Knowledge and Faith
Posted on | June 21, 2006 | No Comments
“To believe without knowing is to be a fool; to know without believing is to be a mad man; true knowledge brings with it faith.”
-Eliphas Levi
The Paradoxes of The Highest Science (1922)
Missing the Flight
Posted on | June 15, 2006 | No Comments
Yesterday I missed a flight. It was the standard missed-connection story: an hour and a half scheduled lay-over in Detroit, preceded by an hour and a half mechanical delay on the initial outbound flight from Denver. So, I’m sure you can imagine me hoofing it very quickly through two terminals only to arrive at my departing gate a minute or two after the door had closed. I stood and watched my flight pull away from gate and hoped I’d be able to get to my destination on the same calendar day I had planned.
There are two ways one can act in that situation, get angry, or adopt an attitude that I was simply not meant to be on that flight. I chose the latter and started looking for that reason. Obviously, I wasn’t hoping for anything bad to happen to the flight – you hear those stories all the time – I wanted the people on the flight to be safely delivered to our destination. Believe it or not, I made several calls to family, friends, and clients telling them I’d be spending the next 7 hours in the Detroit airport, and that there must be a reason.
Sure, I got a bunch of work done. Then I read an email from a new friend talking about the search for my biological parents. I’m adopted.
I love my family, but I’m 37 and I finally hit a point that I want to know my genetic heritage. I made the first step about 3 months ago by sending away for my pre-adoption birth certificate. That document arrived the Friday before Mother’s Day – while my Adoptive Mom was visiting. I shared the document with her, concerned that she might be upset that I was looking for my birth parents. She was surprisingly (at least to me) calm and almost excited about telling me what she remembered from the process and said that she thought it was only natural to be interested in knowing that history. I was happy that my search was not going to upset her – honestly, the fear of upsetting her was part of the reason I’ve waited so long. I thought it might seem disrespectful to my Mom to search for my birth mother. I guess it never hurts to actually TALK with people – even if it’s your Mom.
As soon as I received the pre adoption birth certificate, my wife and I jumped on-line and started searching for Mary, my birth mother. $50 and one hour later we had a mailing address for the one woman in the country with the right name and birth date combination. We had a mailing address, but we could find no phone number. That Monday I mailed a letter to the address listed for Mary. No response.
Back to the Detroit Airport. I was thinking that I should have heard SOMETHING in the last month. So, I got online again and started a deeper search. My birth mother’s birth city was listed, so I started looking for people with Mary’s last name that might still be around that area to see if I could call one or more of them and get her phone number and confirm the address. That didn’t get me anywhere.
I happened upon a genealogy site that listed Mary (or at least A Mary) that looked like it had potential for more information. The page’s author listed his email, so I sent him a note. Amazingly, not only was the address live, he was online. In 15 minutes I had his record of her marriage (11 years after my birth) to a gentleman in California. His name is Dell. So, I typed in Dell’s name to www.whitepages.com and there he was – phone number and everything.
So I called.
A woman picked up the phone.
I said, “Hello. My name is Kevin Houchin, I’m an attorney in Fort Collins, CO. Is Dell available?”
She responded, “No sir, he’s not available, may I take a message or help you?”
“Sure, I’m calling to get the contact information for Mary…”
“That’s me.”
“Mary, do you happen to remember receiving a letter from me at your residence sometime in the last few weeks? Again, my name is Kevin Houchin.”
“No Mr. Houchin, what address did you send it to?”
“The house on Mary Avenue” (that’s the real name of the street….)
“Oh, that’s an old address. The letter hasn’t arrived. Now, how may I help you?” she said in a very pleasant, actually helpful tone.
“Well, Mary, I’m actually a little unprepared to have this conversation unexpectedly like this, but I’m going to dive in and take the opportunity while I have you on the phone. You see, my birthday is August 23, 19XX.”
“Wow…”
“The name on my pre-adoption birth certificate is Mary, and after some research, all roads lead to you being my birth mother.”
“Wow… this is wonderful.”
“I’m calling because I’d like to get to know you and give you an opportunity to become friends and know my family. I know it’s a lot to process, so even though I would love to talk to you for hours right now, I’ll give you a very brief update.
I’ve had a great life, and I’m blessed with a wonderful wife and three great kids. My son is 4, my daughter is 2, and my youngest son is 7 months old.
How about I get your email and send you more information about me than you ever thought you would know?”
“That would be great, here’s the email”
I dropped the phone the phone a couple times, so it took a minute to confirm the email address…
“Again, I would love to talk to you more, but I want to give you time to process. I’ll send an email with all my contact information.”
“Thank you for giving me time to process. This is wonderful. I want to keep in touch.”
“Me to, thanks. It’s been great talking with you and I look forward to more. Have a great evening.”
“Wow, Bye.”
“Good Bye.”
At least that’s how I remember the first conversation with my birth mother. I’m sure it’s not accurate, but it’s as accurate as I’ll get it.
