Tag: Paganism

Red Delicious Vedanta

~ Deb ~ 2 Comments 
Once upon a random
time, there was an apple
hanging by its stem from
a tree, an apple tree,
of course. It was one 
with the tree but also had
an awkward but compelling 
sense of individuality.

“I am one of many apples,”
it thought, because apples may
be able to think — who really
knows? “But I am special, 
unique, and different. I can feel
it. There is more for me to do
then just hang from this tree.” 

And one day, sure enough, the
sticky stuff holding the stem to 
the tree let go, and the apple 
fell to the ground. 

How exhilarating! 

Not even a parachute or a
fireman’s net to break the
fall. Just an abrupt and
dramatic entrance into a 
whole new life. 

“Ah,” thought the apple. “Now
life can really begin.” And it was
a true shame apples have no 
palms to rub together, or ours
would have. 

And so the apple waited. Other
apples were gently picked by the
orchard workers.  Some had fallen
to the ground as our apple had and 
were tossed into the bruised basket
headed for the cider mill.  But our
apple had tumbled into the tall grass
near the fence line, unseen by 
people or even deer.  

“Surely,” thought the apple, “something
grand will happen soon, something
special, unique, and different just like
me.” But days passed and nothing
happened. 

Our apple started to rot and soon
ants were crawling over it so
disrespectfully.  The red skin turned
a deep and putrid auburn. The white
insides began to age into
brown. 

“I so wanted to be unique,” said the
apple, “and here I am nothing but 
rotting flesh. Oh, how I wish I had 
stayed one with the tree.” The 
apple looked up and saw the orchard
limbs bare. All of the apples and
pears and persimmons had been
plucked or had fallen. 

“I am not one with the tree, and
perhaps I never was,” our apple
opined.  Disappointment caused 
rot to come even more quickly. 
Fall became winter.  Snow covered
the apple, which was now not much
more than a stem and a few
seeds. 

When spring thawed the ground, the
apple awakened from its hibernation, 
for apples are related to bears and 
hedgehogs and bumblebees and humans —
all other beings who spend long stretches 
asleep.  The apple felt different. 
It felt green and new. The apple
patted itself down like a sleepwalker
checking for awakeness and discovered
that a seed had taken root.  It was
becoming a tree, one that would 
someday give birth to apples. 

And finally the apple knew —
It was never one with the tree;
it was one with the earth. 
As apple, as seed, as tree —
one with the mother of us 
all.

Why Interfaith

~ Deb ~ 10 Comments

Interfaith is a term that can be used in two distinct ways: first, interfaith can mean, and usually does mean, when people from different religious traditions join together for a common purpose. This is big. This means that people who identify with a religion that is probably more than just a religion — it is probably also culture and family and possibly even geopolitical ideology — decide to love and welcome and interact with and respect people of other faiths.

But there is another way to define interfaith, and it’s the one with which I most resonate. For me, interfaith is not just appreciating other traditions, but dipping into them as I feel called, creating my own syncretic faith, which, truth be told, is ultimately what we all do to varying degrees.

Picking one great wisdom tradition to claim as a sole identity would be like tilling a half-acre garden and then planting only marigolds. It would be like fielding a Super Bowl team with 11 running backs. It would be like trying to write a great symphony using only B-flat.

From Buddhism, I learn zen and mindfulness. From Judaism, I learn history and tradition. From Islam, I learn reverence and devotion. From Hinduism, I learn true yoga and the wisdom of non-duality. From paganism, I learn to honor the earth and recognize my place on it. From Christianity, I learn compassion and grace. From atheism, I learn respect for science and reason. From Sikhism, I learn service and kirtan worship. From Baha’i, I learn unity and peace.

Should I go on? Because I could. So many gifts from so many sources — how could I ever choose one?

Being a minister from this perspective means that no matter what spiritual identity a person claims, I will hold space for hope and divine connection on their behalf, offer my support for their journey regardless of which path they are on, and rejoice in their spiritual evolution, even if it looks nothing like my own. I will love Jesus with them and chant the name of Shiva with them and revere the Prophet with them. I will pray for them, meditate with them, light a candle for them, or sage them. I will accept them fully even as I am accepted fully by the One Supreme Being with whom I have my most precious relationship.

What a beautiful and glorious work is that to which I have been called. I live in a state of wonderment and delight that the Divine has entrusted me with this sacred task.

Peace be unto you. Om.

Life starts all over again . . .

~ Deb ~ Leave a comment

. . . when it gets crisp in the fall.  

That’s a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic “The Great Gatsby.” When polled, most Americans pick fall as their favorite season and October as their favorite month. But, what’s this business about life starting all over again? What is there possibly about fall that could feel like a new beginning? The hummingbirds have disappeared in search of warmer weather. The leaves will soon change color and fall off the trees. The natural world is preparing for the sleep of winter. Fall is the beginning of the end, if anything, right? 

According to the Gregorian calendar, the same one we use to know what day it is and schedule meetings, January 1st is the start of a new year. Close to the beginning of winter.  Most of the world observes January 1 as a collective beginning. But, that particular day is not the only new year. 

February 1st, 2022, will be the first day of the Chinese Year of the Tiger. This observance is also known as the lunar new year because it falls on the day of the new moon between January 21 and February 20. 

In India, the New Year depends on several factors — whether a person is following the Hindi solar calendar or the Hindi lunar calendar for one, and the region of India in which a person lives, for another.  For some communities in Northern India, Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, is celebrated as the start of a year. 

The Jewish culture celebrates the New Year at Rosh Hashanah, a two-day event marking the beginning of the lunar month of Tishri in the Jewish calendar, another event determined by the new moon. The most recent Rosh Hashanah began in the evening of September 6, 2021.

The Celtic New Year is Samhain, the Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the start of the new year. This always coincides with the day we more commonly call “Halloween” and continuing into the following day, November 1st, what Christians call “All Saints Day.” 

Many modern pagans mark the passage of time with the wheel of the year and its eight seasonal festivals or sabbats, including the four major solar events — the two solstices, and two equinoxes. These include Samhain, and although many will use this Celtic observance as the start of a new year, part of the beauty of the Wheel of the Year is that it shows the continuous turning of time thus making no day and every day the beginning of a new year.

Beginnings are possible at any time. Each morning can be a new beginning.  Each moment, even.  If you are one of the many who love fall and come a bit more alive in September and October, then you understand how something feels like it’s beginning at this time of year. So, on with the pumpkin spice and on with the hoodies and on with the autumn decor. Let the holiday planning begin. Mark the calendar with travel dates.  

The equinox has passed and taken summer with it. Fall is here, the air is crisp, and life starts all over again.