Reading Other Voices

Books I recently finished:

Borg – The Heart of Christianity
Spong – Why Christianity Must Change or Die
Dawkins – The God Delusion
Ehrman – Misquoting Jesus
Dani Shapiro - Devotion

I also just finished the Thich Nhat Hanh book (The Energy of Prayer), which took me back to where I started all this - the Eckhart Tolle kind of thinking. (I noticed Dani Shapiro's latest blog post mentions Tolle.)

I feel like all this reading of various voices is so good for me. I emerged from Dawkins having learned a lot but the epiphany for me was realizing I'm able to say no to the parts that don't ring true for me. In all this exploration, I'm finally learning to trust my inner knowing, listening to when my spirit says yes, when it says no, and when it says, I don't know - tell me more. That's the gift in this journey, I think.

The God Delusion

Quotes from the book by Richard Dawkins:

p. 34: From Thomas Jefferson: "Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions."

(Love the humor!)

p. 126: "One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfed with NOT understanding."

p. 187: "Irrationally strong conviction is a guard against fickleness of mind."

Books I want to read:

Unweaving the Rainbow - Dawkins
Why Good is Good - Hinde
Science of Good & Evil - Shermer
Moral Minds - Hauser
The Sins of Scripture - Spong
Godless: How and Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists - Barker
Why I Became an Atheist - Loftus

My Evolution is Speeding Up

I haven't been writing much lately, but not because of a spiritual lapse. In fact, I've been so busy reading, studying and pondering that I haven't felt like writing. Everything feels so up-in-the-air, unsettled. To write it down is to somehow commit to it, and lately I have no idea what to commit to.

I'm still in this process of tearing down. Don't know yet whether anything is being built back up. I read a quote in a novel by Lisa Samson: "As part of my expansion, I have to implode."

Yes, that's what it feels like.

I've been studying Marcus Borg's book The Heart of Christianity, and it has been life-changing.