Royal Wedding

Of course I watched the Royal Wedding! I loved my time in England, and I find William and Catherine a truly inspiring modern couple.  I hope they will continue to amaze the world as the wonderful people they are. The ceremony was beautiful, and I am beyond glad I got up at 3:30am to watch the whole thing.  As the ceremony was proceeding I was finishing my tea and the sun was coming up, it was all around a beautiful morning. 

Personally, I was moved by their intimate looks and positivity.  I was also moved by the Bishop of London's speech.  Thankfully, the Royal Wedding website has a transcript of it!

The Bishop of London's Sermon

29th April 2011

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope. 
In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.
William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.
A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.
It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.
You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.
We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.
Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:
“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,
Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”
As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.
As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.
I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:
God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.     

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The Light of the uncommon chain

I'm still trying to be adamant about this religious tour topic.  I need to write out what my basis of beliefs are.  They are the same now as when I started this a couple months ago.  The couple places I've visited have not really changed my perceptions at all.  That's certainly no testament to my faith, it's just that I haven't been exposed enough. 

I don't think that people should accept the dogma of their family or friends.  It seems that's what many do; they are Christian because their family is or "because they're supposed to be."  That's one statement that will send me in the other direction fairly quickly.  I think you should question and challenge your beliefs.  Experience things, think for yourself, reach your own conclusions not preaching what some book tells you. 

Most religions smack of dogma, developed by men a long time ago in a different age to suit themselves or control others. Many religions from all corners of the earth and across many centuries have a lot to answer for in terms of wars, barbaric acts and extreme views.

 

There are however, excellent philosophies and practices that are a part of every religion.  Sometimes it takes a while to find them, and some religions have more to answer for than others.  I believe that the heart of all religions is a sense of peace and understanding.  When it deviates from that it's in large part due to men.  I don't believe Christianity is inherently negative, but many of its followers have an exclusion policy that I find disappointing.  Once a person deems another person or culture as less than themselves, that person tends to justify their negative actions.  So, yes, on this tour it is a long shot for me to convert to Christianity.  

My beliefs have largely developed because of things I've experienced both good and bad.  So let me run through some of my basics:

1) I believe in God, but I think we get hung up on gender in our culture and religions.  I think there's a divine feminine and divine masculine, they could be the same entity, they could be different.  Why does it matter?  I developed the belief in a god and goddess, because I needed the comfort of "parents." 

2) I identify with warrior deities of the past. If you're looking for my muse, it revolves around that.  I'm naturally protective and although it takes quite a bit of effort to make me angry, when I get there there's no stopping me. I never want to fight, but I don't run away either.

3) I don't believe in hell or the devil.  There absolutely are negative people and energies, but some red horned fallen angel is not my scene.  

4) I don't know anything about the afterlife and I don't want to spend my life overwhelmingly concerned about it.  I'm living this life now; I'll find out what happens after death eventually.  

5) I don't believe in original sin.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure what that means.  I think you can sin against people, yourself, and god.  You'll have to square away with those, but original sin...nope.  I don't think cursing or having premarital sex is a sin.  I don't think homosexuality is a sin.  This is where that original religious notion of love and understanding deviates by men.  Do you really think any god is caught up on the mistakes people make?  I don't.

6) I don't believe the bible is the word of god.  I think it is the word of man, and is the cause of much suffering and just as much happiness.

7) I don't believe our lives are predestined or judged at the end.  I'm not even sure any individual has a purpose other than experience the world.  

8) I believe that those who have suffered the most in this life are the most beautiful if they can overcome their suffering.  It's easy to get lost in.  I think that we are meant to suffer, that's all part of that experience this life idea. It might sound like a depressing notion, but it's really not.

9) I believe that religions need to grow and change with their people/cultures.  Some religions are stuck.

 

10) I believe in worldly energies that some people can experience more readily than others. This psychics, mystics, prophets, regular people.  I tend to be highly intuitive to the energy of a room, a person, or an event. I'm usually spot on. It's not a special ability, some people can just connect to it better than others.  

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Disarm Me

I haven't been a good religious tour person, have I? I know that this is something to do on one's own time and there's no real commitment to a blog. The problem is I think about religious, or life advancement topics all the time, since I was around twelve years old. I would muse over one topic or another for a couple days, and I started this idea and blog because I never had anyone to share it with. Sure, I could ramble on all day to my fiance, but you have to understand, he's a recovering Catholic. Having no formal education in any religion this is more of a project than I originally thought it would be. So, I'm revamping this project. Originally it was all about exposure, since I never experienced any church. I learned that there's little point in exposure when I have no idea what's going on. I also started this project and I didn't ever say what I believe, what my starting point is. I get ahead of myself a lot.

