Odin’s Eye – My Paganism

February 21, 2019February 21, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

“So when it comes to faith, religion, theology or spirituality Mr. Grey Wayfarer, what exactly do you believe?”

“I am a Deist and a Humanist with Pagan Tendencies.”

Raised Eyebrow

I don’t actually answer this question very often, and I think it is because people who care read this blog and know where I stand. The pagan side of it is more about how in interact spiritually with the world. I no longer believe in following after other people’s spiritual experience, including the collective experience known as religion. I follow after my own and find the spiritual in sometimes the most mundane of places. I believe if there is a spiritual side to the universe; the only real way to interact with it, is to engage it myself.

This doesn’t mean I don’t interact spiritually with other people, it is just I now recognize the truth that spirituality is based in self, no matter what people say, that is the truth of it. Even when people follow so-called religions of faith, the origin of faith is internal and that is the simple truth of it. You choose to believe what you want and engage the spiritual in the way your engage it. This is your creation, even if you use other people’s thoughts and experiences to do it. Or if you uses a religion to form your frameworks, you chose that too.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

For me I have faith in myself, my family, my friends and the creator (if he or she or they exist). I have faith in my relationships that have shown themselves to be faithful and true. Fidelity and Faith are closely related to me. I also have faith in humanity as a humanist, although often joke I do not. I truly believe that things over time are getting better for humans, even though sometimes I wonder. I also believe that there are a number of humans who use a number of reasons to tell us otherwise. They try to get us to believe things are getting worse and that humanity is inherently bad. Unfortunately, the most common means of this conveying this philosophy to us is religion.

Religion:

I have no real problem with people who have a religion. That said I do recognize that one of the driving forces behind every religion I can thinking of, with the exception of paganism, is that were are not good enough, evil or sinners and we need to follow X to overcome that problem. Regardless of the form, religion follows the pattern of:

You are no good, evil, bad or a sinner. Take your pick.
You need to follow our religion so you stop being no good, evil, bad or a sinner.
We will tell you from now on what to believe, think, and feel so you don’t go back to being no good, evil, bad or a sinner.
Please make sure you attend regularly to our meetings so we can keep telling you what to believe, think and feel so you don’t go back to being no good, evil, bad or a sinner.
Make sure you leave an offering to support us.

I still marvel at how effective religion is at getting people to pay them to let them do something they could do for themselves for free. No wonder con artists are drawn to religion like a magnet. There is a fertile ground of suckers.

Even worse is when people get to the point of believing something so strongly that you force it on others. They use political and cultural power to shame, imprison, make illegal and even kill in the name of their religion. At that point we probably need to realize that religion has led people to psychosis.

I don’t have that anymore or time/money for it. None of it.

I don’t think people are no good. They are people who can grow and develop but I don’t assume they are sinners or evil or whatever.
I don’t think people need to join a group to be spiritual or have faith. You can do that if you wish, but it is not required for either of those things.
People can practice their faith and spirituality any which way they choose. There is no right or wrong here.
Spend your money and time as you wish.

Theology:

If the divine exists, I am fairly sure that all religions and thought on the divine, including my own, are fairly wrong about something. I am left to a deistic theology that basically takes me back to Marcus Aurelius idea of the divine is benevolent, the best they could judge me on would be the virtues I tried to live by because they would understand my ignorance. If the divine is malevolent, better to be destroyed by them and not serve them. If there is no divine then virtue still has its own rewards in this life. The best way then to do theology is to simply live in virtue. Live a good life.

But the other theology that has changed is my theology of humanity. I just don’t see humanity like religion does – in a hole and needing the divine’s assistance to get out. Rather I see humanity as just human. I would say we all start our just that, and it is up to us at a certain point to make ourselves who we want to be through our choices and actions. We can grow and find out our true potential or ruin ourselves. It really is left to us.

Spirituality:

I also believe, though it is not a hill I will die on, that we humans have spiritual side. There is more to love than biochemical hormonal exchange. There is something more to loving our children than just race survival. Call whatever that is ‘spiritual’, if you like. For me this has led to me seeing the spiritual side of life in many things: hugs, kisses, making love, enjoying a walk, viewing a sunset, spending time with friends, working, etc. Just living is a spiritual experience and one that I embrace – this is what my pagan side is embracing. All of my life has a truly spiritual element to it now that it never had before. That and it allows me to pretty much have some very cool holidays, and I celebrate other holidays from other faiths along side of them without guilt. A pagan is of all things truly tolerant in this regard. There is simply no one way to be spiritual to a pagan.

Conclusion:

Being a pagan in this sense has actually brought a lot of peace to my life. I know members of my former faith would argue I am deluding myself, but they only drive home the point that religion makes one arrogant and intolerant of humans other than those who share your faith. I also point to the fact that my Four Major Objections to Christianity remain for the most part unchallenged and unanswered.

