embracing uncertainty
-
Revelation and Ragnarök
Read more: Revelation and RagnarökOne of the most misunderstood books in history, Revelation (or that third-rate misinterpretation of it, Left Behind) is often used to scare small children, and it is currently being used as a reason to attack Iran. So it seemed like a good moment to inquire into what it actually means.
-
Discerning good theology
Read more: Discerning good theologyIt may seem that there’s no point criticizing other people’s theological beliefs because from the standpoint of atheists, all religious beliefs are equally unreasonable, but different theological beliefs are not equal, and they lead to different outcomes. I define theology as beliefs about gods, spirits, and ethics: how we show up in the world as…
-
Rapping about the rapture
Read more: Rapping about the raptureI’m thankful that I was not brought up with the nonsense about the rapture, but I recognize that it is still traumatic to think about for a lot of people.
-
Movies and TV
Read more: Movies and TVChanging Paths challenge day 27: movies and TV. Movies and TV that changed my mind / blew my mind.
-
Reblog: My religious deal-breakers
Read more: Reblog: My religious deal-breakersMy religious deal-breakers: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 5 of “Changing Paths.” Hello readers and happy Friday! Time to tackle another journal prompt from Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow. This week, we’re looking at chapter 5, … Before I start pulling out my “laundry list” and discussing it, I should note that this is…
-
Reverting to your old path
Read more: Reverting to your old pathA helpful article from John Beckett on the type of people who revert out of Pagan traditions and back to their original path. John urges compassion and empathy for people who leave Pagan paths for another religion, and offers suggestions for deepening your understanding of Pagan ideas so that you can avoid reverting.
-
We need to talk about miracles
Read more: We need to talk about miraclesThere are many wonderful things that we could classify as miracles: the capacity for love, the beauty of a sunny morning, dew on roses, the ability to paint or compose a masterpiece, and many other natural wonders. Many Pagans believe in healing energies and such; but we tend to regard them as supplementary to conventional…
-
Paul (2011)
Read more: Paul (2011)One of my favourite movies — it’s nerdy, it’s cute, it’s hilarious and a fundamentalist Christian gets exposed to the vastness of the universe and learns to swear.
-
At the crossroads
Read more: At the crossroadsChanging Paths challenge day 28 — the crossroads “Only one heart had to find its true position and travel on from there and all the rest would follow, for no matter how isolated the one felt itself to be, in the deeps of all life all were united and no one could move accurately without…
-
Change
Read more: ChangeChanging Paths challenge day 27: change My favourite times of year are the transitional seasons of spring and autumn, when everything is changing rapidly. In spring there are new blossoms and new leaves emerging, and the days lengthen rapidly. In autumn, the leaves turn red and yellow and orange and are blown away in the…
-
Wobbling
Read more: WobblingChanging Paths challenge day 26 — wobbling Spiritual wobbles can happen when your spiritual path becomes out of synch with your religious community. They can be dry spells, when it feels as if the source of your spiritual life has dried up, or the wobble can propel you out of your old path and into…
-
Wandering
Read more: WanderingChanging Paths challenge day 25 — wandering Wandering, like wavering and wondering, is a good thing. There is a whole genre of songs in German called Wanderliede, about hiking. And as JRR Tolkien wisely remarked, not all those who wander are lost.
-
Wibbly wobbly
Read more: Wibbly wobblyChanging Paths challenge day 14: changing paths. Changing paths is a wibbly-wobbly thing. During the process, I was all over the place. It was like having the bends (you know, the thing where a diver rises too quickly to the surface and gets cramps) or being on a giant scary roller coaster ride. That’s why…
-
Guest appearance on Missing Witches
Read more: Guest appearance on Missing WitchesI had the great pleasure of being interviewed on the Missing Witches podcast recently and they’ve just released the episode.
-
Rise of the Nones
Read more: Rise of the NonesInteresting article by Adam Gabbatt in The Guardian exploring how the pandemic has accelerated a trend of church closures in the US: Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline“As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year – probably accelerated by Covid”
Changing Paths 