Work in constant Progress

I'm not a writer, but I like to think and reflect. I've studied philosophy and gender studies, but I was a terrible student. Still, I feel the need to explore and express, and I invite you to do so with me. If that's of interest to you: write me on explore@lynxtale.com.
I won't respond to attacks or hateful messages, because I think we can all find a way to communicate in a respectful and non-violent fashion.

don't just praise Jesus :
• BE Jesus •
• be YOUR OWN SAVIOUR • take responsibility for your own life . instead of waiting for the miracle to come

Because there's a big change Messiah ain't coming back • at least not in your lifetime (statistically speaking)

What if there won't be a savior to lead the way and save us from our misery? I believe that only we can save ourselves from ourselves. Yet the teachings from Jesus are valuable, and can help lead to our very own salvation.

To do this, it's important to look at our history, see what and who keep us from our salvations. And realise that a lot that is said and done in the Lord's name, has not been good, not even remotely near his very own teachings. With that we can learn from our historical, collective mistakes, admit and spot what was wrong and realise how we can attempt to prevent such happenings in future. It's important to realise that when we remain followers, we risk falling into traps. That's why it's important to constantly question the leadership and maybe even reject it. In all of this, it's important to distinguish the institution from the people.

• I believe we can learn something from everyone • everyone has a story to tell •
• therefore I have a problem with full rejection & non-seeing and non-cherishing ignorance •

some people seem to think they already know everything there is to know • which can obviously not be true • by leaving our (imperialist) mindset behind, start listening and learning from others. we can grow together.

Along those lines, I think a big lesson, which people don't seem to want to learn, is to take what we have, recognise what's good in that, embrace and cherish it, and take it with us. The not so good things, which we cannot justify, we can leave behind.
It seems instead we typically either:

• completely reject a system, and want to create something radically new • there are many issues to this, because there is no social and cultural tabula rasa; no blank slate to be made • we cannot shake off our history, our culture, our power structures, and pretend they never existed. That's just blunt ignorance to think that's possible.

• try to preserve a system or culture • blindly follow and actively not wanting to change • the problem with this approach is that it ignores the very real substance of the only thing we know: namely that the only constant is change . that said (or written): ideas from a past society cannot fully explain, hence not fully offer solutions, in our society today . teachings can be useful, we should to constantly learn more and adapt fundamental teachings in our everyday life, and expand them . realise and accept, that no one and nothing (on earth) can be or claim to be all-knowing . (even if Jesus was God, his followers who wrote the Bible, were human, and they couldn't possibly have captured the whole picture, all solutions in one book.)

DISCLAIMER: There's a lot to add to this story, and as my other reflections, I haven't had time to finish my research or thought on this one. I don't mean to hurt any one, I wish to start a conversation a new way of thinking. Open up our minds and see how we can create a better world together. One less hateful and and more connected.
If I hurt anyone with my texts, please let me know, and I'll include that into my thought and expression. Write me on exploration@lynxtale.com.

although we rejected the faith Christianity, it seems a lot of the values and expectations of life live on . the redemption • our salvation • still lives on in our hopes . taken a new form, but hopes that something external will come to save us from our misery still seems very present in our Western mindset today . now we hope for the technological and scientific advancement, Singularity, which will save us from our wrongdoing . more technology will reduce the technological impact ann enrich and free our personal lives : the technological Singularity will come to our rescue . also health advancements gives us hope for an eternal life in this physical world .

isn't that a very Christian hope? what is is that we're looking for ? why are we so desperate to remain in this world instead of accepting the very essence of life : that it has an end ? doesn't life without death become meaningless ? I'm curious to understand what we're clinging onto . when it seems most of us aren't even happy in this world .

A friend pointed out this mindset: We do things now - even sacrifice the now - in order to have an improved or better future (e.g. endless work • self-isolation) • why is that ? is that always good or the way to go ? when does the day come when we stop : finally enjoy the things we've been working so hard for ?

at the same time, we're really bad at taking a further future into account . the future generations are seldomly part of our calculation . are we're running from ourselves ?

As with most books, I haven't read the Bible. In our non-religious upbringing, I remember that my brother and I were mocking our sister for expressing potential belief in God. I'm not proud of this. Today, I've grown into another understanding, and believe in a very different approach. Live and let live. Think and let think. (Unless it harms others, right?)

Although, as most people would agree, Christianity has brought a lot of misery and suffering to this world, and still does • there are good things about the message of Christ, there's a reason why his teachings were adored and spread. Today, on his very own Ascension Day I'd like to attempt to highlight some perspectives, good thoughts and effects.

• let's give this bloody religion some cred for a change •

•Because we can learn something from everyone. No one knows everything, and that's one of the beauties of life •

It's a little bit like Feynman's famous quote on the understanding of Quantum Physics. So let's rephrase it:
If you think you understand the world, you don't understand the world.

• Instead I'd like to understand why people are religious. •
I feel that I'm missing something ver fundamental by not being part of a religious or let's say spiritual tradition. After only some time in Germany, I grew to love the closed stores on Sundays, the time for peace, recovery and reflection. The little pause from the capitalist machinery and the materialist/physiological world interpretation.
• What do religious people have, long for and feel, that we don't have? •
I think it's important to realise that the history of the religion is not the same thing as the believers: the intentions are not the same.

