Ahhh! Springtime in Nebraska!

Spring has sprung,

The grass is riz,

I wonder where all the birdies is. --Author Unknown

Here's a meme I stole from Mrs. T at Chucheria: Feel free to do the same. What you do is go to photobucket.com and use a photo from the first page of your search for the answers to the following questions: (Clear as mud? good)

What is your relationship status?

What is your current mood? Who is your favorite group/artist?

What is your favorite movie?

What kind of pet(s) do you have?

Where do you live?

Where do you work?

What do you look like?

What do you drive?

What did you do last night?

What is your favorite television show?

Describe yourself

What are you doing tomorrow?

What is your name?

What is your favorite candy?

Tell me all your thoughts on God...

I saw my therapist on Saturday, for the first time in about a month. I was grateful to have this kind, non-judgemental, and understanding woman's ear for an hour. We covered a wide swath of topics in that short period. (I have a talent for that- jumping from the Catholic church, to my mother, to blogging, to dogs, in a matter or mere seconds!)

The thread that ties all these topics together is spirit. It is my spirit- my inner most self, the essence of what makes Sojourner Sojourner- that leads me, guides me, DRAWS me to everything I do, think, or say. My spirit is the part that longs for community, longs for experiences which germinate the seeds of life, longs to reach out to the light and warmth of the sun, to interact with the other spirits and forces around me to generate love, life, and more light. It is my spirit that toils for healing, strives for connection with the Church, my mother, other sojourners, and even the animals around me.

What, or who, is the source of this longing? There are some very complex dichotomies here. I don't even know if I can put them into words. The source of our being is Creator, the core of our being is Creator, is Creator, then, the source of this longing? Therefore, is longing the nature or our being? Longing draws us on; keeps us moving in the direction of that which is longed for.

I see from this the reason why spirals are such a meaningful symbol for me. You can start from the inside and work your way out, or you can start from the outside and work your way in- it really doesn't matter because before you are finished you are going to do both, over and over again. The whole journey is contained in this symbol. All the questions are there.

There we are, fellow bloggers, on a journey, a quest if you will, to fulfull our longings.

Love one another

You have heard it said that when an idea keeps coming to you, you probably need to pay attention? Well, in the past week, at least 3 different people who do not even know each other have strongly suggested I read "A New Earth" and/or see the online videos of Mr. Tolle and his discussion of this book. Guess I better get my read on! Maybe I might find some answers to the "What does it all mean anyway?" questions that I have. Sounds like I would at least have something to chew on there.

I have been given a special gift in the form of a blog friend with a path very similar to my own. We have recently had an ongoing email discussion of spiritual topics that has been very enlightening and comforting to me. One of the topics of the discussion has been Jesus. And Jesus has been a particularly vexing dilemma for me. I was raised Catholic and all my life have bought into the idea that we must be "saved from our sins or we are going to hell and that Jesus was THE path to salvation." Somehow, over the last several years, that idea has become ridiculous to me. I have always questioned the idea that a loving God would allow the majority of creation to perish in hellfire because of one little factor- they aren't Christians. What about Jews? or Muslims? or Hindus? or anyone else? There are truly devout people in every religious tradition. I have met many of them. And furthermore, some of the kindest, most loving and giving people I have ever met have been totally atheists. I just think that a God/dess that could create such amazing diversity in this vast universe, could open up as many diverse paths to him/herself.

And so, what about Jesus? Who the heck was he anyway? I mean how could one man effect the course of history of so much of the world for more than 2000 years if he wasn't God? His teachings are the same as the teachings of every one of the major prophets throughout history. His story is even similar to the stories surrounding these other major prophets, right down to the virgin birth. And these other major prophets: Buddha, Mohammed, Abraham, et al have effected history for billions of people down through the ages for the rest of the world. None of them claimed to be God- and for that matter neither did Jesus. His followers touted that claim. And as my blog friend has said: Jesus is a son of God just as we are daughters (and sons) of God.

My blog friend had an interesting take on "salvation", as well. She said that she thinks the salvation Christ talks about "is the same as enlightenment, liberation, awakening, finding the connection to the vast oneness that is present". Whew! Now that is some heavy stuff right there! You mean we don't have to worry about going to hell? What a freakin' relief- I am being serious here. I have been thinking "well what if I am wrong about this salvation thing?" But this makes way more sense to me than anything else I have read or heard.

The other disturbing factor about Jesus, for me, is that his teachings have been so misconstrued and abused in every century since he was here. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the use of his teachings to justify slavery, the opression of women and glbt people.....etc, ad nauseam. I just can't help but wonder where people have gotten some of their ideas! Oh yeah, we are talking about human beings here, aren't we? But still.... how do you get "believe or die!" out of "Love one another as I have loved you"? If you can figure that one out, I would love to hear about it.

Namaste, blog friends!