I was chatting to my daughter the other day, and explaining the story of the Garden of Eden. She wondered why eating from the tree of knowledge (of good and evil) was such a bad thing.
It got me to thinking...
Is having knowledge a good thing or not?
There are certain things which I really don't want to know....how I will die, what war is like, how to kill, what people say about me when I am not around. *grins
There are certain things which I don't care enough about to want to know.... what the FTSE 100 is, who is going to win Big Brother this year, how a traction engine works, the periodic table.
But generally I am hungry for new knowledge and information, I like to see how the world 'ticks', to understand things in greater depth and often I wish was better educated or born clever.
But is ignorance bliss? Is knowledge dangerous?
Would life be happier and more fulfilled if we were largely ignorant of the world, other than our own small area? Would we be less frightened, worried, jealous and unsatisfied if we never saw the world outside?
Probably, but maybe its better that we KNOW whats happening, even if we suffer a little.
What if this question is applied to Faith?.
Do we need to be knowledgeable or ignorant to have faith?
Faith is defined in the dictionary as 'confidence or trust in a person or thing' or 'belief that is not based on proof'' or 'the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise..'
Is a person who studies theology, knows the historical background to their Deity, questions, looks for proof, or considers modern contexts, more faithful than the person who simply accepts without question?
Do we need to let go of some of our 'rational', to experience true connection to our Gods?
Like I explained in my post Little Treasures, do we need to hear the music rather than identify each individual instrument. Or will hearing the instruments within the music, increase our pleasure when we see how they blend together.
Is it better to KNOW? or not.
.
Please share your thoughts.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Email disasters.
Have you even sent one of those emails that you really wished you hadn't?
Until yesterday I never had.
Unfortunately a slip of the 'send' button is all that you need to turn a joke into a nightmare.
Its all too easy to be flippant and silly and then regret it.
Sadly it was my work email address too.
I think I may have made things worse by trying to make them better.
*Cringe*
Until yesterday I never had.
Unfortunately a slip of the 'send' button is all that you need to turn a joke into a nightmare.
Its all too easy to be flippant and silly and then regret it.
Sadly it was my work email address too.
I think I may have made things worse by trying to make them better.
*Cringe*
Monday, 28 July 2008
Little treasures
Well here I am, back from holiday, warmed by the sun, washed by the sea and calmed by the rest.
I hope you have all had some time to enjoy being outside in the last two weeks and thank you to all those who wanted to come along with us and do the (rightly pointed out although not intended) 'Parlamay' quest.
.
Before I explain my item for the finding shelf, I want to describe something I realised on this holiday.......
I spend much of my time explaining nature to children, identifying all sorts of creatures, looking for tracks and signs, explaining natures processes and mans effects on them. This means that when I take a walk in the country I see the world around me through those eyes, I see signs of climate change, notice pollution more and tend to keep a sharp eye out for anything of interest and usually have my camera to hand to take a photo for ID purposes or to record something. But I realised this holiday that I have lost something along way.
Its like knowing the songs of all the birds and listening to the dawn chorus.
You listen and hear the blackbird nearby, and then the thrush in the big tree. You hear a robin over there and a dunnock over here. You can hear and identify the birds around you.
You spend all the time concentrating on the instruments but when the chorus is finished you realise you missed the melody.
So my 'moment' this holiday is a moment free from camera's, ID books and learning. It was calm, quiet and simple.
Here it is...
.
"I had been feeling very ill during the holiday with a cough I couldn't shift and running a slight temperature. It was a warm evening and my family wanted to go for a walk through the fields around the village we were staying at. I really didn't feel up to it, so I took some medicine and went to bed with a book while they headed out.
I was reading 'The day I died' a book about near death experiences.
The book was lent to me by my mum in response to the feelings we have all been having since my grandfather died. Watching him and being with him as he left this world have prompted us all to have thoughts of death and made us look at our lives closely. I think my mum thought that this book would bring some comfort, which it did.
After about half an hour I began to feel much better and decided to go out and try and find my family. I knew they had intended to do a circular walk around the village and I thought I could perhaps meet them if I went the opposite direction. Of course I got totally lost (I blame the medication!)
