Pandora’s Box of Paradox
As far as I can determine, I’m a Jungian Taoist who might have been a Transcendentalist if I lived in the time of Emerson and Thoreau. I’m a cultural Catholic who believes in Divine Intelligence and accepts Evolution as fact.
I believe a myth is a lie that tells the truth and in the radical teachings of Jesus that say what we reap what we sow (karma) and that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
I’m drawn to the earth-based spirituality of indigenous cultures. I resonate with the ancient Celtic druids, the poets of Ireland who kept oral history in rhyme, and the Wise Woman tradition, which holds a tenet of “first do nothing.”
Because I don’t believe we are born sinners, needing to be saved, some would call me a non-believer, but that’s not true. I believe in the mystery of the world and magical thinking that tells me that we each have a soul. I believe that goodness is our natural state and that we don’t need the fear of a wrathful God to make us good.
I believe that the Separation of Church and State is what protects our religious freedom and in the complimentary nature of science and religion. Quantum physics and religion both tell us that we are all one, that everything affects everything else, and that dimensional realities unseen by the eye do exist.
I’m not orthodox at anything. I love what is life affirming but don’t always practice what I preach. I feel ashamed by environmental degradation and threatened by national indoctrination. Religious extremism (in this country and abroad) scares me. I love the Sufism of Rumi, the Teaism of Lu Yu, and Emily Dickinson’s sign of the cross: in the name of the Bee – And of the Butterfly— And of the Breeze.
I’m not a church-goer because I generally feel bored and un-empowered in church. Although, I once went to a Quaker meeting and enjoyed the way they worship in silence, but I prefer to do it solo and ideally at sunset or under the moon. I’ve been known to light candles, have an altar and use an oracle, but I’m not Wiccan. New Age is too general. And whether it is called casting a spell, the law of attraction, or praying to God, it’s all the same by different names to me.
I know my sex, my age, my heritage, my marital status, my educational background, and what my last job was. But I don’t know how to answer the question of religion. So, what do I check when given a box that wants to box me in? How do I give name to what I believe? Why should I have to?
September 24th, 2010 10:23 am
We should not have to.
I always add N/A when I think a qt. is not applicable to the situation at hand!
I love this post, Colleen.
September 24th, 2010 10:37 am
Funny how I’m saying don’t put me in a box and have posted a photo of a box. It’s a “poetry box” that was a gift from a friend.
By the way, I don’t believe the stuff in Pandora’s box was evil either. I always think of it as letting the repressed stuff come to the surface and letting go.
September 24th, 2010 11:47 am
The poetry box is beautiful.
While I am not most of the things that you have described here, I relate to your desire to not check that box. It feels anticlimatic to me to take my deeply held beliefs and experiences and boil them down to a checkmark in a tiny box.
I feel the way about the race or heritage question.
I like to leave boxes blank or write in the N/A when filling out forms, preferring for people to know me and not the stifling quiet of a form.
September 24th, 2010 12:17 pm
Yes, it seems like such a personal question with answers that aren’t black and white. I guess I’m on the fringe!
September 24th, 2010 1:57 pm
Sweetly put!
Thank you for speaking to something I feel as well. And for writing in such an artistic way.
You could always do like me, and act outside the box. I cross off what is put there and handwrite in what I want. I like to think of it as writing in another choice when casting a vote. ::grin::
Nicely done, and thanks again!
Lost Awareness
September 24th, 2010 2:28 pm
And I just realized that the box in the photo is not square! I’m thinking I could answer “mixed,” as in mixed race, or mixed feelings, until I can come up with a better word.
September 24th, 2010 4:26 pm
You shouldn’t have to. I don’t like to either and i go with most of what you said.
i sometimes use ecumenical’s following meanings: general, universal, interreligious or interdenominational, including or containing a mixture of diverse elements or styles; mixed.
Otherwise, I just go with – God thinks I’m funny.
September 24th, 2010 7:55 pm
Why check it at all?
BTW: You and I are a lot alike!
