The Path Ministry

 What the Path is, and what it is not The word "religion" comes from the Latin "religare" which means "to tie fast." The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek words "philo" meaning "love" and "sophia" which means "wisdom." And wisdom, as we know, leads to Enlightenment. A good friend of mine described the Path as a "Humanist Spiritual Philosophy" after reading both the Book of the Path and 40 Years in the Desert. I can live with that.  If that is what he got from it, then my work here is done.  The first thing anyone who is interested in the ideas presented in the Book of the Path should know is this: The Path is non-dogmatic by design. You are free -nay, encouraged- to pick it to pieces so you can figure out what ideas you agree with. The most important suggestion, of course, is to try your best not to be an asshole. Once you have that down, you have half the Path in the bag. Obviously, nobody c...

 Hello, my friends.  Starting this week, I will be on a six-week sabbatical for medical reasons. I may still post the occasional thought, but there will not be a weekly sermon.  If you like my sermons, you may like my books. For those of you who want to support me through a rather challenging time in my life, just buy one of my books and then leave a glowing review. My two fiction books are Perspectives and Reflections, two collections of very different short stories. They have proven popular so far. My nonfiction works are The Book of the Path, about the religion I basically wrote myself, & 40 Years in the Desert, which is a collection of essays about things like finding the meaning in life and how the American justics system is broken. Quite a few of those essays are based on sermons I've posted here in my weblog, plus some exclusive content.  I shall return. Keep the light on for me.  Cheers, Reverend CJ Carlin

  One question that has kept philosophers debating for centuried is: Why are we here? To get the smartass answer out of the way: Where else should we be, if not here? This response casts doubt on the validity of the question itself, which is fair. The “why are we here” question assumes a reason for our existence and even some sort of cosmic intent, when that reason and intent may be all in the beholder’s mind. Most Christians will claim that we are here to make god happy, because if we don’t he will throw us in Hell for all eternity. I am not a big fan of this answer. Seems kind of gloom-and-doom-esque. Anyway, all the stupid crap Christians have to do and believe, all the patently ridiculous nonsense, is anathema to my rational mind. To me, belief in gods is like believing in Santa Claus; if you need some authority figure watching your every move to be a good person, then you’re not a good person. We went into that in more depth in a previous sermon, so I am not going to go ov...