Looking Back on a Year

Tomorrow is the first day of the secular New Year and with it comes the inevitable New Year’s Resolutions. While new resolutions have value despite their clichéd weakness, before you make any new resolutions, set any goals or make any plans, let me encourage you to take an in-depth look at the year that is passing.

Since my first year out of college, I have taken a few hours around every new year to sit down and review the previous year. It started because I missed the feedback from school: from kindergarten through graduation – 17 of my then-22 years – I had received quarterly report cards. I always knew how I was doing. I was a good student and most of my grade reports were positive feedback, but there were occasional quarters where the report reinforced what I knew but didn’t want to accept – I needed to make some changes.

More than just missing the feedback, I also had trouble recognizing my successes. I’m an engineer – my natural tendency is to find problems and then try to solve them. But once something is done (usually to “improve” rather than to “fix”) it’s easy to forget about it and become engrossed in the next “problem.”

You don’t need a PhD in Magic to understand what happens when you constantly dwell on the negatives in your life and minimize the positives.

So tomorrow I will continue this practice of looking back at the previous year and I encourage you to do the same. Some years it takes me 30 minutes to do. Those are the years where I’ve kept good journals and have kept my goals in front of me throughout the year. Other years take three or four hours. Those are the years when I got “too busy” to write. They aren’t necessarily the bad years, just the years when I didn’t write. I tend to journal more in bad years.

There are many ways you can do an annual reflection. Over the years my reviews have become less like a report card and more like an annotated diary. This is the format that works best for me.

What did you do last year? Go through your journal, your date book, your on-line calendars, your smartphone calendars, check registers and any other chronological records you have. List everything you did during the year: religious and spiritual events, key dates at work, trips, physical achievements and difficulties, family matters, and milestones of every description. If it brought you pleasure or gave you pain, list it.

What I found when I first started doing these was that I had actually done a lot more than I recognized. In my first year I tended to dwell on the fact that I was unhappy living alone and ignored the major accomplishments of graduating from college, finding a professional job and moving to a new city. In 2010 I tended to dwell on the fact that my job had gotten very stressful and ignored the spiritual work I was doing and the milestone of completing the OBOD Druid Grade. In both cases, the calendar review showed me that in spite of some very real difficulties, I had major accomplishments I needed to recognize.

How did your goals and resolutions go? What did you say you wanted to do at the beginning of last year? How did you do? If you succeeded – in whole or in part – that’s something to celebrate. What did you do well? What did you learn? What techniques or approaches can you apply to other areas of your life?

If you didn’t do as well as you had hoped, ask yourself why? Was it an unrealistic goal to begin with? Was it something you didn’t really want to do but felt like you “should” do? Did something unexpected interfere?

The purpose isn’t to beat yourself up over “failure.” The purpose is to help you do a better job of aligning your goals and plans for the coming year – as the old saying goes, wise people learn from their mistakes.

If the goal was a good one and you didn’t achieve it, what can you do differently next time? “Try harder” isn’t likely to product better results. What new approaches can you try? What new support can you arrange? What new feedback can you get? How can you prepare for the next unplanned interference?

Arrange your goals and activities into major categories. I have six major categories:

1. Financial – income and expenses, savings and investments. Did I live on a balanced budget? Did I save for contingencies and retirement? How am I doing toward my long-term goals?
2. Physical – how’s my weight, cholesterol and other measurables? How much did I exercise? Did I do anything noteworthy or have any issues that need to be monitored or addressed?
3. Professional – how’s my job going? Am I getting the results that make me valuable? Am I maintaining and growing my skill set? Do I need to be looking for something else?
4. Social – what did I do to form and strengthen my social relationships? I’m a natural introvert and if I don’t make this a priority I’ll spend too much time at home in front of the computer.
5. Spiritual – how was my daily spiritual practice? What did I learn? Who did I serve? How is my relationship with my gods and goddesses and with others in my spiritual community?
6. Family – how’s my relationship with my spouse? With my family of blood? With my family of choice?

You may have other categories – these are mine. Over the years I’ve added some and deleted others.

The category review has two purposes. First, it forces you to think about what general areas of life are important to you. What’s not a category is just as important as what is. Second, it lets you see where you’re actually spending your time, money, and energy. If you say your family is the most important thing to you but have a page on Financial, a half page on Professional and two lines on Family, maybe you need to reconsider your priorities – or at least be honest with yourself about what your priorities really are.

