Nativity Movie

New Line Cinema pictures is releasing The Nativity Story on December 1st. You can view the trailer and behind the scenes featurettes.

I don't think there will be the controversy that The Passion of the Christ received, thus it may not do as well at the box office. Regardless, I still think I would be interested in seeing the film. It might help me to shed the consumerism aspect of the holiday season by re-focusing on the event that gives it meaning (all the while paying $ 7 to see it)!

More information here

Get the guy from Titanic... and they'll listen

Another short movie about the dangers of Global Warming. Click here to see Leonardo DiCaprio's Global Warning and Water Planet films.

In my dreams

My ideal life...

I envision a log cabin in the woods of Montana or Idaho with a nearby river or lake in which I could go kayaking every morning. Brenda and I would live in community with two or three other families sharing a voluntary simplistic lifestyle, living lightly off the earth by being environmentlly and socially conscious.

I would be leading retreats and teaching workshops on male spirituality, initiation rites using Vision Quest and wilderness survival skills. When I wasn't leading retreats or spending time with my family, I would be writing as much as possible.

Circular not linear

We have been covering some theories of religion that I had not yet explored in any great depth but am finding that it is fitting into my broader understanding of spirituality. In my Religion & Culture course we are using a book entitled Eight Theories of Religion. In the first chapter, we're covering the theory of animism first proposed by 19th century English anthropologist E.B. Tylor. His evolutionary pattern looks like this:

Animism to Myth to Religion to Science

For example, if we used a tree, the animist theory proports that it is more than just a tree it has a spirit and that all things have a spirit. When we progressed into a mythological understanding it wasn't enough to just say the tree had a spirit but we then gave that tree a story perhaps about the seed and water coming together at the gods command to form that tree. Later, we progress into religion (esp. monotheism) in the belief that God or a supreme being created that tree and continues to give definition and give it life. Then we moved into the realm of science, where we no longer rely on beliefs about the tree but we actually study the tree and what causes it to grow and what kind of tree it is and what it can provide for us.

If this representation is true, then there are a lot of people I know that are still stuck solely in religion and haven't progressed to science. And there are some that haven't progressed from myth into religion. It could be the reason that we don't understand each other better.

I hope that I haven't lost you. My question is: Are we at a point in history where we might be moving beyond science? I think that what I have witnessed is that we are moving into a period of no longer just religion or just science but a conglamorate of the two. Some might call it the New Age line of thinking.

The problem for me is that I don't see the theories of religion as something linear like Tylor. Rather I think of it more as circular, meaning that we are more likely to revisit the previous theories again, only knowing more. Maybe that is where our culture is headed. Just my thought.

Push off

I have come across this message numerous times so I thought I would post it in its entirety to highlight an important message that must be heard by all of us if we are to survive in the years to come.

A Message from the Hopi Elders

There is a river now flowing very fast.
It is so great and swift, that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore, they will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know that the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is there with you and celebrate!
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over! Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
ALL that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration!
We are the ones we have been waiting for.