Myth as Sacred Story Myths, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica’s article on the topic, are traditional, symbolic narratives that tell stories of gods or great heroes within a particular religious framework which gives them an authority, not necessarily of fact, but of truth. [1] Magical and wondrous things happen in myths, but we need not believe their particulars to gain wisdom from them. Still, it’s not easy to define myth or mythology. Different Western scholars emphasize different aspects of myth, and distinguishing a myth from fairy tale, fable, or folklore is even harder. That’s probably why, later in the above article, the authors admit “it is difficult to generalize about…
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Waking Up and Creating Beloved Community
Out of the Pigpen In my work as a chaplain, I have met many people who could not get out of the pigpen. At Universalist Recovery Church, we’ve explored the parable of the prodigal son a number of times, using it to understand forgiveness, restorative justice, the importance of play, and most recently, the power of having a voice. Today we look at what it takes to wake up, get out of the pig sty, and create beloved community. As you may recall, in the parable of the prodigal son, the younger brother, after wasting his entire inheritance, accepts work tending pigs. He sleeps with them and eats what he…
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The Blessings and Pain of Boredom
We all get bored at one time or another. It's nothing to be ashamed of, nor does it mean we're lazy or dull. Learn to tolerate boredom. Manage the emotions that arise when we're bored. Be interested in your experience, observe the emotions, then let them go. As one experience arises and fades away, another will take its place, life will go on, and you might find you don't need to bungee jump or smoke pot or fly to the moon to escape boredom. Just being alive will be enough.
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Addiction, Surrender, and the Holy
Surrendering to the Wrong Thing Twelve-step groups talk about surrender. Few of us, perhaps none of us, get through life without surrendering to something, but not all surrenderings are created equal. Some lead to freedom and restoration; others lead to suffering and eventual annihilation. During my late adolescence, I saw some of the ugliness that comes when we surrender to the wrong things. On my way to the Midwest, I ended up riding around with a young man who sold large quantities of drugs to local dealers. Some of them lived in homes where the lawns were trimmed and the siding newly painted, but most squatted in boarded-up apartment buildings,…
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Sex, Money, and Happiness
Money Isn’t Everything, But It Helps Before I read about the crow, I thought I would make a simple statement about the connection between sex, money, and happiness. It seemed reasonable to open this column with the platitude: if we seek happiness in that which is impermanent, we will end up unhappy, for that is what I have to say. Yet the crow shifted my understanding a little bit. For instance, although a happiness that depends on human relationships or financial security is precarious, for those of us living in the United States during the early part of the twenty-first century, the sentiment ignores certain realities of living in a…
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Finding Balance: A Treatise on the Power of Music
On Balance and Its Relationship to Acceptance and Anger Before we knew we would cancel this Sunday’s sharing circle, we chose a theme of balance. In particular, we wondered how to balance our need for peace of mind, found generally by accepting that which exists, with our need to change and grow and resist, which requires discontentment, even anger. We’ll revisit the topic in September, exploring how acceptance and anger play out in our personal and political lives. Today, we will focus on the concept of balance. A meaningful life requires balance. When we relentlessly pursue pleasure, we end up miserable, damaging relationships, losing jobs, and disconnecting from ourselves. On…
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Letting Go of Obsessive Goals
As Addiction Takes Hold of Us This world provides ample opportunity for us to let go. In last month’s column on this topic, I discussed many types of letting go. This month I consider what it means to hold our dreams and goals lightly. This is not always easy. Sometimes our dreams and goals become addictive. All mammals, humans included, have evolved to take pleasure in the many substances and activities we need to survive, such as water, sweets, fat, sex, learning, and caring relationships. When we feel pleasure from a behavior, we learn to repeat it. When we get hungry or thirsty or lonely, we seek out that which…
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Trying Again and Again to Change
The Tragedy of Addiction When you’re around drug addicts, whether because your family members struggle with addiction, you’re an addict yourself, or you work with addicts professionally, you will eventually see people die from their addiction. Young people mostly die from accidents, such as car crashes, overdoses, or violence. A heroin addict still using in her fifties or sixties generally succumbs to years of neglect, infections, and the effects of homelessness. Drugs, especially substances like meth or alcohol, damage our brains, making rational thought difficult. It’s hard enough for someone to admit he needs to stop drinking when his mind still functions reasonably well. Years of alcohol abuse can damage a…
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Money, Money, Money
A Disease of the Heart In the 1500s, a lust for gold and silver drove the Spanish Conquistadors to feats of horror that would appall any normal human being, or at least one not caught up in the frenzy of a powerful addiction. Not unlike many for whom their drug means more than life itself, Francisco Pizarro [1] was said to be modest, gentle, and affable with his countrymen or with those who won his favor, but ruthless with any Peruvian who interfered with his passion for wealth, power, and control. [2] His compatriot and cousin, Hernándo Cortés [3] was just as obsessed. As historian Inga Clendinnentells us, he mockingly justified the theft of precious…
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How We Heal
Healing in the Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is full of miraculous healings. According to Tony Cauchi in “Healing in the Gospels,” [1] forty-one separate healing stories are scattered throughout the four gospels, and Mark tells eighteen of them. In each story, Jesus uses a touch or a word or even a bit of saliva to transform the broken and injured, the possessed and the infirm, even the very dead, into whole, vibrant, alive, and faithful individuals. The complete faith that fills those whose bodies and minds have been healed of disease is perhaps the most important part of each tale. Mark contrasts that faith with the ignorance…