March 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Reading List: Velvet Elvis
As a gift one Christmas a few years back my mother gave each of her kids a copy of Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. My siblings and I, all in our twenties, hadn’t been religious in years so the book sat, unread, on my bookcase. I appreciated the gift and the thought behind it, but never found the interest to read it.
When I began soliciting book requests from religious family...
3 tags
Reading List: Buddhism for Beginners
When telling others about this blog, and my recent interest in religion, I received a great number of book recommendations. Thanks to a few gift certificates a number of them are now speeding towards my office, but before they arrived I picked up an e-book to get a better grasp on Buddhism.
Buddhism for Beginners by Thubten Chodron stood out as an affordable and approachable introduction, and it...
February 2011
4 posts
3 tags
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Excluding weddings and funerals, last Sunday I went to church for the first time in over a decade.
I chose the Redeemer Presbyterian Church based on the recommendation of a poster in the religion forum thread I started. It wasn’t until later that I learned my mother belonged to the same religion, although the service I chose to attend was not her regular one.
The subways ran into delays,...
2 tags
What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one...
It was during my yearly celebration of one of the greatest comedies ever, Groundhog Day, that I found an article about how much Buddhist’s love the movie and see their philosophy underpinning the story. According to Harold Ramis, a lot of religious people see their lessons reflected in the film, but the way the article described Buddhism appealed to me.
I’ve always enjoyed the...
Pulling a thread
One of the first things I did in the spirit of religious exploration was to start a thread on the topic on a forum that I frequent. Although it’s a gaming forum its members post on a number of topics, including an often-heated Politics and Religion board. Threads that touch on religion often end up falling into the well-worn Atheists/Theists arguments and I was hoping to avoid that.
I...
A single step
Recently I’ve become much more interested in the topic of religion and seeing how the various theologies and philosphies impress upon my mind. I have numerous activities planned that I believe will provide many opportunities for reflection, and I will be sharing them here.
I was raised Catholic, but it was never oppressive. My parents had me baptized, took me to my first communion, sent me...