God, Religion, Church, Fellowship, Theology...

I don't think I was expecting religion to be such a hot topic down here, but it's been very good for me. The day after I did Mormonism 101 at Rikki's Bar, I recounted the whole conversation to my teacher (well, ok - part of the conversation - the Spanish is somewhat limited). At that time I was learning the past tense, so it was perfect practice - you know: since history is all past tense. For example:

Christ started a church. After he died, it was led by the apostles or prophets. Eventually, they died and the church - without Priesthood leadership - split into various and confusing options. Later, Joseph Smith didn't know which church to join. He prayed about his confusion and saw God and Christ.

Point is, it's all past tense, so it's great practice, but more than that - it spurred an interesting discussion about the purpose of the church in political and social life here in Guatemala.

Anyhow, in addition to telling people about my beliefs and my church, I've also had a chance to learn about

great books by great thologians (how do you spell that)
diverse ideas about the nature of God
early Catholic church history in Central America
feeling, receiving, and sending energy
the path a man takes to become a monk
and more

It has been good for me to step outside my (relatively speaking) sterile religious community into this environment. It pushes me to think about what I believe and why others believe what they believe about Life, the Universe and Everything.

I've been reading (as previsouly mentioned) Mere Christianity, but after a great discussion with Austin I now have an extended reading list to keep me busy for the next few years. It's amazing (but not surprising) the amount of literature that has been written about Christianity. What does surprise me is how Austin can rattle off the titles and authors of 20+ books "worth reading" (including my favorite title - though possibly not the most profound from his list: The Gospel According to The Simpsons). I guess he got his money's worth from his Masters in Theology.

I'm also reading the Life of Pi (finally) which has little if anything to do with the number pi. It is, however, an interesting look at one man's journey to find/experience God. It seems that many of the people that "up and move to Antigua for a season" have a bit of (as one friend put it) hippie in them. But, more than that - there's a curious inquisitiveness about many of the people I've met. There's also a gratifying amount of openness to new and different ideas. At home (in "the states" or in LA) religion seems to be pretty low on the collective radar of the population - and deep discussions on these matters are few and far between. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seemed. Granted, for the last year - I've been working in a small office with someone with the same religious backgrowd, so there was little exloration there. And in other jobs, there's really isn't time to stop and chat about God and theology for 2 hours.

Here, there's plenty of time for all that (though some times are better than others). Discussions with Eve, Stephen, Austin, Lucie, and many others have helped re-awaked thought on important subjects I've either taken for granted or not bothered to consider with any seriousness. It has also helped remind me that there are certain things in life that seem crystal-clear, which may not be as cut-and-dry for others. I love these discussion. 10 Years ago, while working at Walt Disney World, I found myself in similar situations and it was equally eye opening and mind expanding.