Truth is, I am at peace with myself far more than I ever was as a Christian. I have no sin to be saved from, I only need to walk in virtue and grow into what potential I have as a human being. I love being a Deist and Humanist with Pagan tendencies. It’s the pagan tendencies that make life joyful.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – The Book of Rabyd 1:2 – “Everyone Has the Right to Life”

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods and goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves, and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here. We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it. Let’s be honest, offerings are not giving to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it. Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never see a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Opening Song: Matchbox Twenty – “Real World”

Come on in and live a little. Take a break from the real world.

Poem: “Live a Little” by ACSK

Live a little? – nope. I plan to live a lot.

Meditation:

A friend of mine posted this quote a couple of days ago. It resonated with me a lot. If it does for you as well bonus. Mostly if people always are interpreting what you do negatively, that is probably more of a reflection on them than you.

Song of Preparation: Disturbed – Ten Thousand Fists (Live 2016 – Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Thought I would prep with this one as it has become a recent Disturbed favorite of mine. This one was also performed a few years ago right down the road from me; so, I have to say that has its appeal too.

Text:

“Everyone has the Right to Life” – The Book of Rabyd 1:2

Sermon:

I am going to state it plainly that verses 2 through 4 are a rip off from Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. But the right to life is still a very hot button topic in this world today and I am not going to skirt around it, but before I begin I would remind people who there are three of these major rights and not one is more important than the other. They have to be kept in balance because they are all ‘inalienable’ so not one of them can be more important than the other. The right to life is simply the first one.

At this point I want to point out that I am making an assumption here in the source of rights. There are actually many schools of thought about where rights come from; or if we even have them at all, but the assumption made by most of the founding fathers was that rights were natural, given by the creator. We will run with that for the purposes of the Book of Rabyd.

The main issue is that everyone has the right to live and that no one has the right to take another life. There are of course all kinds of issues here from capital punishment to abortion, but we need to remember that this right has value. That values need to be considered when looking at those issues. If a person murders someone, then they have denied another’s right to live and I would say also forfeited their own. Our right to live is conditional on the one factor, that we respect everyone else’s right to live. Once we fail to do that we forfeit that right.

The other issue is the very simple. When does life begin and when does it end? It is this issue along with the other issues of the other two inalienable rights that need to be considered when considering issues such as capital punishment or abortion. The main issue for me has always been to respect the lives of others and that they respect mine. Given that, I expect people to let me live that life as I wish to live in liberty and I will do the same for them. But that is a discussion for next week

Closing Song: Sammy Hagar – Mas Tequila

One Last Skaal before we go – Classic Sammy. There is a guy who knows how to live a little.

Parting Thought:

If your going to live, you need to let others live too. To do that you need to drop controlling bullshit philosophies – like religion, political affiliation and tribalism.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Odin’s Eye – Religion Problems – Relics (St. Valentine’s Day Post)

February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

I am going a little out of order here and the original design of “Religion Problems” was to hit other religions besides Christianity. But it is St. Valentines Day, so I am drawn to the holiday because of what we do with it. But in the area of religion, the subject of relics is an interesting one.

Even as a Christian I wrote about St. Valentines Day as being something of a weird holiday when you look at it rationally. I wrote a post on it back in 2013:

St. Valentine’s Day – Maybe I Should Get a Tattoo

From that post I quoted Wikipedia:

The most popular martyrology associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire; during his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. Legend states that before his execution he wrote “from your Valentine” as a farewell to her.

The other thing is his relic: A skull (said to be his) with flowers that bloom from it. I mean according to the church no one just puts these flowers on the relic, they just appear. The idea that this regular miracle builds faith in the Saints and in the faith they served is a pretty common theme in the use of such relics regardless of religion.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

So the question of miracles comes up with relics. I mean the blooming flowers thing would be impressive, if it is true. But notice something right away in the picture of this relic. It is carefully preserved in a box and that box probably has a back door. I wonder what that would be for? It would be too simple have someone reach in when no one is watching a replace the flowers from time to time. Having grown up in the Pentecostal church I have seen the height of sleight of hand to get people to believe and to me the most rational explanation for blooming flowers is not a miracle, but placement when people are looking the other way. That is very easy for any illusionist. I saw people doing this all the time to ‘prime the pump’ of faith. Sorry, this is a ‘miracle’ that may not be so miraculous.

Religion:

I also find it interesting that this use of relics is even present in the three major monotheistic religions. All of them have as a base the commandment about idolatry and no matter how you shake and dance, veneration of an object is idolatry. In the case of relics, this idea of a spiritual force infecting an object, is definitely on the idolatry side is given a pass. because it ‘builds faith’.