What progress did you make toward your long-term goals? What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to be five years from now? What are your dreams? What is your True Will? The more clearly you can define these goals the better, but a even if all you have is a vague idea you can still take steps in that general direction.

What did you do toward making those dreams a reality? What progress did you make? Did you learn something that helped you more precisely define what you really want, to more clearly understand why you’re here in this world?

Summary. I find it helpful to summarize the year in a couple sentences, to find the theme that ran through the year, to extract what wisdom I can from it. I know others who think that’s oversimplifying a complex matter, but it helps me close out the old year and get ready for the new year.

Now that you’ve taken a good, hard, in-depth look at the last year, you’re ready to set goals and make resolutions for next year.

The End Is Nigh

The Pyramid of the Magician - Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico

A lot of people used December 21, 2011 to look forward 366 days (leap year next year) to the Winter Solstice of 2012, which some believe the Mayans predicted would be the end of the world. Or the end of an era. Or the beginning of a new cycle. Or something else big and important.

Almost all the articles I came across were debunking the prophecy in one fashion or another. Jason Boyett of the Washington Post’s On Faith blog says:

Maybe you’ve heard that the Mayan calendar is coming to an end. That’s no more accurate than saying your car will come to an end when it passes 99,999.9 on the odometer. Just like our calendars, when the Long Count completes an interval it rolls over and starts counting again. The “end” doesn’t matter.

An ABC News report quotes Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia:

The Maya are viewed by many westerners as exotic folks that were supposed to have had some special, secret knowledge … What happens is that our expectations and fears get projected on the Maya calendar.

John Michael Greer addressed this in his most recent Archdruid Report:

One year from now is December 21, 2012, a date onto which quite a few people have piled extravagant labels and grand expectations, but which will get a different moniker after the fact; the one I have in mind is Nothing Happened Day.

Greer has a new book titled Apocalypse Not: Everything You Know About 2012, Nostradamus, And The Rapture Is Wrong, which is now on my to-be-read list. He says:

The research for [it] was among other things a first-class education in the pointlessness of apocalyptic prophecy. There’s nothing in today’s advance press for December 21, 2012 that doesn’t have precise equivalents in a thousand similar prophecies for a thousand similar dates when nothing happened.

Why do we keep making and believing these doomsday prophecies, despite the fact that they fail over and over again? Greer says:

In the face of a cosmos that generally fails to cater to our sense of entitlement, they all offer narratives that make believers feel special, promise them some variation on pie in the sky, and offer them a good hearty helping of excuses for not taking action at a time in which action desperately needs to be taken.

The purpose of prophecy is not to make either the prophet or the believer feel special. The purpose of prophecy is to enable the hearer to take action, to utilize her or his free will to change the outcome of events.

The world as we in the United States know it faces many challenges: climate change, dwindling fossil fuels, increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and a government that grows more dysfunctional by the day. You need not be a master of divination to see that significant change is already underway. If we buy into apocalyptic fantasies we will be no better prepared to deal with these changes than if we buy into the myth of inevitable progress and expect that science and technology will solve all our problems for us.

What if the Mayans were right and this is the end of an era?

What if we made them right?

What if we started a new era here and now?

What if in this new era people began with the idea that the Earth is sacred and should be treated as such? What if they realized that happiness comes from having enough and not from having more? What if they accepted that our fate as a species and as a people is inexorably intertwined with the fate of every other species and people on this planet?

What if we all – Pagan, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, and everyone else – decided to live according to the highest values we claim to profess?

The world will still be here on December 22, 2012. Will that world be a better place for us, our children, and the generations to come?

That’s up to us.

Solstice Meditation

Tonight is the longest night. As we wait in anticipation for the rebirth of the Sun at dawn, it’s helpful to contemplate where we have been and where we are going in the coming year.

It’s important to recognize and celebrate your successes. You have accomplished much, perhaps more than you realize. Name your triumphs and mark your progress. They aren’t isolated to this year – they’re an investment in your future. Build on them as you continue on your chosen path.

But make sure you haven’t forgotten something important – is there something you’ve left behind you will need?

What have you learned about balance and moderation? Does your spiritual practice make you feel good? Does it also equip and inspire you to make the world a better place? Take care that your achievements don’t cause you to withdraw from the Great Work.

