{"id":887,"date":"2009-08-09T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-09T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/08\/godtalk-and-the-quest-for-meaning-and-how-we-sometimes-get-distracted\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:09:27","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:09:27","slug":"godtalk-and-the-quest-for-meaning-and-how-we-sometimes-get-distracted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/08\/godtalk-and-the-quest-for-meaning-and-how-we-sometimes-get-distracted.html","title":{"rendered":"Godtalk and the Quest for Meaning and How We Sometimes Get Distracted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p><p>Once again over at my Unitarian Universalist minister\u2019s chat the subject of godtalk has overwhelmed the board.<\/p>\n<p>It is interesting. I freely admit.<\/p>\n<p>Two decades ago a UU minister who used the word God in the pulpit could be in trouble with the congregation. A decade ago I casually mentioned in the pulpit my own nontheism and found myself visited by elders who were worried that people might misunderstand what I meant\u2026 Today you can find ministers who think hard atheism has no place in our movement.<\/p>\n<p>And outsiders are completely baffled that a religious tradition even has this conversation\u2026<\/p>\n<p>While I usually describe myself as a nontheist, as part of the <a href='https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/library\/buddhism' target='_blank'>Buddhist<\/a> subset of the contemporary Unitarian Universalist project I\u2019m in a somewhat different category than classic western atheists. Like many other Buddhists I find the question of whether a creator exists not directly on target for the real issues at hand: human suffering, how it comes to be, and what to do about it. And like many other liberal Buddhists, while I am conscious of the social component of that question (and am eternally grateful to various thinkers, but particularly to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wisdompubs.org\/Pages\/display.lasso?-KeyValue=32825&\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ken Jones<\/a> for a deep Buddhist reflection on that social component), my thinking tends to go in a, broadly speaking, psychological direction. I find paying attention to the mind, and in particular to my mind, a very important thing to do\u2026<\/p>\n<p>And, quite simply, questions of creator or sustainer or even destroyer are just not all that important in the face of what is important.<\/p>\n<p>So, call me agnostic on this subject, in the contemporary use of don\u2019t know and don\u2019t particularly care\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Although I have to admit my agnosticism leans pretty strongly toward atheism. That is I find nothing particularly compelling in the arguments for a deity with anything even vaguely resembling a human-like consciousness.<\/p>\n<p>But, as I\u2019ve said rather often before, nonetheless, I also recognize fellow travelers in the great mystics of the theistic religions. Not just fellow travelers, but teachers and guides.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\""The Sabbath Song"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WRF0qOsoyjk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>And, also, as a placeholder for the collapse of all ideas, and our naked presence to what is, I find God a pretty good word.<\/p>\n<p>The problem for me in my UU life is that as I hear the arguments, it all too often has more to do with who is in charge, who gets to say who is inside the club and who is outside.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t find this particularly helpful on the quest for meaning, for healing, for justice, for love.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Buddhist song: Great is the Joy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pVz0Hb41l2c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>Instead of wandering around arguing God or no God, I would counsel people to sit down, shut up and pay attention.<\/p>\n<p>What we need will be found\u2026<\/p>\n<p>And there will be all sorts of appropriate names\u2026<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\""AMAZING GRACE": The Blind Boys of Alabama\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pR1tOVd4PCk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-160504789561021119?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once again over at my Unitarian Universalist minister\u2019s chat the subject of godtalk has overwhelmed the board. It is interesting. I freely admit. Two decades ago a UU minister who used the word God in the pulpit could be in trouble with the congregation. A decade ago I casually mentioned in the pulpit my own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Godtalk and the Quest for Meaning and How We Sometimes Get Distracted<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Once again over at my Unitarian Universalist minister's chat the subject of godtalk has overwhelmed the board.It is interesting. 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