[RJT]

“I'm certainly not an expert on any of this.” I could have written this same sentence myself.


Oh, if I could remember 5% of stuff I have read…

At the risk of hijacking your thread, may I ramble a bit? (Btw, I am just sharing thoughts, in no way trying to give any advice.)

But before I do, I’d like to tell you something. Some of my favorite people I have met in life are people with whom I have I started off on the wrong foot. I have a feeling you will be added to that list.

A few things I do firmly believe:

-“There's something happening here. What it is, ain't exactly clear.” That I learned from Stephen Stills.
-“Don’t follow leaders.” That I learned from Bob Dylan.

I am being somewhat facetious, quoting popular song writers, but you get the idea.

Don’t follow leaders, though is one that took me a while to learn. (There is One exception to this rule, of course.)

My foundation is through the Catholic Church. It is where I started and it has come to work for me. I came back to the church probably 10 years after college and after all those phases most of us go through. After reading various philosophy looking for answers and coming up short, I read a bit of theology. While, of course, theology too comes up short, I found that religion comes as close to what I (we?) am looking for. (One of my favorite quotes is by Thomas Merton: “ Faith takes over when reason can say no more.” - might not be exact quote)

I have been fairly involved in my religion/church for maybe the last 15 years. It has been interesting if nothing else. Someday I hope to be able to take that “leap of faith” that I know is already part of my intellect, but has yet to touch my heart, like you mentioned. (Probably I am just to dang lazy.)

What I think I am getting to here is that, for me, the basics are already there in (my) organized religion. Certainly the more we read the more we can assimilate into our faith and practice. (I in no way mean to sound like you are taking a wrong approach.). For me there is already enough of the basics. I don’t feel the wheel needs reinventing. (Nor do I think you are suggesting that.)

A big part of our Church is the Holy Spirit. He is kind of like the antithesis of Mick Jagger’s Devil in his song “Sympathy for the Devil”. (Or the subject of Carly Simon’s “Your So Vain” for that matter.) He is always in the right places. He keeps us on track. Sure we go off on tangents. But, I chose to believe that He won’t let us get too far out of kilter. Sure He let you guys (I assume you are protestant or non-denominational.) wonder off for a few hundred years. But, He won’t let you get too far off the beaten path. (Joking of course. Maybe not.) My point here is that I think much of the stuff the Church thinks is perhaps nonsense. Although I loathe cafeteria-Catholics as a rule (picking and choosing what to believe), I do think we all have a certain responsibility to decipher much of it on our own. Eventually most stuff gets corrected in the shuffle. (Remember the H. S.)

Talking with people, praying for guidance. Presence, I think is as much a part of it as anything. Somehow I feel just being part of it, I am helping to redefine the Church.

Well, don’t know if you found my thoughts of any interest, but felt like sharing some of them with you. I think I did keep somewhat on point to your original post. And I don’t mean to sound like I disagree with the reference you sited.

I have enough on my plate already ( for now at least) is all I am basically trying to say.