The Deities Are Many

One of my frequent complaints is that there are very few serious books on Pagan theology. So I was very happy to find The Deities Are Many by Jordan Paper, which I read on our recent holiday trip.

Jordan Paper is Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University in Toronto. He grew up Jewish, became a Buddhist and then a Daoist, then had several experiences which led him to follow the practices of Native American and traditional Chinese religions (both of which he says have been greatly mischaracterized by Western Monotheists). These practices are largely shamanic and are geared toward forming and maintaining relationships with the gods and goddesses of Nature and of the family and tribe.

The book is more personal than objective, something Paper acknowledges is unwelcome in academic circles. But in the preface he says “theology, by its very nature, is confessional. Hence, I have reached the point where my studies have compelled me to cross the line from religious studies to theology.” It’s a line I’m glad he crossed.

Paper argues that traditional theology is a construct of Western Monotheism and is of limited use outside that realm – why should you spend time trying to describe the gods when you can experience them first-hand? That makes good sense… but I still want to know…

If there’s a weakness in this book, it’s that it concentrates so heavily on the authentic polytheistic practices of tribal/family religions that it’s difficult to extend it to our contemporary, individualistic, disconnected Western culture. I think Paper would say “yeah, and that’s the problem with Western culture.”

But we are who we are and we live where and when we live – we are no more pre-Columbian Algonquins or Neolithic Chinese than we are pre-Roman Celts or ancient Egyptians. If Paganism is to grow and thrive in our time, it must address our needs and the needs of the world we live in. Paper himself says as much: “A confessional theology does not exist in a vacuum. It is a reflection or an argument arising from a person’s experience and understanding. Without that link to an individual, it has no meaning; it would be formulaic but not affirmational.”

Still, I highly recommend this book for two reasons. One is the excellent description of Chinese and Native American religious practices, and from them some very good theories on the origins of religion itself. The other is its emphasis on practice and experience. If Paganism is to succeed on a large scale, it must offer something the established religions do not – authentic religious experience.

My two take-aways from The Deities Are Many is to make sure I devote enough time and effort to experiencing the gods and goddesses, and to watch out for hidden Christian assumptions in my religious thinking.

Christmas Eve Communion

Cathy and I spent Christmas Eve with her mother, which included a Christmas Eve service at her mother’s Methodist church. The service itself was not unlike every other Christmas Eve candlelight service (including those at UU churches), but it did include Holy Communion. And I had to do some quick thinking to decide if I should receive it or not.

Communion is not the centerpiece of Methodist worship the way it is in the Catholic and Episcopal churches – most offer it at one service a month. Further, Methodists practice open communion, meaning that unlike Catholics (and others), they do not restrict it to members of their own denomination. So, the choice was mine.

The Pagan in me didn’t want to do it – the universalist in me did. The Pagan felt that to participate in the central mystery of another faith was to endorse that faith, including the claims of exclusivity I found so hurtful in my Christian days and that I continually argue against now. The universalist felt that to participate was to affirm that there are many paths to Wisdom and Truth, and that it would honor those Methodists who were helpful to me on that part of my spiritual journey. The Pagan kept repeating Morgaine’s line from the end of The Mists of Avalon: “I am vowed elsewhere.” The universalist (and the Unitarian) kept repeating Francis David’s declaration that “God is One.”

The universalist won.

I’d like to report I had a great transcendent experience in receiving Communion, but I didn’t. It was just an act of affirming that anything that brings peace and fellowship to our world is a good thing. And for that night, that was enough.

Holiday Travels

I’m off for a few days to a decidedly non-spiritual destination: the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Several years ago, Cathy and I decided that instead of running around trying to buy each other a bunch of presents we didn’t much want and certainly didn’t need, we’d go somewhere fun instead.

When we lived in Atlanta, we’d go to Biloxi a couple times a year. It’s a longer drive from Dallas so we haven’t been since 2001, and we haven’t seen it since it was rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. Still, it’s a doable drive (about 10 hours), and this year I’d rather spend the time driving than spend the money and irritation flying.

While Cathy is paying tribute to the goddess Fortuna, I’ll be digging into the stack of books I’m taking. It includes another of Rev. Diana’s recommendations, an academic look at polytheism, a collection of NeoPagan literary sources, plus a couple of “urban fantasy” novels.

I hope everyone’s Solstice was warm and your Christmas is merry.

