... rendering the door to our successful blogging career still locked. For some reason, whether it be distance or writer's block, we can not keep consistent with our posts. For this, we are very very sorry.
So we decided to write about one of the three things you are never supposed to bring up in polite conversation!
RELIGION!!
M: So, Ry, I'll just come right and and ask it. What do you believe in?
R:I don't exactly know what I believe... Uh, is hockey a religion?
M:Yes! Totally. Religion is what ever you believe in. Hockey is definitely your religion. Heaven being...
R:The Stanley Cup. Its called Lord Stanley's cup, anyways. Proof, hockey is god. Actually, that makes Wayne Gretzky god.
M:When is church?
R:Church happens about every other night during fall and winter. A lot of Randy and Drew (the announcers) because they are the preachers.
M:What are Drew and Randy preaching?
R:They just preach a lot about the rules of hockey, like when you don't understand something they explain. You can go to them for guidance.
M: What has your religion taught you? What's the morality of hockey?
R: Wow. Heartbreak. You get disappointed a lot of the time, but there is that one chance, that ultimate experience. I think Hockey is the same as the morality of life: the golden rule. If you punch a guy in the face, expect him to punch you back. Hockey to me is about not retaliating though. Leave him with the penalty.
M :So right. Be the bigger man.
R: Exactly.
M: What is hell to you, bub?
R: If the Sharks don't win the Stanley Cup during my life, do you know how disappointed I will be? I imagine that is what hell would be like. I couldn't imagine anything worse. An icy, cold afterlife.
M: See? Some people envision burning in flames for all of eternity. Being shut out of a Stanley Cup win is your hell. Except its cold. And the devil drives a Zamboni. Everyone who has a religion practices differently, whether you are a Christian or an Agnostic Theist (Woot Woot!).
R: What I believe in sweetie? Country Music? The good old south?
M: Are you saying that because I sing with a country accent?
R: Kind of.
M: I change what I believe in everyday. My imagination is too big to be an atheist. Why choose to believe in the infinite nothingness when I can believe in, literally, a million other things. Most days, I long to be Jewish. I would like to have a huge family Shabbat dinner every Friday. I am a closet Jewish nerd.
R:No you don't. Okay yes you do, but don't you believe in other things? Right?
M:Yes, you're right. I classify myself with a small sect of people who believe in Agnostic Theism. In a nutshell: An agnostic theist is one who believes that knowledge of god(s) is not possible but chooses to believe there is a higher being anyways. I like to believe, relying solely on faith, that there is a god. But, per agnosticism which is rooted in knowledge, know that this god or Gods or GOD or gOdS is inherently unknowable.
R:What does that make for your morality then if you don't follow hockey's rules... or the Bible?
M: My morality is to believe in the intellectual. Use your human instinct to do good. I love helping people, and it may be my nature or it may be my religion. No "god" is breathing down my neck or threatening entire damnation if I make a mistake. I am just trying to be the absolute best person I can and hopefully I will reincarnate as a lazy, fat cat. That is my ultimate goal.
R: Um... what is an agnostic?
M: I believe that no one can prove there is a god. Ever. And if you were able to prove there was a god, than it would destroy the whole purpose of faith, wouldn't it? Thats kind of my take on agnosticism. I have faith in the notion that there are dieties that watch the world from a sofa far away some where. And I also have a little buddhism mixed in. Re: my note about the Golden Key to Happiness on Facebook.
R: You've been having good Karma this week.
M: Yeah, its been so crazy! When we were driving to that memorial I so badly wanted not to go to! And we got every red light on the way. And a train stopped us too. And then, at Chinese food, all three of our fortune cookies had the number 39 on it.
R: And I predicted that Logan Couture, Shark player who wears number 39, would have a great year. And the next day, he had a front page article on the website about how he is going to have a breakout year!
M: That was intense and crazy. That means more Chinese food for us!
R: Great...