Theology:

Miracles in general are often attached to things in my opinion that really are not a miracle. The idea of genuine miracles being possible I do not dismiss, I just also have a very specific theological definition of miracle that is basically an act of the divine that does something both unusual and unnatural. Babies being born, beautiful sunsets, etc. are not miracles by that definition. To prove such a thing would require actual rational observation. When you do this with most relics, you find the sleight of hand and illusion aspects every time.

Spirituality:

I guess from a personal spiritual point of view, I don’t really have a need to have relics prove faith or theology. I engage both with my spiritual side but it is much more internal for me as a pagan. Relics and ritual have always be a bugaboo for me because, I can see that they can be easily turned into something where people are psychologically manipulated. It can have absolutely nothing to do with real spiritual or divine power. Relics are a good example of that kind of manipulation, if you ask me.

Conclusion:

On a lighter note, I prefer the modern version of Valentine’s Day. A day devoted to expressing love toward your significant other. A day where you remind each other how much you love each other. In that respect I can give a nod to the holiday. But relics – no. Just no.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Odin’s Eye – My Humanism

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

This holiday season provided some awkward moments for me. One such moment was when people asked me what I believed. It is about that time that I tell them I am a deist, humanist with pagan tendencies. This of course gets a raised eyebrow. The real tricky part is actually the humanist part that probably gets the most time explaining. My humanism is about what I look to solve my problems. Because humanism looks at the one thing we probably really have to solve them – humans.

Humanism has four basic parts as E.M Forster points out above. 1) Curiosity, 2) A Free Mind, 3) Belief in Good Taste and 4) Belief in the Human Race. I concur with this because the only thing I can actually see and interact with when it comes to my problems and the problems of humanity is human beings. More on this when we look through the eye.

Everything else is just theory and hope. Humanism is the side of my system of belief that engages the reality around me, and moves forward with the best solution that I and other human beings can come up with because; ultimately, it is what we have. If there is a God;and my deism says their might be, he either expects us to do things ourselves, doesn’t give a fuck or is engaged in more important matters than your or my issues. Spirituality might help me keep my balance personally, but it is my humanism that tells me to take responsibility for myself .

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

I suppose the biggest thing of ‘faith’ in humanism is belief in the human race. I am also convinced that Penn Jillette is also right – 1) We human beings always think things are getting worse but 2) Things are actually getting better. When it comes to humanist the media, politicians and religious folks keep pointing to humanity’s failures and it makes it seem like they are the majority. The problem is when you look at real facts, humans as a general rule are good and getting better. The truth is when it comes to having faith in humanity it is not as much of a blind leap of faith as people think. It is those that would rule us telling us the bogey man exists so we will fear and then follow them that paint that picture. Reality does not really do that.

Religion:

Religion in Humanism is negated by a free mind. In my former Christianity I was never allowed to question people’s beliefs, if they lined up with the basic tenets of the religion. I certainly we never allowed to question the Bible or the church. In short, there were certain thoughts I was never allowed to consider. That is pretty much all gone now thanks to my belief in free thought and free speech that goes with that. I can now question literally everything. I now see religion for what it is – a set of chains. Sorry, I refuse to wear them.

Theology:

My theology of humanity has changed somewhat and there is still a lot of questions I am considering. But the one thing I believe in about humans is that they are ‘good’ or at least they are simply human. I don’t have this notion; that is purely made up, that people are sinners in need of grace. What I believe is we are human and have limits but we also have potential, strengths and weaknesses. Thanks to genetics I also know that each of us is truly unique. Each of us then has our own set of weakness, strengths, abilities and desires. I believe that we can achieve great things as human being in pursuing truth, beauty, liberty and equality. I know I am running headlong into a few objections most notably this one:

“Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty , liberty and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace” – Simone Well – French Philosopher (1909-1943)

My counter to this argument is that those who hold the idea of the need for grace to get these things are actually attacking the notion of natural rights they say they believe. If the natural rights argument is true, there is no need for these things to be given as human beings as they are already given by their creator. In my case, I say those things are already present in man and the only question is how to grow them and profit by doing so.

Spirituality:

As a humanist I can say I am spiritual. I am however not religious at all. For my part, this means I have rejected living off the spiritual experiences of others, or the collectivism and hive mind of religion. I seek my on spiritual experiences and to be honest I find this more in daily life than anything else. I do however get an interesting reaction to saying I am spiritual but not religious, by said religious people:

Sorry, my humanism keeps my spiritual experiences in the context of the human experience. I find the spiritual in the moments I am kissing my wife, making love or watching my grandchildren play. I find the spiritual moments on my walks in the woods, when the wind wraps itself around me and when I hear the lap of waves on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Mostly though my spirituality is based on the humanist notion of curiosity. My wonder and desire ‘to know’ is what it is based on, not voodoo, just being a human being that wants to know and experience.

