Level up, Part 2: Ideologues and testimonies

Two years ago, I wrote a long post about my personal evolution, delving into topics like stages of faith, spiral dynamics, and healing from spiritual trauma. Since I wrote that post, much of my mental energy has been directed toward understanding the world without the blinders of dogmatism or ideology-- in other words, "Stage 5: Conjunctive" of Fowler's stages of faith. As a refresher,

It is rare for people to reach this stage before mid-life. People here begin to realize the limits of logic and start to accept the paradoxes in life. They begin to see life as a mystery and often return to sacred stories and symbols, but this time without being stuck in a theological box. Individuals resolve conflicts from previous stages by a complex understanding of a multidimensional, interdependent truth that cannot be fully explained by any particular statement.

Now that I've come to grasp most of the core concepts undergirding progressivism and contemplative Christianity, my challenge lies in learning how to share this hard-earned perspective in a loving, humble, but winsome way-- especially with fundamentalists of all stripes. People will always need to feel heard and respected, so truly listening is one of the keys. But assuming that is accomplished, revealing the harmfulness of dogmatism in an emotionally impactful way seems to be the key. This can be fairly straightforward if one is attempting to show a racist or homophobe how their hate hurts another person-- especially if you can expose them to a homosexual or someone of a hated race in a humanizing way. But it gets more complicated when challenging more theoretical beliefs, such as the idea that intellectual assent (and just to be safe, recitation of a formulaic prayer) to a particular group of ideas is the only way to avoid an eternity of conscious torment. This modernist literal interpretation of a few Biblical passages has come to be a defining ideology for millions of fundamentalist Christians, and a challenge to this so-called "gospel" is a challenge to the very core of many people's identity. Which is why it is such an emotionally charged topic.

I think the trick is to make it emotionally charged in a different way. What if we found a way to tell a story that would melt the hearts of the most cold-blooded fundamentalists? Amazingly, I'm starting to realize I have just that. My own story of transformation-- my "testimony"-- is more powerful than any arguments I could marshal against dogmatism, because it is a humanized, first-hand account. I just need to learn how to tell it better!

Just as challenging as religious fundamentalists are political ideologues. Here again, I can draw on my personal experience as a libertarian ideologue (and, years before that, a conservative ideologue) to not simply attack loony lefties or conservative crackpots, but highlight the danger of dogmatism wherever one finds oneself on the spectrum of political beliefs. Time after time, I've seen conservative and/or libertarian ideology drive policy and behavior that can only be described as heinous-- and I've seen it on the left, too. A commitment to truth and love wherever it is found is the one sure recipe for progress, not blind faith in party or person or ideology.

I'll never have it all figured out, but after a fractious 20's, the last few years have proven to be a time of "conjunctive" healing and growth. Pete Rollins uses a phrase that sums up where I am and where I hope I'm still headed: "converted from the need to convert." Though out of convention I accept labels like "progressive" and "Christian," I try to be careful to not let those or any other labels restrict my growth in love, truth, and creativity. Because at the end of the day, that's about all we know God is and wants us to grow in.

Mid-year Update

The garden, training, kayaking, and a few trips have displaced blogging for the past few months, but now that the middle of the year has arrived, I'm making myself post an update on this year's goals. Here goes!

Spiritual:
-Reapproaching the Bible: This deserves a post in itself...but basically, I am constantly learning how to reapproach the Bible through Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations emails and podcasts such as The Liturgists and The Bible for Normal People, and am picking Reading the Bible Again for the First Time back up after a several-month hiatus. I feel that my challenge lies now in learning how to communicate gracefully and clearly in a way similar to two of my biggest influences, Richard Rohr and Science Mike.


-Meditation: Aside from a few random meditations over the last few months, I have let this slide... but plan to hop back on this horse ASAP!


-Personal retreats: Though I haven't yet carved out more than half a day here and there, I'm currently scheduling a 1.5 day retreat for the end of July, a 2.5 day retreat for September, and hopefully another shorter one around the end of the year.


-Generosity: Mindy and I have decided to add another child through Compassion International each year, are increasing our charitable giving, and have been officially approved to start fostering children (see below). In addition, I am also assuming the role of volunteer Medical Director of the local free clinic (Community Care Clinic) where I have volunteered for the last two years.


Relational:
-Mindy: Our communication and fondness for each other is continuing to improve, and I'm encouraged at how we have continued to grow closer. We've also had a couple great trips together this year, one to Wilmington and one to Colorado. Our foster care studying has also sparked some great conversations about our family and life goals. We are also working together on the gardens a lot more and a lot better than ever before, which has been both fun and productive.



-Friends / co-dates: We have started a promising friendship with another couple (the Blands), and continue to hang out with our friends the Hogans on a regular basis, in addition to a few other couples we see occasionally. It was also great to see all our residency friends last week in Colorado.


-Book club: My college friends and I just finished our third book of the year, and it's been fun having people to share my thoughts with and hear what they're thinking. So far, we've read The Road to Unfreedom, Flexible Faith, and Your Money or Your Life-- all of which have sparked some great discussions.


Physical:
-Triathlons: I crashed my bike on my first triathlon in April, which in addition to some gnarly wounds was a gut check on my desire to keep doing them. Fortunately, I had Mindy there to remind me that doing challenging things like triathlons was a core part of who I want to be into old age, and that I want to be that 80 year-old dude who is still racing (and crushing it). So after a few weeks of healing, I got back in the saddle, and ended up placing 3rd in my age group in my second triathlon last month (and was only 2 minutes out of first place). I'm currently dealing with a right rotator cuff flare-up, but otherwise training continues as outlined below:

-Gardening: The thankless stage of preharvest weeding is in full swing, which always makes me question why I garden at all. But I have a very healthy crop of collard greens, carrots, lettuce, squash, kale, and cilantro, and lots of other crops like tomatoes, peppers, and okra are starting to take off:



-Kayaking: I am halfway to my goal of six kayaking trips this year, and anticipate getting closer to ten before the year is done. I have made a couple friends who are showing me the ropes, which helps alot. Next step: learning how to roll my kayak upright from upside down.



-Mushrooms: I've started growing oyster mushrooms on coffee grounds in a more climate-controlled manner, and things are looking promising:



-Bongos: I put in a solid 2 months of practice before life got too busy for it. I'll pick it back up this fall.


-Smoking meat: This has literally been on the back burner, but I'm planning a few smokes for the fall.


Vocational:
Leadership project: My group has nearly completed an important project on the comanagement of patients in the hospital, and I've learned a lot in the process. I've also gained some important mental models as a result of the hospital's leadership program, which will be officially concluding in October.


Family Medicine Residency update: I will be representing the new Boone Family Medicine Residency program at a big national conference at the end of July, and am also leading a transition for procedures such as thoracenteses and paracenteses to be performed by hospitalists, which will be very important in training residents starting in 2020.


Political:
Climate change, environmental activism, and political orientation: As a result of my spiritual evolution, continued reading and learning, and my experience with and education on the far-flung effects of climate change, I have come to see political issues in a markedly different way than the libertarian idealism of yesteryear. Though this has been an important part of my past year, it's too big a topic to tackle here!