Categories
Personal Religion Spirituality

Experiencing a Nonproprietary God

There is no Christian church with a more direct, intimate relationship with the life of Jesus of Nazareth than the one I was born into: the Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. Its roots lie in the same ground that Jesus walked on, and are deeper than the written Gospels.  The church, my cultural heritage, and […]

Categories
Personal Philosophy Religion Spirituality

Green Burials: Recycling Matter and Spirit

Recently I was talking with some friends and as we are all of a certain age, the conversation came around to funeral service options. For various personal and religious reasons, several different preferences were expressed. Choices included cremation, a launch to sea on a small boat, donation to a medical school, and my offering, a […]

Categories
Contemporary Issues Religion Reptilian Mind

Why Religion Doesn’t Encourage Us to Become Human

The New York Times recently ran an article with the following in bold type: “Modern life is ugly, brutal and barren. Maybe you should try a Latin Mass.” This line caught my eye because the quadrune mind model has a lot to say about exactly why people would turn to Catholicism or Orthodoxy or other religions based in ritual […]