As the sun began to set I came to a slight rise in the road and the corn field in front of me glowed warmly in the last rays. The swallows were high above, their calls distant, there was no wind and the world smelt warm and green.
I stopped and stared,
at that moment I felt completely at peace with the world,
I was not scared of anything, worried about anything, angry, happy, sad.
I just was.
There
in that moment
there was no baggage.
Just me and the world.
at peace.
.
It was a true gift and a treasure.
I stayed there a long time, until the sun finally sank and I began to get cold, then I retraced my steps and headed back"
.
I have no item to share, no photo, just my feelings. I hope they are enough.
I brought back loads of things of course and took many photo's, you can see them on my flikr pages, but nothing compared to those moments on the farm track as the sun set.
If you still have a moment or treasure you want to share please do.
I hope you have all had some time to enjoy being outside in the last two weeks and thank you to all those who wanted to come along with us and do the (rightly pointed out although not intended) 'Parlamay' quest.
.
Before I explain my item for the finding shelf, I want to describe something I realised on this holiday.......
I spend much of my time explaining nature to children, identifying all sorts of creatures, looking for tracks and signs, explaining natures processes and mans effects on them. This means that when I take a walk in the country I see the world around me through those eyes, I see signs of climate change, notice pollution more and tend to keep a sharp eye out for anything of interest and usually have my camera to hand to take a photo for ID purposes or to record something. But I realised this holiday that I have lost something along way.
Its like knowing the songs of all the birds and listening to the dawn chorus.
You listen and hear the blackbird nearby, and then the thrush in the big tree. You hear a robin over there and a dunnock over here. You can hear and identify the birds around you.
You spend all the time concentrating on the instruments but when the chorus is finished you realise you missed the melody.
So my 'moment' this holiday is a moment free from camera's, ID books and learning. It was calm, quiet and simple.
Here it is...
.
"I had been feeling very ill during the holiday with a cough I couldn't shift and running a slight temperature. It was a warm evening and my family wanted to go for a walk through the fields around the village we were staying at. I really didn't feel up to it, so I took some medicine and went to bed with a book while they headed out.
I was reading 'The day I died' a book about near death experiences.
The book was lent to me by my mum in response to the feelings we have all been having since my grandfather died. Watching him and being with him as he left this world have prompted us all to have thoughts of death and made us look at our lives closely. I think my mum thought that this book would bring some comfort, which it did.
After about half an hour I began to feel much better and decided to go out and try and find my family. I knew they had intended to do a circular walk around the village and I thought I could perhaps meet them if I went the opposite direction. Of course I got totally lost (I blame the medication!)
As the sun began to set I came to a slight rise in the road and the corn field in front of me glowed warmly in the last rays. The swallows were high above, their calls distant, there was no wind and the world smelt warm and green.
I stopped and stared,
at that moment I felt completely at peace with the world,
I was not scared of anything, worried about anything, angry, happy, sad.
I just was.
There
in that moment
there was no baggage.
Just me and the world.
at peace.
.
It was a true gift and a treasure.
I stayed there a long time, until the sun finally sank and I began to get cold, then I retraced my steps and headed back"
.
I have no item to share, no photo, just my feelings. I hope they are enough.
I brought back loads of things of course and took many photo's, you can see them on my flikr pages, but nothing compared to those moments on the farm track as the sun set.
If you still have a moment or treasure you want to share please do.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Holiday Findings
We are all away on holiday tomorrow, back in a couple of weeks.
I thought it might be interesting to get you all to leave your computers and enjoy some fresh air along with us.
So the kids and I came up with an idea, take part if you want to.
.
We would like anyone reading this (and we will do it too) to look for some sort of special natural object over the next two weeks.
It could be anything at all, a stone, a shell, a flower, a jewelled bug, anything. But it should grab you, speak to you somehow, evoke some sort of reaction.
When we come back we thought it might be nice to share our objects, either here or on our own blogs. Explain why we like them, where we found them and what drew us to them, give everyone a feel for the moment in time when we spotted that special thing.
