Soul’s Code

Sara Miles’ conversion to Christianity not only opened her eyes to Christ, but opened the eyes of now fellow Christians

Sara Miles never expected to convert to a religion and worship a God she didn’t believe existed.  Strange as it may sound, but that’s conversion. Former atheist editor of Mother Jones magazine, Miles found herself mysteriously drawn to a mysterious God.

In an interview with David Ian Miller, Miles detailed her conversion beginning with receiving communion at an Episcopal Church. One day Miles spied St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, attended a liturgy, and took communion.

Miles’ meditated on what she had received, what appeared as simple bread and wine, and how this sacred banquet was a reception of faith. And what’s equally interesting is the way Miles’ — a lesbian — challenges ‘traditional’ ideas about faith and identity in the midst of the schism in the Episcopal Church over the status of same-sex relationships.

Ashes to ashes . . . this Wednesday

Christians this week celebrate Ash Wednesday in commemoration of Jesus’ sojourn in the wilderness where he faced demonic temptation.  Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, where Christians share a similar journey in a spiritual desert. Lenten practices usually involve fasting, penance, making confession, praying the stations of the cross (prayerful meditation on Jesus’ journey towards crucifixion), and receiving ashes on the forehead with the words “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return”.

As The Vatican, the American Public and Republican Christians remain divided on Ted Kennedy’s “State of Grace” and “very Catholic Funeral”, US scholars debate new ways to communicate with, or ex-communicate, God. Soul’s Code highlights the great divide!

Where Americans disagree: “Kennedy funeral rings with hope, Twitter with vitriol”

Edward Moore Kennedy wrote to the Pope: “I’ve never failed to believe”

Ancient Aryans’ “Amor fati” is the grandparent for Hinduism’s “karma”, Mormonism’s emotive dark-side, and evolving blogs on ever-trendy atheism.

 FriskoDude has this great picture of a Muslim man selling icons of Hindu gods. A toast to the Indian Muslims blog for pointing it out.

Jason Pitzl-Waters, a practicing vegan,  describes a Hindu leading the prayer of the Nevada Senate: “…while it may seem innocuous to some, there is something inherently radical about a public prayer that welcomes such a broad variety of belief and worship.“

A self-proclaimed evolutionist writes about worldwide atheism trends, synopsizing work by Phil Zuckerman. Sweden, Vietnam and Denmark have the greatest number of atheists, the blogger writes.

Sailing to Byzantium writes about his personal journey out of Mormonism. The author started questioning his faith after working with his brother through a crisis, he writes.

You didn’t think the techno-hipsters at Wired were above resorting to religion to sell magazines, did you? Kudos to writer Gary Wolf for digging up a first class group of crankypants: militant atheists! These guys combine the flexibility of Soviet bureaucrats with the fun factor of a bowl of bran flakes.