I said this was going to be a religious blog and not a personal blog, but at some point, the religion has to become personal or it\u2019s of no value. So please indulge me for a few paragraphs.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been a bit frustrated lately, not making the progress with study and meditation that I\u2019d like. And when that happens, I start hearing old voices. These old voices were telling me that I was wasting my time, that all this spiritual stuff is fake, that religion really is the opiate of the masses. <\/p>\n
But today, I had messages from three very different sources. First, I caught a few minutes of Charles Stanley on TV. He was talking a bunch of fundamentalist nonsense when it occurred to me that that\u2019s the world he lives in. If his world is real for him, there\u2019s no reason why my UU Pagan Druid world can\u2019t be real for me. <\/p>\n
Then, on the way to church, I was listening to Lover\u2019s Lane Methodist on WRR. While their minister isn\u2019t a universalist, he is a very inclusive Christian. Today he was preaching on the call of Moses. He had two key points: \u201ccan you hear me now?\u201d (stealing the Verizon ad to say that first God has to get our attention) and \u201cwhat are your excuses \u2013 let\u2019s get them out of the way up front.\u201d He quoted someone else saying that your vocation lies at the intersection of your deep desires and the world\u2019s deep needs. I need to quit making excuses and stick to answering the call I\u2019ve received. I have a deep desire to learn, and sooner or later that\u2019s going to intersect with someone\u2019s deep needs.<\/p>\n
Finally, I got to DUUF. Our guest speaker was Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis of Congregation Kol Ami in Flower Mound, who preached on labyrinths. One key point was that inspiration comes through absence \u2013 when the stimulation stops, then the imagination can take over. And he described labyrinths as (among other things) trials that you must get through. <\/p>\n
So, the message from all three sources aligns: this is as real as you want to make it, stop making excuses, and do the work you know you need to do. <\/p>\n
Back to studying\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I said this was going to be a religious blog and not a personal blog, but at some point, the religion has to become personal or it\u2019s of no value. So please indulge me for a few paragraphs. I\u2019ve been a bit frustrated lately, not making the progress with study and meditation that I\u2019d like. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n