In the Beginning

My background is Christian. My mother and her family were staunch supporters of the indigenous church, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, that split from the Roman Catholic Church as part of the Filipinos' struggle for political independence from Spain in the 1860s.

As a child participating in what was often referred to as the Aglipay church (Monsignor Aglipay was the first presiding bishop of the fledgling church) was central to my experience. It felt like the one real thing in my life. The teen years changed all that. Education can corrupt our naiveté and cause a disruption in our seamlessly whole worlds. As I learned about other peoples and cultures I began to question the notion of a personal God especially one whose image is that of an old man with long white hair and flowing beard who commanded plagues and catastrophes to visit his people whenever they went against his fickle will.

It wasn't until I came to America in my late 20s that I slowly came to terms with a dreaded label, atheist. Christians in the Pagan world of the Roman Empire before Constantine established Christianity as the state religion were known as atheists, non-believers. They didn't believe in the gods and goddesses of the Roman pantheon, refused to offer them the sacrifices required to maintain civic health and power. The cycle has come full circle.

I don't think of myself as an atheist, a term Christians assign to those who don't believe as they do. Belief, I've come to realize, is at the heart of much of the world's conflicts. As we move inexorably into closer contact with other peoples and individuals on our shrinking planet we have to contend with differing beliefs on a practical level. No man is an island anymore but a decided part of the main.

I created Spirit Writes on my iWeb as my depository of contemplative writing on Spirit—the values, motivations and stated and mostly unstated goals that while not accessible through the physical senses nonetheless shape and give meaning to our daily struggles, what Buddhist call dukkha.  I intend to continue this exploration at blogger.