Wishful Thinking

I asked Rev. Diana for some book recommendations on contemporary liberal theology. Her first recommendation was Wishful Thinking – A Theological ABC by Frederick Buechner. It’s a miniature encyclopedia (only 100 pages), and when I opened it, my first thought was “I don't need to read this – I already know what these terms mean.”

But after reading just a few pages I realized that Buechner was explaining his theology through his definitions. Here are a few excerpts:

Doubt: Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.

Theology: Theology is the study of God and his ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man and his ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise.

Angels: Sleight-of-hand magic is based on the demonstrable fact that as a rule people see only what they expect to see. Angels are powerful spirits whom God sends into the world to wish us well. Since we don’t expect to see them, we don’t.

I told Rev. Diana I was looking to theology to help me form a framework for understanding Life and the Universe and all those big questions. I think Buechner’s theology isn’t a framework, it’s a story – the Christian story. And he has interpreted that story in a way that is both honest (he doesn't ask you to believe things that don’t square with known reality) and open (he realizes the limitations of human knowledge and our ability to know). Taken as a whole, it makes a story to live by that is useful, helpful and inspiring.

In reading this book, I became very aware of my own desire for concrete definitions. As I like to say, I'm not just an engineer by profession. Although intellectually I know that “real” means more than just “material,” I think I will struggle for a long time – maybe all my life – to truly understand that meaning comes in many forms.

Winter SolstiCelebration Invocation

Just got back from the Moonlady Winter SolstiCelebration. I'll post pictures or links to them once they get them up on the EarthRhythms site.

Here's my part:

I am Britannia,
and by the Great Mother Anu and the Lord of the Animals,
from the standing stones of the Salisbury plain
and the sacred light and dark of Newgrange,
I give you the spirit of Boudicca, Arthur, Elizabeth, and Churchill.
I give you the power of the Earth, the Sky, and the Sea.
I give you the wisdom of the Oak,
the protection of the Rowan,
and the mystery of the Apple.

Gu robh beannachd nan diathan agus ar sinnsearan air an chiann

May the Gods and ancestors bless this, our family.

Emerging Universalism

When asked to precisely define my religious beliefs, I always say I am first and foremost a universalist – one who believes there are many paths to find God and Truth, and that no one will be condemned to eternal damnation. As I said in my first post on this blog, I grew up in a fundamentalist church, but I was unable reconcile the concept of hell with a God of Love.

Now it appears that I’m far from the only person who feels that way. A new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says that a majority of Americans believe that at least some non-Christians can attain eternal life.

This came out in an earlier survey, but its question was phrased ambiguously: “can followers of other religions gain eternal life?” That might cause, say, Baptists to think “other religions” means Methodists or Catholics. A follow-up survey was more specific. Among all respondents, 53% say Hinduism can lead to eternal life, 52% say Islam can, and 42% say Atheism can.

Even more encouraging was that among White Evangelicals (who are by and large the most conservative, most exclusivist of all Christians) 64% give a positive response for Judaism, 35% for Islam, and 26% for Atheism. While that’s far from a majority, it’s still a significant minority, it’s an improvement and it gives hope for the future of these denominations.

Naturally, not everyone sees this as a good thing. Rev. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (a part of the ultraconservative Southern Baptist Convention) says:

“This survey cannot easily be dismissed. The specificity of the responses and the quality of the research sample indicate that we face a serious decline in confidence in the Gospel. When 34% of white evangelicals reject the truth that Jesus is the only Savior, we are witnessing a virtual collapse of evangelical theology.”

As the old bumper sticker says, “if the people will lead, then the leaders will follow.” Rank and file members of even conservative denominations live in a diverse world, and their experience shows them the inherent injustice of religious exclusivity. That’s something the theologians in their closed-off fundamentalist worlds can’t see.

This is good news for all religious liberals, as well as a reminder of the value of diversity.

The First Solstice

At this time of year we occasionally hear references to “the first Christmas.” Well, what about the first Solstice?! As part of a sermon I gave at DUUF in December 2005, I speculated on how the first Solstice might have come about…

Paleontologists tell us that the cradle of humanity was most likely in East Africa, near the equator, where it’s almost always warm, and where the length of the days is very constant. We know that these earliest humans eventually began to migrate, and many of them went north, where the seasons are more pronounced. And it stands to reason that at some point, probably around what we now call October, for the first time a human being became aware that the days were getting shorter.

