In 2008 we read the Bible cover to cover. Bible and Jive.
In 2009 we read the Qur'an cover to cover. Qur'an and Jive.
In 2010 we will read the Bhagavad Gita cover to cover. Gita and Jive.
The "Song of God" or the Bhagavad Gita is not very long. You can read it relatively quickly. It has only 18 short chapters, but it is the most significant sacred text of Hinduism.
I will be drawing from it for worship as well as study.
My personal belief is that we need to draw from all of our wisdom traditions and then create from them something new to meet the demands we face today. These demands are not only intellectual but spiritual.
None of our current religious traditions--in and of themselves, as we have inherited them--is up to the task of speaking with any authority, wisdom, or compassion about the time in which we live. Perhaps if we draw from the wisdom of all of them and create something new, we will find the wisdom and courage to face humanity's greatest crisis that is unfolding before us.
We have been on the path of making life unsustainable for other species as well as human beings for some time. We are at a crisis point in our existence.
From crisis comes creativity.
The via creativa is our worship theme for Winter.
Not going to do the whole Mahabharata :-)
ReplyDeleteHeh! We'll take the lite version!
ReplyDeleteI think you are onto a great and very useful idea.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the more I study what scholarship is telling us about Christianity and its origins, who Jesus was and what he likely said and did, and how and why the gospels were written, Christian tradition (including Paul [gasp]) has a great deal to say about life, justice, peace, covenant, and sustainability in the 21st Century.
I know you won't throw the baby out with the bath.
I'm re-creating Liberal Christian Commentary to show that Liberal Christianity (radical, informed Christianity) has the power to transform the way we live our lives. It will start on Epiphany.
Actually, thanks to you, and this post about Gita and Jive, which triggered my response, the above paragraph will be the core of the new description on my blog.
Happy New Year!
On another note, if the reactionaries in your Presbytery decide you're not really a Presbyterian, the Unitarian Universalists would LOVE your work!
ReplyDeleteKeep on Truckin'
I can't wait til you get to the TAO TE CHING and some of the great Buddhist scripture.
ReplyDelete+ Love + John A Wilde + Whitesboro NY + The John A Wilde Blog + We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.
OTH, too much religion makes my head hurt.
ReplyDeleteI say pick one and stick with it.
@SeaRaven -My presby colleagues love me too! : )
ReplyDelete@John -Probably do a Buddhist text for next year. Maybe first the Tao and then the Dhammapada.
@Jodie -"too much religion makes my head hurt"
: )
Via creativa! I like it! Through creativity and discovery we can connect with the Divine.
ReplyDelete@sohl : ) yup!!
ReplyDelete