En route to Jericho Beach – Vancouver, BC
There is nothing more beautiful than light filtering from the heavens, through the trees. Beautiful and perfect in its simplicity; for a brief moment in time, anything else can be forgotten.
The Kawarthas, Ontario
The closest place to $DIETY[*] must be the closest place to nature.
[*] – Whatever you personally refer to as the supreme/ultimate being of the universe, should you believe in such a thing.
Although I have been (and am) as spiritual person – especially in the past couple of years – I have not been one who could be considered a religious person. Not by a long stretch. I fluctuate between brief periods of belief, coupled with longer periods of head shaking. In the past month, I have been working to build a web site for an evangelical Christian missionary church. It has been an interesting and fascinating example of something that 1. I was somewhat dubious going into and 2. I am exceedingly happy that I did. While I have not necessarily absorbed tenets of their belief system, I have come to a greater appreciation of it.
I do believe in miracles. It might not be the same way that others choose to explain and define them, but I am convinced of a certain miraculous power of the universe and the forces that created this amazing world that we live in. Performing work for a group or a person that believes in this magic is also inspiring to me. Once again, I might not share its origins, but I certainly share in the awe and wonder associated with it. Do I believe that a person by the name of Jesus existed? I certainly do. Do I believe that he was a wonderful miracles worker? Once again, I certainly do. Personally, this is enough to bridge any gaps that exist between myself and any persons of great faith. I don’t believe the lack of commonality is a problem; the issue in my mind is a lack of respect.
I believe that respect is a great problem solver. With respect, things can be achieved that would otherwise be impossible… and this is something I have the utmost faith in!
This week, while surfing the couch and working through my post root canal pain, I finally discovered Rome, the HBO series. I am rather shocked at myself that it took me so long to finally watch – being both a Classical Studies major and a fan of HBO, one would think I would have rented season 1 sooner.
One of the things that fascinates me about all ancient cultures is their belief in superstition and magic. However, I should point out that our modern culture is certainly full of it as well, although I suspect that we shroud it slightly behind centuries of religious tradition. Before monotheistic faith became prevalent, the world was full of esoteric secrets, beliefs and practices – both fascinating and profane.
In ancient Rome, the augur was a member of the Roman “priestly” class, tasked with interpreting divine purpose or plan from the songs and flight patterns of birds[*] – known as the taking of the auspices. Looking at this practice from the year 2009, it seems… ridiculous. But I ask myself: is it any more “ridiculous” than anything else? The fact is, in the year 2009, we still have a massive proliferation of beliefs, practices, ideas, and visions that sustain themselves from well over 2000 years ago – and a great deal of the world finds something in them worth believing. At a very base level, I would think that making decisions based on the flight pattern of birds would be similar to making decisions based on the use of dowsing rods…
Once again, I find myself circled back to my new favourite quote (and yes, I am quoting myself): “I believe in the possibility of everything, and the probability of nothing.”
[*] – Also by examining the entrails of birds or other animals for omens
