EGO2014pta

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About EGO2014pta

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  1. I'd like to take this opportunity to Welcome you to the forum! Thank you for joining and I hope you'll find our little Family of Friends to be a place you come home to on a regular basis. We always enjoy new perspectives and fresh ideas, so let's hear yours! Blessings of Peace, Al

  2. Greetings all! I became a minister in part to try to work out my issues with religion - actually with Christianity. I was raised, (razed?) in a selectively read, rigidly enforced "Bible is clear & obvious - if it's interpreted correctly, (which only we can do!)!" cult, which, in its day was one of the best-known 'fringe' groups around, (before the more strident Jimmy Jones came up). I want to find folks who weren't the "What we have is *the* Inspired Truth - this here is IT!!!!"; to mingle with people who don't equate "Better" with 'more (time in church, money, verbosity in prayer, 'proper' credentials, popularity, etc.)'. I want to meet folks who -- regardless of religion -- apply the Biblical mandates to: 1.) Prove all things; 2.) Test the spirits; 3.) Study [ergo think] to show yourselves approved; and, (the grand finale): 4.) Be doers and not hearers only. Of course, if a good number of them appreciate the idea that the "word kills", all the better! I like the idea of a Doctrine that is as simply stated and, in my opinion, universal as: "Do that which is right", as well as the other distinctives, (the Objective, Goal, Slogan & Maxim, which is as close to a Dogma as I hope the ULC ever gets). I hope to meet several folks who appreciate the difference between 'spiritual' and 'religious'. In fact, I was thinking of the apparent abyss between these two things while trying to find a good user name for this forum. I decided to play with the words and actually take all that is spiritual out of the religious; I removed the common letters from religious, then from spiritual. The results were rather interesting: "Religious" was left with 'E-G-O' and "Spiritual" was reduced to "P T A". Voila! an interesting User name. Of course "EGO" is easy to remember, especially if linked to 'religious'; "PTA" is not so accommodating, but I decided to link it to my (in-progress) P.O.V: "Profound Theology = Action!" as a mnemonic. I have no real interest in approaching religion except as an academic topic. I have an eclectic approach to spirituality. Currently I'm studying metaphysics, A.D.F., some mythology and Spiritual Health - all rather holistically. I hope to start the ULC Seminary soon, beginning with the Chaplaincy program and a good non-denominational, albeit unaccredited, Master of Religious Studies or Master of Divinity degree soon after. I was ordained on 01/11/07, a week before my birthday, (not saying which!), and right before Andre took the reins. (I was originally ordained about 3 months after Kirby Hensley passed; I regret never having corresponded with him as I think knowing him may have sped my journey to this point in my life.) After almost 7 years since joining, (14.5 since my first time), I find myself ready and far more able to discover what lays ahead, in part because I now know *AND* understand that it's all about the journey, not the destination