Conclusion:

I know I didn’t really cover the notion of ‘good taste” But it kind of ends things really. The whole thing of humanism is to see the ‘good’ in humanity and minimize the ‘evil’. I achieve that first and foremost by seeing the good in myself and trying to be a better human being. If I can help my fellow human beings in their walk along that path along the way, well then I should try to do that as well.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – The Book of Rabyd – Part 1 – Introduction

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

I am announcing that starting today I will be preaching a series with an overall theme. I get more into this theme in the actual sermon section below but I wanted to announce that this series will go on for quite a while. The Book of Rabyd is a Legacy Project of mine. Something I want to pass on to the family after I am gone. It is a basically a list of Life Principles, Points of Wisdom and Family Sayings that were passed on to me or I discovered and I seek to pass on to the future generations of those of the Raby lineage. I simply seek a unique way to do it and The Pagan Pulpit fits. I will probably make a separate post of it to stand alone, but I want to use the framework of the pulpit to get the inspiration going. Hope you enjoy it.

To the rest of the announcements:

Opening Song: Master of Puppets (S & M) – Metallica:

Figured I start the service with something epic. Probably a candidate for one of the top five best metal songs of all time. Combine it with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and great crowd participation and you get one epic piece and moment in time.

Poem: “Untitled (Never Be Sorry?)” by Caroline Carter

This poem is something that pulls me right now. If that makes any sense? I simply view my past as a Christian as a toxic place and I have moved on. It is hard for others to accept, but their acceptance of my choices cannot influence me one way or another.

Meditation:

Song of Preparation: “Amen” – Halestorm:

I always marvel at people when they use the term “Amen:” in church. Most of them don’t even know what it means. Basically, when you say ‘Amen’ your testifying that you believe that what you just heard is true. With this song for me – “Amen”

Text:

Introducing – The Book of Rabyd

Sermon:

In life I have heard a lot of things. I have also pondered, thought, felt and experienced life. I have loved so deeply that it has led me to mountain tops and the lowest valleys of emotion. I have tried to act in justice to the point where I have fought tyranny in my own life and in the lives of others. I have above all tried to live a wise life full of balance between love and justice with varying degrees of success.

Along the way I collected in my head a list of Life Principles, Points of Wisdom and a Few Family Sayings. The Book of Rabyd is my attempt to categorize these and place them into an organized form for future generations to read. The original version appears here: The Book of Rabyd (All Things Rabyd)

It was written in this form from February 2015 to July 2015. It needs revising. Mostly my faith and religion of the time need to be removed and everything take on a more inclusive form. Because of this there is going to be some of the part of The Book of Rabyd that will be deleted. others will experience wholesale revision and others will be left alone and continue to stand.

The Book is divided into three sections: Life Principles, Points of Wisdom and Family Sayings.

Life Principles are things that are the core to what I believe is effective life philosophy. I have found them to be true the vast majority of the time and form the highest level of the hierarchy of The Book of Rabyd. They are the core and everything flows from them.

Points of Wisdom are wise sayings that I have collected over the years that resonate with me. Like all wise sayings they have their limits and require wisdom in understanding them and application to life. They have been found by me to be rather helpful in navigating life.

Family Sayings are simply that. Things various family members have said resonate with truth and are worth passing on to the next generation. Some of them are from family members that are dead so there is a preservation of memory attached to this as well. This was actually the unfinished part of the Book of Rabyd that was still in progress.

In truth the entire book is not a closed canon. It always subject to review and debate. Over the coming months I plan on preaching it one verse at a time. There will be a second post on Sun’s Day in the afternoon that will be The Book of Rabyd in its pure, non-Pagan pulpit form. But I want to preach it first. I think through that I will gain some addition insight.

I hope you enjoy it.

Closing Song: “Here’s to Us” – Halestorm:

One final “Skaal!!!” before we part. Here’s to us.

Parting Thought:

So true. I ithnk most of people’s personal problems stem from two factors:

1) Not accepting who they are and trying to be somebody that they are not

2) Not accepting the mystery of life and that life itself is mysterious – and that is a good thing.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Odin’s Eye – Pagan Holidays – Oimelc and Disting (February 2nd)

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

Interrupting the normal order of things to make remarks about pagan holidays. This time of year we shift from The time period of Yule which began in December to the time of Imbolc or Oimelc (it has a lot of names, depending on the pagan culture it comes from). The day that kicks this off is Disting which is February 2nd but it really starts at sundown on the 1st. This time begins the time of Spring and looking forward to new life. The day Disting is about the celebration of the souls of women in your family and this was the traditional time that lambs were born to shepherds. So the beginning of life begins with motherhood, even if there is still snow covering the ground. It is a time of celebrating cold, ice, healing and the hearth.

