Hello,
I've been following the LO and Religion thread, and the struggles of
Michael Erickson, Clyde Howell, and others have convinced me to
venture into this fray. It's painful to read how their struggles have
so oftem been met by intolerance and mental shutdown (don't you dare
question the word of God). I've seen it, too.
Like many of you, I search to understand my place in the universe. It
took me some time to realize the truth that Clyde Howell stated so
passionately, that humans really do create God in their own image.
That isn't such a bad thing -- we all have only our experiences and
those of the people around us to help us understand why we're here,
and what we're here for. What is troubling is humanity's terrible
habit of trying to ram personal beliefs down the throats of our
neighbors,(definitely not the tactics of anyone interested in learning
organizations).
I studied a bit of anthropology in college, and have read a lot of the
old myths and legends that showcase humanity's struggle to explain
things. The parallels between the stories cultures tell are often so
striking that I realized there aren't many new ideas under the sun,
just new ways of saying them. That showed me that the only difference
between some religions and some myths is the amount of infrastructure
to advertise them. And since all myths and religions were initally
someone's struggles to explain what God had revealed to him or her,
each of us has to make our own way among them, determine their truth
for ourselves, then try to live faithful to what we believe.
I came early to a habit of questioning, examining, and searching for
my own way. That's led me out of the American mainstream, mostly
towards Buddhism, which has granted me a large gift of peace in all
the confusion. I expect my contemplation of the universe to change and
expand each day, (that's one of the delights, actually) because I
don't ever expect to stop asking, looking, listening, learning.
I accept that this outlook sometimes puts me at odds with established
organizations (companies, religions, etc.). I try not to get too
intimidated when said organizations gnash their teeth at me, because
the act of their teeth gnashing shows me the hole (or the door) in
their ideas. The hole/door shows where new ideas could be let in. If
their ideas were so wonderful as is, people would stand in line for
them, rather than having to be bullied to believe.
God's subtleties are too great to be contained in any one book, any
one prophet, any one experience. That's why our lives are long enough
to experience so many things, have so many chances to get better,
weigh the words and actions of so many people. God wants us to get the
benefit of each other. We just need to learn how to do it gently.
----
Martha Landerman
rti1mlm@roadnet.ups.com
United Parcel Service
Information Services Maryland
2311 York Road
Timonium, MD 21093
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Try yoga. As your body flexes, so does your mind.
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--"Martha Landerman" <mlm@smtpgwy.roadnet.ups.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>