And we will continue to discuss what region means to us. And that is good. Religion shouldn't be something you have to argue about, especially with someone you love. Luckily we understand that religion is personal, and is literally different for everyone. Sometimes people forget that. So, enjoy anything, nothing and everything you believe in. Leave feedback and comments, if you're so inclined. We would love to hear how you practice (or don't practice) your religion!
See you on the otherside,
Ry and My
Deep and thoughtful you guys! I very much enjoyed reading this post.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I started writing a really long post back, but it was getting absurdly long and going down roads I don't like to travel so I'll keep it simple.
I was raised Lutheran. Fell out of it. Attended Catholic high school and considered believing in it. Fell out of that too. Sometimes I like the concepts in Buddhism, but 90% of the time, I know I can't be that just or without clutter or simple. I too, also harbor secret inner Jewish girl longings, especially since I once semi-dated a Jewish guy which made me wonder. And Sex and the City didn't help matters there either with my girl Charlotte choosing the chosen people path.
So I'm a Heatheran. Plain and simple. It's not an organized religion, nor does it judge, or come with a set of rules. Really, it's about putting others before myself. I pray for my family and friends which is one of the few facets of religions I can go for because the simple act of putting my hands together and wishing goodness on those who have been good to me makes me feel better. I believe in god, but the god I see in my mind's eye now looks more like this episode of Wishbone I saw once where the Greek gods were looking down on the mortals and had a huge map spread out on a table with little ships of each person they would guide around. I think there's so much more out there than we can ever imagine, but I like to believe that we're the little ships, being guided along on our journey. More than one hand is dealing with us, aiding us, taking us back and allowing discovery to happen.
When I die, I don't know what will happen. I know I would like to sit in a little waiting room somewhere and just read from a big book telling me everything about the world I left behind. It would be neverending, eternal. And that would be what I would do.
Heaven to me is a big field with a huge tree with a swing, piles of books, the breeze in the slightly gray sky and I on the swing reading forever.
Hell to me is sitting at a Denny's at 2am listening to stupid teenage girls yammering on about Justin Beiber or their hobag clothes. And I'm sober.
This was beautifully put! I must say I am all for creating your own faith. Mixing and mashing different parts of everything until you have something that you can believe in wholeheartedly. I'm even more for letting yourself change. I mean really this is a look at my normal week concerning religion.
ReplyDeleteSunday: I'll stare solemnly at a beautifully painted wall listening to the clergy chant in Latin at my stepdad's Ukrainian church.
Monday: My biggest prayer goes up to Walter Payton. My church is a bar with a big screen TV showing the Monday Night Football game as I pray for any chance the Bears have for giving me a Superbowl win before I die.
Tuesday: I'll fall in love with the old ideas about having a different god or goddess that rules certain things.
Wednesday: I'll be singing songs to God in my Lutheran church.
Thursday: I will spin around in circles to music believing as the Sufi religion does that through this I will achieve a spiritual revolution.
Friday: I'm perfectly content with the idea that the only thing you can be sure of in the world is yourself.
Saturday: I'll be thinking about all my karma for the week, hoping that it's enough that when I die I'll come back into the world as an elephant.
But beyond all of this I believe that no matter what happens in the end I will be happy, because I let myself explore all of the options out there. I did my best to care about everyone around me, and do good in the world. I didn't limit myself, and I didn't judge others for their beliefs. I think that no matter what or who is out there they will judge me on that, and I will be accepted with open arms and happy laughter for doing the best that I could do. And even if there isn't anything out there and this is all you get I will breathe my last breath with happiness and serenity because I lived my life with passion and love. I think everyone could do with more expanding their religious horizons and less judging of anything unfamiliar to them. Because let me tell you from experience there are some really amazing, thought provoking, incredible beliefs out there, and they are all worth giving some real thought to not just dismissing them without a second glance.
Thanks for this post you two it made me smile. Especially the hockey part, because well I reached my hockey heaven this season and it was incredible. Ryan I hope that you get to experience it soon, because it is amazing!!