Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
— Siddhārtha Gautama (via likethesun)
(via aculturedcitizen)
The one big surprise is that as it turns out, God is the sun. It makes sense, if you think about it. Why we didn’t see it sooner I cannot say. Every day the sun was right there burning, our and other planets hovering around it, always apologizing, and we didn’t think it was God. Why would there be a God and also a sun? Of course God is the sun. Everyone in the life before was cranky, I think, because they just wanted to know.
— Dave Eggers, How We Are Hungry (via drawingwlight)
I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn’t work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there’s no guilt in baseball, and it’s never boring… which makes it like sex. There’s never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn’t have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I’d never sleep with a player hitting under .250… not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle. You see, there’s a certain amount of life wisdom I give these boys. I can expand their minds. Sometimes when I’ve got a ballplayer alone, I’ll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. ‘Course, a guy’ll listen to anything if he thinks it’s foreplay. I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. ‘Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games. Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball - now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God’s sake? It’s a long season and you gotta trust it. I’ve tried ‘em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.
— Annie Savoy (via monpetitchouchou13)
(via womenandbaseball)
(Source: brain-food, via aculturedcitizen)
I just believe that there’s a place in the church for everyone. That’s pretty much what the song was talking about. I don’t want to get too much into it, but it’s basically about being accepting.
The line, “change if you want / but don’t you go and change for me / I will love you as you are / I didn’t mean to make you want to leave,” pretty much that’s just about…if you believe homosexuality is wrong but you want to love people, you can’t just sit there and tell them, “I’m not going to love you until you change.
— Aaron Marsh about the meaning of “No one really wins”. I couldn’t love him more. (via setyourselfonfire)
(via fuckyeahaaronmarsh)
(Source: slowly-tongued-by-stephen-fry, via cemeterydreamer)
Why God Never Received Tenure at the University of Washington
- He had only one major publication.
- And it was in Hebrew.
- And it had no cited references.
- And it wasn’t published in a refereed journal or even submitted for peer review.
- And some even doubt he wrote it himself.
- It may be true that he created the world but what has he done since?
- His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
- The scientific community has had a very rough time trying to replicate his results.
- He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects.
- When one experiment went awry, he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects.
- When subjects didn’t behave as predicted, he often punished them, or just deleted them from the sample.
- He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book.
- He had his son teach the class.
- He expelled his first two students for learning.
- Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests.
- His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop.