In Viking myths this may refer to times where the Ymir gave life out of the ice. There is also a lot reference to any god or goddess celebrating life, hearth and planting and each of theri spheres is celebrated as well. It’s a time of preparation; so as Winter ends, the spring activities are ready to begin. In Viking society “The Thing” happened at this time as well, which is the time of law and justice.

Mostly though Disting itself is about honoring mothers and grandmothers who have passed on but who still watch over the generations. There is an idea of respecting ancestors of the female side of the line. In this regard I have many women who have passed on that I want to remember.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

I suppose when one considers ancestors there is a discussion of the afterlife. Over my time as a Christian, I was always sure of what this entailed, but these days I have to concede that no one really knows what lies after death, except maybe the dead themselves. Assuming there is anything to know. My aunt who was a great mother and my grandmother Alice fit the motherhood motif of this Holiday. If the pagans are right, then perhaps they both watch over all of us.

Religion:

There is a simple but profound ritual connected to Disting. It is above all a cooking holiday. The Norse Goddess Nerthus being celebrated here. She is the goddess of fertility peace and plenty. Most of the ritual involves cooking of bread, feasting, celebration and lighting of red candles for the mothers who have passed on. Given that chariot riding Nerthus is a fertility goddess, I also imagine couples might pray at this time for children and might go home and have sex in honor of the goddess and the possibility that she will bless them.

Ritual religion has always been a problem for me, but I can get into the spirit of winter merrymaking and celebration of women who were mothers who have passed on. There is a spirit to celebration of the beginnings of life I can respect here.

Theology:

There is probably a theology of after life in every major religion. The specifics vary widely. I can only say that the door to the afterlife is death and none of us really know what is on the other side. I do believe there is something there, but that is all it is – belief.

What Disting does point out theologically is that in the case of sexuality, pagans are very much about masculinity and femininity . There is no gender fluid but two sexes both strong and clearly defined, but there is also a lot of room to express both culturally in may ways. What you have is an equality of sexuality that is dual and so far in my studies I would have to say balanced. This holiday is about celebration of those feminine sexual traits that we consider honorable, and that is something I can relate to very much.

Spirituality:

The spiritual side of me can at least remember the things about women of my family who have died, and it keeps them alive in memory. That is a good thing to do. It is important to remember that legacy isn’t simply genetic. That there is a spiritual side of motherhood and femininity that is celebrated in my heart with this holiday and on February 2nd I will probably take a moment to remember those of my line who were great mothers and examples of being good, strong women.

Conclusion:

I like these pauses where I look at the pagan holidays and seasons. The pagans have a better understanding of the cycle of regular change better than most people. I like that they really have six times of year and holidays to kick them all off. There is also a closer understanding to real life with the pagan side of me, and these holidays bring that out.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – Robin Williams – What We Stay Alive For

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

Opening Song: “Blame Canada” by Robin Williams (South Park)

One of my favorite moments of Robin’s career and oddly enough a song I have been singing from time to time these days. I play a lot of a PC game called The Long Dark. it basically an apocalypse simulator where a freak magnetic storm destroys all electronics and your plane crashes in the Canada wilderness. You task is simply to survive as long as possible. As I am trekking along trying to find the next resource to survive I find myself on occasion remembering this song and singing the verse of it.

Poem: “Slow Dying Flower (poem about Robin Williams)” by Shay Callow

He was the brightest star the world had ever seen,
but no star can burn bright forever, although that was unforeseen.
He was a man who brought joy to all those around him,
so that he never had to show them how his life was grim.
He made them laugh until their stomachs hurt,
even though inside he was full of despair, sadness and disconcert.
Like a clown, his smile was painted on,
only when he removed it did you see the wretchedness in his deep blue eyes; that’s when it dawned
that he was a slow dying flower,
fading petal by petal and losing power
until the day he’d been poisoned enough by this ghastly world,
and he died once and for all by his own hand – that’s when the truth of his life really unfurled.

Meditation:

Song of Preparation: ‘Why Do We Read and Write Poetry’ by Robin Williams (scene from Dead Poets Society).

I figured the man who said the quote today should be the one to say it. plus he adds his own commentary which is nice. It is a great disappointment to me that Robin didn’t win the best actor award in a leading role. He should have with this performance.

Text: What We stay Alive For – Robin Williams

“Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”

Robin Williams – “Dead Poets Society”

Sermon:

“O captain, my captain!” I can’t tell you how much the Dead Poets Society shaped my life. I still difficulty watching it as it is very sad, but if has a theme it is what Robin’s character is trying to get across the entire movie – seize the day, live life, find something that makes life worth living. Write your verse and make it a good one.