Our dreams can inspire us and show us possibilities we didn’t recognize. But at some point we must make a choice and begin the work of turning one vision into reality. There will be forks in your path. Do your homework, make a decision and then move forward boldly. Remember, you’re striving for real growth and true prosperity. Even if you’re sure you’re right, make sure the prize is worth the fight.

The path may be rocky and the way uncertain, but you know where you need to go. The load will be heavy, but you are strong enough. You have wisdom to gain and wisdom to share.

When the time for contemplation ends, the time to act begins.

May the blessings of the reborn Sun be with you and in you in the coming year. Happy Solstice.

With You Always?

Those of us who grew up in Christianity were taught that God is always watching you. Part of that was to deter you from doing what you weren’t supposed to do, but part was the comfort of knowing you’re never completely alone: “God is with you always.” Of course that only applied to Christians: Southern Baptist Convention President Bailey Smith caused a commotion in 1980 when he dogmatically proclaimed “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew.”

The thought that “God is only a prayer away” is a pleasant one, and many people carry this thought with them when they become Pagans... to such an extent that their concept of “The Goddess” is little more than Yahweh’s slightly more pleasant sister. But when you study the beliefs and practices of our pre-Christian ancestors you find many goddesses and gods: polytheism, not duotheism and not female-oriented monotheism. One of the key attributes of polytheistic gods and goddesses is that they are not omniscient and omnipresent.

Isis is not with you always. She has many areas of responsibility and many followers around the world. She may or may not be able to be in many places at once but she is not in all places at once. That has some serious implications for our relations with our goddesses and gods.

Do you really need Thoth’s help on that math test? Can you get over a headache without Brighid? Do you need divine assistance right now? Whatever the gods and goddesses are they are not our servants and they have better things to do than to tend to our whims. Sometimes they share their plans (or parts of them) and sometimes they don’t, but whatever their goals this much is clear – your happiness is not at the top of their lists. If they lift you up it is not so you can have a nice life but so you can help with the work of the greater good.

Yes, they occasionally bail us out of trouble... and sometimes they don’t. Yes, they occasionally give us a hand up... and sometimes they give us a kick in the ass and tell us to get our act together.

They may not hang around forever. Some people have life-long relationships with gods or goddesses, but read the accounts of contemporary polytheists and you’ll find numerous cases of deities coming and going. Sometimes they lose patience with a lack of commitment or a forgotten commitment. Sometimes they only enter your life to teach you one thing or to get you to do one thing for them and then they move on. Sometimes they leave for reasons they don’t explain.

Think you’d be better off with Jesus? Read the writings of Mother Teresa that were made public after her death. She referred to Jesus as “the Absent One.” She felt him call her to work with the poor, then shortly after she began he left. She never experienced him in her life again. There are plenty of Christians with similar stories – just because they like to say “God is with you always” doesn’t mean that’s what they’ve experienced.

Want your favorite goddess or god to stick around? Put some work into the relationship – same as with any other relationship. Spend time in mediation and prayer. Make appropriate offerings. Learn their stories. Live your life according to the examples they set.

Any ethical relationship should be mutually beneficial. If you’re going to ask for favors or teaching or opportunities you should expect to give something in return.

What does a god or goddess want from you, or with you? Why don’t you ask him or her? And then listen for the answer.

If you find yourself in a dire situation, ask for help. You may have ancestors who will hear you. Some deities are merciful. Others are opportunistic. And you may find you have skills and resources you didn’t know you had.

But if you assume a god or goddess is always there you may be very disappointed.

A Foot in Both Worlds

I live with one foot in the world of science and the other in the world of magic. I am an engineer and a Druid, a corporate manager and a priest. It is not the easiest path to walk... though I think most of us who are Pagans in the 21st century West walk this path to one degree or another.

Sometimes the tension between these two worlds produces conflicts that are difficult to resolve. If we are to live both fully and with integrity we must learn to deal with this tension. I’ve been in one of those conflicts the past couple of days.

I. It started with this blog by Juniper who tells the story of a young woman who had been harassed by a “nasty spirit” and the trouble the woman had in finding someone to help her get rid of it. It’s very good and worth your time to read, but stay with me here for now.

The woman asked Juniper why no one in a rather large Pagan community would help her. Juniper offered several possibilities, first among them that some Pagans simply don’t believe in “the woo stuff.” She’s right – some don’t... and it’s pretty hard to banish a nasty spirit when you don’t believe nasty spirits really exist.

