Once again, Maureen Dowd has the courage to stand out against discrimination and crime, this time in the community of her own faith tradition:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/opinion/11dowd.html?hp

If this link expired, search for her column "Worlds without Women," which was published April 10, 2010, in The New York Times.



I was talking with a clergyman recently about the meaning of communion (the Eucharist) in various Christian sects.  There are a number of different views, including:

• the wine and bread (or “Welches and Wonder”) are symbols of God’s love and sacrifice for us;
• the priest is the channel through which the elements transform literally into the Body and Blood of Christ;
• Christ is present in the elements, though not physically.

There are probably other views with differing degrees of subtlety that fall somewhere between these perspectives. As a practicing Christian on the fringe of the organized church, I acknowledge these points of view, and would never participate in this ancient but meaningful ritual without respect and devotion.

But for those who see the Divine most perfectly expressed in nature, the natural world itself is one big communion wafer. To enter the woods, is to enter the Holy of Holies, created by God, not Man. The light that streams from above through whispering trees is pure and unfiltered, unlike the muted light that glows through stained glass windows. The water of streams and rivulets sparkles more brilliantly than any monstrance crafted of gold and gems. The songs of birds and the soft cooing of forest creatures eclipse the calculated melodies of organ and choir.

The air itself is charged with divinity; as Thalo of Miletus, the preSocratic philosopher, taught, “All beings are full of gods.” Taking in this air, this sight, these sounds and scents, we ourselves are transformed into a divine body, a holy blood. This is not pantheism, but the recognition that Spirit is immanent. We have only to uncover our eyes, open our ears, unbind our hearts and step out from the box of preconceptions and rigid opinions into the merciful freedom of truth.

Quote of the Day:

“I can’t for the life of me imagine that God will say, ‘I will punish you because you are black, you should have been white; I will punish you because you are a woman, you should have been a man; I will punish you because you are homosexual, you ought to have been heterosexual.’ I can’t for the life of me believe that is how God sees things.”

—Desmond Tutu from the film, For the Bible Tells Me So