hitchingpost's blog: ""Doubting our doubt" essays/poems/lists"

QUESTIONS REGARDING RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY:-- ALONG WITH MY ANSWERS: 1. What is the background of your grandparents, parents, and yourself in religion/spirituality ? i.e. in particular, not just which you settled on, but also which you went thru to get there. We were brought up country Baptist & some Pentecostal. Grandfather led singing for a while & helped out preacher with secret funds. I was raised such Baptist, was cured of depression via participation in Methodist choir, broadened exposure via Key Club in h.s., world religion courses, & Buddhist wisdom sayings at beliefnet.com When Southern Baptists split, I went with the moderates. When I had "mystical moments" I found Catholics to have the best explanations. I like "small groups" with no segregation --except for youth -- in regard to age, gender, & marital status -- at least have a mixed group available. I prefer, but it is difficult, for church to have entertaining music. I have studied the ENNEAGRAM which I consider a psychology, although many consider it a religion. It seems like 1/2 truths, but enough to show me who I am psychologically. I have studied Abraham Masloww's writings -- 2 of his books seem to be objective prophetic religious visionary, although he never made any such claims. Both ENNEAGRAM & goodwill preferences Myers-Briggs psychology show you "places to go" psychologically" to become a mature person, to the extent possible. 2. Are you familiar with any of the following religious websites: www.beliefnet.com cgg.org -- for theberean.org finishers.org shalomplace.com/seed bible.crosswalk.com www.biblegateway.com www.christianbook.com www.asa3.com Long ago I subscribed to beliefnet dating site --no longer available -- they use yahoo personals now,to their religious daily joke, & their daily Buddhist wisdom saying. I recently revisited site and discovered it had changed quite a bit. I joined some "groups" & established two groups of my own -- ditzymysticalromance & ditzymysticalspirituality. I subscribed to theberean.org daily Bible verse with commentary. I have reviewed & considered finishers.org, which is a way to participate in voluntary work overseas -- you & your church must raise the funds for this. Some day... Shalomplace has a mystical daily discussion on various & sundry to which I subscribe. Biblegateway is my main source other than written Bibles for looking up Bible verses, based on either of -- verse number, keyword/phrase, or something else. You can restrict search to certain sections of the Bible. You must also specify which of numerous translations to use. Crossway is similar to biblegateway, but I haven't used it. Christianbook is a long-standing good reputation book seller of Christian books, who I have done business with many times in the past. They are the "last one left standing". American Scientific Affiliation (asa3 ) costs $70 yearly to be a member -- UNLESS you are a student, so I quit after a while. 3. How about the following religious yahoo groups: SpiritualWings sharegifts talentscareersgifting mysticaljourney I subscribe to the daily cute sayings of SpiritualWings. Sharefgifts & talentscareersgifting are mine, but I haven't done much on them. I participate in mysticaljourney, or USED to. Jean S. Horn is the moderator. & contributes numerous poems. 4. What translation(s) of the Bible do you use ? NIV, NRSV, NKJV, Living Bible. I prefer a Bible with various additional study facilities. I could not understand the archaic words of KJV. I currently due to eye weakness use large-print NIV mostly to carry around, which has minor amount of in-line references & small concordance. I also have large-print NKJV with center-column references & small concordance. Both of these large-print have words of Jesus in RED. I also have "The NIV Complete Concordance" by Goodrick & Kohlenbeger, but print is so small that is difficult to use now.I highly recommend it.. I have 2 pages of crib-sheets of favorite Bible verses to share as deemed appropriate. I used to use also RSV ( in high school ), New English Bible, & New American Standard Bible. At one time I had a collection of 50 Bibles, but had to downsize when I moved into smaller dwelling. 5. What are 5 of your favorite Bible verses ? Philippians 4:8 -- think positive Hebrews 11:6 -- earnestness has it's reward. 2 Tim 2:15 in NKJV -- rightly DIVIDE the word of truth, into appropriate compartments Isaiah 5:20 -- good/evil keep straight James 1:27 -- paying my dues to widows & orphans top priority Eccles 7:16-18 -- avoiding breakdown Prov 28:9 -- AT LEAST do this These are all from my crib-sheet list. 6. Do you use "Biblical" stuff from other religions than Christianity, and if so, what are they ? daily Buddhist wisdom saying from beliefnet.com 7. If Christian, what denomination etc. ? If I had to say, I would say Free Methodist, but I currently, when I do attend, attend Baptist. Due to my lack of energy & pain of sitting in uncomfortable chairs, cannot stand being anywhere anyplace other than on a couch, for longer than 1 to 1/2 hours. This goes for non-church activities as well as church stuff. REALLY, I need the couch after 1 one hour. 8. In what way do you "regularly" practise your religion ? A. study the Bible in fits & spirts, taking notes / diagrams in my journal B. read numerous religious literature -- & recommend it at amazon.com C. write essays/poems -- tried to get published but no success yet D. as above certain activities E. prayer -- but not in a prayer circle F. volunteered as tutor at a jail, but was not accepted. 9. What is your attitude about spiritual gifts in the church ? Spiritual gifts development is inadequate, due to control desires and emotional upheaval possibilities and $ needs to support variety. In numerous churches, spiritual gifts = ( i.e. requires all of the following to be acked & nurtured ) talent + willing to tow party line + willing to spend many many hours on church activities + don't butt in where not wanted, e.g. don't grab the pastor's job! + don't embarrass + needed to fulfill our particular voted & designated local church mission which priortizes $ on what efforts to develop + willing to be mentored and/or to mentor others + not mentally unstable in any way + concerning emotions -- LOTS of it if Pentacostal, otherwise very little except only in suitable occasions + abide by any denominational guidelines of which gifts exist & are approved to practise UNLESS church bucks the system. + don't have a felony conviction, even a DWI ( driving while intoxicated ), which makes persona non grata -- UNLESS have such gift of gab flair that you become a total celebrity world wide. 10. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual writers ? Jacques Ellul F.F. Bruce R.A. Torrey Bernard Ramm 11. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual singers ? Larry Norman Timothy Meany Steve Green 12. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual painters -- contemporary ones ? None so far. 13. Have you or a close friend/family experienced a "peak experience" in any of the categories listed below, which I consider to be getting into sync/async with reality? A. recurring "2nd wind" in athletics -- NEVER, unfortunately B. heavenly visions -- yes, in mania & when inspired writing poetry/essays C. situations of peak grounded experience -- probably not ? D. altered states of consciousness -- mania I guess E. the unconscious becoming conscious -- definitely F. states of exhilaration -- ditzy twiggster, ditzy doodlebug007 G. moments of astounding insight -- studying Bible and also B above. H. mystical emotional upheaval. -- starting at age 42 when decided needed to get right/light, in order to enjoy living. Encountered the "heavenly realms" gradually as a result. NOTE that: Some of these things we experience even in our throes of sickness, but can be inspired of God. Also, one man’s garbage is another man’s gems of delight.