Religion Without the Middleman

Playing on the iPod: "The Sands of Time" by the Black Watch
Meters swum today: 1600 (a mighty mile)

Guys, check this out. It was sent to me by the Rev. Dr. Charles, who is my misanthropic pearl-producing significant other's ex-husband. (It's okay, we're all friends.) Him bein' a pastor and all that I reckon he knows a few things.

Source: Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz, based on the work of Saadi Neil
Author: Mark Hathaway

A translation of the "Our Father" directly from the Aramaic into English (rather than from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English).

"O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration!
Soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your presence can abide.

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.

Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.

Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.

Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.

Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.

For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth-power and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again."

Are we SURE Jesus and Buddha never met? Because this sounds pretty DARN familiar. And, okay, it's not rhythmic, but then neither is the Nicene Creed, except for the cool part in the middle that goes, "God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made." (Yes, I actually do have it memorized. I went to Catechism classes, thankewverymuch.)

All this comes back around to what I've been thinking all along, which is, there's no conflict between Buddhism and Christianity. I think it's entirely possible to believe both at the same time. Myself am firmly on the Buddhist side of that balancing act but I know a lot of Christians (heck, I live in Texas, it's not like they're rare around here) and I think plenty of them would be open to this kind of stuff. Om mani padme Christ, folks. Let's hang out.