From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Paradoxicality

By Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer

(This article is scheduled to be printed in Presence Journal this winter.)

Introduction, etymology, and some history

Paradoxicality. Chances are you aren't familiar with that spiritual-religious word. And that's understandable, given that it isn't used often. In fact, most dictionaries don't even provide a definition for it. Nonetheless, paradoxicality is one of the greatest tools for having an adult understanding of religion, the Bible and God.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Perspective: Baking Bread

My friend Nagy is a Zen priest who volunteers in correctional facilities.

He told me about something he does that I want to share with you.

I will ask an inmate, "What's your job here?"

Let's say they answer me, "I bake bread."

I tell them, "No, that is not what you do."

When they look up at me for clarification, I explain, "You don't bake bread, you provide nourishment for the community."

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Nice effort!

Perhaps you've seen the recent studies about the effect of praise by psychologist Carol S. Dweck. (A variation of it seems to be in every parenting magazine I read recently.) Her work paints a very interesting picture.

In her study, some students were praised for their innate intelligence and some for their effort.

Then, the students were given a test. A test, unbeknownst to them, that was two years ahead of their grade level.

Predictably, they all failed.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Loving yourself and others.

• Would you tell someone that they look terrible?
• Do you routinely tell people that they ought to dress differently, live somewhere else, or eat different foods?
• Can you imagine telling a stranger that they ought to have achieved more than they have?

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Control — or suffer!

If you have ever felt a bit under the weather and stared glassy-eyed at the myriad of choices of over-the-counter cold remedies available at a pharmacy, you know how overwhelming choices can be.

This "confusion of choice" was recently proven in a study where doctors were asked what they would choose for a patient who seemed to need surgery but had one non-surgical, medical option that could be tried first. Almost 50% said they would have the patient try the non-surgical option. But when the same situation was presented again, this time with two non-surgical options, the percentage of doctors who said they would have the patient try either non-surgical choice dropped to just over 25%!

Choices can be overwhelming.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Stop!

Part of the human condition seems to be that we try to improve everything around us — that we are infrequently content with the realities of life.

We try to improve things... but why?

Often it’s because it makes us feel important and involved.

We needn't do so much.

Really.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Magi-tude.

(a word I invented combining the words "magic" and "attitude")

I experienced magic recently.

Real magic.

It wasn't a card trick.

It wasn't a coincidence.

It wasn't something non-magical that only seemed magical.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

1-800-Dial-God

The mission statement of Religion-Outside-The-Box is to empower people to find and be with (the) God (of their understanding).

Many people tell me that they aren't certain how to begin — that getting in touch with God seems difficult or hard.

In this regard, I have three wonderful opportunities for you.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Lynne Twist, in her book The Soul of Money, cautions that we in America face a perception problem with regard to quantity.  She explains that we all are so bombarded with messages of "more" that we lose sight of the beauty and simplicity of the spiritual-religious concept of sufficiency.

She is right. Every day, we receive a barrage that encourages us to envision our lives as better if only we had more things.

But we don't need more. Really. We don't.

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Doing vs. Having Done.

On the web I have seen Dorothy Parker and Gloria Steinem and William Zinsser and Oscar Madison and Ernest Hemingway all attributed as having said, "I don't like writing, I like having written." (I couldn't figure out the "real" author...)

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Apocalypse far!
The end isn't happening, yet.

We human beings are curious to know how things will wind up. I understand that. Eschatology is about just that. Eschatology, a subdivision of the intersection of theology and philosophy, deals with the final events of history -- the apocalypse or end of days!

Some folk, like Sir Isaac Newton believed the world would end pretty soon. (According to his calculations, it would be in the year 2060.)

Promoted by Rain

From The 77% Weekly
The 40 Out Of 52 Weeks A Year Newsletter
of Rabbi Brian & Religion-Outside-The-Box

Peace is not the absence of strife . . .

Peace is not the absence of strife, it is more than that.

In Judaism, there is classic prayer asking God to give us the type of peace that exists in the heavens. This definition of peace is not the bucolic, pastoral, Thomas Kinkade image of peace that many folks are running around hoping for. The peace of the heavens is the harmony of the planets, each with their own tremendous amount of force, co-existing. That's real peace.