musings: January 2016

We live in a time when the concept of faith has lost its luster. Faith by today’s rules is consigned often to the unsophisticated. As a result when someone declares a belief or activity as “a matter of faith” it is immediately suspect.

This presents a major problem. If faith is suspect, than most of our assumptions must also be suspect since so much of what we believe is based on faith-like assumptions.

A major assumption we make everyday is the world as we know it will continue to exist. This is an assumption based on faith.

The odds may be with us, but nonetheless, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next minute and must assume we will still be here.

This obvious assumption should give us pause. Our arrogant supposition regarding the stability of life keeps us from changing many things that need changing.

The notion there will be a tomorrow may give us hope, but how many important things never get done because this assumed hope is part of our belief system. This implicit hope is the “mother” of all procrastination.

Be careful – the next time you find faith suspect - make sure you are not living most of your life based on assumptions rooted in faith.

Submitted by Sister Veronica and Brother Franco for Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, PNN

http://giovanniandfranco.com

In a recent conversation with Brother Franco, he reminded me that we are living in a very exciting and fascinating time as we see the evolution of Christian thought expanding exponentially. For many, this is troubling. However, I agree with Brother Franco that we are standing at the doorway of a new threshold of understanding

We have all had to come to understand faith through the haze of doubt that has always plagued human existence. Faith in God, or for that matter, not believing in God, are assumptions we make from the sum total of our intuitive and actual experiences.

I should make it clear these comments are not intended for those who have decided not to believe in a God. The concern here is why so many believers, "people of “faith,” accept the concept that the God they believe in also chooses to hand down immutable rules that remain forever unalterable.

For them, to question the concept of "immutable" is considered sacrilege. They would be quick to point out that if what we believe is subject to our own interpretation and nothing else; virtually everything is up for grabs.

From a more cosmic perspective, the word of God does not need to change. But why is it assumed that the way we interpret that word does not evolve as we evolve? Is it not equally relevant to assume that our personal knowledge is also evolving as we learn more about the world we inhabit? It seems contrary to our direct experience to think otherwise. And yet, this is what many of our fellow believers would have us think. *

How do we resolve these differences with each other and still remain consistent with our individual realities? - Never, if we concentrate on the differences. As long as each side prefers to view all those who don’t share their reality as suspect, anger and determination to resist so-called contamination rules the day. This does not seem consistent with Christian values.

Why is it that our human nature seems to want to focus on what separates us rather than on what could bring us together? I suspect it is deeply tribal in nature, and is part of our instinctive reality - the same reality that allowed many of our ancestors to survive.

Our ancestors knew people that were like them were less likely to be dangerous. It became critical to human survival to sense differences quickly. Being aware of our enemies became vitally important. As a result, we created “territories” that were safe. Obviously, we still do this physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Is it reasonable to assume that we have mentally evolved to the extent that we can now understand that many of our legal, moral and cultural norms are merely codifications of our very real primal and instinctive natures?

Judging how much of the world reacts, and the turmoil and suffering humans bring on themselves, apparently not. Nevertheless, that is little excuse to avoid being aware that evolutionary change is happening continually around us, and will shape the physical and spiritual environment we chose to call our own.

As difficult as it is to accept, the meaning of the concept of tradition is changing. Tradition is often confused in meaning with the word "conventional." Traditional has always meant values. How these values are interpreted may change, but the meaning of the values being applied does not.

Take family as an example. While the values of the family have not changed, the convention of what constitutes “family” has. For generations, family meant “blood relations.” It has been obvious for years that concept no longer applies in all cases. The same could be said for the institution of marriage. How these institutions are defined evolves, but what they represent in human values and traditions do not.

From a Christian faith perspective, we could not live in more exciting times. As we see our knowledge of the cosmos evolving it provides us with more understanding of the dynamics of a living, personal God in all things. As many have said before, we are now witnessing the evolution of “The Cosmic Christ.”

It is indeed a most exciting time to be alive!