This Website as suggested by FFWD (Calgary’s weekly) covers all the deities and their posses.
Have you ever had one of those embarrassing situations at a dinner party where you can’t remember Gilgamesh’s parentage or which Incan god is in charge of lightning? Me neither. But I’d hate to be at a function where I wasn’t prepared.
My wife Supriya and I just finished the orientation and informational training sessions at AIDS Calgary. I have often been in countries where this disease is the predominant killer, and thought that I should become more informed about the disease. Did you know that you can have HIV but not AIDS … but not the other way around – sort of like all puppies are dogs, not all dogs are puppies.
HIV/AIDS must be one of the most feared and stereotyped diseases out there … I was amazed at the subtlety of ways in which I categorised and prejudged people with it.
Something that I found sad, was that as a Christian, while training in that room, I did not personally feel that I was with a group of other believers … yet the incredible volunteers in the room were actually following Christ’s example to care for those who need the most. Why is it my experience that Christians are too seldom found in places where they really are needed, why are we most often found in our clubs?
I know that I am speaking with the zeal of the newly converted, and frankly as I just went to AIDS Calgary myself for the first time … self-righteousness is prbably crawling all over my words. I am not even planning on volunteering with them, I simply wanted to discover more information in order to help me internationally. But please take one minute before dismissing my words outright. Truthfully, where would/do we find Jesus today? Are we there with him?
What a culture holds together as group think, tends to reflect itself in the language choices of that group. What is spoken as fact, tends to become fact, regardless of the truth of reality.
This is the case in any culture. They all tend to follow similar lines of inclusion and exclusion in order to determine who can be a part of the culture. There are appropriate and expected standards of behavior, as well as language choices that tend to reflect the innermost and heartfelt belief systems of the individuals involved.
The church does this as well.
We have so often heard so many of the cliches, that we ourselves can no longer see them as such. In the same way that most Englishman of 1550 would know that the king had a divine right to rule. Or that many Americans from
They are the simple facts of our reality. Indisputable.
All the above phrases now have the shiny veneer of simple truth, the only unfortunate thought that occurs is when someone decides to challenge this status quo. Then we grow upset and ask why that person is taking a shot at Christian values. Are they Christian values? Or are they our religious cultural revision of history? Perhaps they are our perspective of what we think is true, or simply a mistaken idea? Maybe most insidious, they are our personal syncretism of societal beliefs that trump our Christian beliefs. The difficulty is that because we have lived with these thoughts so long, they take on the depth and breadth of capital ‘T’ Truth.
I know, I know – huge debate can ensue here – as this clearly shows my attempt to liberalize the gospel. (although even the word ‘liberal’ is now serving to prove my point as the word is often read as ‘non-Christian’ viewpoint. – are not all true Christians conservative? )
I just found www.postsecret.blogspot.com, the site is almost best thought of as a confessional booth. A place that strangers send postcards with their thoughts, from the pithy to the profound.
I recently read an entry on a friends website, and came across this paragraph:
I emptied my folder on holiness. I still believe in holiness, perhaps more now than ever. But something about that file wasn’t holy at all – maybe I could have transferred everything over to a new folder and call it ‘moralism’. One of the articles had the picture of a famous preacher from times past who preached holiness but lived a reprobate life, as we came later to know. This is discouraging of course, but maybe it is better to see this development as enlightening. Everything in that old file I labeled ‘holiness’ seemed to preach perfection, and the things it enjoined were already passe. I did not close the folder but left it open for something more refreshingly Biblical – the work of God for sinners like me. I believe in holiness. I didn’t open a new file on moralism.
I thought it was a great thought … I know that I have been wrestling with this thought. So much of what we consider holiness unfortunately often simply serves to keep us away from getting involved in the world that Jesus loves so much … and no, I am not writing this thought because I am ‘struggling with some sort of holiness issue’ myself at the moment, and tryng to justify it …
Does our struggle to remain holy simply serve to give us a list of ‘do not’ behaviours … sounds a lot like legalism, rather than the freedom of Christ that asks us to ‘do’ things. Anyways, these are my quick thoughts, I always love to know yours. Feedback makes me happy!
Anyways, here is the link to Bob check out his thoughts.
