Thursday, August 25, 2005
Who am I?
Here is a brief bio that I wrote to send to the church membership committee. We are having a new member induction ceremony next month which will include me although I have been a member for about a year now. Parts of the bio will be used to introduce me to the others during the service and in the newsletter. I always like to know a little about the people whose blogs I enjoy so I thought that I would post it here, with slight edits to preserve my privacy.
I am from the southernmost part of the southern state of Georgia in the USA, and have lived here my whole life. I hold degrees in philosophy and public administration from the regional state university. I am a social worker for adults with developmental disabilities in an adjacent county to the one in which we live. My husband is a teacher and coach at a high school in another adjacent county, in the opposite direction. We both have about a half hour commute to work. I am the chair of the Social Action Committee and help with music during worship services at the Unitarian Universalist Church in the town where I work and where the university is located. My husband and I also attend an Episcopal Church in the town where we live. All of these places, the one we live in, and the two we work in, and the county I grew up in, are within an hour of each other. Our families are mostly within two hours of here as well. So we drive around a lot, but within a pretty small footprint. Our future plans include seminary in Atlanta for me in 2005 to study Christian theory and practice.
Jim and I are Christians, and I describe myself as a postmodern pantheist progressive Christian mystic. Postmodern means that I believe our experiences of truth and the divine can not be separated from our cultural context. Pantheist means that I believe the divine is in everything and can be experienced as a connection between everything. “Tuning in to” this connection has enhanced my life. I do not believe there is a God “out there” somewhere, manipulating things. I believe there is a divinity, or Holy Spirit, or energy, or force, “in here”, in everything. I believe the trinity was an attempt to explain the divinity found in everything, including Jesus. Progressive Christian is best defined by The Center for Progressive Christianity. For me it means that I have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus, and that everyone has to approach life and faith in the way that is best for them. The Bible is the writings of people trying to describe experiences of the divine and has been changed many times to serve the purposes of the powerful. I like to read the stories and get what I can out of them. I enjoy research into the historical roots of Judaism and Christianity. Mystic means that I believe direct experience of the divine is possible. I have experienced God through music, nature, philosophy, studying world religions, math, quantum physics, other people, and a “still, small voice” in me that urges me to do the moral thing or pursue certain paths, even when that is not the easiest or most socially acceptable thing to do. From now on I will wear a button that says “Ask me about being a Postmodern Pantheist Progressive Christian Mystic!”: seriously, if you want to know more, just ask, talking about religion is my favorite thing in the world.
My Christianity has made me a pacifist, an environmentalist, and a supporter of civil and human rights for all regardless of race, gender, sexuality, class, income, or disability. I express my Christian belief that people and the universe should be treated as we treat ourselves through political positions, social action, and the way I treat others in my daily life. I consider my faith integral to every area of my life, and there is no action that I take that is not affected by my beliefs, even when I find myself regretting that I have not treated myself and the rest of the world as if they are sparks of divinity just waiting to be "tuned in".
Caveat: All of the above theological positions are works in progress. My spiritual life is constantly under construction.
Originally posted on April 22, 2004
I am from the southernmost part of the southern state of Georgia in the USA, and have lived here my whole life. I hold degrees in philosophy and public administration from the regional state university. I am a social worker for adults with developmental disabilities in an adjacent county to the one in which we live. My husband is a teacher and coach at a high school in another adjacent county, in the opposite direction. We both have about a half hour commute to work. I am the chair of the Social Action Committee and help with music during worship services at the Unitarian Universalist Church in the town where I work and where the university is located. My husband and I also attend an Episcopal Church in the town where we live. All of these places, the one we live in, and the two we work in, and the county I grew up in, are within an hour of each other. Our families are mostly within two hours of here as well. So we drive around a lot, but within a pretty small footprint. Our future plans include seminary in Atlanta for me in 2005 to study Christian theory and practice.
Jim and I are Christians, and I describe myself as a postmodern pantheist progressive Christian mystic. Postmodern means that I believe our experiences of truth and the divine can not be separated from our cultural context. Pantheist means that I believe the divine is in everything and can be experienced as a connection between everything. “Tuning in to” this connection has enhanced my life. I do not believe there is a God “out there” somewhere, manipulating things. I believe there is a divinity, or Holy Spirit, or energy, or force, “in here”, in everything. I believe the trinity was an attempt to explain the divinity found in everything, including Jesus. Progressive Christian is best defined by The Center for Progressive Christianity. For me it means that I have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus, and that everyone has to approach life and faith in the way that is best for them. The Bible is the writings of people trying to describe experiences of the divine and has been changed many times to serve the purposes of the powerful. I like to read the stories and get what I can out of them. I enjoy research into the historical roots of Judaism and Christianity. Mystic means that I believe direct experience of the divine is possible. I have experienced God through music, nature, philosophy, studying world religions, math, quantum physics, other people, and a “still, small voice” in me that urges me to do the moral thing or pursue certain paths, even when that is not the easiest or most socially acceptable thing to do. From now on I will wear a button that says “Ask me about being a Postmodern Pantheist Progressive Christian Mystic!”: seriously, if you want to know more, just ask, talking about religion is my favorite thing in the world.
My Christianity has made me a pacifist, an environmentalist, and a supporter of civil and human rights for all regardless of race, gender, sexuality, class, income, or disability. I express my Christian belief that people and the universe should be treated as we treat ourselves through political positions, social action, and the way I treat others in my daily life. I consider my faith integral to every area of my life, and there is no action that I take that is not affected by my beliefs, even when I find myself regretting that I have not treated myself and the rest of the world as if they are sparks of divinity just waiting to be "tuned in".
Caveat: All of the above theological positions are works in progress. My spiritual life is constantly under construction.
Originally posted on April 22, 2004
