Wednesday, August 27, 2008

a spiritual path..

Ok, I'm veering a bit from my usual quirky topics but I've been inspired by a book I am currently reading - "With Roots in Heaven" by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone. The book chronicles Firestone's spiritual journey which led her from Orthodox Judaism to exploring other faiths to marrying a Christian minister to becoming a Rabbi in the Jewish renewal movement. I haven't finished the book yet but it brings up a lot of issues for me related to my Jewish heritage, my religious family, and my interfaith marriage. She struggles with the Judaism she was brought up with and its exclusivity, the same issue I have felt at odds with. Is it possible to be deeply connected to one's religious heritage while at the same time fully respecting and appreciating the multitude of spiritual paths that exist in our world? She seems to have been able to do this but I will know more when I finish..

3 comments:

Margie Puerta Edson, CFRE said...

This conflict has always been a struggle for me. One is made to feel somehow disloyal to ones own faith tradition if one is able to appreciate the truths to be found in other traditions. I feel that I am open to being a spiritual person, yet my own spiritual tradition often isolates me from a full depth of spiritual experience. I often feel that God is so much bigger than what we imagine and does not fit into a neat little dogma box. I also think that God is not petty and ruled by our simple limitations of thought. My own spiritual journey is to find a balance of expression and expansiveness within a world of exclusion and limits. As my dear friend Walt wrote, "It doesn't mean I see the light any better than you".

Tom Rhodes said...

God has very specific ideas on what we should wear and eat as well as how we should behave.

If you violate these rules, when you die, you will be reborn as a Republican.

Margie Puerta Edson, CFRE said...

According to "South Park", the correct answer is: Mormon. It surprised me, too.