michal's musings

 This is a new post for me.  It is a first one since 2017.   Just few updates:  - I go to Episcopal Church  - I am a hospital chaplain  - I function as an interfaith minister  - I am involved with the Independent/Old Catholic Movement  - I am a member of the Chicago Zen Center in oak Park, IL  - Unitarian Universalists theology is important to me  - I consider myself a religious humanist   Writing those few statements about myself help me to be more connected with who I am.  At the same time I know that I am more than those few statements.  We are always more than what we or other people write or say about ourselves.   The one thing I want to make sure I keep in mind is that in my way of thinking and writing I stay positive.  I do not have to write what I am not.  I can just focus on who I am or who I believe I am.   Let this journey continue....   

My Appreciation of the East i was born the northeast part of poland in a small town.  this area is sometimes called an orthodox mecca .  it has the largest population of the orthodox Christians.  this short clip reminded me of my visits in the little and bog orthodox churches in my homeland. i love eastern liturgy.  it is so mystical.  there are a beautiful movement taking place during the liturgy of entering and leaving the sanctuary and inviting people to participate in the liturgical drama. 

i pray i find humility in my life.  i need more charity.  i need to love and accept my pope.  i need to love and accept my bishop.  i need to stop focusing on what has been wrong with them.  this does not help the gospel.  i need to take the example from holy people and focus on Christ and God being love. i do not need to agree with the pope or my bishop.  i need to focus on the Catholic teaching - the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  

heresy is nothing new.  i know i am writing about the catholic church.  im a member of the catholic church.  i used to be liberal. but, that only gave me more confusion and no guiding principle.  im not writing that now i know everything and here im telling people what to believe and how to  believe and what to do.  i just try to live my life with some vision.  i just try to find peace.  i just want to have more integrity in my life. i no longer now what to do with the teaching of Pope Francis and his take on many issues.  im confused by him.  i decided to stick with the Catechism and pray that all of us find peace and integrity what ever that means for us.   

The Structure of the Family is questioned and not clear in the Catholic Church.  Since it is necessary for a child to be born through a relationship between woman and man this is the best way how the child should be raised.  In my own family I have a member who is married to this same gender person.  They have children together not biologically but because one of them was married before to the opposite sex partner.  I respect their choice but I do not agree with it.  And, this is fine.  If we are interested in asking the pope to make a stronger statement on the best way how children should be raised, please sing this declaration.  The link is below.  http://filialappeal.org/

Another Interview that I found of Bishop Athanasius Schneider.  Bishop Schneider is from Russia but he is of German origin.  He is very much open to discussion and he is very rooted in the Tradition and the Scripture.  I like his way of thinking about: issues of life, ecumenism, liturgy.  I know it is a long interview but very worthy of listening.  Issues of life: saving children are more important than housing and gender equality.  Ecumenism: cannot celebrate a heresy (500 years of Reformation) and unity with Orthodox Christians is very difficult because of the original sin and the question of papacy. With the Orthodox we are of this same faith but papacy.    Bishop Schneider teaches us not to loose faith, hope and charity.  There is a very funny beginning of this interview.  Bishop Schneider - we are on the peripheries of the Church.  It is good to be there with Christ and with y...

Bishop Schneider is becoming a champion among more traditional and conservative Catholics.   He is trying to help them to find still home in the Catholic Church.   Definitively, it is a very unusual situation for them.   It is for the first time in a long time that we are experiencing the Pope who is more liberal and progressive. But like the progressives for a long time needed to find space in the Catholic Church; now, it is time for the traditionalist to be able to do that, too.   There is a space for everyone in the place that is called the Catholic Church.          

Science helps me with faith.  When I look at the theoretical science I find myself needing this same approach that I have towards religion.  Both systems try to describe the reality of life.  Both are interested in experience.  And, both of them have theoretical tendencies.  This is an interesting clip of a believer in G-d who is fascinated by science. Also, sometimes we say that Islam is not intellectual.  Here, we can find that this is not true.  Muslims can be very much interested in faith and science.  We need to break our stereotypes.

G-d is a subject ... We are not G-d but we are like God ... We don't see G-d because we are G-d ... We participate in God ... Grace is participation in God ... It not about becoming a better human being but becoming a divine human being ... The gift of God is there ... religion brings us into the reality of G-d ...

                            God is bigger than anyone is able to think and say anything about God.  I do not want to even use any pronouns.  When we put pronoun to God we put God into box.  We do not need to liberate God.  What we need to do is to liberate our understanding and our language of God.  I think that the LGBTQ community brings a great gift to the faith groups.  It challenges the status quo.  Recently, two Catholic bishops write two very different letters regarding the Catholic approach to LGBTQ people in loving and committed relationships.  Bishop of Springfield, IL was very exclusivist - no SSR (Same Sex Relationship) people are able to participate actively in the life of his diocese. The bishop of San Jose, CA welcomed people from SSR into a...

Keating says that fear doesn't help to create a relationship with G-d and that role of religion is to help to create that relationship. For centuries religion created fear in people. Sometimes religion can be an obstacle to the relationship with G-d. And yet, it can be the best way to help someone to have that relationship.

