1. Responsible Religion
We can ignore it. We can try going around it, under it, over it.
But religion can lead to Spiritual Sustenance if we go through it.
This means thinking for ourselves, understanding how religion affects us and others— now and later, understanding others’ religions, and creating a relationship to religion that allows us to grow -responsibly.
ZinnHouse is here to help.
2. Floating
and Swimming
Rabbi David Wolpe wrote that floating takes faith. Floating is especially enjoyable after learning to swim, to propel through water. And faith is especially appreciated after understanding religion.
How do different religious traditions, customs, norms affect our spirit? It is one thing to float through religion, it is another to understand and move it in ways that strengthen us spiritually. I encourage you to look at this website and, in addition to floating, learn to swim.
October 9, 2010
3. Taking Responsibility
Taking responsibility for our relationship with religion requires us to first step away from and look at it. Too often, when we over-identify with a religion, we cannot step away — even for a moment. But if we do succeed in stepping aside, we gain the ability to see what is before us — how it affects us and others, now and later, and to ask if this is beneficial and sustainable. We look at how food makes us feel, how it affects our bodies, and how its production affects our earth. Why not look at how religion’s beliefs and practices affect our souls, as one and as many?
December 17, 2010
4. Both-And
Rabbi Gelberman (z’l) sensed our emerging religious landscape when he said, “Never instead of, Always in Addition to.” Similarly, Rabbis Irwin Kula and Brad Hirschfeld echo that motto when they recognize the shift in our religious reality from “either-or” to “both-and.” We have entered an age when we can see and accept ourselves in the Other and the Other in us. We can let go of beliefs that no longer serve us and act in this world from a place of expanded truth. The more we can value both this and that religion, the closer we come to an expanded identity.
February 2, 2011
5. Freedom
If life presents opportunities for each one of us to become better human beings (mensches) by minding and practicing the virtues, then why not the same for organizations? What if we think of economic, political, and social challenges as opportunities for organizations to become better, more virtuous entities? Imagine if we applied the same standard of integrity that we hope for and expect in people to organizations. Do you see the Humble Corporation? the Patient Production Plant? the Responsible Retailer? The Manufacturing company practicing Moderation? or the Service Center promoting Simplicity? Ahhhhh. Companies caring because it’s best for everyone, not because of some external regulation. When we carry the law in our hearts and not over our shoulder, freedom grows.
May 18, 2011
I invite you to explore my Resources for ways to go through religion —
sustainably, beneficially, responsibly, inclusively, and freely.
Artwork by Lauren Zinn
Way to go Lauren… I like it…