Welcome to our blog!

Dear esteemed guests,

The title for this ministry comes from a parishioner of mine some years ago. The church newsletter in that ministry was entitled, "Steeple to People." The parishioner queried, "So how do we respond Pew to You?" Technology has caught up to vision and expanded it. Now we can share together in a continuing dialogue about the deep matters of life.

The purpose for this blog is interaction with one another regarding our experiences with the Divine. I would describe tentatively these varied experiences as being embedded in the one experience of being merely human and conscious of it. Thoughts might come in response to a sermon (I invite you to go to http://www.firstpresiowacity.org/ and look for worship information; you should find sermons there), or some world event, or some circumstance in your life or mine, or a poem, or a song . . . An offering by one might lead to speculative abstraction or to responses very much "on the ground" by others.

Other than requesting courtesy in language and urging the charitable treatment of other bloggers, as your host I welcome your sincere participation. I will, as much as my own limited humanity allows, strive to keep this blog relevant and responsive.

Let our operating principle be that you and I can assist one another in understanding fully our questions; but that each one of us must engage Ultimacy and flesh out our own answers individually, even if we discover that our answers are ones that have been fostered by many in a long tradition. As it is rumored that the Buddha taught, "If you find the Buddha on the road, kill him." Or, as Jesus put it more expansively, "You are not to be called teacher, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father - the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humbles themselves will be exalted" (Matthew 23:8-12). Humility, nurtured by the experience of worshipful transcendence, leads to our appreciation of our mutual deep need and our vast potential to learn gently from one another.

Indeed, perhaps you chafe, as I do, that all those whose comments come after mine in this blog are termed "followers." This linguistic convenience alone can cause misunderstanding if it implies some sort of subordination or hierarchy. So, as best you can, I invite you to accept the title without embracing its substance.

Welcome! I invite your posts.