Then I started calling everyone. My wife first. Friends. Even the clients I’d talked to about missing the flight. I emailed. I ordered a drink. Then another. I wrote in my journal. I sent the email I promised. Then I remembered I had not given her my phone number during the conversation. I called her back.
“Mary, it’s Kevin again. I just called back to give you my phone number.”
“I just got it off your Web site, it’s 970-214-6808.”
“Right. I’ll leave you alone now. Call when you’re ready.”
“I will.”
“Good bye.”
“Bye.”
I was overjoyed. She was engaging. I called my wife again. I caught my connecting flight.
When I logged into my email account after checking into the hotel at my destination, there was an email from Mary with a link to an online greeting card.
The card’s “card” content was that I was considered a blessing to be counted in her life. The message from Mary was: “Hi, I still can not believe I talked with you today. WOW!
Thank you for sending the letter. It made today more special and real.”
It also included her home and cell phone number.
It was a good day. I’m glad I missed that flight.
My new prayer.
Posted on | June 12, 2006 | 2 Comments
Creator,
Thank you for my time here.
Give me nothing I did not earn.
Give me nothing I cannot share.
Amen
Essential Zohar
Posted on | June 12, 2006 | No Comments
I just finished the book “The Essential Zohar: The Source of Kabbalistic Wisdom” by Rav P.S. Berg (2002).
This resonates most closely with my spiritual manifesto – I’m going to focus more time and energy on Kabbalistic study over the next little while.
Here are some quotes that resonate with me:
“We must assure ourselves that we will master the course of our lives.” (p 108)
“… that desire to receive in order to share would draw the Light of the Creator into our lives.” (p 163)
“We are not transformed by keeping within our comfort zones. Transformation requires real effort.” (p 181)
“The true porpose of humanity in general, and of every human being, is to connect with the Light of the Creator in greater and greater intensity, and eventually to literally become one with the Light.” (p 213)
“The kabbalists find the cause in their ability to transform desiere to receive for themselves alone into desire to receive in order to share.” (p 214)
“Because what, after all, is patience? Just the unshakable knowledge-the certainty-that what is in our beest interest will come to be.” (p 216)
Kabbalah Study
Posted on | June 9, 2006 | No Comments
Next week I start more in-depth Kabbalah study via phone with an instructor from the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. The cool thing is that this is a FREE service of the Kabbalah Center’s Student Support program.
I’m going to create a permanent page on this site to house my questions and current study goals.
72 Names Quote #2
Posted on | May 7, 2006 | No Comments
“… God never created religion. Humans did. And this human-made invention has done nothing but create separation between people. Tragically, more blood has been spilled on behalf of religion than from all other diseases and crimes combined.
Religion fosters hatred. It give rise to ware and genocide – all in the name of God. Well, war, hatred, and genocide are not any of God’s names.”
72 Names Quote #1
Posted on | May 7, 2006 | 2 Comments
“… God never answers prayers. It is people who answer their own prayers by knowing how to connect to and utilize the divine energy of the Creator and the God-like foce in their own souls.”
p. 13
Questioning
Posted on | May 7, 2006 | No Comments
Our cultural reluctance to question faith is deep. It’s a part of our Christian culture. It amazes me that we are still afraid of being labeled as heretics. Didn’t persecution of heresy end? Apparently not. I know of whole communities labeled as “Catholic” or “Lutheran” or “Dutch-reformed” towns where to not follow the party line leads to ostracism.
It was hard for me to question my faith because the doctrine of my up-bringing had made questioning the “meaning” or the “message” presented by the minister equivalent to questioning “God” – and in my church “man” didn’t question “God.” Questioning the dogmas of the religion was like a refusal to bow my head during prayer – an in-your-face, I-dare-you-to-strike-me-down challenge to the almighty. I questioned. I wasn’t struck dead by lightening. In fact, the lightening that struck me was more powerful. I was struck by a deep feeling that God was smiling at my willingness to actively engage in my religion – making it personal and profound rather than rote and ignorant.
You know what? I think God smiles when we have the maturity to question the world around us. After all, if we believe God is all-powerful, then what does he (or she) have to hide? Doesn’t our willingness to question God and explore the answers and the results of his creation seem similar to asking a craftsman to share the inner workings of a masterpiece? I’ve never met a creator who was not excited and happy to be questioned about his creation. Why should it be different with God? I think one think that anyone should understand that questioning religion – especially Christianity – is not the same as disrespecting God. We’re not questioning God, but rather questioning the humans who have attempted to share their experiences with God. Some of these (mostly men) individuals may have been “divinely inspired” – but other motivations might have come into play. If George W. Bush or John Kerry would have claimed “divine inspiration” for their policies we would have been right to question them. Aren’t we justified in questioning historical authors (maybe even multiple authors for the same biblical “book”) – especially in light of their internal contradictions.
I think the honest answer may be that the early church leadership was motivated by un-Godlike goals – replacing their personal agendas and unsupportable positions for the real spiritual truths. Maybe it was easier for them to discourage questioning rather than answer the inevitable questions.
