One of the things that I enjoy about Wednesday night coffee/beer nights is the dialogue with the members of the group. Sometimes, we have one big conversation, but the most common trend is for smaller groups to form their own conversations. One thing is consistent: The conversations are usually very interesting.
This week was no exception.
Matt and I returned to a topic that we had started discussing a few weeks ago, but didn’t manage to finish. The general topic was faith and religion; more specifically: He asked me about my beliefs – past and present. Anyone who’s read more than a few of my posts knows that I’m not shy about sharing my views. I explained that I was raised in fairly religious households (yes, plural – one of the traits of having parents who were divorced). I was raised with a Baptist foundation… with a few Methodist teachings thrown in. Belief in God has always been a part of what makes me… “me.”
I’ve listened to the things that I’ve been taught, but I have also independently explored some topics. One great thing is that I have met ministers, preachers, priests, prayer leaders and “just plain folk” who are open about their faith and the questions that they have had about some of the teachings within their given belief system.
As I have grown older, my faith hasn’t changed… but some of my views on religion have. I still believe, but I tend not to be as narrow in the way that I think as many. I have integrated things from a few different faiths into my paradigm. I’m no angel… but I’m not the worst demon in my circle of Hell, either.
I have often been asked if it feels “odd” to live in Utah but not to be Mormon. Nope. They believe differently than I do. *shrug* That’s it. But, then again, so do Buddhists, Seventh Day Adventists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, and… well, you get the idea. Last Saturday, I posted the following quote from Ray Charles:
I’m a firm believer in God himself, but that’s as far as I can go. I’m not any denomination. I’m not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I’m none of those things. And I’m sure that’s just fine with God.
If asked what denomination I am, my most common answer is: “Baptist… with a few Methodist tendencies.” It works for me. And, unless George Burns, Morgan Freeman or Alanis Morissette shows up on my doorstep, I’ll assume that it’s good. I haven’t received any phone calls, messages or stray lightning bolts from on high, either, so I’m taking that as a sign that it’s an acceptable way to go.
The conversation with Matt reminded me of something that Neil Peart had written for the programme for Rush’ 1992 Roll the Bones tour.
Be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metalist.
Yep – no matter what kind of song you choose to play, you’re betting your life on it, for good or ill, and what you believe is what you are. So there. However you slice it, you’re taking a chance, and you might not be right. (Just this once.) No one can ever be sure, in this best of all possible random universes.
That’s why the essence of these songs is: if there’s a chance, you might as well take it. So what if some parts of life are a crap shoot? Get out there and shoot the crap. A random universe doesn’t have to be futile; we can change the odds, load the dice, and roll again.
And there’s no escaping the dice; even if you try to take the sting out of a random universe by embracing the prefab structure of Faith, you still have to gamble that it’s the right one. Say the secret word and you win a hundred dollars. For anyone who hasn’t seen Groucho Marx’s game show “You Bet Your Life,” I mean that no one but Groucho knows the secret word, and one guess is as good as another. You might have lived a good long life as an exemplary Christian, only to be met at the gates of heaven by Mohammed…
Anything can happen. That is called fate.
That comment, along with the lyrics from Totem, from the Test For Echo CD, summarize things for me rather well.
Namaste.
