Skeptical Faith

Google Image Looking out our bedroom window, I like watching for wildlife: birds, squirrels, rabbits, the occasional deer and sometimes a rodent or two. I sometimes think about how they are not bothered by time. They have no idea what time it is, nor do they need to know. Whether nocturnal or diurnal, the position of the sun - and perhaps some more subtle signs - tells them all they need to know. We humans, on the other hand, are slaves to time. We use all our technological savvy to measure it down to the nanosecond. America's official time, according to a recent article on the National Public Radio web site, is kept at a government laboratory in Boulder, CO. "Exact" Time And the people there help us know the “exact” time. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “broadcasts the time to points across the country. It's fed through computer networks and cell phone towers to our personal gadgets, which tick in perfect synchrony. Humanity's ever...

Google Image Christmas is not my favorite time of the year. Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of celebrating the birth of Jesus. After Easter, Christmas is arguably the most important holiday for Christians, and I thoroughly enjoy the church liturgies of the season, filled with the Messianic prophecies from the Hebrew Bible, the music that celebrates Christ’s birth and the apparent spirit of giving that prompts so many people to think of, and act in behalf of, others. But you have to ask the obvious question, whether celebrating the birth of Jesus is actually what we’re doing at this time of year. Is it still about Jesus’ birth? It doesn’t seem that way. On the contrary, Christmas seems to be the definitive symbol of the secularization and commercialization of society. I’ve often thought that Christians should perhaps just give up Dec. 25 to the advertisers, the extreme decorators and extreme gift givers - the people who have forgotten or simply ignore the meaning of Christmas....

Google Image I’ve adopted a practice called “Centering Prayer.” My brother, a priest in Kansas City who died in 2008, was an enthusiast and teacher of Centering Prayer but I tried it several times and could never get the hang of it. I started trying it again, first thing in the morning, a few months ago. I’ve been thinking of writing about it but am still a rookie and don’t feel ready to describe my experience in detail or recommend it to others. If you want to know more, my “teacher” is Thomas Keating, a deceased Trappist monk, who has a series of videos on YouTube. Just go to that online site and type in his name to gain access to the videos. In general, Centering Prayer is a way of attempting to come closer to God through relaxation and “emptying oneself” of all the usual thoughts and distractions, allowing God to fill the void. Practitioners recommend doing it for 20 minutes, twice a day. So far, I’m doing it for 20 minutes only once a day. The idea is to rid the mind of all th...

Google Image Back in October, I wrote a blog in which I was somewhat critical of evangelical Christians. I quoted an opinion piece in Rolling Stone magazine about Lance Wallnau, an evangelical Christian who is also known as a Christian Nationalist. The article said that Wallnau “is a leading figure in the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, whose followers believe that we are living in an age of new apostles and prophets, who receive direct revelations from God. NAR believers hold that the second coming of Jesus is fast approaching, and that it is the destiny of Christians to accelerate the End Times by exerting ‘dominion’ over the world.” I then went on to write that Wallnau is among evangelicals, and other believers – including some in my own Catholic faith – who believe Christians should impose their beliefs on the rest of society, and even promote a “Christian” state, and that this idea has been a continual thorn in the side of Christianity, and indeed, of religion in general, f...

Monks at New Melleray My college and much of my post-graduate education was provided by Benedictine monks. For those unfamiliar with Christian monasticism, it’s an ancient form of living the gospel through a combination of prayer – including contemplative prayer – and work. Inspired by references in the New Testament about Jesus going to solitary places to pray, the roots of Christian monasticism began to sprout in about 270 AD with people such as St. Anthony of Egypt going to the desert to find solitude and the peace needed to pray and meditate. Spirit of Balance, Moderation and Reasonableness The “mono” – meaning one - in monasticism implies solitude. Monasteries came later as the “desert fathers” (and mothers) began coming together to pray in common. And a major step was taken by St. Benedict of Nursia in Italy (d. 548). He wrote the famous “Rule of St. Benedict,” which, according to Wikipedia, “has a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness.” His rule, someti...