Could I have helped this woman? I’ve done some cleansing and shielding but I’ve never tackled anything quite like this. It may very well be beyond my skill level. I could make a couple phone calls and bring in some people I’d trust to take on pretty much anything, but until the occasion arises I’ll never know for sure.

And Juniper’s question remains – do I really believe? If I have doubts, could they keep me from working magic – or from even trying? Is this something that requires both feet in the same world?

II. Then I had a comment on my No Unsacred Place essay “Meeting the Spirits of the Land” that challenged the reality of my experiences. The commenter asked “You have any actual evidence these creatures exist?”

I think I gave a pretty good answer, basically telling him this is unverified personal gnosis. My experiences of “the woo stuff” are meaningful and helpful so I order my life as though they are real, even though I can never be sure. And since I can’t be sure I don’t go around insisting that others take my experiences at face value. If you want to interpret them metaphorically or psychologically I won’t argue with you. You might be right.

That’s an answer both the Druid and the engineer in me can speak with integrity.

III. Yesterday I came across this essay by Southern Baptist theologian Rev. Al Mohler where he insists all Christians must believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. I’m not going to get into why Mohler is wrong from a Christian viewpoint – if you’re interested, here’s a link to an excellent article on the subject by ReligiousTolerance.org.

When I read this the tension between science and magic popped up again. How can I accept Juniper’s story of nasty spirits at face value but dismiss Mohler’s story of a virgin birth?

Both stories make supernatural claims and neither story can be objectively verified. But when you look at them more closely you see they’re very different stories told for very different purposes and making very different claims to truth.

The Pagan story relates a personal experience to tell us we should be respectful of other people’s beliefs – this woman believed she was being harassed by a spirit and she didn’t get relief until she found someone who took her seriously. This story understands that unverified personal gnosis can be very meaningful but it cannot be used as a basis for universal Truth. While some people may have similar experiences, some do not and others have contradictory experiences, none of which can be objectively confirmed or rejected.

The Calvinist (I refuse to lump conscientious followers of Jesus in with fundamentalist Bible-worshippers) story relates a mythical experience and tells us we must believe it happened literally, not because the evidence for it is so strong but because if it did not happen literally then the whole doctrine on which Calvinist Christianity is based will come crashing down. It claims a literal certainty it cannot support and threatens its hearers with eternal damnation if they don’t believe it anyway.

It is not the story of the virgin birth of Jesus I reject or even its possibility. It is the certainty of a literal virgin birth I cannot accept.

IV. These incidents illustrate a major challenge for Pagans living in the 21st century West. We understand the difference between literal truth and mythical truth. We understand unverified personal gnosis – its meanings and its limitations. We walk easily with one foot in the world of science and the other in the world of magic.

But when we step into the circle or when we invoke our gods and goddesses or when we are called on to banish a troublesome spirit we must have both feet in the same world. For that time outside of time in that place not a place we must have the confidence that everything we see and hear and do and say is absolutely real.

During an invocation is not the time to debate whether our deities are individuals or aspects or archetypes – at that time they simply ARE. During a working is not the time to debate whether a spell is directed energy or divine intercession or psychological programming or all of the above – at that time it simply IS.

Don’t try to banish your doubts and don’t try to pretend you don’t have them. Go down that route and you’ll end up believing that if a virgin didn’t give birth your whole religion is worthless. Simply set your doubts aside while you’re in the circle. For that time take a hint from the Buddhists: just be, just do, just experience. Don’t judge and don’t evaluate. Commune with your gods and ancestors. Journey to other worlds. Work magic.

After the circle, pick up your doubts and put one foot back in the world of science. You had the experiences – that makes them real. Contemplate them and decide what interpretation is most meaningful and helpful for you.

V. Some people can’t set foot in the world of magic. If there’s no objective, verifiable evidence then they can’t believe it. That’s fine – not everyone is called to this path. We don’t judge people by their beliefs but by how they live their lives.

Some people can’t step out of the world of magic. If everything they believe isn’t literally true then they lose their faith. Again, if that’s their calling so be it. We don’t judge people by their beliefs but by how they live their lives.

As for me, I’m called to walk in both worlds.

And so I do.

Altars

I’m working on something fairly deep and it’s not going to get finished tonight. Until then, let me point you toward author and teacher Thorn Coyle’s new blog post on altars. It’s quite good – go read it for yourself.

The important point is that altars aren’t decorations. They’re representations of what you hold sacred, and as such they should be tended.