And you can imagine the reaction this first observant human got when he or she tried to tell his or her family and tribe about the shortening days. “The days have always been the same length and they always will”…“Have you been eating fermented grain again?”…“There is no such thing as global warming” – sorry, wrong Neanderthals.

But by November, the shorter days and cooler temperatures would have been obvious to everyone. And by now, we can imagine, panic started to set in. Every day the sun rose a little later and set a little earlier. Every day the sun rose and set a little further in the south. And every day the sun at noon was a little lower in the sky. The sun was dying. And if it died, the world would be plunged into perpetual darkness, and all life would die with it. Imagine the fear these people must have felt. The festivals of lights that we still celebrate were not begun just to dispel the growing darkness, but also as sympathetic magic to re-energize the sun.

And then one day, the sun stopped its retreat – the solstice, which means “sun stand still.” After a few days, it began to move northward, and the days began to lengthen. The sun was reborn. Try to imagine the sense of relief our earliest, barely human ancestors must have felt. Is it any wonder they celebrated? Is it any wonder the Winter Solstice became so ingrained in human culture that we still celebrate it, albeit in other forms?

Over time – perhaps years, perhaps generations – people came to understand that the sun would always come back. But the mythology around the Winter Solstice continued to grow, and it became the birthday for many gods and heroes, including Mithras, Hercules, Perseus, Apollo, and Arthur. For modern Pagans, it’s the time when the Mother Goddess gives birth to the Sun God. And for all of us, it’s a time to reflect, a time to connect, and a time to look forward.

Last Minute Replacement

At last year’s Moonlady Winter SolstiCelebration, I invoked the element of Earth. This year I was planning to go as a spectator, but yesterday Amy Martin e-mailed and asked me to step in for someone who had dropped out at the last minute.

Instead of elemental invocations, this year Amy is doing geographical invocations with four people representing four parts of the world and ethnic groups. I’ll be representing the people of Europe (and more specifically, the British Isles). I’ve written a brief invocation, but I’ve got to learn a blessing in Gaelic. Fortunately, the ADF Druid website has some audio files of proper pronunciation.

I hope some of you can make it – it’s worth your time if you can.

16th annual
2008 Winter SolstiCelebration

Friday December 19, 2008

doors open at 6 pm
service from 7 to 9 pm
Yule Fest from 9 to 10 pm

at the inspiring Cathedral of Hope
5910 Cedar Springs at Inwood, Dallas, Texas 75219

$5, seniors & kids $3
for advance tickets via credit cards,
visit the Earth Rhythms store

CUUPS Yule Circle

Excellence in Ministry, continued

Rev. Christine Robinson has some very good notes and comments from the Excellence in Ministry seminar on her iMinister blog. But one struck me so strongly I have to repeat it here. It's from Dan Aylshire, President of the American Theological School Association:

"Excellence has to have a definition that transcends the individual and serves the community."

No matter what our ministry is, ordained or lay, formal or informal, Christian or Buddhist or Humanist or Pagan, serving on committees or leading worship or making the coffee, we have to strive for an excellence that isn't about "look how good I am" and is about "look what we can accomplish together."

Proselytizing and the Strength of Our Faith

Here’s an interesting column on the place of proselytizing in interfaith activities from Sightings, a publication of the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School. It asks the question “must proselytizing be off-limits in order for differing faiths to work together?” And if so, how can we ever expect participation by those whose religions require proselytizing?

As someone who is first and foremost a universalist who believes there are many paths to God and Truth, I find it difficult to deal with proselytizing. “Can’t you see we’re all God’s children?” “Can’t we put our differences aside and come together to build a better world here and now?”

The column gives the example of an Imam who told an interfaith gathering that it was a requirement of his religion to issue an “invitation to Islam” – but after that obligation was fulfilled, he would gladly work with others. When a more moderate Muslim criticized him, he said “Yes, I am a bit prejudiced in favor of my faith. And you should be for yours.”

I think the problem many of us have with proselytizing is the unstated assumption that it reflects a lack of respect for other religions. This is particularly important to those of us in minority religions such as Unitarian Universalism and Paganism. “If you think I should convert to your religion, you must think that my religion is inferior.” And we take offense where sometimes (though far from always) no offense is intended.

All of us recruit for our religions, if only by the way we live our lives – which is a reminder that if we aren’t careful we can drive others away, just as fundamentalists drove me away from Christianity. If our faith means anything to us, we want to share it – at least with those we think might have a predilection for it. Is it so hard to understand that others may feel the same way, only stronger?

