Looking through a broken window... - Bryan

So I'm sorry it's been a while y'all, but I really haven't felt up to writing in a blog about faith seeing as mine has been in a bit of a crisis. Let me rephrase that; my faith is not in crisis. More so, I find myself in such a crisis, and thus my connection with my faith. Throughout my whole life I have held strong to my faith at all times, but as I have changed throughout the years, so to must my connection with God. You see, one of the longer standing pillars of faith is that I never ask God for anything. This is not because I don't believe God can provide, nor is it due some childish argument I may have with him. It in all truth is because, throughout my life, I have always seen so many others who were much worse off than me. Now, I can already hear some say, "God has enough to give all those who ask for such", but I already know this; this is not the matter. No, it is simply that I feel like an asshole praying for help to take care of whatever ailment may be troubling my life at the time when there are those who lay in the streets unable to stand because they are starving or beaten & left for dead. What can I say, I feel a little self centered after that. I have always been the one to give of myself, the first to offer my hand when others are in need. In fact the only time I ever ask anything of anyone is when the person in question is a really close friend, and even then it must be a very great need on my part to ask them. So as you see my relationship with God was always a matter of choice. I never needed him/her (on with this thing again), I chose to have faith because it always simply felt right. But if I were to begin to ask God for anything at all, that changes the whole nature of the relationship. It will mean I need him, and I hate coming off as needy. OK, so that was a joke (mostly), but I feel a certain bond in my faith because I didn't need it, I chose it. I'm sure this can be seen as a lesson in humility, but with my dual nature of Pedagog and Caretaker, I feel like I must be the strong one, I must be the one to take care of the others, I am the one who should show them the way. Of course I've had some issues with that as of late, so maybe it's just God trying to give a nudge in another direction. Now some may say this seems to have more to do with you than your faith, but I argue, as I grow and change, does it not dictate that my faith should as well? I dunno, it may not seem like that big of a deal to others, but a complete paradigm shift like this leaves me a bit unsettled, especially since I'm not yet completely sold on the idea. But meh, let me know what y'all think.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (You Know, Once She's Dead)

Ah, Peter brings to mind a very important subject, at least, when it comes to the world of faith. OK, well, at least in my opinion. Any how, as I've seen in my time, death is in large part integral to the formation of faith. Many times faith is picked up, regained, or observed in times of death due to a sense of obligation to those who have passed (ever been to a Catholic burial?). Others do so at the realization of one's own mortality, in their moments of grief. Some have no need for more than the mere thought of death to be brought "into the fold." And of course their are those who have seen death first hand and are forever driven from their faith. Never in my time have I seen one single subject have such a grave impact (sorry) on the realm of the spirituality of mankind. But this also brings to mind a bit of a question:

If death can have such a strong impact on faith, will you let your faith impact death?

Now for those in a bit of confusion, let me set up a situation. Let's say you are a person of a particular faith (or lack thereof) and someone close to you passes on and they are of a different faith. Will you set aside your beliefs and honor them in the ceremony that they themselves would have chosen? Will you honor them in your own faith, and let others of their faith tend to their requests? Maybe both or neither? Me, I always do my best to tend to their wishes, so long as they don't conflict with my own. I have taken part in a Catholic burial and yet I have no reverence for the saints. I have bent my head and knees to prayers in which held no meaning for me. God knows what I hold true in my heart, and knows that what I do is out of respect for one of his fallen children So long as he knows that, that's all that matters. To this day, I do my best to make good on the wishes of those long past; some see it as trouble, I see it as an honor. How you choose to see it is all up to you.

Honor Thy Father and Mother

So, this is the first post I've done in a while. Sorry.