This is my home altar.

A framed copy of the picture below hangs on my office wall. It is invaluable for keeping me connected to my core values and keeping me grounded during stressful times.

What does your altar look like?

A Religious Community in Motion

Though I frequently write about “community” and its importance in our spiritual lives I don’t write much about my religious communities. But today I want to write about a huge milestone for my spiritual home, the Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

In our Winter Congregational Meeting today we approved the largest budget in the 62 year history of the Fellowship, which for the first time will include a full time minister. This budget is 86% larger than last year’s budget and it is balanced. This budget increase is possible because pledges are almost double what they were last year.

The numbers tell the dramatic story, but what’s important is what this means for Unitarian Universalism in Denton.

It means our congregation is growing. Sunday attendance used to be in the 50-60 range, now it’s more like 90-100, with some Sundays going over 120. This means more people are participating in free religion, more people are learning their religious options are wider than Baptist or Catholic, more people can come to church and sit next to a Buddhist or a Humanist or a Pagan or a Christian and learn from them as well as learning from the minister.

It means a Youth Religious Education program that used to have 6 or 8 kids per week now is pushing 30. That means more kids growing up learning to respect all religions. These kids will be able to explore their religious paths at ages 6 and 8 and 10 and not have to wait till they get to college. These kids will never have to worry they might burn in hell forever because they might not be “saved.” These kids will learn they’re OK whether they’re gay or straight or somewhere in between.

It means all the programs we’ve started in the past year can continue to grow and continue to offer the inclusive, welcoming message of Unitarian Universalism for those who need to hear it.

It means that our members have increased their commitment to the Fellowship and to Unitarian Universalism. A lot of people have moved from being casual givers to being committed givers. And a small but significant number have moved from being committed givers to being sacrificial givers.

When I was elected Congregational President in 2005 I thought we’d see this within a year or two. It didn’t work out that way. We had a “transitional” minister who was a poor fit with the congregation and all our energy was focused on him and not on our mission. There were times I thought about leaving, thought it wasn’t worth the trouble. I stayed, in part because of my spiritual practice with CUUPS, but mainly because I thought the goal was worth the work. There was a lot we had to go through as a congregation, a lot we had to learn, before we could become what we are today.

I hesitate to name names because I know I’ll overlook some people who should be thanked, but I’m going to do it anyway.

To the Presidents who held things together in tough times and led us to where we are now: Dennis Wood, Cindy Breeding, Dolores Nabors, Mark Davis, and our current President, Jim Progar – thank you!

To Linda Tucker, Jake Jacobson, Cindy Jacobson, and all the volunteers who have made our Youth RE program a wonderful, educational, spiritual experience for the kids (and a magnet for their parents) – thank you!

To Genevieve Scott (whose generous bequest paid for much of our building renovations), Barney Cosimo (who did most of the work) and everyone who contributed their time and treasure toward enlarging our sanctuary and making our building more welcoming – thank you!

To Mark Davis, Mary Curtis, Bob Snyder, Theresa Page, Herb Newton, Abby Bonard, Kati Trice and all the other folks who have raised funds and managed our money – thank you!

To Gerry Veeder, Barb Rodman, Judy Smith, Kelly Taylor, Linda Brown, Dolores Nabors, Bruce Jarstfer, Cathy Sassen, Jackie Gibbons and all the others who served with me on our Worship Committee and who have kept our pulpit filled with meaningful worship services, whether by our minister, a guest minister, an outside speaker or a lay leader – thank you!

And finally, to our soon-to-be-full-time minister Rev. Pam Wat, who is an inspiring presence in our pulpit, a voice for inclusiveness and a beacon for justice in our community, and a calming presence in our lives – thank you! It is popular in some circles to claim that ministers don’t matter. If anyone at DUUF still thought that when you got here, they don’t any more.

A budget is a plan and a commitment. We still have to follow through and do the things we voted to do today. But we couldn’t have gotten to this point without a lot of good work by a lot of people. And it stands to reason that work and the commitment behind it will continue and we will be the religious community we all want to be.

Good things are happening at Denton UU. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

How Doctors Die

Nothing I have written in the 3½ years I’ve been keeping this blog is as important to you personally as this article by Ken Murray, a medical doctor and an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC. It’s titled “How Doctors Die.” Here’s one paragraph, then go read the whole thing.

It’s not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently.

