Church?

[slinkedog]

PS: What's more spiritual than riding a bike?

Sex??

[bcipam]

you had to go there... what's sex????? Been so long can't remember!

[Kitsune06]

I rarely post anymore, but I'll come out of lurkdom for this.

I'm a no-go for church. I've been to the local UU church and loved it, but felt also that I don't really need that type of community- just to touch on it now and again and reaffirm that yes, it's still there.

I was raised somewhat religiously, they were pretty relaxed, teaching me that it was okay to ask questions when I needed to know something. Obviously, the answers did not work for me, for reasons I don't wish to elaborate on right now.

I believe that we are all gods and goddesses in our own right and the will and the way of the universe is dictated through our own intentions and efforts. I'm not sure what 'category' that falls under, but really, I think all religions have a hint of truth in them... their main shortcomings are that they are perpetuated by people, with peoples' motivations, selective memories and natural us vs. them natures.

I believe that closed-mindedness is our single greatest hurdle spiritually. If we cannot rise above our native black and white to the world of grey that exists, we are no better than children. If we cannot find our way in this world of grey without someone dictating rules to us, we are weak and must find the strength in ourselves. If we cannot help our friends when they lose their way, then we will never be able to help ourselves. Finally, we are not our bodies. The body and the spirit influence each other, reflect one another, but they are not the same. After the body passes on, the spirit still exists, to what end, I don't know.

As far as sex goes, sex is the representation of will, passion, and desire. To me, lovemaking is spiritual, when you feel the bond you create with your lover... Sex is less so... the above representation...

[SR500]

Wow, I'm really surprised by the poll. I'm not really sure what people mean when they are a "spiritual person" I understand being inspired, calmed, enlightened, etc... by the beauty of nature. Also living by a moral/ethic code lets us have a civil county, but to me Faith/Belief is what is important. Churches simply assist people in developing their faith, if your church doesn't help you in this manner, there are churches that can. Please look around for one that suits you.

As for politics and religion, I think its BS. I don't have any problems with "In God we trust", etc... but the government should let people decide for themselves on personal matters.

I hope to not offend anyone, but to simply suggest the option to people that have had less then positive experiences. There are places that will help them on their spiritual journey, if you will.


Spiritual (Adjective)
1. Concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; "religious texts"; "monks of a religious order"; "lords temporal and spiritual"; "spiritual leaders"; "spiritual songs".

2. Concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul; "a spiritual approach to life"; "spiritual fulfillment"; "spiritual values"; "unearthly love".

3. Lacking material body or form or substance; "spiritual beings"; "the vital transcendental soul belonging to the spiritual realm"-Lewis Mumford.

4. Relating to or concerned with religion or spiritual things; especially dedicated to service in a religion; "a monk of a religious order"; "spiritual leaders"; "religious books"; "spiritual songs".

Faith (Noun)
1. A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

[Eden]

This thread is under 'Cycling topics' I believe because Eden (is that right?) started a poll about how church-going habits and cycling habits coexisted.

I would agree with moving the thread under non-cycling open topics if a moderator wants to do that. However I don't think crazycanuck would be kicked out for what she has to say. A number of us, including myself, have expressed disagreement, skepticism, or other non-churchly feelings, done so respectfully, and the discussion has only grown better... I am in fact quite impressed at the level of maturity I have read here.

I wouldn't promote TE as a spirituality forum, but considering that many have expressed that riding their bikes in nature is a spiritual experience... well I can tolerate a thread on such a topic once in a while.

Let me first say I've been impressed with all of you and that you have remained quite open minded. My intent was definitely not to debate or cause debate about any particular religion, but I am truely curious about the interaction and maybe this comes from the fact that I am not religious and wasn't raised as such so I wonder about it at times. I guess I was really curious to know if we are a less religious group than the non-cycling community or if it was just my personal bias. At least as far as organized religion goes and it seems that we are. I won't attempt to draw any conclusions from that because I don't think that it is possible from a small group such as this and there are plenty of variables that could explain it other than cycling and probably plenty of explanations that could be related to cycling that I can't get at with such a small poll.

The one thing that I do find to be interesting is that no one rearranged their religious service to free their weekends. I thank you all for satisfying my curiosity and remaining in civil conversation. And please feel free to happily retire this thread.

[Deborajen]

I doubt that cyclists as a group are less religious than any other group. I've noticed that running events are often on Sunday mornings as are more and more other sports events, but I assumed this is because of competition for available time and resources. With Monday-Friday work schedules, weekends are good for recreational activities and with mornings being good for cycling, running, etc. due to the lowest temperatures of the day, that makes Saturday and Sunday mornings good options. Also, lots of businesses used to be closed on Sundays but now most are open Sunday afternoons if not all day Sunday.

I've enjoyed this thread, too, and have been very impressed with how respectful everyone has been. It may have shifted to a non-cycling topic - and gone a little off limits for this forum's rules - but I must say it's been enlightening to read about the wide variety of viewpoints. When it comes to the poll, I haven't been much of a churchgoer since my college years although I used to attend regularly. However, I would attend an alternate service to accomodate good outdoor time, and I have friends who are more committed to their church attendance that do attend alternate services for the same reason. My faith is very personal to me and time being "alone" with God - on the bike, on the running paths, or even at home in a room by myself for that matter - is some of the best. Sometimes I do miss the spiritual nurturing from attending church, but church isn't strictly a Sunday morning idea for me.

Thanks for starting the thread, and thanks everyone for being such a unique group that can make this work!

Deb

[Lifesgreat]

I agree, this has been an interesting thread to read. I have enjoyed learning more about all of you and your beliefs.

I believe people should be able to worship whatever they want, any way they want.

My family and I attend church every Sunday and we volunteer and participate in various church activities during the week as well. My religious beliefs are a constant guide for me in my daily activities. Many years ago, when I was a competitive runner, I made the decision not to ride, run, train, etc. on Sundays. I don't regret my decision, but wish some of the BIG bike, tri and running events were not on Sunday as I would like to participate.