Walden Cabin: Observations typed on an old Underwood

Sunday, November 11, 2001

Remembrance Day, 2001
All that kills abundant living,
Let it from the earth be banned:
Pride of status, race or schooling,
Dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice,
May we hallow life's brief span.

>> From For the Healing of the Nations

An end to fundamentalism

One of the most profound revelations of growing up is that the adults don’t have life all figured out.

This is especially true when parents and teachers have espoused relatively strict rules and principles. For instance, even at a young age it was really tough to imagine that only people from my church were going to Heaven. I liked my church family a lot, and I felt welcome there, but I was sure I would get bored spending eternity with just them. Likewise, we grew up with Catholics in our midst, but we knew they were going to Hell. They told us so at summer camp. Under these circumstances, marriage to a Catholic was definitely frowned upon, and you sure as heck didn’t want to be buried in their cemetery. The grass was not greener on the other side of that fence!

Then there’s Noah’s Ark. As a child I always wondered how they acquired the two flamingos from Florida, and if they had to bring extra ants for the anteaters. The “story as life lesson” spin on the ark was never spun. We paced the cubits in the church yard. It seems silly now; most people have let these things go. But it's amazing to discover how many have not -- how so many grown-ups still count the ants and even wonder about the fate of the unicorn. At my Dad's funeral last month, the Bible-thumper minister spoke for two minutes about Dad, then said "Now that we have talked about Frank, I have a message for the rest of you". He went on for a half hour about how we were all born sinners and how we face the frightful choice of damnation or salvation. The word love didn't pass his lips once. I wanted to wring that loser's scrawny fundamentalist neck.

As bombs fall in Afghanistan, it’s time to stand up to fundamentalist rhetoric - theirs and our own. In an era when even the Pope is praying in a mosque, the consensus is building: The structures and rigours of the faiths that have supported our societies are merely prisms through which individual cultures have defined the search for the Divine.

This is a simple message. Sadly, it is still also radical, even heretical. The fact is, saying good-bye to the Ark does not imply a rejection of God. It means we must embrace the fact that the search for a relationship with eternal truth is something that unites all humans. The quest for this closeness with peace and hope and love is something we all share.

I’d like to meet Mother Theresa in Heaven, wouldn’t you?

>> Listen to a fascinating CBC interview with Anglican Bishop, Dr. John Spong, Christian and radical, about his new book, "A New Chistianity". He advocates a panentheist view of God that rejects "God the Father".
>> Bishop John Spong calls for A New Reformation.
>> Comment on anything you read on WaldenCabin.com. We post differing points of view here, on request.

posted by Stuart Hickox | 7:17 PM

Building a CD collection: Walden -- Music for the Woods
Walden's resident music afficionado, Alex "Kwesi" Larose, sent us our first suggestion for the Walden Cabin CD, Music for the Woods. The CD will be left in the cabin for rental guests. To find out how to experience Walden Cabin in PEI, click here.

"This is one of those enchanting songs I woke up to one morning, last fall. My radio alarm clock was set to wake me up with CBC radio 2, as it always does. Out of the abyss of my dream state came voices of angels. They took me from the arms of Morpheus and led me to entrance of reality. The transition was so soft that I remained in a pleasant, semi-dream state for the remainder of the day."

"The first time I heard Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was during the sad and sobering movie, Platoon. This haunting chorus version is a beautiful rendition of an already amazing song. I recommend you listen to this song first thing in the morning, and if you're able to set your alarm clock to start with a specific song, this would
have to be the one!"

