The Paladin's Pine Stump

Dear Christians, Over the last week I've seen at least two of you wear clothing emblazoned with a bible verse - "We walk by faith, not by sight." And it struck me as a really ridiculous concept, so I went back to my bible and looked up some context. It's far more than ridiculous. It's dangerous.  Here's the original passage: 6 Therefore  we are  always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:  7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)  8 We are confident,  I say , and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.  9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.  10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things  done  in  his  body, according to that he hath done, whether  it be  good or bad. This is from the original KJV, just to look at what the majority of conservatives believe to be the canonical v

I speak to the young. I thought long and hard, about what it was like to be a child, not yet a young man, not yet providing for myself. I asked myself what I would have wanted to hear, what I should say to you from my place in the cycle. So, listen and I will say what you must know. It is hard to be where you are. The world is so immediate, and it’s got some big questions in it. Do you believe as your parents? As I do? What name does the sun have, does the moon have? Why are we here? Are you doing the right things? And none of these questions have a solid enough answer for me to say that it will have the same answer for every child who reads it. You are in a place where you do not know everything. That is okay. I do not know everything. No adult does. It is a prized secret that many of us believe we know less now than we did at your age, but we’re trying. We cannot dance the circle backwards, or turn back time with the knowledge earned. You are asking the same questions we are – an

 I am fond of saying that every faith has to answer three questions: Why are we here? Why do bad things happen? and the one we're going to focus on today - What happens when we die? Now, I'm fairly certain I've covered before what Primali believes happens when we die - we are bound to the ground with our wrong actions, or if we have attempted to correct those wrong actions with a true heart, we can wander with the Beast. Maybe as a way to start this, I'll explain my thinking on why  this is what must be past the final door. And perhaps the door itself. Each person makes decisions based on their base of information. We use what we know to make choices, correct? That's how thinking and choice work. So when I introduce these things, I want you to know how I got there, and why it's the most logical, sensible things for me to conclude at that time. It's when your base of information changes and you cannot adapt that you have truly failed. So forgive me while I wr

I have been wrestling with our stance on fear and violence for some time, turning back and forth. And once again I must be guided by the space between, the simplest answer, and the goose and the gander.  When I have sought wisdom, those three things tend to guide me. The space between refers to looking for the common denominator between two combating ideas to seek a deeper truth. For instance, the question of whether gods exist. Either they exist or they are simply faces we give form to. I wrestled with that for some time until I realized that the two were not mutually exclusive - they were connected. The gods are  faces we give them and  very real. In our faith, for instance, we are presented with the common debate of science versus faith that is so very prevalent in our society. But the truth is something much more interesting. The two are completely inextricable from one another, and both true - the more we explore and discover, the more we fulfil our purpose, the more we deepen and

I took a few days to collect my thoughts for this one. Should those that come after be in any way confused, about 4 days ago the Supreme Court made a ruling that struck down an important case - Roe v. Wade. This same precedent has been used for decades to build equal rights cases, but its most well-known point is that it guaranteed the right of a female-bodied person to choose whether to continue or discontinue a pregnancy. This also feeds into medical information rights and many other things, but it has caused an outcry among many. It has caused pain, because it will  cause death. Other rulings have come in a wave - that police officers cannot be prosecuted for not mirandizing arrestees, that teachers may participate in and lead students in prayer. These are rights and structures of our society that were settled - they were given. But a collection of conservative judges, using the Bible as justification for law in a pluralistic society, are plunging the country into some terrifying th

 If my calculations are correct, and the client works properly, you are reading this while I am out in the woods with 4 dedicants to Primali. It occurred to me that I may not have described what dedication means to us, so while I am baking out at the Lake, I'll tell you about us.  Us? You say. Yes, us. The process is all about us, and it walks the path I've tread, hopefully with enough wiggle room that everyone can find their own way. My path hasn't been easy...generally because I'm terribly stubborn and the Universe has to kick me in the head, but still.  I think perhaps there is some confusion about some of the terminology I use, but I assure you it is all intentional. As we build a set of words, a lexicon of our own, we have to intentionally choose what we use and how.  A Student is not a position of subordinance. It is a title. We use the word Primali and Student of Primali in the same way you would use Christian or Muslim and Follower of Islam or Disciple of Christ

I preach from the rafters about the Honesty Doctrine. It's one of the core tenets of our faith, and I know that it confuses some. Our world is built on lies, and the things we intake, like our humor and our drama, use them as plot devices and entertainment. We're taught that it's an accepted part of our society - the little white lie, for instance. We scoff at the more traditional faiths who admonish us that it's a sin to lie while simultaneously continuing to advocate it in action.  I am not here to admonish. The concept of the Honesty Doctrine doesn't actually lie in the spiritual at all - it lies in the logical. Have you ever actually dissected the saying, "Magic cannot lie in the mouth that lies", or whatever version thereof you've heard. It's true, and here's why.  Words are magic. This much we know - I can use my words to evoke emotions in others, to invoke change, to inspire. I am doing it right now, as you read this. So what, then, is t