I'm writing today about Ancestor Worship. Most of you out there practice ancestor worship, whether you realize it or not. It is a part of our culture, as Americans. It is also ingrained in the cultures of many other nations around the world. The Japanese come to mind immediately, Mexicans have an entire holiday. We all think highly of our lost loved ones, sometimes to the point of denying their flaws. Let me explain what Ancestor Worship is not. It is not praising your ancestors as gods. It is not praying to your ancestors. It is not asking favors of them. Ancestor Worship is none of these things.
Here's what it is. Ancestor Worship is a fulfillment of family responsibility, including care for remains, observance of the departed's wishes, and acknowledgment of the departed's wisdom. For example, I praise my father, who passed on many years ago. When I remember my father, I honor his memory, and I do what I think he would be proud of. When I carry his ashes, I pay them the proper respect. My father was not just a body to be cremated after his death. He lived on, in some other form. His remains, in whatever form they take, are still treated with proper respect. I honor my father, and call upon the lessons he taught me to help me get through the trials I may face every day.
As I said before, Ancestor Worship is practiced by many people. On Mother's Day, if your mother or grandmother has passed on, you would visit her grave, and bring flowers. On Christmas, during your dinner prayer, you thank God for taking care of your lost loved ones. Even acknowledging a dead relative's birthday is enough. Anyway, despite its name, Ancestor Worship has very little to do with Spirituality and Belief. But it's part of what I practice.

Wait, Wait, What?

So it's been a while since I last posted up here, Life has been a bit... complex. But then again, my life is one that could kindly be referred to as "rough around the edges". There are those who say they would have done themselves in by this point in my life, to which I normally just give a bit of a chuckle. Mainly because in my life, I've seen so many who've had it worst than I. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of bad luck in my time, but at least I've always had a big family and several friends who've always loved me. Those same people have always had a way of makin' sure I don't hit rock bottom. These people are my confirmation of my faith (which I'm sure will annoy my atheist friends beyond belief) and they represent all I aspire to in my faith. There are those who say, after all I've gotten through, how can I still have my faith. To this I normally just say, "it's gotten me this far". It may seem to some that my faith is a bit of a crutch that I lean on when things get too much for me to handle, and in fact, this is very true. So what? Every one needs something to lean on from time to time. Be it friends, family, faith, sex, drugs, gambling, etc, etc... As you can see, some in that list are a better crutch than others. Me, I tend to prefer the first three (although I will admit, in a relationship with the right woman, the fourth ain't too bad). So what am I tryin' to say here? Well, it's like I told a friend earlier tonight who was havin' some fears about the direction of her life... You just gotta have faith and keep trying as hard as you can; all else will come in time. Of course, if your loved ones offer some help from time to time, feel free to accept it, after all, pride will never get you anywhere on its own.

Do as I say ,don't ask questions, and nobody will get hurt... -Bryan

So let me get this straight, you've got this guy (or broad, either way, what ever your fancy), and he (she) has unlimited power, knows all that there is to know, and can exist at every place and every time... but it seems to hurt his (her) feelings when you question him (her). So much so in fact that you will be smote for even thinking to question him (her [ok now it's annoying me]). It kinda makes you think that if God really was this way he'd have one hell of an inferiority complex. Truth is, it's not God who says not to question him, at least he's never told me to quit it, but rather it's the people who follow him. See back in the early days of the church (Re: corrupt days), it was a lot easier to control their members by saying this is the way it is, don't ask why, because God will kick your ass. Thus we ended up with such great practices as buying absolution and renting time shares on the other side of the pearly gates. But God in his infinite wisdom made us a curious sort, not because he wanted to give himself a reason to turn us into pillars of salt at a later date, but rather because he knows the only way people really learn is by asking questions. Well, there is the whole trial and error method but it tends to take up a lot of time, and get messy, and come to think of it, I don't know of anyone who has come back from the beyond to tell us if it was an error or not, but meh, I digress. I suppose the point I'm trying to make is, question your leaders, make sure you know the ins and outs of your beliefs before you completely submit (I especially recommend this if your a Scientologist), in fact ask questions for all your leaders and don't follow blindly. Finally don't kick yourself if you for some reason find the need to say "why God, why?" I've seen a lot of people just throw away their faith because they found one supposed truth to be false. The thing is, in the grand scheme of it all, no matter how smart you may think yourself to be, you're not omniscient, and to think your brain could comprehend one who is is fairly laughable. All you can really do is keep feeling it out to try and find your way.