I have long taken the message of this movie to heart and this quote reminds me of something I need to remember. There are many things we do to sustain our lives but there also needs to be the things we live for otherwise life isn’t worth a damn. There are many things that are noble pursuits but if you can’t get up and have something to live for then you’re going to struggle.

In my life right now i have spent a lot of time setting goals and establishing the discipline I need to achieve them. But I can’t say the overall aim is simply to live. To exist. There is something in life we must have a a passion for or the reason to live will run out and we will find ourselves much like Robin himself. With no reason to continue.

I for all I am worth that no matter what life throws at me I remember that what I may be doing in life that is noble and good, I remember I need something to stay alive for. So reason beyond life’s purpose being life itself. To go from being alive to living life. May we all find that.

Closing Song: Friend like Me – Robin Williams from Aladdin

I don’t know that I will ever be able to look at Aladdin the same way again or in particular the genie without thinking of Robin Williams. This performance and animation are some of his best work. It is a pretty unforgettable song

Parting Thought:

If I take any inspiration from Robin’s life it is to always make sure I get up and not give up on myself. Something we all need to remember.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Odin’s Eye – Problems with Christianity – The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth

January 24, 2019January 24, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

I have book on my shelves called “The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Gregory Boyd. I know there is a rebuttal book out there to it and one day I have plans on reading both of them, but I stand with Boyd on this issue. I have read many of the founding fathers and there was little said at the founding of the nation about it being a Christian one. In fact part of the issue with the first amendment is this very thing – preventing any state religion including Christianity. No matter how much Christians would desire this to be true, it is not. If anything this is a deist nation or a secular one by design.

In truth at the founding of the country under the current constitution, Christian preachers actually decried the fact that the document didn’t make Christianity the state religion. The called the government it created ‘godless’. What we have is a nation founded on enlightenment principles which would make us more deistic and not Christian at all, as deists in general distrust religion including Christianity.

Most of this mythology can actually be traced back the 1950s. Yes, that recent because that is the time when people still fresh with the accomplishments of WWII with its patriotic fervor and feelings of threat from ‘godless communism”. To combat this a lobbying movement started to do a lot of things, but some of the results were “under God’ in the pledge of allegiance; which basically excludes those who don’t believe, and “In God We Trust” which replaced “Mind Your Business” on the money.

The results of this is a generation who grew up with both of these things and many of them will tell you they have always been there; but they haven’t. Personally the old pledge was far more inclusive and the motto “Mind Your Business” would have been a better lesson of “Mind Your OWN Business” which would probably lead to less offended people these days.

The main issue for me is as I watch Christians, is that they use this myth to justify political involvement. To press a Christian agenda on the nation like they were trying to get it back to its roots. The roots of this nation were never Christian to begin with and the problems this has caused far outweighed the benefits. It pretty much has caused more division in the nation than it ever has unity. I realize I am suggesting that perhaps Christians would be better off dropping the myth and most of them will not listen, but the truth of it is – the Christian nation myth is just that a myth. Believing in mythology as if it is fact has never done anyone any good.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

The painful truth is you cannot make anyone believe something by force. No matter what draconian measures are taken to order people’s behaviors, their beliefs will always remain their own. Their thoughts and feeling on things are their own. Faith cannot be forced and it is the height of folly to think otherwise. People believe what they want to believe and to try to make them believe something else by force is sheer folly. You can only cause outward behavior to line up with your faith’s moral rules. This does not have the effect that is intended; which it to make the person believe, but rather it creates resentment and often underground activities that break those moral codes. The moment people can shake those moral codes off they do. Religious dictatorships end in revolution and rejection as historically they are the most brutal along side of communist ones.

Religion:

Historically, there is really only one reason to claim something is about God and that it to give you such moral authority, that people never question your real motives. Christians invoking the Christian nation myth, often claim that their actions are trying to get the nation back to its roots. But the root of this nation are deistic and rational, not Christian and emotional. Christians use the myth (which is a falsehood) to secure certain support politically and this is more about marrying their religion to the state which is something the 1st amendment strictly forbids.

Theology:

I have never been sure about the theology of this. Part of Catholic theology has had the theology of violent overthrow of government that oppressive, but this theology has never been official sanctioned. On the flip side if one can through democratic means enlist this idea then the church has never been reluctant to join themselves to the state with past theologies like the divine right of kings and for Protestants in America – manifest destiny. Almost always the theological paring of faith and state has disastrous consequences for some other group of people who the people of faith dislike. They then use the state to not only do the dirty work of oppression but often engage in murder, theft and rape while they do so.

Theologically speaking, Christians some to forget that whole ‘love thy neighbor’ commandment. Through their marriage to the state they can eliminate their enemies and opponents using the state, while all the while claiming to love the people they are eliminating. It’s a relationship that allows power while at the same time claiming something else. No church-state marriage has ended without they happy couple destroying someone else that the church claims to love, while at the same time sanctioning the state doing the killing.

