"Why the Da Vinci Code is TRUE!"

I saw an interesting article last week in the Kansas City Star.

It highlights a series of talks that Rev. Paul Smith is having, and gives a synopsis, but even the synopsis is interesting. Makes a good point, the talks give the details.

While the story is fiction, Smith says it reveals four important truths, and “attacking the bad facts in the story is like accusing Jesus of making up the story of the Prodigal Son and therefore saying there is no truth to it.”

Those 4 truths are original diversity, lost gospels, marginalizing women, and distorting the humanity of Jesus.

The article gives a little info on each of those 4. And if you go to Rev. Paul Smith's website, under teachings, you can download 3 of the 4 talks. (The last one will be up in about a week.) The series is called, "Why the Da Vinci Code is TRUE!: (and today’s Christianity is dysfunctional)".

I've read the first one, and found it quite interesting and informative. I look forward to reading the others.

An Inconvenient Truth

I saw the movie (documentary) An Inconvenient Truth yesterday. Very powerful. I encourage you (anyone) to go see it. A powerful presentation on the very real problem of global warming. It's an important issue. What kind of world do we want to live in in our futures and our children's futures? The climate changes due to green house gasses causing global warming is real, it's happening now. If we don't start doing things differently, it's going to get much worse.

It's not just a matter of temperatures a few degrees warmer. It's about floods, droughts, hurricanes. The disaster caused by hurricane Katrina may very well be our doing, not just by us choosing to build a city in such a low lying area, and trying to control the Mississippi and all that (though that too), but because, with green house gas emissions, we have raised world temperatures, including ocean temperatures, and warmer oceans makes for stronger hurricanes.

Go see the movie. It's well made, engaging, and it's a very important topic.

The Da Vinci Code

Okay, I haven't seen the movie. I'm thinking, it just won't be as good as the book. It's because I liked the book so much that I'm not real inclined to see the movie, because I think I'll be disappointed.

Interestingly, looking at the critics reviews at Yahoo Movies, one says "If you liked the book, you'll be fine" and another "...can't help but fail to measure up to its literary predecessor". Maybe it depends on the person. Me, I do fear for me it would be the latter.

As for some of the ideas presented by the characters in the book (like I said, I haven't seen the movie, though one hopes that the same ideas are presented in the movie), well, I tend to be an open minded sceptic. I ain't going to assume that because a character in Dan Brown's book says it's so, that it's indeed so. But, unless I know otherwise, I'll keep an open mind.

As for Jesus being married, so far as I know there is no evidence at all that Jesus was celibate. It's a projection, I think. Being used to a celibate priesthood, and, in the absence of any direct reference to Jesus being married or single, it's easy to assume Jesus was single without thinking about it. (And I understand that the celibate priesthood doesn't go back to the beginning of Christianity, but does go back to before the protestant reformation.) And, heck, how many people would assume that Peter was celibate? But, hey, wait, Jesus cured Peter's mother-in-law. And St. Paul in one of his letter mentions Peter being married. So, if in the case of Peter, lack of mention of a wife in the gospels doesn't mean he wasn't married, couldn't it be the same for Jesus? And, from what I've read, not being married would have been rather unusual at the time.

Actually, for me, the fact that St. Paul, when talking about his own celebacy, doesn't ever tell us Jesus was single, well, that definitely seems to suggest that Jesus was likely married. Emulating Jesus is not a reason St. Paul ever gives in support of celibacy.

Okay, Jesus being married but his wife never being mentioned is one thing. And believable. But the idea of Jesus specifically being married to Mary Magdalene is a different situation. If that's so, then you have the case of all 4 gospels mentioning Jesus' wife, but not bothering to mention that she's his wife. I personally find that idea a little odd. On the other hand, I have somewhere read a plausible sounding explanation for that.

As for the idea of the sacred feminine, I think that would be interesting to read more about, but it's not a major interest of mine.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter.

Trust and Relationships

Trust is important for relationships. I think any relationship is built on trust. But the kind and amount of trust depends on the relationship.

I go to a bar and a guy at the door asks for money. I trust that he is legitimately collecting a cover charge and give him money. Trust. I don't ask him to proove he is legit. (And those collecting cover charges don't wear uniforms or nametags to identify themselves.)

I go to the grocery store and buy many items. I trust that the items will be rung up at the correct prices, and that the total will be correct.

I pay cash for something I buy. I give a $20 bill for a $5 purchase. I trust that the person will give me $15 back.

Trust is a part of friendship too. Though not so neatly defined as in customer / store relationships. Friendships vary. And with that variation, comes variation in the level of trust.

We feel safe in a relationship when the level and type of trust fits the relationship. I feel comfortable with the clerk at the store if I can expect her to ring up my purchase correctly and give me correct change. As well as trusting her to be reasonably civil and to not jump out and attack me or any such.

I think much of the hurt in relationships comes from either broken trust, or expecting to have a relationship with a higher trust level than what one has.

Self-trust is a factor too. Can I trust myself to deal with what the other person might do? The more I trust myself, the safer I feel. Feeling safe comes from a combination of trust in the other (or the general environment) and trust in oneself.

Sometimes, when someone has broken our trust, it makes it hard to trust others, hard to trust new people in our lives. I think the first step in learning to trust again is to build that self-trust. If I can trust myself to deal with what might happen, then I can take a chance on a relationship.

The Secret of Happiness?

Matthew Baldwin wrote in his blog Defective Yeti, "I think the secret to happiness is to care a lot about people who care about you, and to not care too much about anything else.". (link)

Intriguing thought. I think a key part of it is, it's not black and white. If it said "I think the secret to happiness is to care about people who care about you, and to not care about anything else.", then I'd have to way totally disagree. We shouldn't just care about those who care about us. We should care about all people, at least a little. And certain things are worth caring about too. Like the environment for starters.

But, yes, it makes sense to me that the biggest dose of caring should go to those who care about us. People are important. Our relationships. More important than things, I think. And, when it comes to people, yes, those where the caring is mutual are worth the most thought and concern. They merit the highest emotional investment. Or, put another way, we are less likely to get hurt caring about those who care about us.

But when we care too much about those who don't care about us, or who just don't care as much about us as we do about them, well, I've experienced the hurt of caring way too much about someone who didn't care as much about me. It can ache pretty bad. It's hard to be happy when hurting deeply.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't care about those who don't so much care about us. It just means, as I see it, limit the emotional investment. Don't invest yourself overly in someone who's not going to give back.

But do though, show kindness and consideration, and really, I guess, respect, to all. And an openness to friendship. Someone you care about only a little may prove worthy of becoming someone you care about a lot.