I'll admit that I have become a fan of Pinterest, although I limit my time there to no more than 15 minutes per day. Now that I have my taxes ready for the accountant, I might just allow myself a little more time this weekend. Why, you ask? Just because, I answer. Though I have a wide circle of friends and family who stay in touch as best they can given their busy lives, I'm basically a solitary person. The escape into the Internet periodically is a form of reward--along with long escapes into reading books. The art has suffered greatly in the last few weeks. Somehow I've been able to rationalize that, since I don't play any kind of games on the Internet, time spent there is to enhance my knowledge base. Ha!
But, there are positives, too. On Pinterest I created a board I call Spirituality but so far I mostly have placed images of some of the writers, theologians, and spiritual teachers who have influenced me. Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson is one of those teachers.
If you are not familiar with Gene Robinson, I read this interesting article about him at American Progress tonight. Since the late Thomas Merton is another of my influential teachers from earlier years, I often wonder if he would have become more liberal as he grew older. As with politics, I am also drawn to liberal religions and contemplative spirituality.
I was also doing a little research on the former Catholic priest Matthew Fox of creation spirituality and was really taken back by a blog by a Catholic priest Fr. Z, or John Zuhlsdorf (slavishly accurate liturgical translations & frank commentary on Catholic issues ) where he criticizes Fox. Supposedly Fox is now an Episcopal priest, and I'll admit that he has gotten pretty extreme. But Fr. Z. obviously does NOT believe in the way Gene Robinson does.
Ah, politics and religion, we should never discuss them, right? But spirituality and religion are among my personal top interests. I just rarely voice them here. I'm not sure anyone even really reads here anymore, but if anything will bring people out of the woodwork, this post might.
