The Path Ministry

  Sometimes, I like to challenge myself to write about a specific topic. I was pondering the phrase “No time like the present” one morning, and started wondering if it could be applied to practicing the values of the Path. When I presented this idea to Courtney, she offered a slightly different wording: “No present like the time” and kind of blew my mind. I would like to examine both phrases and how they fit with the ideas found in Path doctrine. The phrase “No time like the present” comes from Proverbs Exemplified by John Trusler, a compiler of proverbs, who goes on to say: “…a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time.” I take it as an exercise in Mindfulness; of being here, now. When you have a task to complete or work to be done, best to begin as soon as you are ready, in case you run into obstacles you could not have predicted. If you procrastinate and do it at the last minute (which I confess to doing sometimes when writing sermons), all sorts of ...

  Topic: The War on Drugs In America, the war on drugs was lost before it even began; they tried to keep people from drinking during Prohibition, which -as we all know- did not work. The simple fact is that people are going to get high, legal or otherwise. Also, most of the social harm done by illicit substances is because they are illegal, not because of the substances themselves. Used Mindfully, almost every street drug can be used for either medicinal or spiritual purposes. Most drugs are derived from plants. Cocaine comes from the coca plant, heroin and other opiates come from poppies, and of course mushrooms and cannabis are consumed in their raw, unprocessed state. LSD is actually made from a chemical derived from fungus that grows on rye bread. So most of these drugs are made using a plant that evolved alongside humanity. Cannabis is non-toxic because it is intended to be consumed. That is how it propagates: Seeds eaten by animals and then deposited with a nice little do...

 Here is a list of all the things that the Path does not care about: What you wear. The other consenting adults you have sex with. How long your hair/beard is. If you get an abortion. Who or what you choose to worship, if at all. Who you pray to, or if you pray. How great you think it is.  Which bits of it you agree with. Here is a list of things that the Path does care about: How kind you are. If you are willing to grow and seek Enlightenment. Providing practical advice on how to be a better person. That's pretty much it. I feel like being kind is enough of an emotional burden (if you're doing it right), and seeking Enlightenment is a full-time job. As discussed before, your treatment of your mortal vessel is of no consequence to the practice of the Path. There is a prayer, about being open to blessings with a grateful heart, but it is kind of addressed to the Universe rather than some creepy all-seeing father figure, and anyway it is more of an optional extra than a mandator...

  Topic: Sex (Core Tenet #5) (Full disclosure: I have taken a vow of celibacy, for personal rather than spiritual reasons. I have not been in any kind of sexual relationship in five years, and the last one I was in was highly toxic.) Most monotheistic belief systems are obsessed with sex. Specifically, forbidding certain sexual acts. In some cases, everything but the missionary position (after dark, with the lights out and trying not to look at each other) is prohibited. Some religions don’t let you have sex until you’re married, at which point you’re expected to go at it like bunnies to breed up the next generation of obedient little sheep. According to Core Tenet #5, the Path teaches us that we are free to have sex with as many other people as we want. We don’t have to be married, our partners can be any sex or gender, and we aren’t limited to one at a time. This is because your body belongs to you, and the Path is more interested in the development and eventual Enlightenme...

  Topic: Caring What Others Think Much like “Never back down,” which we have discussed previously, there is another popular sentiment that bears close examination: That you should always do your own thing and not to care what anyone thinks about it. Now, if what you are doing is truly benevolent, but maybe a little bit weird, like building models of human organs out of toothpicks, that is one thing. But if your “thing” is smothering babies or kicking puppies, maybe you ought to care what people think about it. Caring what others think is how we can distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Humans are social animals, and we establish behavioral guidelines as a group. We have to care about what our society thinks of us, to make sure we are not hurting anyone. Of course, some people just kind of suck and you should not care much about what they think of you. So it is a delicate Balance, and you have to be judicious about whose opinions you value. It is also impo...

  Topic: Life After Mama I am going to get a little real, here. Kind of raw. This sermon might even make both of us cry. But I want to talk about what happens when your Mom is no longer just a phone call away. Way back in the day, when I was between husbands and spent a whole lot of time with my sister, we did not have Google on a mobile device. What we had was our mother’s phone number. Any question, about anything, and we would call Mom. Need directions to the nearest gas station and is it open? Mom. Wondering what that one book is called about the horse and something about a lightning storm? Mom. Later on, I would call my mother for sewing tips, moral advice, and how long to cook something. She was the first person I shared any kind of good news with, because she was always sincerely excited and proud of me. I liked to call her on her birthday and Mother’s Day, and our phone conversations grew longer with each passing year. Mama passed away August 25, 2023, but I still fin...

Topic: The Life of Pi and Facing Adversity Today’s topic is the book and film “The Life of Pi” and the message we get from the story about facing adversity without losing faith and without giving up. In the story, Pi is a humble but deeply spiritual young man who is on a journey across the ocean when the ship he is on sinks beneath the waves. He ends up alone in a lifeboat, lost at sea with a Bengal tiger for 227 days, trying his hardest to survive. (Due to an amusing mixup, the tiger’s name is Richard Parker.) Through it all, Pi is certain that he will make it, that his gods will look after him. He refuses to accept defeat, no matter what the ocean and the tiger throw at him. He also refuses to waste time feeling sorry for himself because of what he has to endure, as he is certain that he will make it. There is an important lesson to be found here. In our lives, sometimes we feel like we are lost at sea, not sure what to do or how to move forward. I felt like that after both of ...