What happens when we start to question? I think most people feel guilty the first time they affirmatively question their own religion. Questioning our religion is like questioning God, our Parents, our Culture, sometimes our spouse, and definitely our souls all at one time. That’s not a simple undertaking. Eventually our questioning can lead to a more real and profound spiritual experience. We can embrace the “Christ” within each of us and really understand the Bible and other scriptural literature available to us today.
St. Augustine Quote
Posted on | May 3, 2006 | No Comments
“The very thing which is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients also, nor was it wanting from the inception of the human race until the coming of Christ in the flesh, at which point the true religion, which was already in existence, began to be called Christian”
-St. Augustine, Retractiones
As quoted in: The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light by Tom Harpur
ISBN: 0-8027-1449-8
The Bible is The Bible is The Bible: “NOT!”
Posted on | May 3, 2006 | No Comments
I’ve been discussing spirituality with a long-lost friend that I grew up with. We’ve been apart for 20 years, but we grew up together in the same small church. We’ve been discussing that influence on our lives since.
We were talking about Bibles, and while the question didn’t come up directly, it got me thinking about the influence the choice of Bible has on our understanding of Christianity.
Many people assume that the Bible is the Bible, and they all say the same thing. While the “truths” that are communicated may be similar, the way those truths are communicated can be quite different, especially in “study” Bibles. Take, for example, the story of Eve in the Garden.
Let’s look at two popular Bible texts. First the New Oxford annotated Bible (Third Edition) in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and second the New International Version (NIV) (I have the blue-covered Zondervan edition). In the NRSV, Genesis 3: 1-7 goes like this:
In the NIV, Genesis 3: 1-7 goes like this:
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God dis say, ‘You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.””
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
“Big diff” you might say. And, you would be right. The difference is in the fine print, literally. Let’s look at the footnotes that come with the “study” versions of these Bibles.
First, the notes for the NRSV for the same passage read as follows:
Next, compare the notes for the same passage from the NIV:
3:1 serpent. The great deceiver clothed himself as a serpent, on of God’s good creatures. He insinuated a falsehood and portrayed rebellion as clever, but essentially innocent, self-interest. Therefore “the devil, or Satan,” is later referred to as “that ancient serpent” (Rev 12:9; 20:2) crafty. The Hebrew word for “crafty” and “naked” are almost identical. Though naked, the man and his wife felt now shame (2:25). The craftiness of the serpent led thm to sin, and they then became ashamed of their nakedness (see v.7). Did God really say…? The question and the response changed the course of human history. By causing the woman to doubt God’s word, Satan brought evil into the world. Here the deceiver undertook to alienate people from God. Elsewhere he acts as an accuser, to alienate God from people (see Job 1-2, Zec 3:1 and note).
3:3 and you must not touch it. The woman adds to Gods word, distorting his directive and demonstrating that the serpent’s subtle challenges was working its poison.
3:4 You will not surely die. The blatant denial of a specific divine pronouncement (see 2:17).
3:5 God knows. Satan accused God of having unworthy motives. In Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5 he accuses righteous Job of the same. Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. The statement is only half true. Their eyes were opened, to be sure (see v. 7), but the result was quite different from what the serpent had promised. knowing good and evil. See note on 2:9.
3:6 good for food… pleasing to the eye… desirable for gaining wisdom. Three aspects of temptation. Cf. Lk 4:3,5,9, 1 Jn 2:16
3:7 they realized they were naked. No longer innocent like children, they had a new awareness of themselves and of each other in their nakedness, which now produced in them a sense of shame. They… made covering.s Their own feeble and futile attempt to hide their shame, which only god could cover (see note on v.21).
Does the Bible you study make a difference in the “message” you receive? It seems obvious to me that answer is “yes” based on the two completely different messages communicated in these footnotes on the same passage.
The NRSV makes one question the concept of original sin that has subjugated woman and blamed them for all the hardships of humanity, literally since the beginning of recorded history. It make you think about the symbolism of gaining “wisdom” (something that shouldn’t be vilified), and makes you think that maybe the orthodox church as things incorrect and that as spiritual beings, we need to engage our brains.
Imagine a person “studying” the NIV. If this seeker takes the time to study the footnotes, they will receive a sermon on the “party line” of the orthodox church, another indoctrination into the “spin” of church “fathers” (not “mothers” of course). The NIV supports its “scholarship” with citations and cross-references to biblical literature that was written centuries later and chosen by, you guessed it, the same church fathers that chose which books to include in the Bible to support their theology of blaming women for original sin to keep women subjugated and under their power.
So, choose your Bible and you choose your level of intellectual engagement. Choose your Bible and choose your relationship with Deity. Choose your Bible and choose a personal understanding of God, or to be spoon-fed your understanding of God filtered through 2,000 – 4,000 years of human error and manipulation.
It IS your choice.
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About Kevin
Kevin E. Houchin is an attorney, artist, teacher, author, and principal of
Houchin Consulting, PLLC, a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment,
business development, and branding firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
To schedule Kevin for keynote speeches, workshops, or seminars, call 970.231.2426
or email
kevin@kevinhouchin.com.