Spirituality:

I don’t have time for this anymore. My main concern as a deist is that all faiths have equal voice and that no one faith gains so much power it can eliminate the others. Spiritually my humanism hits here as well. I was Born on Earth, I am one member of the human race. My politics are to be free and let others be free as well. My religion is simply to love. Yeah, that sounds actually like more of what the founders were aiming for and doesn’t involve propagating the mythology of the United States being a Christian Nation.

Conclusion:

I used start each church service with the pledge of allegiance, and we were very patriotic. I however knew for a long time that the Christian nation thing was a new addition historically. I am ultimately glad to be rid of it. It doesn’t need to be Christian nation to be a good nation. It needs to respect my rights and liberties and the rights and liberties of my fellow citizens more than anything else. Part of that is not allowing Christianity to be the state religion because as always it will abuse such power. This myth is one of the ways it seeks such power and it needs to be called out for what it is – mythology.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Odin’s Eye – Bible Problems: General Issues and Introduction

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

Odin’s Eye is about a lot of things but every eight weeks or so one thing it will be about is taking on the Bible. I fairly sure that my Alma Maters of Trinity Bible College and Asbury Theological Seminary will not be proud of me during these posts, because I will be using knowledge I gained from earning my degrees with them and then turning it against them, but I know I am not alone in this department with either.

The amount of people who go to school to become ministers or Bible scholars and then turn their back on the faith is legion. In fact, one of the atheist contentions is that the Bible itself is one of the best breeding grounds for atheism or at least non-belief in Christianity is probably true. When you read the Bible objectively through the eyes of reason; you have to conclude ultimately it is a work of human beings and whether or not the divine has anything to do with its existence is pretty much a matter of opinion and blind faith.

I am not an atheist, but I get the contention and it is valid. In general, the Bible has some very basic problems that in my opinion point not to a divine authorship but a human one where human beings are giving their opinions about how god operates, giving an account where the author believes he (there are no female authors of the Bible) or someone else encountered God or wrote with the intention of ordering society using God as the authority to hush opposition to their plan. The nature of these problems are as follows:

Contradictions – I spent the majority of my time as a Christian scholar and minister trying to explain contradictions in the Bible. To be fair sometimes a contradiction is not always present where one is said to exist, but there were many that I simply had no answer for. The bible does on occasion say two things about the same thing and there is a direct contradiction. Many Christians point to the idea of people taking these things out of context, but I would say I have taken context into consideration several times and still find a contradiction.
Confirmation Bias – The Writers of Scripture want the God they are describing to exists. They want to the resurrection to be true, etc. So they never really address questions that a skeptic would ask. Questions that would help their case if they answered them, but because they are not asked or answered, it just shows bias.
Timeline issues – Like it or not some things don’t mess with each other from a timeline perspective. When I was teaching life of Christ, the one area that gave me the most timeline fits was the resurrection itself. The accounts of who and where Christ appears and in what order vary widely.
Historical – despite my Bible college apologetics professor’s assertion that the Bible is grounded in history; much of that is either unproven or there is a historical record, archaeology, etc. that contradicts the Bible.
The Bible doesn’t live up to its own standard of confirmation of fact – the ‘two or three witnesses’ standard does not always hold up with the Bible itself for establishing every fact. Most events in the Bible are stand alone with no other account of them existing in the Bible itself or in the world for that matter.
God contradicts himself or it seems that God cold have done things in a far more simpler way – the moral questions of the Bible’s god are at times overwhelming. This includes everything from the treatment of women to God plain out not following his own standards for ethics and justice.

I could go on and on, but whenever you see and Odin’s Eye with the Subtitle – Bible Problems; know this is where I am going to take the Bible and be very critical of it. I am not doing this to offend, but to point out how very questionable it is for the Bible to be a special revelation of God, but more a collection of men’s opinions and accounts of the almighty that should raise an eyebrow, not inspire devotion.

Faith:

People ask me then where my faith is when it comes to the Bible. It’s not the Word of God to me. It might contain some observations that might help me understand the divine as a deist, but it certainly is no longer the divine special revelation I once thought it was. I think the notion of ‘special revelation’ is man-made so people can say something is of God when really it is just a man-made idea.

Religion:

If the bible is not special revelation, then the basis for most of the Abrahamic Religions is non-existent. In these religions what we see most is them using ‘holy’ scripture to justify their existence and their use of force and religious ‘ethics’ to control the behavior of others. Sorry there i\s a great deal of truth to the idea all religions are cults and engage in cultish behavior to control and just because it has it has a billion followers doesn’t make this less true. Once you find yourself in the authoritative position to disperse the ‘proper’ interpretation of the bible, that gives you an incredible position of power over those who blindly believe. Religion thus cannot be trusted because it is very much about power and control most of the time. It is why I have sworn them all off.