Take a picture if you want to, draw, write a poem, express yourself in whatever way you want, but bring some of that good summer feeling online and share it.
.
Love and hugs to you all. Wren and family
Thursday, 26 June 2008
A new realm
Back to work today, feeling a little more human.
Teaching 40 kids about the most amazing birds in the world. Great fun.
Last couple of weeks have been a little lost, slightly unreal.
Teaching 40 kids about the most amazing birds in the world. Great fun.
Last couple of weeks have been a little lost, slightly unreal.
Speaking of unreal......
On the recommendation of dear mister Hobbit, I have been spending some time in Carmarthenshire.
After Triskele it became clear to me that I need to have a roleplay place in SL. Wandering around SL randomly confirmed much of what I felt when I first joined over a year ago. So much of the virtual world is shallow , concerned with commercialism and strangely false. Yet I feel at home in a roleplay environment, where the concerns are more human (or elf, dragon ,fae). More about people, less about money
Weirdly some of the most real encounters seem to come in these doubly unreal places. Perhaps it is because I am slightly shy. Taking on a mantle of 'Wren the villager' or 'Wren the healer' helps me to feel more able to speak to people. The words are still my own and generally come from the heart, but the mask helps (most of the time) to hide any awkwardness.
It probably says a lot about me that I find other SL interactions tricky, and invariable end up on the perimeter feeling like a wallflower. I don't suppose this is a good thing, but its me I guess.
Anyway, it seems for me to 'be' in the virtual world I need roleplay. So Carmarthenshire is being scoped, and so far it's looking very interesting.
Monday, 16 June 2008
For David
For my Grandfather6th Sept 1921 - 12th June 2008
who looked for the goodness in humanity,
and who carried so much of it within himself.
.
Imagine
.
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
.
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
.
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
.
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
.
John Lennon
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
.
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
.
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
.
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
.
John Lennon
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Sacred Nature
My husband and I were watching a documentary the other night about the nomadic horse peoples of Mongolia.
As part of this documentary it was noted that they regarded the animals at a particular lake as sacred, the wildfowl and particularly the whooper swans which nested there.
There have been similar documentaries we have also watched recently in which certain cultures or religions hold animals in a high regard, as special or sacred to their Gods.
It occured to me that Christian belief doesn't have this connection to animals and nature.
Is this right?
Thinking back on my Bible stories I cant think of any which venerate animals or nature? (other than the Arc) and I am unaware of any animal sacred to Christians.
I am sure those of you who know your Bible better than me (I am looking at you Old Crone!) might put me right, and I welcome any stories that I don't know about.
But perhaps this is part of the reason I have always felt a little detached from the Christian tradition (that and the role of women, which OC and I were also discussing recently).
I find in my RL as well as my SL, that I gain great spiritual strength from the natural world. For me just 'being' with the world can reveal wonders and beauty which often my everyday life can block.
When I spend time outside I can almost feel the connections that bind us to each other as humans, that connect us to the rest of creation and , I believe, connect us to something greater.
As part of this documentary it was noted that they regarded the animals at a particular lake as sacred, the wildfowl and particularly the whooper swans which nested there.
There have been similar documentaries we have also watched recently in which certain cultures or religions hold animals in a high regard, as special or sacred to their Gods.
It occured to me that Christian belief doesn't have this connection to animals and nature.
Is this right?
Thinking back on my Bible stories I cant think of any which venerate animals or nature? (other than the Arc) and I am unaware of any animal sacred to Christians.
I am sure those of you who know your Bible better than me (I am looking at you Old Crone!) might put me right, and I welcome any stories that I don't know about.
But perhaps this is part of the reason I have always felt a little detached from the Christian tradition (that and the role of women, which OC and I were also discussing recently).
I find in my RL as well as my SL, that I gain great spiritual strength from the natural world. For me just 'being' with the world can reveal wonders and beauty which often my everyday life can block.
When I spend time outside I can almost feel the connections that bind us to each other as humans, that connect us to the rest of creation and , I believe, connect us to something greater.
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