Now Wait A Tic... - Bryan

First off I would like to say I'm sorry to those who read this, I've been out a bit due to work and life, and I've kinda left Pete and y'all hanging. My bad, I'm sorry for that one. That being said, onward to my whole point for this post; atheism. Now, by and large I have no issue with atheists, so long as they are doing what ever they do in order to be a better person. I think you can be a perfectly good person and not have faith in anything. Granted it's not my way, but hey, if I were to get upset with people who do things I don't agree with, I would be in a constant fight against people who dress their animals like people. However, every now and then, I come across an atheist missionary, and they go through everything they can to tell me how wrong I am. Like I said, if you don't believe, that's your thing, but just like you don't like the faithful putting their ideas on you, I have no need for you putting yours on mine. Now, if you jump into a conversation with someone who adheres to a certain faith about said faith, don't throw a fit when they don't drop their faith because of your thought-provoking view on the matter. What's worse, I had an atheist tell me I was wrong in the way I believe. He told me he didn't believe in God because he didn't believe in certain ideals of the Christian churches. I told him I didn't agree with them as well, so he told me I couldn't do that, that I didn't really believe in God if I didn't accept all the tenets of the church. I told him I was proof otherwise, I adhere to no church and yet I have complete faith in God. To which he said "You're wrong, wrong, wrong....", well you can see where this is going. The point is, people hold on to their beliefs for a reason. Whether it's Christianity, Islam, Judaism, science, politics, or whatever, we cling to these things to help define our world. When it all comes down to it, neither science nor faith will ever prove each other wrong, so all your doing is blowing hot air. Now this part goes out to both sides of the fence; don't shove your ideas down the throats of others, all you're gonna do is piss people off and that never gets anyone anywhere. All you can do is put your ideas out there for others to hear (kinda like I'm doing now). Those who want to listen will, those who don't can move on. Either way, it should make things a bit easier for everyone.

Spirits, not Ghosts! - Peter

All this talk of Jesus is relatively unfair. I am not a sole believer in Christ; I also believe in animism. Remember, animism is the belief in spirits. I refer to spirits of nature. In the past, many cultures believed in the spirit world. The Japanese, the Chinese, Native Americans, Native Mexicans (Aztecs, Mayans, etc.), and many others all held to the idea of these spirits. Some of these cultures still hold to these beliefs, in some way or another.
Christianity has a quick and easy answer for the savages that believe in such nonsense. Apparently, the demons escaped from hell and went out into the world to masquerade as these spiritual beings. They also pretended to be members of various pantheons (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc.). Of course, that's very self-serving for the church, because it allowed them to call all non-Christians devil-worshipers.
Anyway, the idea of animism isn't necessarily to worship these little spirits. It's more about paying them proper respect, so that they might help to protect you and your family, or grant you luck, or whatever. I always liked the idea of animism. It makes so much sense to me. The real trick, for me, was finding a way to tie my Christian faith into my belief in the spirits of the natural world. I'll write about that another time.

A Place to Lay Your Head- Peter

When I was young (10ish), I was very interested in Catholicism. I liked the idea of the rituals, the spiritual trappings, all laid out meticulously in the church, all aimed toward appeasing the Holy Spirit. My mother saw this interest, but chose not to foster it. That is, she didn't encourage me to take a more active role in the church. I don't see this as a bad thing, it's just the way things turned out. Years later, I was a young man (17), and I began to question all of the things that Catholic doctrine had taught me to believe. I questioned the need for the ritual, the need for prayer, the need to attend church at all. When I chose to leave the church, my parents didn't try to stop me. My mother simply told me that the church (religion in general) is just somewhere that you can go when life doesn't make any sense. The rest of the time, it's not important. It only matters when you begin to lose faith in the rest of the world. Religion is your anchor. Religion is a place to lay your head. I always kinda liked that idea. Its a very post-modern view of faith. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's an interesting viewpoint.