Theology:

Theologically speaking the so-called ‘special revelations’ might have some good theological observations at times, but I can get no confirmation as a deist that they are true and never will. The real challenge to me in theology now is that I know I will die ignorant of the truth of the divine, but I am OK with that. Ignorance simply is, the question is what to do about it. Sometimes the thing to do; the only thing you can do based on the nature of the questions, is accept being ignorant.

Spirituality:

I would say over the years the Bible has been a tool of spiritual enlightenment. But so have my weightlifting sessions, my hikes in the woods and my reading of other books. I can’t say anymore that The Bible is my authority of faith and practice, nor would I say that I consider it a superior form of knowledge over all others. It is one voice of many and sometimes I think what it says contains the truth and other times I think what it says is bullshit. But that is true of pretty much everything I read so…

Conclusion:

My Bible; that I preached from not so long ago, sits on my shelf. I don’t think I have opened since that last Sunday. It sits currently between The Armchair Economist and The Picture of Dorian Grey. I suppose the irony of that, and the fact my last sermon was on adultery while I was engaged in an affair, will sit with me forever. I also have no intention of allowing it to be master over me anymore. Where I walk, I take steps on my own and quite frankly I think my life is better for it. The Bible for me now is a collection of works that sometimes inspires wisdom and other times makes my eyebrow raise. But mostly it is just another book to me now as journey onward.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Of Wolves and Ravens – Courage: Becoming the Bear

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day:

Discussion:

My first run though in Of Wolves and Ravens with the schedule I will probably focus on the Nine Noble Virtues, the second time I will focus on the flip side. In the case of courage, the other side is Western Philosophy. Last week it was pretty easy to mesh the ideas of Honor and Eastern Philosophy. This week was becoming a challenge until I realized that part of Western philosophy is the Viking Philosophy of Courage. Much of this is related to their understanding of bears.

The vikings revered bears on a very spiritual level. The admired them to be sure for their raw power and courage, but it was the fact that one could encounter a bear in the wild and that bear would not act in fear in the presence of man. I am fairly certain while bears might note man’s presence, they give him little regard as far as being a threat. It was this philosophy indeed that led some to become Berserkers. Men who would work themselves up into a fearless frenzy invoking the spirit of the bear.

Courage as a Virtue for me has been a challenge. In large part I think my Christianity is to blame. Modern Western Christianity both lessens the potential of women by keeping them in a subservient role to men and emasculates men by forcing men to deny their more basic masculine instincts. Both of these issues cause both men and women to act with less courage than they should.

For myself I have had to reevaluate what it means to be a man and part of that has involved facing the fact that as a Christian, I was not as courageous as I should have been. If there is a spiritual reason for my rejection of Christianity outside my four theological objections, it is this attempted emasculation of men by Christianity as it stands today. For me this embracing courage and facing life more as a man of courage is central now to my philosophy.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

This quote from the Havamal shows the need for courage on a deeply spiritual level. The times one should have acted in courage but didn’t will haunt you and leave you without peace of mind. Regret is the final outcome of cowardice and it makes a man less of a man and a woman less of a woman. Mankind needs courage.

Wants (Freki):

I want courage as well as it allows me to achieve more than I could without it. Taking action is the way to greater things and that requires courage. I have come to realize that procrastination may very well be at times an act of cowardice, because I don’t want to take a risk on certain things. Other times it might be I am still thinking on it to long or I lack industriousness that I need as well, but there are a few acts of procrastination that should and would not happen if I simply had the courage to act.

Reason (Huginn):

Being reasonable about courage is hard. But you cannot deny as a rational person that courage is something that is at times rational, because without it many things that are beneficial cannot be achieved. There is of course a difference between being courageous and being foolhardy. The difference is found in whether the act has a rational outcome believe it or not. Does the act of courage lead to self-exaltation and to no positive outcome, or does it lead to the protection of all that one holds sacred and achievement of goals that are beneficial.

Wisdom (Muninn):

Wisdom is hard with this one other than to say that courage is not always found in the big actions that we often say are acts of courage but in the small actions of living life and going forward each day. The Viking philosophy of how one dies is important, but I can only face my actual death once. I face life every single day and there are multiple acts of courage and confidence I need to do so. Courage is far more regularly needed in living life than the one-act of death I will face.

Conclusion:

I would say the Viking philosophy of courage is true. It is needed, wanted and it is both rational and wise to be a courageous person. The Spirit of the Bear needs to be invoked regularly. Something I need to embrace far more for my own benefit and the benefit of those I love and that which I hold dear. The journey of the Grey Wayfarer is hopefully going to be a long one and will require many more acts of courage to be a good one. May I take each action with courage.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

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