This page is dedicated to airing members' personal philosophies. Periodically there will be different offerings from one of our members.

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THIS I BELIEVE submitted by Hanusia Tkaczyk

Right off the bat, I believe that this will be a good spiritual exercise and a challenge to keep it within a reasonable limit. There is a sense of irony about setting these words down. For one of the greatest gifts in my life has been the acceptance of the view that I didn’t have to get it “right” about God. I have the job of continually looking and trying. THAT is what being on the divine path is about.

My beliefs about the Divine, about spiritual truth, about my choices in life changed subtly throughout my 20's and 30's, but the watershed year was my 40th. That is the year that I walked out of my church forever and sought a community that would allow and support my questioning. It was a scary proposition. How would I find the “right” church and belief system? How would I know when I had found the “right” one?

So what follows is a brief summary about what I believe. Each topic is worthy of careful exploration and has no doubt been the focus of many articles, books, seminars, and conferences. So I do not pretend for a moment to do them justice, but I humbly set them forth to share with anyone who will take the time to read them.

I believe …………………

1. …that we are tasked with discovering the paths(s) by which we walk with God. The path may change throughout the course of our lives, depending on our needs and worldview. Sometimes we even walk more than one path at a time. There is no rule that says we cannot or should not do that.
2. …..that our ability to seek and to question is a fundamental quality of our humanity and that it is right and good to use it. No one knows for sure what IS. We are all seeking. I guess that position makes me some sort of Agnostic.
3. ……that there is a unifying energy or logos in the universe. It is NOT necessarily God as a human-like person.
4. …….that no one knows about life hereafter, so I cannot base my life today on some teaching about it. I am attracted to the idea that we are embodied energy and that death is only a transition to another state. But that is only a theory. What I know, is that I DO have an opportunity to make my life here on this planet, on this day, in this moment, something that is respectful, cooperative, joyful, creative and, therefore, meaningful. That much is within my grasp.
5. ……that all of creation (animate and inanimate) is sacred. Yes death and eating other life forms and using them for survival is also a part of that process, though we can make respectful choices about how to do that.
6. ….. that I cannot relate to a patriarchal God based on legalistic right/wrong , power or domination (including “victories” over sin or the “devil”). For me, God (whatever/whoever that is) is immanent in creation - that means that God is within me, you, everyone and everything. Technically, that leans me in the direction of mysticism.
7. …that this means our bodies and our sexuality are part of that divine beauty and cosmic complexity. Spirit living within and through Body is one of the miracles of life and I try to celebrate it.
8. …. that paganism (or Earth-centered spirituality) is the path that suits me best right now, as it seems most directly in touch with this sacredness. In particular, Feminine Spirituality helps me to counterbalance the dominant masculine qualities of my particular personality and Western cultural heritage. This heritage pushes me to perfectionistic rule-following, achievement and criticism (of self ad others). In general, I think that world religions need to shift their emphasis from the rule-based, right-wrong, hierarchical approach to create a better balance with the relational, flexible and creative aspects of the Divine.
9. …….that polytheism is just a metaphor for the various aspects of God and we need not get hung up on it.
10. …….that we are sparks of the Divine and not merely wayward children who are flawed and need to be punished or controlled or ransomed by someone. I don’t like the conventional atonement approach that seems to make us players in some Cosmic Accounting drama between heavenly personalities.
11. …..that salvation is about becoming more consciously God-like, seeing the divinity in everyone and everything around us. Salvation is the process of transforming ourselves so that this divinity is the driving force of our lives.
12. …..that mere living is not enough. We have the capacity to transcend our limitations and put divinity into action. That is why we need ritual to embody spirit beliefs and really let us feel it (not just listen to the talking head at the podium and nod our own heads sagely). We need social action to give form and shape to Divine love. In this way, humans participate in the creative power of God. (PS - I like Matthew Fox’s Creation Spirituality a lot)
13. … that I don’t know whether “evil” exists as an entity (ie. The Devil or evil people). I don’t pretend to understand what role it plays in the Cosmos, but I suspect that it has some form of relationship with the Divine. I tend to see it as the result of human error and spiritual immaturity. I DO know that when we project these qualities outside of ourselves, into “THOSE kinds of people”, we risk failing to take responsibility for ourselves as potential evil-doers. As Spenser said : We are “sufficient to have stood, but free to fall.”
14. …..that, according to some theologians and scientists, reality is far less concrete, deterministic and mechanistic than the old paradigm teaches that it is. Quantum physics is apparently uncovering patterns in the universe that resemble spiritual patterns of relatedness, cooperation and multi-dimensionality, (not either/or, but both/and).
15. …..that religions need to stop “duking it out” about who is right/wrong, and start cooperating as different pathways in search of the Divine. Anything else is a power-based and spiritually immature trap. They can then get on with the business of living out God’s love, which Quantum Theology calls the universe’s apparent agenda of inter-relatedness, balance and cooperation.
16. …… that my spirituality is evolving, so that this statement of beliefs is subject to change and, I hope, evolution.