Bryan's views on Jesus are very unique. They are very similar to early Jewish views on Jesus. The Jews saw him as one more prophet, among the many that came before and after him. According to the majority of the New Testament, he's completely wrong, but that's the difference between a personal faith and a religious system of faith. A person can change his personal faith with relative ease. A religion very rarely changes.

A Verse In Contradiction - Bryan

Now I consider me and Pete to be very like minded individuals, or at least one could assume as much from looking upon the surface. However, even though we are very similar in action, I find we often differ in reason. To this I say "Jesus Christ a dictator"? Meh, I can't see it. You see to me, I always just thought of him as a guy with many good ideas, most of which when used can make life a bit better for all. Now I can understand how some can see it as such because, sad to say, there are a lot of Christians out there who make it seem as much, but when you come down to it, Jesus said "I am the way", he never said anything about being the only way. I chose to follow his way mostly because it feels right to me. Notice how I say "follow" and not "worship". That's because I don't worship Jesus (GASP!!!). What can I say, I'm also a fan of the whole "Thou shall worship no other but me" thing. And for those who bring to mind the whole three into one, I just can't buy it. If Jesus and God where really one in the same, he really didn't sacrifice all that much upon the cross now did he. All he would have done then was shed that lil' 'ol mortal coil. Was he really the son of God, couldn't tell you, that's between him and his mama, but I can tell you he was a good philosopher, someone worth takin' a listin' to from time to time. But I digress, as I've said before, he's not the only way, know both Muhammad and Moses had some pretty good ideas, and I found many other good ideas in Taoism and Buddhism. Heck I've even managed to find some atheists who have got some pretty good ideas on this whole thing called life. I suppose that's mainly the thing that shapes my faith, the want and need to be better. No matter what faith (or lack there of) you may have, all I thnk really matters is that you try and be good person, the path you take is all up to you.

Let's Talk About God(s)- Peter

This is my first post, so I'll try to keep it simple. This will be a brief overview of what I believe, and, trust me, it is a lot. I believe that God exists. I believe that gods exist. Please note that the singular is capitalized and the plural is not. I believe in animism, the idea of natural spirits (not ghosts, you understand), and I think they may or may not be the same thing as gods. I also believe in apotheosis. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, apotheosis is the ability to become a god. "A" you see, not "the."
I believe that Jesus Christ was the savior that God sent to help the world. I believe in some of the things he taught, but I don't worship him alone. When I was 17, my father (Joe) told me that Jesus Christ was (is?) a dictator. That sounds kind of blasphemous, but Joe had a good point. In essence, Jesus Christ said "Worship me, or you will go to Hell." That's a harsh way to put it, but it isn't untrue. In terms of Christianity, I feel that the acts of imperfect men tainted the perfection of Jesus' message and purpose. For those of you who are wondering, I was raised as a Catholic.
I also believe that I am out of food to eat. That is all for now.

A New Begining - Bryan

So as my first post for our new blog, I thought it best to start off with the Basic principle behind my faith, and that is, God is not pulling the strings. At least not 24/7/365. You see, God gave us free will so that we may choose him if we so desired. It would kinda defeat the purpose of it all if every time someone got on their knees to pray to have someone fall for them or give them a job, God just went and forced that person to do it. God gave us free will so we may do what we see as right, but also God gave us common sense so we could be able to determine what is right. My faith is not based on a nearly 2000 year old book that has been re-written anytime someone didn't feel it suited their needs, nor on it's various legends. Keep in mind I do still find them as a great reference point, but I don't feel their words should be taken as law. I feel the only true connection anyone needs to God is themselves. Anything more and things tend to become too complicated, at least in my eyes.