Most of us don’t like to think about death – particularly our own deaths. But they are coming. Maybe sooner, maybe later, but we will all die. We know that, but we don’t like to think about it.

Beyond that, most of us have an unrealistic view of modern medicine and what it can do for us. Yes, many diseases that were almost always fatal even a hundred years ago can now be cured. Yes, you can survive a heart attack. My father survived three – but not the fourth. Yes, some forms of cancer can be controlled.

But some diseases and conditions simply can’t be cured. And the older and sicker you are, the less chance you have of recovery. In these cases, “treatment” – which is usually painful and extremely expensive – doesn’t mean you’ll get well. It means you’ll live a few weeks or a few months longer, in (or at least, in and out) of a hospital, in discomfort.

Do you really want to do that? Do you really want to subject someone you love to what Dr. Murray says is “misery we would not inflict on a terrorist”?

Think about this NOW. Fill out an advance directive. Discuss it with the people who will make decisions for you if you’re incapacitated. I did this in 2005. There are copies in my fire safe and a friend who I trust to do the right thing has another copy.

Now, here’s the even harder part. Think about what you would do if you’re called to make a medical decision for a parent, spouse, or, gods forbid, child. Because if you are suddenly thrown into a situation where such a decision is necessary, the odds are pretty good you aren’t going to be thinking clearly. If you haven’t been over this – and discussed it with those involved – you’re much more likely to tell the doctors “do whatever it takes” whether that will do any good or not.

Live life to its fullest. Let modern medicine help you live it well. But when your time comes – or your parent’s or spouse’s or anyone elses – let go.

Live a good life, then die a good death.

Yule Circle!

If you’re in the North Texas area come out and join Denton CUUPS for our Yule Celebration next Saturday, December 17 at 7:00 PM. We’ll celebrate the Solstice and the rebirth of the Sun.

We’ll be in our usual location, the Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1111 Cordell Street, Denton, Texas 76201.

Click the image for a larger version of the flyer. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

See you there!

Messy Religion

Fellow No Unsacred Place columnist Juniper has a new essay titled “This Gift, This Sacrifice” about the offerings she made during a recent Hecate’s Night ritual. I’ve written about sacrifice a few times recently and don’t have anything more to add to that. What grabs me about Juniper’s essay is the messiness of her rituals and her sacrifices.

As a UU I’m heir to a tradition of reason and learning. As a Druid I’m heir to a tradition of culture. My faith is a reasoned faith. I may be a Pagan, but I’m a civilized Pagan... as are most of the Pagans I know.

That’s a good thing. We need civilization. We need the Intellect and the Will to guide our lives and to balance the evolutionary instincts which served our pre-human ancestors well but which are not helpful to our lives here and now. But if we listen only to reason, if our religion touches our heads and not our bodies then we’re missing something – something important.

When was the last time you got your hands dirty doing religious work? I don’t mean metaphorically – I mean literally, grease-under-the-fingernails dirty? When was the last time a religious service got you hot and sweaty? When was the last time a religious observance got you cold and wet? If you can’t remember then it’s been too long.

I don’t mean that our religious practices should be unpleasant (though sometimes they may be). There is sensual pleasure in running your fingers through moist soil, standing under the Midsummer Sun, or walking through the snow. “All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals” means all acts, including but not limited to sexual acts.

We grew out of the Earth. We are part of the Earth. The Earth is not neat and clean and comfortable and safe. The Earth has teeth. If our religion – our beliefs and our practices – doesn’t acknowledge and honor those physical connections then our religion is incomplete. If our religion isn’t one of touch and taste and smell as well as one of sight and sound then our religion is incomplete. If our religion speaks to our God-soul and our Human-soul but not to our Animal-soul then our religion is incomplete.

We are the heirs of the drummers and dancers. We are the heirs of the Lupercalia. We are the heirs of the Great Rite. Our religion may be cultured and reasoned, but at least occasionally, it should also be messy.

If you’ll excuse me, I have to go outside and get my hands dirty.

Climate Change: Talk, Action and Myths

Crossposted with No Unsacred Place. Check it out and read some of the other writers too!

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is meeting this week and next week in Durban, South Africa.  The theme is “Working Together – Saving Tomorrow Today.”  That theme is far more optimistic than most observers of the conference.