For the past couple weeks personal demons have been on my mind (not necessarily mine), and it's taken my attention of this project.  I'm aware that said demons play a significant part in spirituality, but personal demons expressed in a raw type of way is not what I want this blog to be.  I don't mind presenting them in a more organized fashion if it relates to a topic, but this journey is more than expressing raw emotion.  I don't regret my late night musings, as it led a friend to ask me a lot of questions that reminded me of how far I've come.  I intend to sift through more religious topics and detail my experiences better.  I'll try my best anyway.

Topics at the moment:

-My basis of beliefs

-My religious experiences of the past

-Beltaine - What is that?

-My issues with Christianity

-Religion through daily life

-Hurt, Family and Religion

-Dark vs Light - What is that?

-Concepts of God

Tour Appointments:

-Circle of the Sacred Grove Beltaine - April 30?

-Zen Center - May

-Considering meeting with Pastors of previous churches - Sometime

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I've had a lot of things taking over my mind, so the religious tour was on hold for a while.  I'll be back on track at the end of April, got some events to attend. 

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"Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears."- Edgar Allan Poe

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My Thought Space

 

My Thought Space

-I've been thinking today that my unkempt apartment is a reflection of my mind.  Dusty and not properly attended to the past couple weeks.  I'm going to clean this evening or tomorrow and see if it effects my attitude/motivation. 

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My favorite Commercial

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Here Comes the Church of Madness

I'm not a big fan of religious intolerance from anyone.  I don't care if you are Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Pagan, Hindu, Buddhist...anything...if you are intolerant I want nothing to do with you.  I heard about the Pastor that burned the Koran, and I was actually surprised.  I was surprised that someone would do that and endanger people's lives for nothing.  NOTHING.  There is no point made in that but intolerance and bigotry.  It struck a nerve with me since a very close friend of mine is in Afghanistan, and this Pastor's actions created quite an upheaval there....and it SHOULD.  My friend has a month left in his tour of duty, and that scares me more.  I just don't understand how anyone could possibly think that burning anything sacred is a good idea.  To endanger people's lives, while hiding in your own "safe" country is appalling. And then to say that he's prepared to die for his actions like some sort of martyr...well excuse my language, but Fuck You.  You're not a martyr, your a fucking bigot. I don't believe that if a person is murdered they go to a heaven, I think if a person is bad regardless of death that is the end of them, that's it. 

I feel that this man isn't Christian, if he claims to be so.  But one could understand why this adds a notch to anyone's perception of Christianity.  If something should happen to my friend that is in direct relation to this ridiculous show, I would never be able to square away with Christianity.  When will the years of torture and ignorant acts end for Christianity?  From large witch burning trials to the simple acts of practitioners of condemnation and accusations of faulty souls.  So many practitioners are like the Thought Police, place one thought out of line and that's the end for you. 

Personally, my rough run ins with Christian folk have revolved around my lack of church going experience, lack of knowledge, and how many times I've been called a Witch.  Sometimes I'll get Heathen or Sinner, depends on the folk.  I don't even know what I've done to be called a sinner.  They decide this out of nowhere. Or if I say I have very little experience with Churches I turn into some sort of project.   If they've called me a Witch, than they do know a bit about me.  What if I am a Witch?  I'll be a bit honest and obscure here, but I feel a divine influence pretty consistently.  I have a pretty strong connection with something.  I can walk into a congregation, or even a room and decide almost immediately if that group has a positive or negative energy.  Does that make me a Witch?  I follow the seasons fairly closely and I've danced around fires, does that make me a Witch?  There is a palpable energy in those circles I like to dance around in.  What's more interesting is that other so-called Witches can zero in on the influence I feel and tell me I have some sort of influence, but I'm starting to go stir crazy because I don't know what to do with it.  Ding Ding Ding! Not a single Christian has said such a thing to me.  I've thought for a long time that those who really truly follow the "old Religion" are hand picked by the goddess/deity/ whatever name you choose. These do not include the people you usually run into that are flaunting their own personal freak show. 

There was a time when freedom died
It was an age of genocide
The Inquisition at the door
The Church of Rome in a holy war

They broke children on the wheel
In the madness of their zeal
In the shadow of their wake
The innocent burning at the stake

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When I said I was a young punk

I wasn't kidding

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The problem with wedding planning

 

The problem with wedding planning for me is that I lose my mind when I see anything even remotely resembling Alice in Wonderland.  It is at that moment I stop thinking like an adult.  

I have to repeatedly remind myself that these things won't work in the venue.  

..... I'm going to do this to my living room...

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