A Lighter Note - Joyous Beginnings

I proposed last night to my long time girlfriend. We had a few friends over for drinks and out of no where I pulled a ring out of my pocket. She was completely shocked, and the look on her face stopped the next witty line before it could leave my mouth. With a little prompting I regained my senses, got down on my knee, and asked her to marry me. She said yes and we are yet to set a date or make any future plans.

The question to come out of all of this, is what type of wedding should we have? Neither of us are Christians, so a big church wedding does not seem all that appealing. Any ideas or suggestions?


For those of you interested, I'll post a few pictures of the ring. It is white gold with a 1.55ct black diamond.

Faith and Belief

The discussion on what it means to have faith or a belief is a common argument with a few of my co-workers. Here is my side of the discussion, I hope some of you will chime in with your own ideas.

Concerning the question of belief and faith. Phil Hine once said,

"Beliefs are not objective -- they are coping strategies that we take up according to our needs and priorities. Beliefs are summaries of individual and communal experience that permit us to deal, effectively, with changes in our environment -- and by extension, accepting or rejecting a belief is akin to using a tool to fix a problem and then discarding it."

I find this sums up most of my own thoughts about beliefs, it is actually how I sign my emails at work. Faith is a little more complicated. I do not believe faith is tied specifically to any type of religious framework. You can have faith in a God, or a Goddess. You can have faith in a loved one and you can have faith in yourself. People have faith in the government (hard to believe but it is true), and in any number of other day to day things. The hardest part of talking to my junior team members is convincing them to have faith in themselves, and others around them. They are usually missing one or both of these concepts.

With these ideas in mind, I am constantly telling my Christian friends to have faith. They seem to think I want them to go pray and I have to explain that I mean for them to have faith in themselves. Praying is fine, it can clear out your mind and lower stress ( I take these words on faith from my friends that do it). It is not a substitution for trusting in your own skills and abilities.

So go forth my friends and believe in yourself. Have faith that the hard work you have put forth means something and you will be triumphant in the end.

Day one.

     I have been meaning to do this for some time, but never seemed to get around to it. The recent death of my father has reminded me that we have to take more time to do the things we have all been putting off until later. IT also reminded me of my life and the advice I have given many others when it comes to concepts such as grief and faith. These are ideas I hope to share with those out there who are interested in my viewpoint on the topics.

     Religion has been a topic of research and debate for me for many years. I have acquired and read many books on the subject, and been part of a great number of debates. Currently my beliefs are mostly in line with those that practice in Chaos Theory, mainly because I think we all shape our own path through life. With enough courage and a strong enough belief in it becoming a reality, amazing things can happen if you are willing to put forth a solid effort.

     In the upcoming days I hope to address many topics on this subject, as well as rambling on incoherently at times.  I have been a minister with the ULC for several years now and have spent years as a spiritual counselor. If you have any questions you wish to ask, or comments to make I will try to address them. Good luck out there.