Thanks for asking.

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This I Believe submitted by Suzanne Hansen

I've wanted a tattoo for years, since I was 18 actually. I don't have one because I hadn't yet found or designed one that I felt I could live with forever. A tattoo is a big commitment; if I'm going to ink my skin, it had better represent something I'm sure about. Also, if I really believe in what the tattoo represents, I should be prepared to reveal it, to literally wear my heart on my sleeve. In the past, circumstances made it simply better to choose to wait on the tattoo but now that I've got to the point that I'm not particularly concerned about being 'appropriate', I've begun seriously thinking about my tattoo plans again.

What I want is an art nouveau banner ribbon on my left upper arm with a word that will stand both as a notice to others and a reminder to myself of something I ground myself in. There are many words I could use; many things that I truly believe. I believe in justice, love, joy and beauty. I believe in singing, dancing and jumping around like a maniac with my girls. I believe in living with less and eating lower down on the food chain. I believe in laughter. I believe in opening my heart and my door to strangers. I believe in generosity and I believe that 'no' is sometimes the right answer however difficult. I believe in people, good food and drink, recycling, exercise and music. I believe that everyone has access to truth but none of us can claim to know truth ultimately. I believe in plans, maps, compasses, lists and a willingness to set them aside when they prove not useful. I believe in the power of education, democracy, and beautiful, properly fitted underwear. I believe in all this and more. My arms aren't long enough. And what would I do about my ongoing process of evaluation and revision? I could quickly have a real mess on my hands or more accurately, arms.

So, what single word could I have marked permanently on my skin? This word is to me both roots and wings; proven useful every day and I believe its power will not diminish no matter how faded the ink it is written in may become. Courage. Say it as the French would; it has greater flair and better reveals its link to the heart. Courage is "the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty" (Webster's). It takes courage to critically evaluate belief, speak it in honesty and then give it life through action. It takes courage to see and accept what might be revealed when we look deeply inward. In the midst of challenge, it requires courage to understand what we truly risk by not stepping into our fear. It takes courage to risk real life and love. Courage: I can live with that.

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Contributor: Richard
Location: Wausau, WI
Country: United States of America
Series: Contemporary

I have a friend who has the answer to what I call the three big questions. He knows how we got here, why we are here and what will happen to us when we are gone. I don't have these answers, and it doesn't bother me that I don't. I thrive on the mystery of life.

I was raised in a small Lutheran church nestled in the hills of rural Wisconsin. A cemetery rife with Scandinavian surnames abuts the church. Hanson. Halverson. Jensen. Peterson. Olson. My mother's grave is there. My father's will be, too. Mine will not.

I attended Sunday school and was confirmed in that Lutheran church. I have memories of youth hayrides, ice cream socials and church picnics. I also have memories of esoteric lessons, lessons that when challenged, brought a terse ''just believe it'' response. I am grateful that my parents introduced me to Christianity, for I live in a culture heavily influenced by Christianity.

My subsequent university life exposed me to new ideas. But it wasn't easy to erase my endocrination. I recall the time when a religious activist handed me a brochure about Jesus. I accepted the brochure but tossed it in a waste basket, only to return out of guilt to retrieve it. Change comes slowly.

I use the term Christian to describe myself. I am an ethical Christian, for I try to follow the ideals that Jesus supposedly espoused. I am not a theological Christian, however, for I don't believe that Jesus was divine. He may have been a great teacher, maybe even a prophet, but that's as far as I go. I now embrace the Unitarian Universalist faith, a faith that, among many things, promotes religious tolerance, the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and justice and equality in human relations.

My friend believes in Heaven and Hell. I don't. That is, I don't believe in Heaven and Hell with a capital H.

Just moments ago, an unwed mother in Ethiopia gave birth to another child. The father? Absent. She will spend her day counting grains of rice. If her children do not die of hunger, they will die of AIDS, violence or war. Her life is a living hell, right here on earth.

Just moments ago, in an upscale Chicago suburb, another woman gave birth. Mother and child are both doing well. Father is beaming with joy. The child with have access to health care, good schools and proper nutrition. Some call this heaven on earth.

As for those three big questions I mentioned: While I do not know how we got here, at least in a metaphysical sense, and I do not know what is going to happen when we're gone, I do believe I have a pretty good idea of why we are here, and that is to at least try to make the lives of fellow human beings seem a bit more like heaven and a lot less like hell. This is what I believe.