Druidry

One aspect of this blog has been a religious journey. Two years ago, I wrote describing my religious beliefs, struggling to figure out if I fit any known category. It turned out that I didn't fit any known category, because at that time, pantheism was not known to me. Some months later, I found pantheism, and then I knew what label to put on myself.

But in time, I realized I was still looking for something. I have no doubt that I am a pantheist through and through, but pantheism is a theology. I still want a practice. I want to be part of a community. I want to work toward a better world with people who share my values. I want to get spiritual inspiration from rituals, lectures, readings, retreats, etc.

A couple weeks ago, I found druidry. Perhaps it is what I am looking for. I am still exploring.

There are many different druid groups. They are all different. Any statement I make about druidry will be true of some, but not true of others. I'll be focusing on the parts of druidry which I am thinking of embracing.

Some things I like about druidry:

• Druidry is open to monotheists, polytheists, pantheists, and atheists. It includes Christians, Pagans, Buddhists, and others.
• Druidry is an earth-centered spirituality.
• Druidry has roots in Celtic cultures. I value being able to do something that is in line with my own cultural heritage, rather than just borrowing other people's cultural heritages.
• Druidry provides a spiritual core which links my interests in music, sustainable living, being outdoors, and treating all people with respect.
• Druids were scholars, judges, diplomats, and healers. They were keepers of knowledge and wisdom. It is important to me to be part of a religion which is not just internally focused, but which seeks to heal the world.
• Druidry emphasizes sustainable living.
  
• Druidry encourages learning and reasoning.
• Druidry encourages a hands-on approach to life.
• Druidry celebrates music.
  

I still have some doubts. Which of the many druid groups are right for me? Some are more unstructured than what I'm looking for, while others seem more authoritarian than what I'm looking for. Some are more oriented toward the supernatural than I am. Some are more pagan than I am.

True, it's possible to be a druid in your own way, without connecting to any organization. But what I'm seeking is something more structured than what I've found in pantheism.

Library fines

When I take out library books, if I am not going to return them by the due date, I can renew them online. Sometimes I forget, and renew them online a few days after the due date. As a result, I end up owing small amounts in fines.

A few days ago, I checked out a book from the library. When the woman checking out my book scanned my library card, the information that popped up on her computer told me I owed a fine. She said, "I see you owe 20 cents. Would you like to pay any part of that now?"

It seems rather silly to think that I might need an installment plan to pay a 20 cent fine. But I like that. I like that they are open to adapting to the payment schedule that fits the customer's needs. That's the kind of organization which inspires me to willingly give them money. In contrast, when I feel that a company has no interest in serving me, but just wants to squeeze money out of me any way it can, I will not give that company my business.

Arizona immigration law comments by Packy Anderson

Packy Anderson wrote the comments below on his Facebook page, and gave me permission to repost them:

I'm glad I don't have to go to Arizona anytime soon; I'm not sure if my passport is up to date. I'm descended from illegal immigrants, and I could easily pass for a native of Ireland. If I can't prove I'm a citizen, they could arrest me.

The AZ law requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be illegally in this country. That's a particularly vague wording, and it gives a police officer carte blanche to question anybody they can concoct a "reasonable" rationale for. If I don't happen to have proof of my citizenship on me, then I'm subject to arrest. The only thing that can assuage my fear of being arrested without cause is the knowledge that I don't fit the racial profile the law was enacted to target, and that's not much comfort. So, until AZ changes it's law, I need to carry a passport to move freely without fear of arrest within a section of the country I'm a citizen of.

I go through life with the assumption that if someone CAN abuse the power they have over me, they WILL. This is a nation of laws, and unless the law guarantees that the police are not allowed to treat me in a particular fashion, I have to assume that they will. And I also assume that if the police are likely--or required by law!--to treat any other law-abiding person in a particular way then I am also going to be treated in the same fashion.

Finally, of course, a lot of it comes down to my personal religious faith. The man I follow once said "whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me." Sure, I'm not an ethnic Mexican trying to make a living surrounded by people who despise me because of my ethnicity. I'm also not old enough to remember the days when my great-grandparents couldn't get jobs because workplaces had signs hanging outside saying "Irish need not apply". But if I don't care about such things with my entire heart and try to change them (and, since this is a law in a state I'm not a resident in, the most I can do is speak out against it), then I'm doing these things to my saviour.

May

May is a joyous season as we emerge from winter's cold and darkness to find the trees, lilacs, and azaleas bursting forth with color, and I watch the greening of the hydrangea leaves as I eagerly look forward to the emergence in June of the hydrangea's flowers. This celebratory month includes the birthdays of one of my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my father, my stepfather, 3 of my uncles, my cousin, and various musicians, including Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Donovan, Utah Phillips, Peter Yarrow, and Sydney Carter, as well as my own birthday. It's the season of celebration!

Get off the train

Yet another post inspired by the today's class lecture. Here's the quote:

...we had a visiting professor here. He told a story about his wife who went to work every day for ten years. This was in Illinois, over these lousy roads, to a lousy job that she hated. She was away from her family and just didn’t like the whole thing.

But after ten years, she finally said, "Wait a minute! I don’t have to do this! It’s not a law! Nobody’s making me do it!" And yet we ought to have this idea that you know we’re on this train and we can’t get off, and this is the only direction that it’s going, and somebody else’s life is going to be flashing before our eyes because we’ve got to stop the train and get off and say, "Wait! I don’t have to do this. You know, I’m in control."

But the problem is, it's not that easy. You can't just say "I don't have to do this." Because some of us do have to earn a living. Some of us can't exit one job unless we can get another job. And it's not worth doing if the new job is going to be even worse than the old job.

How to help

Something else from my class: a quote from Goethe: "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

That fits my experience and philosophy. So many people think they are helping me when they tell me how I ought to be different, but I don't find that helpful.

Student vs. learner

Continuing on with the lecture I started writing about in the post "Learner vs. Performer," the lecturer talked about how students often make up excuses about why they can't do well in a class -- the class is too early in the morning, the class is too big, the subject material is not interesting or relevant, they are sick. (He said there are times when a student is legitimately sick and needs to miss class, but other times they use being sick as an excuse to miss class.)

Then he talked about doing a study of young chess masters. He asked the parents how they keep their children motivated to practice chess, and the parents said they don't have to, the kids are dedicated to it.

He talks about this contrast as if he's telling students they should show that same level of dedication to their classes. As if the problem lies with student attitude. But it sounds to me like the problem lies with the educational system.

The lecture also quotes Albert Einstein as saying, "I have no respect for scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great many holes where drilling is easy." The lecturer says this refers to professors who do easy research just for the sake of getting published.

It makes no sense. They set up a system where students are rewarded for getting good grades, and then they complain that students are more focused on grades than on learning. They set up a system where faculty are rewarded for number of publications, and then they complain that faculty are too focused on getting as many publications as possible. If you want students to focus on learning and faculty to focus on quality of teaching and research, don't set up a system which rewards something different.