Eramosa River Journal

i like what you have to say. it's been years since i was able even to give lip-service to the kind of belief that seems to comfort many christians. i just don't think god *acts* in the world. (this makes me something of a deist, i think.) in any case, i like this about enjoying what comes to us in the moment.

that's a beautiful photo!

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If you haven't read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, I would recommend it. It helped me exorcise fundamentalism and recover a "transitional faith." Her thesis agrees with what you have stated here. In fact, I agree with her. If indeed God exists, it is too wild and incomprehensible for us to relate to the way we traditionally have. And it certainly is not nearly as concerned about us as we are about it. Of course, my motto comes from that book, and relates to my statement here. "These are our few live seasons. Let us live them purely as we can, in the present."

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i've read parts of that book. dillard is such a good writer. "transitional faith" is a concept that surely does appeal! i like your motto, too.

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I was referring to a "transitional faith" en route to atheism. It made the process more bearable. But it's hard for me to recommend atheism to any but the bravest hearts.

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oh, i see. no, i don't think i'm likely to make it that far. it's more like i'll camp for long periods of time in the wildnerness rather than getting all the way there. or something. always in between...

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I see your tent in a very open place with a wide view of the horizons.

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that's very nice. thanks for that thought!

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champdaddy.livejournal.com

Sometimes I find appreciating the here-and-now isn't any easier than hoping for some heavenly reward, but it's a long ways from apathy. Thanks for the brain food.

Have fun camping...

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Working on the here and now certainly is difficult, as I know from my experience of depression and anxiety. But I believe it is a more practical and worthwhile approach than dismissing what the New Testament describes as "our light and momentary troubles." I like this aphorism better: "Life is not a dress rehearsal."

I promise to have fun. Heading to The Point.

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dakoopst.livejournal.com

Ditto what

champdaddy said.

And what a lovely, lovely photo....

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Thanks Stephen. Lady's mantle is one of the most photogenic plants I know.

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rsc.livejournal.com

And I love what it does with water, as shown in that shot.

Oh, and it's the garderner's best friend: a plant that keeps coming back no matter what.

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On Flickr there's even a photography group devoted to Alchemilla:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/alchemilla/

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actually, that makes you a Buddhist, my friend,
not an atheist.~paul

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Actually I disagree with much of Buddhist philosophy. I have also had people try to tell my I'm a pagan, and I'm not. It's arrogance to tell other people what box they belong in.

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i didn't mean to try to tell you that.
especially since i believe that exact
same thing. also, i can't bring myself
to believe in boxes, to begin with.
on a lighter note, how was the camping?
hope you had a great time.~paul

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It was a good weekend. I probably won't have a chance to post anything today, but certainly tomorrow.

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good. i haven't been commenting much lately, but some
of what you talk about i'm frankly not qualified to
discuss. still, i find your photos and posts endlessly
enlightening. have you really pursued working in
professional photography? your photos are certainly up
there with anyone else's that i've seen.~paul

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It would take a considerable investment for me to get started in professional photography, but it is a relatively new endeavour for me, and I don't feel confident enough to take that step.

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I realize that the idea that "everything will pass" is borrowed from Buddhist philosophy, from Jack Kornfield in fact. I do not see how it conflicts with atheism.

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i guess it doesn't. however, atheism conjures up
a different picture in my mind than Buddhism.~paul

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Once when I told a new friend (who is also gay and had similar negative experiences in the church, but who had turned out Christian after all) that I was an atheist, she exclaimed, "Oh no, honey! I'm so sorry!"

I was rather put out. I don't find anything pathetic about my beliefs. I suppose many people consider it a bleak outlook. Frankly, at first I found it lonely and frightening. But that has passed. And now on the contrary, I find my experience of the universe grows progressively richer. There is no limit to wonder.

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that's true. i think the main problem with any religious organization has to do with our stupid tendency to think that organizations can provide a substitute for thinking and judgement. if you look at my user info, you'll see that i call myself a Zen Baptist. raised one way--changed radically as a teenager, and changed even more since then. religion is something that i've usually made it a policy not to discuss with anyone,
since my beliefs are not part of the mainstream.~paul

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ubermunkey.livejournal.com

THREE CHEERS!
ONE FOR THE PICTURE
TWO FOR THE WORDS (very well put, i have a personal belief that right here right now, is really all we have)
THREE FOR THE MAN AND THE MIND. (be well Van, and have fun camping)

munkey
out

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I've had this motto since I came out, from Annie Dillard: "These are our few live seasons. Let us live them purely as we can, in the present."

Cheers,
Van

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ubermunkey.livejournal.com

I like that, by purely I am imagining that to mean softly gently harming none. Of course that is just my take on it due to the place where I am now mentally.

lot o love

connor

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