>> Download and listen to the MP3 (60-second sample)
>> Download the full MP3

Write to our music guy, Alex Larose

posted by Stuart Hickox | 7:01 PM



	Sunday, November 11, 2001 Remembrance Day, 2001 All that kills abundant living, Let it from the earth be banned: Pride of status, race or schooling, Dogmas that obscure your plan. In our common quest for justice, May we hallow life's brief span. >> From For the Healing of the Nations An end to fundamentalism One of the most profound revelations of growing up is that the adults don’t have life all figured out. This is especially true when parents and teachers have espoused relatively strict rules and principles. For instance, even at a young age it was really tough to imagine that only people from my church were going to Heaven. I liked my church family a lot, and I felt welcome there, but I was sure I would get bored spending eternity with just them. Likewise, we grew up with Catholics in our midst, but we knew they were going to Hell. They told us so at summer camp. Under these circumstances, marriage to a Catholic was definitely frowned upon, and you sure as heck didn’t want to be buried in their cemetery. The grass was not greener on the other side of that fence! Then there’s Noah’s Ark. As a child I always wondered how they acquired the two flamingos from Florida, and if they had to bring extra ants for the anteaters. The “story as life lesson” spin on the ark was never spun. We paced the cubits in the church yard. It seems silly now; most people have let these things go. But it's amazing to discover how many have not -- how so many grown-ups still count the ants and even wonder about the fate of the unicorn. At my Dad's funeral last month, the Bible-thumper minister spoke for two minutes about Dad, then said "Now that we have talked about Frank, I have a message for the rest of you". He went on for a half hour about how we were all born sinners and how we face the frightful choice of damnation or salvation. The word love didn't pass his lips once. I wanted to wring that loser's scrawny fundamentalist neck. As bombs fall in Afghanistan, it’s time to stand up to fundamentalist rhetoric - theirs and our own. In an era when even the Pope is praying in a mosque, the consensus is building: The structures and rigours of the faiths that have supported our societies are merely prisms through which individual cultures have defined the search for the Divine. This is a simple message. Sadly, it is still also radical, even heretical. The fact is, saying good-bye to the Ark does not imply a rejection of God. It means we must embrace the fact that the search for a relationship with eternal truth is something that unites all humans. The quest for this closeness with peace and hope and love is something we all share. I’d like to meet Mother Theresa in Heaven, wouldn’t you? >> Listen to a fascinating CBC interview with Anglican Bishop, Dr. John Spong, Christian and radical, about his new book, "A New Chistianity". He advocates a panentheist view of God that rejects "God the Father". >> Bishop John Spong calls for A New Reformation. >> Comment on anything you read on WaldenCabin.com. We post differing points of view here, on request. posted by Stuart Hickox \| 7:17 PM Building a CD collection: Walden -- Music for the Woods Walden's resident music afficionado, Alex "Kwesi" Larose, sent us our first suggestion for the Walden Cabin CD, Music for the Woods. The CD will be left in the cabin for rental guests. To find out how to experience Walden Cabin in PEI, click here. "This is one of those enchanting songs I woke up to one morning, last fall. My radio alarm clock was set to wake me up with CBC radio 2, as it always does. Out of the abyss of my dream state came voices of angels. They took me from the arms of Morpheus and led me to entrance of reality. The transition was so soft that I remained in a pleasant, semi-dream state for the remainder of the day." "The first time I heard Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was during the sad and sobering movie, Platoon. This haunting chorus version is a beautiful rendition of an already amazing song. I recommend you listen to this song first thing in the morning, and if you're able to set your alarm clock to start with a specific song, this would have to be the one!" >> Download and listen to the MP3 (60-second sample) >> Download the full MP3 Write to our music guy, Alex Larose posted by Stuart Hickox \| 7:01 PM				(11.11.2001) Lest we forget. Canadians at Vimy Ridge, France. (11.06.2001) Nobody's Turkey. Rusty and other friends under glass. See story, below left. >> See Jasper's first visit to the Children's Museum. >> See the archive of cover photos. (10.22.2001) NosferatStu, Slutty Ghoul, and BatJasper. A Hallowe'en Evening >> See the full photo. (10.22.2001) Teletubby Mishap Don't worry. He(?)'s OK. >> See the full photo. Bedouin Boys Out there, in the desert, they keep watch, and serve tea. See The Soothing Hammam, from Syria. >> See the full photo. >>See previous cover photos. << Larger photo >> (09.27.2001) Joe, that's who. Charlottetown, 1979, with Valerie (left) and Stuart Hickox. See Me and Joe Who Jasper is live on Jasper Cam most mornings and in the early afternoon. Keep an eye on the toy box! Updated - September 12, 2001 Head for the Hills of Prince Edward Island Walden Cabin >> "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life and to see if I could learn what they had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Walden; Or Life in the Woods (08.21) Walden Cabin is a publishing creation of Accolade Intermedia, an Ottawa-based communications company that specializes in content-rich Web products. www.accolade.ca >>
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