So shouldn't we always be eager to learn more, see more, understand the world understanding from other perspectives?

whoever has seen "Life of Brian" from Monty Python knows what I mean
imagine 2000 years ago • life was hard, but they also didn't know any better • the jewish population hearing, wishing and praying that one day our great Messiah will come and save us from our misery • people haven't had many interactions with new people in their lives • one day these dudes come along • one is vibrant, his eyes are shining, the others are singing at him, adoring and praising him • the enlightened man gets up to speak to the people • he talks about a way of life for us to live in peace, love and harmony with each other • life where you can be forgiven for your sins, if you learn from them and change with them • this would likely leading to our creation of heaven on earth (if you look at what the jewish, not the greek understanding of heaven was- see video) • he made a lot of sense, resonated a lot with the message a Messiah would have, and why wouldn't you want the Messiah to appear in your lifetime . call it wishful thinking or call it a wish for change :)

"You don't need to follow me! You don't need to follow anybody! You got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals! You're all different!"
- Life of Brian by Monty Python

a catholic man (now friend) from a post-soviet country pointed out two to me very interesting aspects regarding Christianity.

• Christianity shouldn't be institutionalised • the very first Christian organisation - the group of apostles - failed. Hence the very idea of an organised, institutionalised Christianity is not the way, but faith in the teachings themselves is what you can trust, nothing else, right? The very lord himself handpicked 12 men, one of whom surrendered to greed . taking money to sacrifice the lord and savior. So my highly religious friend seemed to mean that this cannot be the way. (To me it was a very interesting take and interpretation of the past and the religion itself.)

• Rejection of Christianity leads to Rejection of some very Fundamental Morals • coming from the Soviet Union, he claims to have seen the otherwise bearing moral of the 10 commandments and the words of Jesus had disastrous effects on his country. Since the communist materialistic worldview [we are and there's nothing else than the physical world] in itself cannot bear any moral backing; there's no good and bad, everything just is as is.

Let's look at a bit on depth on what this might mean.

PS: Funnily enough another friend claims :
Jesus was a Communist

What are the morals that my friend meant would go lost if we fully reject and disregard Christianity?
Well we have the 10 commandments from the old testament.
Then we have some insightful teachings from Christ:


• Love God •
• Love your neighbor as yourself •
• Forgive others who have wronged you •
• Love your enemies •
• Ask God for forgiveness of your sins •
• Jesus is the Messiah and was given the authority to forgive others •
• Repentance of sins is essential •
• Don't be hypocritical •
• Don't judge others •
• The Kingdom of God is near. It’s not the rich and powerful—but the weak and poor—who will inherit this kingdom •

SOURCE

• Can someone honestly tell me to can reject all of these teachings and all ten commandments? •
• Or can we agree that some of these are worth holding onto, taking with us into our world understanding? •
• Can we maybe understand why people like the teachings of Christ? Agree that a lot of it makes sense • disregarding of the history and the abuse of his teachings •

I'm just spitballing here, but even though Jesus offered the people a blank slate; taking on their sins, etc. the hierarchical culture of society remained. People growing up in such a society also remained construct of it. Even if you have an epiphany and see what has to be done, it takes a lot of work to keep that epiphany and attitude, that change, alive.

the very foundation of the religion's belief was ignored by its own masters : greed and lies took over . killing of others was justified • the power structures were abused . the teachings holding people in place were turned and used against them . for centuries to come it turned into another tool to manipulate, abuse and put fear in people with their good faith .

it's hard to say what was what • using the religion in a way, that it was no longer possible to tell Jesus' teachings from traditional role play or new norms put in place to control its followers • leading to a very unfortunate sexual situation between and expectations of the other gender . taking away the pleasure from sex, to instrumentalise the very essence of our humanness . forcing natural feelings to be suppressed, leading to a division between body and mind . people, I believe especially men, lost the sense of feeling at all . expected to be rational, which is contrasted to the emotional . a binary world understanding arose: black or white, man or woman . so the very colors and essence of life slowly died .

it's hard to say what was pre existing, it surely wasn't roses and sunshine in e.g. the Roman Empire. but it begs the question: how was it for the "savages" of the northern Europe before the missionary became the standard quest? what was their world understanding, their way of life before? here it is probably easier to spot what direct effects the institutionalised, instrumentalized Christianity had on others.

I'm sure we can fill this section with a lot more, but at some point I have to end, as I'd like to enjoy the sun a bit today.

apart from a pretty sensible moral of how to treat people in your immediate and indirect surrounding. I'd like to include an effect Christianity had before it got too institutionalised into whatever forceful martyr later spread across Europe •
A friend told me that for the Roman Empire the incorporation of Christianity brought with it: compassion . how beautiful is that ? compassion • the very thing we need so much more of today .

create heaven on earth by being a good person and listening to ourselves in how to be that

taking on these perspectives of wanting to create heaven on earth by being a good person is a very good lesson and attitude in life . to stop seeing ourselves as irrelevant ants who have no role to play, no chance . stop the victimising of self and others . understanding the teachings, not being told how they are translated into life • making your own sense of them • become Jesus yourself for your own sake and for others'

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it."
- Matthew 7:13

To be continued...