Notes From Neal

A recent article in The Washington Post on the crisis in the US financial markets ended with the following quote:

“Capitalism without losses is like religion without hell”

While it certainly makes sense that losses are a innate part of an economic system of capitalism, is it similarly true that hell is an innate part of religion?

Can people celebrate a religion without believing there’s a hell? Can people celebrate religion without believing in God?

It’s those questions that caught my attention considering the quote.

I’m going to try not to go into a long dissertation on my religious beliefs, which are steeped in liberal Judaism, with a smattering eastern philosophy, and an evolution towards the independence found in being involved in a Universalist Unitarian congregation.

My moral compass is driven from within, and not from the threat of the eternal damnation of a hell. Religion that imposes that threat of eternal punishment seems controlling and dogmatic, not supportive of the essential humanity of its participants.

My blog gets a lot of page views of the pictures of Touchdown Jesus, the statue behind the Solid Rock Church just off I-75 in Monroe, Ohio.

Two members of my church, Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church, Bradley and Erica, have written an excellent blog about their search for a church that made sense to them. That blog, Church Hopping, chronicles their journey. One of their visits was to the Solid Rock Church, and in their blog they reviewed that visit. You might want to read their article to learn more about this church.

On this cold January day, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a man of peace, who both acted and spoke out against racism, prejudice, and violence.

Below are several quotations from Dr. King:

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”

“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ “

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”

Look what happens
with a love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.

–Hafiz
From: The Gift

Let me set the scene. It’s the Christmas Eve service at Heritage UU Church. A very special evening, celebrating the season and the holiday, in a way that makes sense, even to this old Jewish boy. I’m in the choir, singing baritone and songs of the season. Songs that we have been preparing for several months now.

At the end of the service, each member of the congregation comes forward to take a lighted candle. Since I’m in choir, I’ve arrived early, well before the remainder of my family is seated in this crowded sanctuary. The choir members have received their candles first, and stand watching the procession of those in church receiving theirs. My son, Josh, (yeah, that one), comes forward to take his candle, still dressed, unlike I requested previously, in his gray t-shirt and hoodie.

As he takes his candle, I turn to Bob, with whom I’ve sung for all these years, whispering: “I asked him to wear something a little nicer than that old gray t-shirt. But I’m powerless to do anything here.”

In a moment, Bob turned to me and quietly said, “you may not have realized this, but you’ve been powerless over him since several days after you first brought him home from the hospital.”

It took a few moments, but the point finally sank in.

Yesterday’s article, Onslaught, was about the overwhelming number of negative messages sent our way every day through the media.  Today’s post is about the ultimate message of self acceptance.  It comes from that famous cartoon character of my childhood, Popeye.

I am what I am.  I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.

I am what I am…

Driving to work this morning, I passed two Catholic churches.  Almost completely filling the front yard of each were literally thousands of little white crosses.  A sign at the second indicated they represented the 34,000 abortions this year.

Wouldn’t the teachings of Jesus be better served if those crosses were said to represent the thousands of US soldiers killed in the war in Iraq this year?  Or the hundreds of thousands of people dying each year from famine, hunger,  or genocide?

Sayings of the Jewish Buddhist

If there is no self,
whose arthritis is this?

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life;
with the first sip, joy;
with the second sip, satisfaction;
with the third sip, peace;
with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are.
Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health,
or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single Oy.

There is no escaping karma.
In a previous life,
you never called,
you never wrote,
you never visited.
And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy.
It takes effort
to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkis.

The Tao does not speak.
The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides.
The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others.
The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Forget this
and attaining Enlightenment
will be the least of your problems.

Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
Let your stillness be as a wooded glen.
And sit up straight.
You’ll never meet the Buddha
with such rounded shoulders.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical sensation
is a symptom of a terminal illness.

The Torah says,
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The Buddha says,
There is no self.
So, maybe we’re off the hook.

One of the articles that gets the most view on this blog is called Hell is Real, which doesn’t reflect my religious values as much as it does show some rather interesting roadway viewing near my hometown of Cincinnati.

I suspect that what folks are searching for are pictures of Touchdown Jesus, pictured below:

You can find that statue, also known as Butter Jesus, just north of Cincinnati, near Exit 29 on the east side of the freeway.

But Touchdown Jesus can also be found in a more appropriate location than near the side of the freeway. How about the a mural on the library outside the football stadium at Notre Dame?

I would be remiss if I didn’t include a YouTube video by comedian Heywood Banks about that same Big Butter Jesus.

To provide better customer service, this blog will be monitored for quality assurance.

Oopss! Wrong medium.
What I meant to say was: “to provide better customer service on this topic, here are a couple other links.”

• Mega-Messiahs
  
• Article in WikiPedia

Within the last few minutes, folks, I received an email from Jesus. I can’t imagine it was from anyone other than that Jesus. I mean who else would dare to use that name? It’s gotta be copyrighted somewhere like The Vatican, wouldn’t you think?

Anyhow, the subject of my email from Jesus is “watch this prices”, only convincing me even more that it’s authentic, because we all know that Jesus came from Palestine and probably wasn’t all that facile in the English language. They did have English back in his days didn’t they? Of course they did.

By now, I’m sure you’re so darn curious about why Jesus might be sending me an email. Well, according to the email, Jesus has evolved quite a bit from preaching about doing the right thing, love your neighbor and all that do-gooder stuff. Apparently he has gone into sales, like the good Jewish boy that he is. And in this email, at least, he’s selling good drugs, well at least for us old guys:

• Viagra
• Viagra Soft Tabs
• Cialis
• Cialis Soft Tabs
• Viagra Jelly (no peanut butter to go with it?)
• Levitra

Wow! Great inventory! Probably good prices! Stuff to harden you up just when you really need it.

That’s all I know. But if you need that kind of stuff “when the time is right”, Jesus would seem like a reputable and reliable source. You really couldn’t go wrong. I just wish I could pass along his email in case you had a question or two to ask, but when I looked, it must not have been the right one. Someone probably stole his, poor guy.