Does anyone know what HEAVEN is really like?
1. God as Feminine (continued from below)
Let's continue our conversation with tec's question from last week!
2. tec said:I recently attended a retreat where we were asked to reflect on the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 24:14-30) as a way of tapping into what it means to "discern" God's will in our lives. It has been a useful reflection for me. What does God tell us when she gives us our talents? Does she have expectations of us? How are we asked to account for the talents with which we've been entrusted? Perhaps it might be a useful reflection for those of us here as well.
3. WELCOME TO OUR YOUNGEST BLOGGER, SPIRITCROSS!!! "Hi I am 8 3/4 and I was wondering if you could tell me does anyone really know what Heaven looks like and if not what is your detailed opinion."
posted by Pia's Pals @ 9:26 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I've been raised in a culture where God is traditionally masculine, but it never seemed complete.
I think of God as genderful. Gender seems to be too confining for God. I think of God as the source of "all that is", so I have never thought it realistic for God to be masculine OR femenine, but both and neither and everything in between. (Although, I find it complicated to never use pronouns like "he" and "she"; and "it" seems to be too impersonal.)
I am clearly aware of the anthropomorphic images of God the Father and God the Son, but they are not the ones that immediately come to mind when I invoke God.
On the subject of a feminine God, I'm reading an interesting book right now on an anthropolical and neurological theory of why goddess worship has all but disappeared in Western culture. It's called
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain. He suggests that the disappearance of godess worship is directly linked to the emergence of literacy.
If you would like to check it out, please click here.
I have always been troubled by the fact the the Church does not have a "Mother" built into the Trinity. I feel that we, as Catholics, defer to Mary as a "messenger" to God the Father. Somehow, that's just not the same... Of course, there's always the catch 22 question: shouldn't the mother of God be God? Haha! As frustrating as Catholic theology can often be, I'm glad that all the answers are not neatly presented!
I am just so touched by everyone's comments everytime I come to this space...I feel it is a sacred space, a quiet space, a learning space. Thank you, all! WELCOME to you striver! You are most welcome to wander in any time. And WELCOME Walk with me, glad you found the site and to share your insight of God's ability to be unique to each of us without gender or name! Iona:ac, you inspire me! I love your reference to the table, I guess as woman we have always been comfortable around tables, nurturing family; the kitchen tables, dining tables, picnic tables, coffee tables, birthing tables, etc. It is so ironic that there would be a table we could not gather around to nurture family. One day we will, I know, with our men and women growing in the church now, reverencing mutuality! Let us keep creating and sharing tables wherever we go. Then one day Eucharist truly will be the food for all! Now, that I think of it, THIS place is a wonderful table of shared love for me. Thank you, again!
We begin a new question from tec! (Please feel free to continue comments on the other questions as the Holy Spirit inspires you:)
Tec, I am happy to return to your question, it is so important! Please feel free to come on in and share your relfection on "How we are asked to account for our talents?" it sounds like it really touched you! I will return as well!
HI Sage, Whoa! What an awesome passage! It just sings right through my body, soul and spirit. Thank you for sharing it! I have re-read it several times already!
Midway: Elaine Pagels'Gnostic Gospels is a good place to start. The book is rather short and written in lay language.
She also wrote Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas. Also, if you want to read a bit more on the "devine feminine", you might consider Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves LeLoup.
Welcome, Midway! Great name:) Souljourney seems to have given you some good references. Well, until we hear again from tec to kind of get us going on the "talent" question, let's take a look at spiritcross and their question...welcome spiritcross, you are certainly our youngest blogger; welcome!!! And good question, Iona:ac has given a great beginning looking at the "heaven" experiences here of LOVE. I guess when I think of heaven, I first think of a place of full reconciliation and reunion. People that had conflicts with each other now have the added grace to work them out and come back together in peace. I believe that our God receives ALL of us home, no matter our soul state, and we continue to make choices from there about how we lived out lives and how we want to live our life in heaven for eternity. So, I do believe heaven is a wonderful place FULL of people seeking to fulfill any peace they may have missed here on earth. What do you think, Spiritcross? ...and all other wondering bloggers!?
Spiritcross~
Throughout my life I've had a number of ideas about heaven.
I believe that heaven is beyond what I am able to grasp as a human, so none of my wildest dreams could be true (but it's fun to imagine anyway).
I think that each of us is part of God and that in casting away our physical bodies, we can become one with God again in "heaven."
I don't think of heaven as a physical existence since I see my body as an earthly shell.
Hey, soul journey good to see you back again! I, believe we carry heaven within us and have the power to let it out every time we love. I do think when this body is too tired to get around anymore, we go home ot our God. There will be all the people that have gone home before me...and any that I have hurt in any way or hurt me, we will have more chances to reconcile and reunite. So I see heaven as one big Hallmark reunion:) Where we begin to see the light around us is the grace to know that we are ALL one in loving God! PS In case why you are wondering this is so early in the morning I am waiting to see the Pope's funeral at 1:00am. He was a good man and in the fullness of heaven as we speak:) Though I do think he will wait around for his funeral first...he would want to say thank you just one more time:) There is a new quesiton do you think we are at our own funeral? Or have the choice to be or not? :) Good night! Rather, Good Morning!:)
There is a wonderful song I'd like to share written by Steve Schalchlin. I met him when he performed a concert at my university.
In the late '90s, he was dying of AIDS. He was very depressed and wasting away in the hospital. His partner knew that if Steve didn't find some meaning in his life that his death would be sooner and more painful (existential pain is often the worst pain that the dying say they feel). His partner told him to "Write a song about your own memorial service and call it 'Save Me A Seat!'". Here are the lyrics:
Perhaps some day for several hours
You'll fill some church with lots of flowers
And display some saintly shot of me
Somewhere in the hall
And stick a tray of NACHOS
up against the wall.
I bet my mom will tell a story
Endowing me with lots of glory
And punish you by making you listen to my song
Or torture you by forcing you to have to sing along
Somebody save me a seat
Somewhere in the back
Cause I'll get bored and go across the street
And eat a snack and grab a beer
At the bar
Find a piano
Get out the tip jar
Somebody save me a seat
at that piano across the street
I'll look back and laugh at you
cuz you'll be bored as hell
And will you wonder if you ever knew me
Will you wonder if you knew me too well?
I'll sing all the secrets I'm too ashamed to share
I'll sing about courage that came from God knows where
A revue of all the hearts I've broken
All the songs I've sung
Foolish words I might have spoken
When I was very young
Somebody save me a seat
On a roller coaster somewhere
We'll fly around and we'll have some fun
And we'll think about the miracles we could have done
and the people we could have become
Well, the beer's made me silly
And I feel kinda guilty
cuz I left you alone over there
So I'll slip back inside and stand by your chair
And just for a moment I'll goof with your hair
Then I'll find my way back to the seat in the back
And I'll be a good boy til it's over
Then I'll get to do something that you cannot do
I'll follow you home everyone of you
Then on a day when you feel lost or hurt
Go to the kitchen and get some dessert
Then sit at the table and eat
Just remember to save me a seat
Please remember to save me a seat
Oh, I forgot to mention: Steve was a professional pianist before he got HIV and eventually AIDS. He is still alive an well today, singing songs about living with AIDS.
By continuing to remember JPII and living his message of love and compassion, he will never be forgotten and in a sense, will never leave us.
I would be very surprised if there was a seat left for JPII at his own funeral, but I'm sure he was present in other ways. ;)
Post a Comment
<< Home