Cosmic Christ is Christ’s hospitality … Christ means anointed. Christ’s hospitality means anointed hospitality – hospitality of relationship. I and you are together in union for the moment of being in the presence of each other. Anointed hospitality means that we are in the presence of each other all the time. You and I are that hospitality. That hospitality has been manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what I get from Fr. Thomas Keating 

There are some of us who like to live in a box. And, there are some of us who like to put others into box.  As a religious person I need to make sure I don't do this with my teachers and with my religion and especially with G-d that I believe in. By the definition my believe in G-d does not make sense - One in three plus human and divine. My believe in G-d is above any definition. 

"Jesus of Nazareth, himself, was not a Christian (a simple fact that I’ve seen folks turn somersaults trying to contradict). And Jesus of Nazareth, that wondrous and mystifying Palestinian Jew whom some of us believe was none other than the Christ of God, died a victim of political, religious and imperial violence." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-jinkins/call-it-what-you-want-but_b_9562406.html? This is a very interesting article. It makes us think about Jesus, America and Muslims and violence

It is great that on the land of the Communist Cuba two religious leaders could meet. It didn’t happen in Europe. Perhaps, it is good that they meet in Americas. (I am not claiming that Americas are not about religious wars. Europeans brought religious wars and conflict there too.) Europe is full of religious conflict. It has been between different Christians, between Christians and Jews and between Christians and Muslims, between believers and atheist.   I don’t believe that religion is about conflict. But, it has created conflicts and wars.  Most of the religious texts contain some violence and promote wars and killings: Bible, Quran, Hindu texts, Mormon Book, etc. However, secular texts do this same. Let’s learn from the religious and secular texts what is best in them and not repeat the history they talk about.   

Bernie Sanders speaks about the separation between religion and terrorism. My comments: Sometimes, it can be difficult to be critical of Israel and not be called anti-Semite if one is non-Jew. Similarly, it can be difficult to criticize Muslim terrorism and not be called anti-Muslim if one is non-Muslim. No matter what, we need to be honest even though we might not be politically correct. 

Today I had a conversation about Muslims with one of my Students. He said something very interesting: “They have to defend and separate themselves from the terrorist Muslims before non-Muslims start to protect Islam.”   After the terrorist  attacks done by Middle Eastern Muslims in the U.S., France, U.K., Belgium and other places around the world we are experiencing that the Islamophobia is being more present in the world. People are becoming afraid of Islam which in my opinion is understandable.   It is a time that the local Western Muslims become very vocal about the terrorism and the situation in the Middle East. Every day and every Friday during prayers in the mosques there should be talk against the sin of terrorism.  Western Muslims have to prove that they are different than Isis so that the Western world can trust them.  That’s the truth that is not politically correct but has to be spoken. As a Christian I write: As-salaam Alaikum! 

First, I am not a big supporter of Mr. Trump; however, I like his honesty and not being politically correct. I think he is an important person to our political discussion and without him our politics and presidential campaign 2016 would be very different.  However, as much as I like Trump to be part of the campaign I am not planning to vote for him.  Second, few days ago the Pope in conversation about Mr. Trump made a comment that people who want to build walls are not Christians.  Well, Mr. Trump wants to build a physical wall between Mexico and the U.S.; however, the Pope is building invisible walls between people by making statements like that. The invisible walls are harder to break. Sometimes I think, there might be no difference between Pope and Trump. If we are honest with ourselves, there might not be a big difference between Trump, Pope and us either.  Is this something to be sad about? I don’t know. I only know, it might be a reality of many o...

When I was in Israel the first time in 2006, I attended a lecture at the Great Synagogue.   The topic of it was Iran.    During the break I spoke with an older gentleman about the 6 Day War. He said it was a miracle that Israel was able to win that war and I agreed with him.      Israel was attacked my all the surrounding countries.    This attack changed the mentality of Israel for ever.   During this war Israel learned that it needed to defend itself and that all the neighbors were not friendly to Israel and they desired the destruction of it. The 6 Day War was the biggest mistake of the Israeli neighbors and a support for the Palestinian people.   In my humble opinion, on one hand, there is no way how one can justify 6 Day War and on the other hand not to call it a political and militaristic miracle.  It looks like for the Palestinians that war never ended.  They became the victims of that war which w...

Each time I see and hear about stabbing In Jerusalem my heart is broken. I do not worry about going to Jerusalem or Israel. I am an American. I look like an American Western Boy.  Nobody can think that I am an Orthodox Jew or a member of Israeli Army.  I am a tourist.   However, I feel bad for the Orthodox Jews and Israeli Army. When they are near Old City they have to be very careful. They can be wounded or killed by some angry and frustrated young Palestinian. One can say or write that it is Israel’s responsibility that the Palestinians are angry. Here, I am not going to discuss this situation. Why? Because life is important no matter whose life it is.  The Talmud says that saving one person is like saving the whole nation. I truly believe in that saying. The stabbings in Jerusalem and other places could never be justified.  Innocent people are being hurt.  It is the fault of politicians and generals that Israel and Palestine are in conflic...