What’s Old is New Again: Wicca on the Rise in America
The number of self-identified Wiccans increased from from 134,000 in 2001 to 342,000 in 2008. About 5.9 percent of Americans followed a non-Christian faith in 2014, up from 4.7 percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center.
Are You A Paster, Presentist, Or Futurian?
I am an armchair futurist and absolutely love people who are not only dreamers, but who actively work to create new and better realities. Too many times in working with non-profits I have felt hamstrung by minutiae managers or slaves of past paradigms. Can you relate? Of course there is a role for remembering and honoring the past. And there is a danger in living in a future that doesn’t yet exist. The goal is to be all in each conversation, each experience, and each moment. Knowing if someone is a paster, presentist or futurian is very helpful in working with them in the now.
Your Birth Date Is Arbitrary — It’s Your Biological Age That Matters
Food for thought: We each have a birthdate but our actual biological age may be different. Some people are fit, healthy and active ten or twenty years (or more) after others have slowed down. But we also have a spiritual age level. And we all know that a person’s spiritual maturity, vitality or youthfulness doesn’t always equate to biological age. Spiritual health does bring about a child-like love for life that transcends biology. Outwardly fading, inwardly blooming.
Bread and Circuses
We live in a culture of frenetic digital activity and non-stop marketing and message-making. I mentioned last week that our attention spans are now shorter than that of a goldfish (eight seconds). We often feel the need to compete for attention—not only with culture but with other churches. The tendency to entertain with bread and circuses—to momentarily satiate—is no substitute for offering the Bread of Life and the Circle of Relationships that delivers long-term satisfaction and sanctification.
The Kafka Effect
Life isn’t always “figureoutable.” And that’s ok. Sometimes we aren’t offering certainty, but assurance. Not answers, but a listening ear. Yes, tribulation is working out something greater in us. Divine strength manifests in the struggle.
New Study: Worlds Fastest Growing Religion? No Religion
And the completion is…no religion at all.
Spirituality is one of those words that can mean anything, everything, and nothing. “Disciple of Jesus,” for example, is phrase with clear implications. It is true, though, that many behavioral bad habits can be masked by the use of so-called spirituality. Church life should be normal and leaders worth following should take the message very seriously, but be willing to enjoy a hearty laugh at their own humanity.
Are Women More Religious Than Men?
Yes. They are. I will show myself out now. Happy Mother’s Day.