incredibly earth-bound
One thing I've been confronted by lately is a shift in my conversations about faith. The growing gap between myself and others who seemed to be speaking the same language at some time now past, and the growing ease with which I can share my thoughts with loved ones who wouldn't necessarily categorize themselves in the same camp at all.
An obstacle that keeps showing up in my conversations with Christians is that I have little tolerance left for superstition in the guise of faith. I've written a little about superstition showing up for me in prayer, but it's also there every time someone invents a meaning in their head for something external that happens. It reminds me of a girl I knew who was impressed with the number five during prayer, and when she had five emails in her inbox that night, took that as a sign that she shouldn't move. That must mean this, this must mean that. Says who? It's this human tendency that everyone has, but the religious turn it into a mental gymnastics routine to fit their experience into their beliefs instead of bringing their beliefs (which are primarily interpretations) into question. So lately I keep thinking of this scene from the film Serendipity, and finding myself relating to Sara's best friend, Eve:
[Discussing the Cool Hand Luke poster Sara saw]
Eve: Sara, it was a movie poster, it's no big deal.
Sara: It's peculiar though, right? Don't you think?
Eve: I thought you were through with all this new-age bullshit, feng-shuey and all that crap.
Sara: Eve, for someone who owns a new-age store you're incredibly earth-bound
Eve: Oh yeah, well, for a shrink-in-training, you're a little bit crazy, I'll tell you that much.
For someone who really values my spirituality, I find myself being peculiarly earth-bound. Like, maybe that car accident happened because someone made a dumb choice and got behind the wheel drunk. And maybe you got pregnant because you had unprotected sex. You know that we are living in a cause-and-effect world, and I am a cause-and-effect girl. For me it doesn't contradict with my spirituality and beliefs, any more than my believing in evolution does. (Which is not at all.) I think the miracles, where God reaches in and alters things, most often happen within us, and seldom outside of us in some woo-woo reorganization of events. For me, that doesn't make it any less miraculous. But perhaps I don't qualify as an authority on miracles, being incredibly earth-bound as I am.
An obstacle that keeps showing up in my conversations with Christians is that I have little tolerance left for superstition in the guise of faith. I've written a little about superstition showing up for me in prayer, but it's also there every time someone invents a meaning in their head for something external that happens. It reminds me of a girl I knew who was impressed with the number five during prayer, and when she had five emails in her inbox that night, took that as a sign that she shouldn't move. That must mean this, this must mean that. Says who? It's this human tendency that everyone has, but the religious turn it into a mental gymnastics routine to fit their experience into their beliefs instead of bringing their beliefs (which are primarily interpretations) into question. So lately I keep thinking of this scene from the film Serendipity, and finding myself relating to Sara's best friend, Eve:
[Discussing the Cool Hand Luke poster Sara saw]
Eve: Sara, it was a movie poster, it's no big deal.
Sara: It's peculiar though, right? Don't you think?
Eve: I thought you were through with all this new-age bullshit, feng-shuey and all that crap.
Sara: Eve, for someone who owns a new-age store you're incredibly earth-bound
Eve: Oh yeah, well, for a shrink-in-training, you're a little bit crazy, I'll tell you that much.
For someone who really values my spirituality, I find myself being peculiarly earth-bound. Like, maybe that car accident happened because someone made a dumb choice and got behind the wheel drunk. And maybe you got pregnant because you had unprotected sex. You know that we are living in a cause-and-effect world, and I am a cause-and-effect girl. For me it doesn't contradict with my spirituality and beliefs, any more than my believing in evolution does. (Which is not at all.) I think the miracles, where God reaches in and alters things, most often happen within us, and seldom outside of us in some woo-woo reorganization of events. For me, that doesn't make it any less miraculous. But perhaps I don't qualify as an authority on miracles, being incredibly earth-bound as I am.