The purpose of the conference is to begin negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997 and expires in 2012.  Here’s a link to a 2007 article by the CBC that does a better job of explaining Kyoto than I can – if you’re not familiar with it, go read the CBC article and then come back.  In short, the Kyoto Protocol was intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% from their 1990 level and thereby avoid significant worldwide climate changes later this century.

Kyoto was on shaky political ground from the beginning.  It exempted developing countries – most notably China and India – on the grounds that they couldn’t afford pollution control measures and because they had contributed very little to the current situation.  The United States refused to ratify it on grounds that it would put our economy at a disadvantage to our global competitors.  Canada agreed but has done virtually nothing and is now talking about pulling out.  Only Europe has taken any real action and they’re refusing to go further unless everyone else does. 

Are we going to do nothing of consequence?  It certainly looks that way… but it doesn’t have to be.

How We Accept or Reject Science

According to various sources, somewhere between 40% and 60% of the people in the United States reject the theory of evolution, despite the fact that the evidence for it is overwhelming.  There are two main reasons why.

First, it doesn’t match our subjective experience.  We see dogs giving birth to dogs and tomato seeds producing tomatoes.  We see the results of selective breeding, but in our predilection for simplistic classifications, we look at a Great Dane and a Pekingese and in both cases we see “dog.”  What we’re missing is “deep time” – the fact that the Earth isn’t 6,000 years old but 4.3 billion years old. 

Secondly, evolution doesn’t match the myths – the orienting stories we live by – of most of the people in this country.  The mythology of the dominant Abrahamic religions speak of God creating the world as it is now.  Our pagan creation myths don’t speak of evolution either, though some of them do hint at deep time.  Our ancient ancestors – whether they were Celtic or Yoruba or Hebrew – simply had no way of knowing what we’ve learned in the past two centuries.  That’s one of the reasons we need a new mythology that reflects our understanding of the Universe.

We intuitively accept data and theories that are in alignment with our subjective experience and with our myths.  We intuitively reject data and theories that contradict them.  Some of us will reject them outright, but even those of us who will examine contrary arguments will look at them more skeptically than we would if they confirmed our experience and myths.

The Uncertainty of Science

Lower the temperature of a beaker of water and the water will freeze at 32°F.  Apply heat to the beaker and the water will boil at 212°F.  You can stick a thermometer in the beaker and watch it happen every time. 

These simple experiments help us understand the cause and effect relationships that are at the heart of science and the scientific method.  But they are not proof.  They are evidence that support a theory – a set of propositions about the way Nature works.  For simple experiments the difference between evidence and proof is so miniscule as to be irrelevant. 

The more complex the phenomena the harder it is to establish the cause and effect relationships and to separate correlation (X happens with Y) from causation (X happens because of Y). 

In the case of climate change we have many variables:  atmospheric composition, surface temperatures, ocean temperatures, ocean salinity, rainfall patterns, severe storm patterns, solar activity, human activity and many more.  Analyzing the data and predicting future climate patterns is extremely complex.  It is not intuitive, and it is not certain.  The data supports the theory, but it does not prove the theory.

This is simply how science works.  For decades the evidence has supported the theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.  Now we’re seeing experiments indicating that some particles do in fact travel faster than light.  It’s still very early – perhaps the experiments will be shown to be in error.  But if not, then the theory will be modified.  This is science:  hypotheses, experiments, analysis, theories, more experiments, and the refinement of theories.  If you want certainty study mathematics.

The Climate Change Problem

The theory behind climate change is relatively simple:  burning fossil fuels has increased the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.  More greenhouse gasses mean more of the Sun’s energy is retained  in the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.  More retained solar energy means the planet gets warmer.  A warmer planet means icecaps melt, seas rise, low-lying land is flooded, temperatures and rainfall patterns become more irregular.

Understanding weather – day to day observations – is hard enough.  Understanding climate – long term patterns – is far more difficult.  Like our ancestors who saw dogs giving birth to dogs and couldn’t imagine they were the product of millions of years of evolution, we see that it’s hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter, that some years are warmer and other years are cooler.  The idea that the climate might be changing goes against our subjective observations. 

Is the Earth’s climate changing, beyond normal variation?  The data and the theory – the set of propositions about the way Nature works – says it’s almost certain.  Is human activity causing this change, or at least, making it worse?  It’s extremely likely. 

Will this change cause the calamitous events predicted by some?  That’s less certain, but it seems likely. 

Will the burden of these events be borne primarily by the poor and by non-human species?  They always are. 