September 25th, 2010 4:41 pm
What an intriguing post! I’ve been wondering, what with all the dust being stirred up over the mosque in NYC, if what is at the center of all this is the human need to belong to a tribe. And then to demonize the other tribe. And then to kill them. Those of us who feel restricted by belonging to a tribe are those who don’t check boxes or subscribe to a predictable set of beliefs. So be it. There is strength in knowing that you don’t know – it leads to tolerance, which is sorely lacking these days. On the other hand, those who don’t know that they don’t know are dangerous, indeed.
September 27th, 2010 9:59 am
I check a different religion box every time. Sometimes I say I’m Jewish, other times Muslim, other times Hindu. I also often report that I am a man instead of a woman and 80 instead of 30. People like me are probably one of the reasons that surveys never tell the whole truth!
I love this post, Colleen. I think it describes someone (you) who is a seeker of truth, and I don’t think that there is any higher state of consciousness than that.
September 28th, 2010 9:21 am
I don’t fill out many applications but did the census this year and was reminded of how much I dislike the question of religion. I had been thinking about this topic for a while now and something someone said in my woman’s dialogue about spirituality recently triggered me to feel I was lacking and caused some self-analysis, spurring this post.
September 28th, 2010 9:42 am
Hi again Collen,
I just wanted to let you know that I am a bit surprised that you would ever feel lacking in regard to spiritual awareness! 🙂
I think you have consistently shown your willingness to think independently and critically about, well, everything. Your insights about spirituality in general, as well as your views about your spirituality, have always presented as highly polished, keenly analyzed, unique and powerful dialogues.
But I know how that is, sometimes. It can be hard to see the forest from the trees. But, from the point of view of someone who has kept up with your writing for a few years, I think you are as sharp as a tack, and I am always interested in your perspective on any topic! Super, super smart lady.
September 28th, 2010 10:27 am
The feeling came from wanting more of a heart connection to the world and the sense that I live in my mind too much.
I have always preferred to put things in my own words (and appreciate when others do too) and not just repeat the party line because that feels so limiting and lazy to me. And so the religious boxes feel suspect to me, sometimes cliquish with all the peer pressure of repeating and doing what you were told.
On the other hand, sometimes I envy those who have an easy faith about the afterlife and such. But my way seems to be one of inquiry and exploration through personal experience.
Thank you for your kind words, Poe. I value them deeply.
September 28th, 2010 3:07 pm
In this post you have said everything for me … would that I could it all down with such clarity! If I were to edit this for my own expression, there is very little I would drop. I do wish there was a word for this bricolage of beliefs that gives me such joy in life. But then maybe that classification would end up being limiting rather than taking on new heights and depths from our on-going experience. Thank you so very much for your gift of sharing.
October 6th, 2010 1:48 pm
LOVE this post. i’m so glad i found it through WW! 🙂
i relate.
i’m also in the land of the b.r. mountains:)
thanks for letting me “in”
melinda
October 7th, 2010 3:10 pm
I also love this post. It reminds me of Unitarian Universalism, (one of the best kept religious secrets) and pandora’s blox and Pandora jewelry for that matter.
Thanks!
November 15th, 2010 1:57 pm
Colleen, I think you’ve summed it up nicely in this statement: exploration through personal experience. Therefore those who live this model are <b<Explorers by definition. Bravo! We’ll need a new box ;o)
It is also a very indigenous model, no matter what the flavor. Our ancestors understood that nothing is static… both inner and outer landscapes are constantly changing. And they were free to explorer without boundaries imposed by their societies.
So to explore is — to be free.
Something sorely missed in our current society’s understanding (acceptance) of freedom. Sadly, it’s not even close…
November 15th, 2010 2:05 pm
Add a touch of “secular humanism” to the above description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism
December 31st, 2010 11:48 am
[…] September: As far as I can determine, I’m a Jungian Taoist who might have been a Transcendentalist if I lived in the time of Emerson and Thoreau. I’m a cultural Catholic who believes in Divine Intelligence and accepts Evolution as fact. […]
August 8th, 2012 4:14 pm
[…] 11. “I believe that goodness is our natural state and that we don’t need the fear of a wrathful God to make us good.” ~ also from 100 Things About Me. Read more HERE. […]
February 20th, 2013 9:56 pm
[…] 10. So, what do I check when given a box that wants to box me in? Read Pandora’s Box of Paradox HERE. […]