The importance of Change

The concept of personal growth and change has been on my mind again, something which I touch upon here a lot. It is an important topic to me because I've embraced that change is constant. And even though some changes in the universe can be interpreted as negatively impacting our lives I can't recall anyone actively seeking change which would make their life worse. Looking back we might be able to pick out the bad choices in our lives but at the moment we may have believed that was the best decision for ourselves. When it comes to my personal spiritual growth I have made choices which I believe would strengthen my spirituality, and my walk with my fellow man. Others who fail to understand the reasons behind my choices will interpret my change as negatively impacting my life as well as those closest to me. They say with a negative tone that "you've changed" as if shaming me would shock me back into being the old Sam.

I don't believe it is possible to go back to being the person we were before. We are constantly being affected by our environment, people, and events that it is simply impossible. And if it were possible (say by some timey,wimey revision of history) what would be the point of living a life where nothing changed? Outside of it being incredibly boring you wouldn't experience anything new and exciting, nothing would happen to you. So when others approach me with the "you've changed" look/tone I feel as if they would prefer that I stay in the same state that they're comfortable with, regardless of my personal feelings. They are uncomfortable with your changes without knowing the reasons behind the change. I've gone from 7th Day Adventist -> SBNR (I'm not in love with the label but that's the best I can find so far) and most don't ask what inspired (and continues to inspire) me to change or discuss my journey but instead focus on what was so wrong about my prior religious identity that I had to discard it. When I reply with "it simply didn't work for me" most take it as an attack on Christianity itself and by then any hopes of dialogue dissolves into a rant of how lost I am and ends with them saying they'll be praying for me (I've got a small army of people praying for me). Just because Christianity doesn't work for me DOES NOT mean it won't work for you. But if you're of the mindset that one faith is completely true then by definition it has to work for everyone, and if not the blame falls on the individual and not the religion. My beliefs changed because of the experiences, people, and events in my life. Change was bound to happen and will happen again. So how will you react to changes in your life? Will you fight or embrace them?

Defending God

I've been gone for quite a while mostly busy with school but I thought I'd share something I came across again yesterday. Andrew Hackman, from Hackman's Musings, shared this verse on Facebook.

And the Lord said, " “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. ~ Ezekiel 9:5-6

How does this verse make you feel? Are your initial thoughts to defend or oppose it? What if we made some minor changes to the verse like the following:

And Allah said, " “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. ~ The Holy Quran sura 9:5-6

Does that make a difference? Would you defend one more so than the other, or do you find them both abhorrent? What if I tied these words to Hitler? Would it make a difference if we added context to each of these scenarios? What if we explained that the residents of the city needed to be exterminated or else they would continue to commit heinous crimes against humanity?

The words themselves regardless of the source are abhorrent, period.  The issue some people struggle with is what to do about the source. If the source is someone (or some group/institution) you identify with what do you do with a verse/quote promoting genocide? What does that verse/quote tell you about the source? Are your tribal loyalties so important to you that you would defend the source regardless of what he/she/it may say?

If you can work out some clever double think so that your source stays innocent and blameless while promoting something as sicking as genocide AND still be able to sleep at night, then I applaud your skills in mental gymnastics. I, on the other hand, can not look at a verse like this without feeling sick. Opposing this verse doesn't mean I throw out the Bible entirely or despise the religion (or the believers) around it. I just can't believe in a deity which calls for genocide in one verse and then promises showers of blessings and love in the next. It is the image of a barbecue-obsessed deity, who demands obedience or blood, that I have rejected after many years struggling with questions brought up by reading the rarely mentioned parts of the Bible. Studying the Bible in-depth is what set me on the path to the conclusions I've reached today. (Although, I wouldn't mind grilling with Thor.)