Belief: Deduction or Proposition

September 23, 2023 by Charlie Hedges − 0 Comments

A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living.” Virginia Woolf

Woolf continues brilliantly…  

Movement and change are the essence of our being; rigidity is death; conformity is death: let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fantastic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.”

Existential Bliss

I am enamored with the idea of Existential Bliss. That we somehow find the deepest of satisfactions within our own core, especially as our core intimately connects with the essence of the Eternal, in whose image we are created.

One way I have accessed this Bliss is by means of pondering what I believe (in the words of author Douglas Adams) about “life, the universe, and everything.” Perhaps, above all other things, what I believe will determine who I am. And so why not give my imagination permission to play a role in what I believe.

After all, Virginia Woolf is so bang on when she suggests that we “… follow [our] most fantastic fantasies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.” In the end, I am the final arbiter of what I intend to believe and do and say.

Permission to Imagine

I am loving giving myself permission to invent and create meaning and truth. After all, I am what I believe. Truly, despite our current love affair with Post Enlightenment propositions of “scientific fact,” most of us nevertheless depend on imagination and mystery as surrogates for truth… or is it… faith?

So. With all this as preamble, here is what I wrote this morning in my journal to me. Bring on mystery and imagination, not as surrogates, but as the very real thing, the most real thing.

NOTE TO SELF

It is so true: I live in an interior world of thought and imagination, regularly in the land of mystery and unknowing, understood by both story and theological deductions from the Holy Writ. Little dogma originates from stand-alone biblical proclamations. By that, I mean the great majority of doctrine comes from theological deductions and assumptions contrived from the “Body of Work” we call Scripture.

If my supposition holds any truth, then most of theology is debatable. That is, if theology is based on some sort of truthful writings or recollections of biblical events. Because of the nature of divine interventions (including “miracles”), it is easy, then, to conclude that much of theology is preposterous because it hangs on believing the unbelievable. (NOTE: I wrote more on this a few weeks ago.)

For me, theology holds its highest authority in the realms of mystery and unbelievability. In order for it to be fantastic (and it must be fantastic to be appreciated) one must discover hints of veracity—truths residing in the realms of reason supported by the unreasonable. 

Therefore, one finds oneself left in the throes of mystery and the unknown. Believability on a foundation of the fantastic—a fantastic so attractive that one has no choice but to agree with its magic.  

When Belief is Both

True and Full of Imagination

Photo courtesy of WhataWin at istockphoto

#294 Ann Hince: Unwinding Your Past

September 21, 2023 by Charlie Hedges − 0 Comments

Show Notes 

A common subject these days has to do with the trauma… and how each of us has experienced some kind of trauma in our past and, unfortunately for many, it is still a very present reality. A theme I have been working on for a couple of years now, is that each of us is an amalgamation of who we have been and what we have experienced in our past. And very often, that past continues to slip into our present making, us prey for our demons of our past. 

What if we could find a way to manage and deal with negative events of our past that we could possibly we could live freer and less burdened lives? 

Our special guest today, Ann Hince, has successfully developed a process for dealing with past trauma in such a way as to reduce or even dismiss its impact on our lives. She offers some unique insights that we will certainly explore. 

Just a bit about Ann Hince. 

When Ann was 19, she woke one morning to find her mother dead in her bathroom. Twenty years later the tears from that trauma were still just under the surface but continued to have severe effects on her emotional well-being.

As she was raising her two boys, Ann determined enough was enough. She wanted to be what she calls “a calm mom.” 

It all began when she realized that she needed to change her ways of thinking, so she developed a 3-pronged approach to “unwinding her past.” 

Today Ann is a calm mom. I want to find out how she got there. 

LINKS

Visit Ann Hince’s website HERE

Check out this episode!

A Life of Pleasure

September 16, 2023 by Charlie Hedges − 0 Comments

For the main road and shortest road to heaven is run by desires and not by footsteps… By their life he meant their love and desire, which in spiritual terms are their life.” The Anonymous Author of The Cloud of Unknowing

In the Episcopal communion liturgy, it is written, “Eternal God, heavenly Father, in your infinite love you made us for yourself.”

It seems to me that too little is written about the delights (and yes, the pleasures) of God. It is as if God only desires an emotionally detached sort of obedience that leads to perfection and salvation.
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#293 Sandy Stream: Are You Ready to Follow You?

September 12, 2023 by Charlie Hedges − 0 Comments

Show Notes 

Our guest today is author and activist Sandy Stream. In her latest book, The Courage Circle, Sandy invites readers to muster the courage to face their past and step into the life they were meant to live. 

Sandy Stream’s work is built on the belief that everyone deserves and everyone is capable of finding peace and strength within themselves. 

After teaching law for 20 years, raising her two children, and facing a life full of adversities and lessons, she decided to turn her efforts towards facilitating workshops for young and experienced adults to encourage them to live in peace and power.

Today we catch up with Sandy as she asks the question for all of us… Are you ready to stand up for yourself? Are you ready… to Follow You?

LINKS

Visit Sandy Stream’s website at The Courage Circle.  

Check out Sandy’s book, The Courage Circle: How to Live with Truth and Dare.

 

 

Check out this episode!

Love Stories

September 9, 2023 by Charlie Hedges − 0 Comments

See the Bible not as a repository of abstract doctrines but as a source of timely narratives that continue to shape our world today.” Center for Action and Contemplation

For centuries theologians have debated what it is exactly that Christians must believe in order to call themselves Christians. Typically, “right doctrine” has risen to head of the class. Do you believe in what is written in either the Apostle’s or Nicene Creeds? If so, you too have risen to head of the class. If not… oops… it may be the Highway to Hell.
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