Wild Garden
Are there "sins" that are unforgivable? Is there anything that is beyond redemption? Angulimala had killed nearly a thousand people and was forgiven. Others have killed millions. Can they be forgiven or redeemed? Read more
Are there "sins" that are unforgivable? Is there anything that is beyond redemption? Angulimala had killed nearly a thousand people and was forgiven. Others have killed millions. Can they be forgiven or redeemed? Read more
This past Wednesday evening, I dressed in what passes for my business suit and went downtown to Trinity Episcopal Church to participate in an interfaith summit on child poverty in my county, which is Buncombe. Yes, I know–and that is, in fact, where the word “bunkum” comes from. It was sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of western NC and others and several non-profits presented some frightening statistics about the level of poverty in this county that includes the Biltmore Estate... Read more
An interfaith god parenting relationship represents a role that I can imagine for myself far more easily than actually being a father. Read more
“As long as armies have existed, military chaplains have served alongside soldiers, providing for their spiritual needs, working to improve morale, and aiding the wounded. The Bible tells of the early Israelites bringing their priests into battle with them. Pagan priests accompanied the Roman legions during their conquests; as Christianity became the predominant religion of the Roman Empire, Christian chaplains administered to Roman soldiers. In fact, the word chaplain is derived from the Latin word for cloak. The U.S. Army Chaplain... Read more
As a Pagan, I found Valente’s story to be soothing and peaceful. She reflects regularly on the connection of the Atchison sisters to the seasons - both liturgical and natural - each of these a wheel of the year with which many readers will be familiar. Never having so much as visited a Catholic worship service when my consulting work began, my visits with the nuns were a whole new world for me. As I would tell my friends back home, these women really do take vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience, serving the people that no one else want to bother with. No wonder the Catholics love the sisters! Read more
Pagans and other non-mainstream religions have so much to share with the world, if only they would hear us. However, dialogue is only monologue unless it works both ways. We can open dialogue with others by listening, by caring for them even when we disagree with them. Listening does not mean that we are giving up, or yielding our personal power, or agreeing with one word said. What it does mean is that we are willing to be changed. Read more
The World Table is a new social network among people who want to have interfaith conversation around topics like religion and politics in a civil environment -- and there's a rating system to help ensure that civility. Read more
We must continue to evolve from the old paradigm, the old thought process that interfaith means to merge one’s faith in with another. It doesn’t. Interfaith is about respecting and acknowledging the fact that one’s faith is different from another’s. This is a GOOD thing, and it can only get better as we continue to learn and grow. Read more
While females still vastly outnumber males and those outside the gender binary are very small in number, it seems to me that there are more priests than there used to be. I would love to see a good balance of priests and priestesses as Paganisms grow, but are we going to move from a vastly woman-led movement to established male-dominated religions? Read more
So often I see Pagans trying to explain to others who are religiously-conservative just why our spirituality is valuable and beautiful and not wicked. Having been a hippie Jesus freak myself back in the day, I am well aware that this is a completely fruitless endeavor. Armstrong offers a much more amenable, and hopefully useful, tool for us to try. Read more
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