The column closes with the story of Hasidic Rabbi who was warned that a few people at an interfaith gathering he was to attend might say something offensive. His response was “What will they do? They may try to convert me? Then they will fail. Then? Then we will get down to business.”

May we be strong enough in our own faith that we aren’t threatened by those who would convert us, and may we be committed enough to dialogue and service that we tolerate a little proselytizing in order to contribute to the greater good.

Excellence in Ministry

There’s a good discussion on the PeaceBang and iMinister blogs right now about the upcoming Excellence in Ministry seminar taking place later this week. Many of the comments have revolved around the rather substantial and inflexible requirements for credentialing ministers in the UUA.

To be both clear and brief, UU congregations can call and ordain anyone they like to be their minister – you, me, or anyone else. But unless that person is credentialed, neither the UUA nor other UU congregations will recognize their status as a minister, meaning opportunities for career development and advancement are extremely limited. This forces all ministerial candidates into the same channel, regardless of their age, experience, ministerial gifts, or financial situation.

The average UU minister leaves seminary with around $60,000 in debt. This is not only a personal burden, it severely restricts employment possibilities. Many ministers simply can’t afford to take a position with a smaller congregation that has limited financial resources.

As someone who had to deal with the impact of a poor (albeit credentialed) minister and then chaired the search committee that found our current ministers, I have a great appreciation for the need for a gatekeeper and for ministerial standards. At the same time, I have no use for arbitrary hoops to jump through, particularly when those hoops keep gifted would-be ministers from pursuing their vocations at the same time they fail to identify and eliminate poor ministers.

I’ll be following the iMinister blog reports closely.

The Storyteller as Magician

I came across this long essay a couple months ago and have been meaning to write about it ever since. John Michael Greer is the Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). I’ve found some of his work to be helpful (especially A World Full of Gods, his excellent theological treatise on polytheism), but this piece and most of his politics are far too radical (not to mention bleak) for my tastes.

What I find interesting in this article is Greer’s suggestion that storytellers are magicians – and by extension, that we can use stories to work magic. Greer says:

Quite a lot of magic, in fact, can be understood as storytelling. The mage uses symbol and ritual to tell a story, and makes it so spellbinding that the listeners come to believe that it’s real – and then make it real by their actions.

This is something anyone who passed high school English should understand, even if we don’t normally think of stories as magic. Greer goes on to say:

there’s ... the subtler danger of falling under the spell of one’s own story, losing track of the fact that it’s a story rather than the raw undefined reality of human experience out of which stories are assembled. When that happens, the self-enchanted mage may not be able to let go of the story, even when it’s no longer relevant and another story would be more useful.

How many people have cast themselves as victims in their own stories? This lets them think of themselves as innocents who are wrongly oppressed and powerless to change their circumstances, and absolves themselves from responsibility to make things better.

The problem may not be your fault, but you’re still responsible for the solution – after all, it’s your life. Change your story, identify with the winners instead of the losers, with the heroes instead of the victims, with the magicians instead of the muggles. As above, so below. As within, so without.

If we want to change our lives and our world, we need to take a closer look at the stories we live by.

The Public Role of Churches

I came across this article from The Christian Century by Charles Mathewes. It’s a review of Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life by Steven M. Tipton. It’s more of an essay than a book review, but it makes for good reading.

Tipton’s book is a sociological look at the efforts by mainstream Protestant denominations to influence politics and public policy, an effort that has achieved “spotty results” despite “persistent efforts.” You can read the review yourself if you’re interested in the details (and I do think it’s worth reading, even though it’s rather long for a book review), but what struck me most was Mathewes’ conclusion: “Churches are mistaken if they think their main public job is anything other than teaching their laity.”

He is speaking of the mainline Protestant churches, but he just as easily could be talking about (and to) the conservative churches, Catholics, Unitarian Universalists, and just about everyone else whose fascination with politics and political influence has made them forget why their churches were formed in the first place.

As religious people in religious organizations, it’s not our job to change politics. It’s our job to change people’s hearts, to show them (through our words and our deeds) that justice, compassion, and celebration of diversity are a better way to live, that we really do live in an interdependent world and that things go better for all of us when we work with others respectfully rather than attempting to control them with our wealth and power.

If we want to change the world, perhaps we should try spreading our values instead of spreading our politics.