Did you go on a spiritual quest?

by rebel8 22 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Narkissos

  Good points ATJ.

  What I said about the JW episode I could have said just as well about the move to "atheism" (a good measure of which is included in my own "?"). I don't mean (as some theistic apologists claim) that atheism as and of itself is a religious stance. I think in most cases it is not. But it can certainly be deemed a part of a "religious" experience, especially when coming from traditional theism; construed, not as a loss of "faith" but as "faith" (admittedly of a deeply personal kind) outgrowing the notion of "God".

  [A philosophical theist would of course reply that "God" is not a notion and then cannot be outgrown (by Anselm's negative definition for instance, if God is that which nothing greater can be thought -- not sure of the English syntax here, lol; in Latin aliquid quo nihil majus cogitari possit), and I would not argue with that. I would perhaps only point out that practically both stances (affirmation and negation of "God") have to coexist for such an absolute to be maintained -- that any idea (idol) conceived under the name of "God" must be systematically denied for "God" to be "more"; at that point imo atheism and negative theology meet. But I digress... :)]

  Anyway whether (and however far or long) you choose to play the game of reinterpreting your inherited religious vocabulary (including "God," "faith," "spiritual quest" of whatever) or cut the Gordian knot (which you can only do partly, I feel) it is still the same story continuing.
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  Anyway whether (and however far or long) you choose to play the game of reinterpreting your inherited religious vocabulary (including "God," "faith," "spiritual quest" of whatever) or cut the Gordian knot (which you can only do partly, I feel) it is still the same story continuing.

  I had to laugh at the Gordian knot comment, which is very applicable to my own spiritual quest lately. I seem to be more and more on a path of adjusting the location of the knot on any given day as opposed to trying to cut it altogether.

  Having said that, your point about ones spiritual quest, moving from theism to atheism et al being a continuation of the same story is so true.

  In the last 2 months, I have been to about 7 church services, split between the Episcopal and Unitarian churches. (they are both rather liberal branches of worship, which is important to me) Truthfully, I got little out of both. Unitarians are very accepting of everyone and everything. I might go back, I have to think about it. Episcopalians, which my wife calls "Catholic lite" is heavily liturgical, which is the furtherst thing from what I am used to.

  Yet, that liturgy means so much to those raised in that tradition.

  One thing I have taken away is that church and the satisfying of ones "spiritual need" is directly proportional to ones emotional needs.

  In other words, even if people go to church to please god in the best way they know how, it is what they get out of it emotionally that keeps one coming back. If it makes you feel better, you will continue to attend church as it satisfies that spiritual/emotional need.

  I have recently worked through this in my own mind, and it makes sense. Seeing the comfort at the Episcopal service that those received from their memorized chants and prayers was fascinating to me.

  For me, trying to rationalize my desire for intellectual honesty with my spiritual need is difficult until I apply this "emotional" variable to the formula. It is something I am still fleshing out.
• 

  quietlyleaving

  yup I most definitely went on a spiritual quest and Rebel8, I guess I too am an ethno catholic - I wonder if my ethno catholicity conferred itself to my JW born in children. If so then I guess they have the subconscious awareness that some things are mysterious and unkowable and this perhaps is gifting them the ability to engage with alien ideas - we live in hope - my daughter does have this ability in spades and part of it seems to have come from my hubby's family heritage.

  "Gordian knots" - that caught my eye and got me thinking along the lines of bringing in the alien, mysterious and unknowable from my own family tree.

  here is a nugget from wiki (such a mine of info)

  (this is just one understanding of the gordian knot and what it can mean)

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot

  Interpretations The knot may in fact have been a religious knot-cipher guarded by Gordian's priests and priestesses. Robert Graves suggested [ 6 ] that it may have symbolized the ineffable name of Dionysus that, enknotted like a cipher, would have been passed on through generations of priests and revealed only to the kings of Phrygia.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

  In the cut and paste below I've taken snippets to whet anyone's apetite for reading the whole article if curious about the human condition and the paths others have taken.

  re the cult of dionysius The geographical origins of his cult were unknown to the classical Greeks, but almost all myths depicted him as having "foreign" origins: typical of the god of the epiphany, "the god that comes". . . The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. [ 3 ] Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the living and the dead. [ ... The geographical origins of his cult were unknown to the classical Greeks, but almost all myths depicted him as having "foreign" origins: typical of the god of the epiphany, "the god that comes". ...we are dealing not with the historical memory of a cult that is foreign, but with a god in whom foreignness is inherent. And indeed, Dionysus's name, as mentioned above, is found on MyceneanLinear B tablets as "DI-WO-NI-SO-JO", [ 8 ] and Karl Kerenyi [ 9 ] traces him to Minoan Crete, where his Minoan name is unknown but his characteristic presence is recognizable. Clearly, Dionysus had been with the Greeks and their predecessors a long time, and yet always retained the feel of something alien.