Uncertainty Is No Excuse For Inaction

We can’t say for certain if Micronesia will be flooded, much less Florida.  We can’t say for certain if rain patterns will shift and turn the U.S. farm belt into a wasteland. 

But we can say this:  pumping billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year isn’t a good thing.  Burning fossil fuels that took hundreds of millions of years to form at a rate that will deplete them in a couple hundred years (and maybe a lot sooner) isn’t a good thing. 

And we can say that the mindless pursuit of more more more doesn’t make us happier or healthier.

Uncertainty around the severity of climate change is no excuse to do nothing.

Our Evolutionary Instincts – Live For Today

Unfortunately, we have several million years of evolutionary instincts telling us to eat all we can and reproduce as much as we can because tomorrow we may die.  We’re like the rabbits in elementary school presentations on ecology:  when most of our natural predators are removed, we consume more and more until we exceed the carrying capacity of our environment – at which point starvation ensues.

We have more intelligence than rabbits –we can see where our actions are likely to take us.  But frequently, we don’t – Easter Island stands as a clear example. 

Even if we could prove that climate change is real, with severe consequences, and avoidable, most of us would still choose to continue living the way we’ve always lived.  Our instincts tell us to live for today.

To Change People’s Decisions, Change Their Myths

If you accept the science around climate change, if you understand that uncertainty is no excuse for inaction, and if you understand that actions to mitigate climate change will be beneficial in and of themselves, then you understand that people – especially us here in the “first world” – need to change the way they live.

There are two ways to change people’s actions.  One is by force of law.  Although leaders are supposed to lead, in a democracy (more or less) leaders who lead in a direction where a majority of people don’t want to go will be quickly replaced.  Further, unpopular laws tend to be ignored – see our own laws on recreational drugs. 

The other way to change people’s actions is to change their myths. 

If our myths tell us the Earth is sacred, we are much more likely to live in ways that respect and sustain her.  If our myths tell us all people are our brothers and sisters we are more likely to live in ways that do not harm them.  If our myths tell us all living things came from a common ancestor we are more likely to live in ways that do not drive other species into extinction.

If our myths tell us we should strive to have “enough” instead of “more” we are likely to live in ways that have less impact on the Earth, its climate, and its creatures.

I’m glad the nations of the world are talking about climate change and I’m glad they’re proposing real actions to deal with it.  I support those plans.  But I have little confidence they will be implemented on a significant scale.

Our leaders will not solve this problem.  Therefore it falls to us to solve the problem of climate change.

Can I tell you a story about our Mother the Earth?

Happy Birthday Mama

Pearl West, circa 1930

Today would have been my grandmother’s 104th birthday. Pearl Hale West was born on this day in 1907 in Crossville, Tennessee.

She was the only grandparent I really got to know. My father’s father died before I was born and his mother died when I was seven. My mother’s father died when I was nine. Shortly after that, Mama (which is what we all called her – my mother was and is “Mother”) came to live with us. She lived in a mobile home behind our house until she died in 1990 – long enough to see me graduate from high school and college, get married, and build a house a couple stones throws from her.

She was everything a grandmother is supposed to be: warm, loving, generous, patient and kind.

She was a good Christian and she joined the Baptist church where my parents went, although she didn’t care for the bombastic preaching and often reminisced about her Methodist church “where they worship God and don’t whoop and holler.” In her later years she would occasionally turn her hearing aid off when the preaching got too loud or when the sermon didn’t strike her as suitably reverent.

Mama did most of the cooking for us. She liked cooking, it made her feel like she was contributing to the family, and she was good at it. She was a good ol’ Southern cook who fried everything – her food may not have been particularly healthy but it was good. I can still remember her fried okra, cornbread, and peach cobbler. Her Thanksgiving dressing was the best I’ve ever had. Everyone else said she put too much sage in it – I don’t think there’s such a thing as too much sage!

She was healthy and energetic at age 80 but then developed cancer. Her last two years were difficult and painful for her and for the rest of the family. She died at home on October 20, 1990. She was “ready to go home” and we were glad her suffering ended.

I sometimes wonder what she would have thought of my spiritual journey and where it’s taken me in the years since she left this world. I don’t think she would have understood. Unitarian Universalism – much less my more esoteric and mystical practices – is too different from her Methodism, and she wasn’t one for questioning authority or challenging traditions.

But I am sure – as sure as I am about anything – that she would have loved me just the same.

Happy Birthday, Mama.