The Commonality of Faith

Posted on by L Reese Cumming

Portrait of a boy with the map of the world painted on his face.

In the modern, secular world, the average citizen has lost the appreciation of just how fundamental religious identity is to our basic existence.  The secularist – remote to the religious experience all about them each and every day – sees religion as a membership in an organization; a simple choice that can be flipped with an opportunistic lifestyle, a change in schedule, or a little enlightenment.  The results of such a naiveté is just beginning to roost like gargoyles on the growing discord we call diversity.

But religion is not an organization with a human leadership that shops for designer bargains at a factory-outlet store.  Religion isn’t just tucked neatly within the prefrontal cortex of the brain; ready to be affected by neuroplasticity brought about by human events.  Religion has demonstrated that it is much more pervasive and prevailing in all human cultures; signaling that it is embodied within every cell within every human body.  It is not likely to go away with a “shoo”, or retreat to its dog house with a “bad doggie”.

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The Problem of the Spirit

Posted on by L Reese Cumming

Ernest_Trova_Falling_Man_Manscapes

Worrying about evil is, quite frankly, small potatoes in comparison to a much greater human condition that plagues the vast majority of mankind; the absence of any consciousness of the spirit.

We pursue a path of consciousness that solely imbues our intellect and passions as the arbiters of our existence, and in extension, that of God’s existence.  We actually believe that what we cannot rationalize, at this moment, therefore does not exist, and man’s history has consistently demonstrated this demoralizing condition.

Let’s look at the Bible for a moment.  There is an argument – a position on God’s existence – that takes on the rationalization that if the Bible is errant in its assertions or circumstances, then God must not exist.  I have to ask the question, “Why?”.  Critics, for purposes of convenience and certain lack of awareness of spiritual matters, equate what they can see with their eyes and then perceive from paper pages with ink imprints, as somehow possessing some form of power that dictates over God and not under God.

Man believes his intellect and passions should be the sole arbiters of truth.  My simple argument against that is man’s history.  Such a consideration is obviously not true given the results, and to assert that it is our intellect and our passions that has at least gotten us this far, well that I would agree with you.  We have obviously put performance aside.

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The Breech of Equality

Posted on by L Reese Cumming

Cracking dam wall

The concern for the rights of women has been, and still is, a central issue in our American society in 2015. Amongst the many “rights” that have been identified as critical to the freedom of American women, is the right to self-determination of what a woman can do with her own body; to include the aborting of a woman’s own fetus – a human life – should she believe it to be a burden and an inconvenience to her future decision-making.

And with a similar rise to national attention, the rights of homosexuals have also come to dominate the attention of the American society. The cause is similar: the right to self-determination of what a homosexually-oriented person can do with his or her own body; without restrictions from the societal and political opportunities of open and endorsed relationships in which the legal status of marriage brings with it.

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The Moral Argument – Pluralism & Relativism

Posted on by L Reese Cumming

Love 01

I had an accident a week back. I recently ran into the unyielding wall of cultural pluralism with an intellectual and spiritual “thwack”. There was no way I was going to miss hitting it. You see, I’ve been cruising my baby-boom mind & body along for many years believing in cultural pluralism; or the allowance of the diversity of thought and action.

CULTURAL PLURALISM

What is cultural pluralism? Well, I noted one such attribute: diversity of thought and action. Dictionary.com recites a definition as follows:

“A condition in which many cultures coexist within a society and maintain their cultural differences; also called multiculturalism.”

(As a side, I would suggest that this attitude runs contradictory to the most fundamental philosophy of America as the “melting pot” of the world.)

More in the necessity of the past several decades, dictionary.com also defines cultural pluralism as:

“A condition in which minority groups participate fully in the dominant society, yet maintain their cultural differences.”

(Here again aside…. All citizens of America enjoy the same traditional rights, freedoms, and equalities. What this definition is implying is that it is not the individual that enjoys these things, but the groups. So instead of one person equals one vote, it implies one group equals one vote; regardless of the number of individuals within any one group. Think how that changes representation and the resultant loss of individual rights that our Constitution blessed us with.)

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Mary and Her Spirit

Posted on by L Reese Cumming

Mary-Untier-of-Knots

I rarely tackle exegesis in my posts. The reason is simple. I have not poured hours and hours into bible study; thus making the connecting of the dots an easier effort than it would be otherwise. It has not been my concentration as a Christian. I have come to Christianity through a different process and it is one that I will continue going forward with, as it leads me quickly past the sedation of faith and the sediments of religion. And so, here I go with an essay on Mary, mother of Christ.

Now, for those who might prefer a more spiritual post, as the past two have proven, I want to assure you that this post is critical to your understanding of the importance of the dominion of your spirit in your salvation and sanctification (your endeavors for heaven). I would not be going here otherwise, for this is highly unlike me. As a relatively new Catholic I am admittedly not indulgent in Marian adoration. Perhaps I am being intellectually resistant. Perhaps it is some dormant Protestant residue of my cultural environment. Or perhaps it is as I have always done since being born again; to simply not tackle a subject until God shows me both the reason why it is purposeful for me to know it, and the way to that knowledge. In other words, I wait upon Him to show me my path.

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