When this character was a little Catholic
boy learning his catechism he formulated
(all by himself) the notion that:
If in the beginning there was nothing
but god;
then, ipso facto, everything was god.
He didn't know the latin ipso facto
(though he intuited the meaning)
but it just goes to show what he lost
when his childhood was driven out of him
by church & society.
A memory
I also have memories of the same kind of after school religion.
I don't know if Jesus was real and I don't really care (kind of like Bill Maher's comment of being an apatheist! hehe), nor do I care if the Buddha was a real man.
As a kid I felt as though there was something really great and radical about this Jesus but that somehow all the grown-ups over the last few hundred years had managed to turn him into a colossal bore. Another goody two shoes to whom we'd have to measure up rather than someone who inspired us to emulate him.
If Jesus was a man I think he really had it going, and most of his radical message was watered down or omitted.
All these years later I've rediscovered his message and I don't believe one word he's supposed to have said that doesn't match the prevailing wisdom of the world's........WAIT, that's not really it. If it doesn't stand up to inquiry and my own inner wisdom, I say it's bunk.

I don't know if Jesus was real and I don't really care (kind of like Bill Maher's comment of being an apatheist! hehe), nor do I care if the Buddha was a real man.
As a kid I felt as though there was something really great and radical about this Jesus but that somehow all the grown-ups over the last few hundred years had managed to turn him into a colossal bore. Another goody two shoes to whom we'd have to measure up rather than someone who inspired us to emulate him.
If Jesus was a man I think he really had it going, and most of his radical message was watered down or omitted.
All these years later I've rediscovered his message and I don't believe one word he's supposed to have said that doesn't match the prevailing wisdom of the world's........WAIT, that's not really it. If it doesn't stand up to inquiry and my own inner wisdom, I say it's bunk.


Log on to the inner-net and be kind to your mind (or not).
Yes ... okIf it doesn't stand up to inquiry and my own inner wisdom, I say it's bunk.
But the last paragraph is not quite clear .. can you clarify?
Do you find the Jesus message bunk?
Does the message stand up to inner inquiry?
Oh the joys of being 'done over' by catholicism
in one's young and tender years!

Re: A memory
makara wrote:When this character was a little Catholic
boy learning his catechism he formulated
(all by himself) the notion that:
If in the beginning there was nothing
but god;
then, ipso facto, everything was god.
He didn't know the latin ipso facto
(though he intuited the meaning)
but it just goes to show what he lost
when his childhood was driven out of him
by church & society.
Me too Marka---My guess is that most of us as children could intuit the Truth and knew instinctlively That God is and what God is--
What is bound on earth is bound in heaven and what is freed on earth is freed in heaven.
Oops, guess that was a bit unclear.makara wrote:Yes ... okIf it doesn't stand up to inquiry and my own inner wisdom, I say it's bunk.
But the last paragraph is not quite clear .. can you clarify?
Do you find the Jesus message bunk?
Does the message stand up to inner inquiry?
Oh the joys of being 'done over' by catholicism
in one's young and tender years!
Yes, I find that there are many things Jesus said that are very insightful and even though it's not a litmus test, I also like how much of it matches the wisdom of other cultures, religion and philosophy.
Log on to the inner-net and be kind to your mind (or not).
makara wrote:Yes ... okIf it doesn't stand up to inquiry and my own inner wisdom, I say it's bunk.
But the last paragraph is not quite clear .. can you clarify?
Do you find the Jesus message bunk?
Does the message stand up to inner inquiry?
Oh the joys of being 'done over' by catholicism
in one's young and tender years!
I was not raised in any church at all---And I realized that God was "The very Life of the whole world" is how I put it then as a child and how I re-discovered that I was right then and now this is totally reliable --now-- once again--- Quite lovely
What is bound on earth is bound in heaven and what is freed on earth is freed in heaven.
For that Blossom you may be eternally grateful!I was not raised in any church at all-
Yes, i'm with you here Xmac.I also like how much of it matches the wisdom of other cultures,
In the odd clear moment it is all so strikingly simple
and the essense is everywhere (culturally & religiously);
just incredible how 'people' overlay truth with so much
manipulative, self serving nonsense.