{"id":2184,"date":"2013-05-17T11:59:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-17T18:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2013-05-19T10:05:55","modified_gmt":"2013-05-19T17:05:55","slug":"i-digress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/post-id\/2184","title":{"rendered":"I digress…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Walking<\/a>I\u2019m rambling philosophically today, having read a Q&A from Bishop John Spong that seems to succinctly capture much of what I\u2019ve come to think about God. Bishop Spong\u2019s mantra is \u201cto live fully, love wastefully, and be all that one can be\u201d as a response to his experience of God as \u201cthe Source of life\u201d, \u201cthe Source of love\u201d, and \u201cthe Ground of all Being\u201d. Around this core, I wrap my sense of God as that within which we exist each minute\u2014the people and earth and universe around us. I hope you find his conclusions as interesting as I do.<\/p>\n

I generally read Bishop Spong in my email, but sometimes also visit his website<\/a>, where you can signup to receive his weekly Q&A. In a post dated May 16, 2013<\/a>, you\u2019ll find the Q&A from which I have copied several quotes below.<\/p>\n

First, Bishop Spong states, \u201cI seek to escape the theistic definition of God as an external being, supernatural in power, who invades our world periodically in miraculous ways. That definition of God simply no longer translates to a post-Galilean, post-Newtonian and a post-Darwinian world.\u201d This echoes my own initial misgivings with the Roman Catholic tradition, in which I was raised, of an \u201cAll loving, all knowing, all powerful\u201d God that can be called upon to intervene in our lives. I never could fathom that such a God would permit war, famine, domestic violence, etc., arguments like\u00a0 \u201cHe permits us our free will\u201d notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

Bishop Spong acknowledges that none of us can really know God. \u201cIndeed, I think human beings should give up their almost idolatrous attempt to define God at all. We can experience God, but we cannot define God.\u201d This underlies my search for an open and accepting church that is fundamentally non-judgmental. I find it far too difficult to comprehend God for myself to ever presume that I should try to foist my views on others, and I similarly reject others\u2019 attempts to tell me what I should believe.<\/p>\n

He follows with a paragraph about his God experience and mantra, concluding, \u201cMy mission as a Christian is not \u2018to convert the heathen\u2019 as we once asserted, it is rather to assist in the task of helping all people \u2018to live fully, to love wastefully and to be all that they are capable of being.\u2019\u201d This also aligns with my own feelings, much as one of my own personal favorites quotes is, \u201cYou, like every individual, bring unique wonders which I will always consider and respect.\u201d Trying to look for the good and valuable in everyone and everything I encounter sure makes each day better than the one before!<\/p>\n

His Q&A closes with a brief statement of how Christianity fits with his God view. While I find it acceptable, I am glad that it in no way precludes learning similarly from other great figures in history, ranging from Buddha to Ghandi to Martin Luther King, Jr. The truth is, I really should read a lot more by all of them!<\/p>\n

In closing, I give thanks for finding the North Congregational United Church of Christ<\/a>. As a \u201ccovenant rather than creedal church”, instead of adhering to some common dogma, they promise to journey together in the search of truth. Officially and proudly wearing the Open and Affirming (OnA) badge, they welcome and value everyone. With ears and eyes always attuned to the world around us, they proclaim, \u201cGod is still speaking\u201d. My sincere hope is that each of you also find places, ways, and communities which fit your unique needs in a supportive and challenging manner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m rambling philosophically today, having read a Q&A from Bishop John Spong that seems to succinctly capture much of what I\u2019ve come to think about God. Bishop Spong\u2019s mantra is \u201cto live fully, love wastefully, and be all that one can be\u201d as a response to his experience of God as \u201cthe Source of life\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2184"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}