Hard Things I am a big fan of doing hard things. I have run many ultramarathons, 12 hour and even a 23-hour event once. I went back for a second master’s in my thirties while raising small children. This week’s post on a philosophical concept will be one of those hard things. This week, I want to look at Aristotle and Avicenna’s proofs of God. While I am fairly familiar with Aristotle, Avicenna and other Sufi and Muslim teachers only... Read more
A Conference Was Called to Undermine My Race: A Story About Transition Life is all about transition Long COVID is annoying and it is making me rethink my acceptance of and transition to a life with it. This is a follow-up from a previous article I wrote. I had a race a few weeks ago, the Hyner View 25k. I have two other finishes at this event, a 50k (32ish miles) back in 2015 in 09:54 and a 25k... Read more
Churches need more spirituality, less prescription In a recent post on a creedal faith (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/04/a-creedal-faith-after-deconstruction/ ), I offer these thoughts on deconstruction: We are hearing a lot of chatter and seeing a lot of literature these days concerning the act of deconstruction, especially from a faith perspective. Indeed, it seems that the number of people who identify as not religiously affiliated or “nones” is increasing. The idea of asking questions about our faith is not a new phenomenon nor is... Read more
Why is everyone anxious? In this post, I want to look at what the 16th century philosopher Jaques Rousseau can teach us about being anxious. One of the many questions I field in any given week is “what is wrong with the people these days?” I don’t claim to be an expert, but I have a high amount of training and exposure to psychology, theology and philosophy to competently answer, “it is complicated”. There is a concept in psychology known... Read more
A Spiritual Practice of You Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2018, second edition A healthy and active you starts with how you move and what you eat. In 2018, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans was released as a second edition. Previously, it was discovered that “Approximately 80% of US adults and adolescents are insufficiently active. Physical activity fosters normal growth and development and can make people feel, function, and sleep better and reduce risk of many chronic diseases.”(Piercy,... Read more
Is Socrates Allegory of the Cave still relevant in today’s spiritual exploration? In Book VII of the Republic, Socrates tells us the story of the “Parable of the Cave.” See: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/seyer/files/plato_republic_514b-518d_allegory-of-the-cave.pdf In this story, Socrates recommends that political rulers be philosophers. In this treatise, Socrates is describe a just city where rulers must rule by wisdom and not from opinion or self-interest. The Allegory of the Cave: from Kleinman (2013): People mistake the appearance of what is in front... Read more
You As a Spiritual Practice You are a spiritual practice. We are all works in progress. The spiritual practice of you challenges us to become all we were meant to be in God’s eyes – beloved children who are wonderfully loved. In addressing the word beauty, we need to consider what it is. Beauty is from God and is a result of God’s creative hand. Beauty is good when it is not corrupted by sinful nature. Humanity, however, is... Read more
I am currently teaching an Intro to Philosophy Course at our local community college, as I have done a lot of intellectual work preparing for this class, it has inspired a lot of creativity. I will be writing a series of essays around some philosophical concepts each week. Here is a link to my first of these essays: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/04/who-we-can-love/ What is a Creedal Faith A creedal faith is one that declares a certain set of beliefs based on a statement of... Read more
You Can’t Say That When I was attempting to be a pastor in several Protestant denominations, I found that I always hit a brick wall when it came to what I preached on. To further compound the problem, I was also often told that I needed to conform to a certain standard while I was in the various formation processes. I was to that only after I made it to ordination, then I could have a bit more liberty in... Read more
The quintessential philosophical argument for me boils down to the notion around whether we are becoming or we are being. I was recently listening to a lecture about the Pre Socratic philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides who argued these very points. Nietzsche later would take up Hereclitus’ argument and make his case for becoming. This week, I am going to consider becoming as a spiritual practice. The Pre Socratics During the 6th century BCE, the Milesians, Pythagoras and Xenophanes were... Read more
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