Geoff's Religious Ideas & Sermon
July, 1997

Rev. Karen Gale's questions about geoffs' Tractatus':
Is a secular sermon a chance to speak your mind or what else?
A discussion group?
How does it differ from a book group?
What does liturgy mean in a secular context?

"Religion is a complex phenomenon, defying definition or summary. Almost as many definitions and theories of religion exist as there are authors on the subject." Groliers Encyclopedia


Secular: A word whose definition is non-spiritual, but unfairly: 'worldly, not of the spirit'


My life began and went for 50 years as a Christian. And then God wasn't enough any more.

This redefinition of faith was all triggered by :

1) Christianity and its traditions no longer seem large enough-

a) We need the environmental awareness embodied in the Navaho idea of 'hozro', living in harmony with all that is around you does not in my reading of the bible exist.

b) The issue of population control and replacement does not in my reading of the bible exist.

2) I am seeking a reason for why people are so moved by Star Wars and 'the force', Star Trek', Bridges of Madison County and clandestine- love (2yrs a bestseller); and The Celestine Prophecy (A fate attunement, 2yrs a bestseller).

3) Joseph Campbells 'Power of Myth'.which brought me the awareness that the religion brand naming seems all made up. Moslem, Christian, Buddist, etc., God, Jesus, Mohammed, Jehova, Moroni, Sufi, Hindu.

(A reading: Nancy Mairs from Ordinary Times)

I contest the definition of Secular as 'of the world' and therefore 'not of the spirit'

There is an overpowering need for secular sprituality, a religion of people.
A binding of our spirits into that loving gel all faiths seek.
A sacredness of what is held in common and communion.
A center. A place for ritual without 'excess' structure.

'Talk and sharing without ritual leaves me without a central key to my understanding of myself and the universe.' KG

The God that is, is 'I AM', as God said in Genesis. The I AM is about the
present, the present-ness of Zen; now! Not a God of heaven and the future.

The feeling of meaning and connectedness to the universe is best aimed at finding meaning in human accomplishment and human connection in visible and invisible ways.

This becomes a form of holiness which carries with it a sense of central and common value, and fundamental reality.


This proposal of a wo/man centered spirituality must have all the Godly religious ingredients:

1) a sense of awe and humbleness before the Form of this belief,

2) a sense of being part of the grand design though small,

3) a grandness which enables building 'cathedrals' to the faith, to the belief in life and natures greatness and to human contribution.

4) a sense of immersion into the life current with all its randomness and acts of control.

5) a foundation of ethics for living, a golden rule of some kind staving off chaos, forming human community standards.

One such Cathedral to human accomplishment is the UC San Diego university library, the Geisel Library: It's grand design, the champs ellyseyz, the neon display of the seven virtues and seven vices, the serpent trail to the library, Milton's quote, the serpent head and the library as citidel against the burning of knowledge.

'Then wilt thou not both loathe to leave This paradise But Shalt possess a paradise within thee, happier far.' John Milton from Paradise Lost On the serpent path to the library at UC San Diego

I believe Libraries are the partial archtype of a secular faiths' cathedrals, a place for secular sermons, guides to life and connection. A place where we learn how to treat of our fellow man and woman with fairness and compassion. A place of and to worship. Stand in awe of our accomplishments on this earth. The beauty of this earth and we in it. Of all forms of life in 'hozro'. A unifying force, not a worship of division. Not industrialist and environmentalist yelling across chasms.

To this end I'd like us to use God's church on Saturdays to sermon about the meanings from our own bibles: Isaac Newtons work, Le Petit Prince by St Exupery, Zen concepts of now and contemplation, biology and the understanding of the 'alive', the concepts of the Celestine prophecy, the struggle to attain an healthful view of sexuality and its relationship to love and fidelity, 'unspeakable acts of beauty and random kindness', the place for aggression and a place to ask whether war is really needed?, of reproduction and of rearing, of friendship and connection at work, connection in other parts of life, of aging and of youth.......

Prayer would be messages/energy to and for one another.


'Karl Barth, probably the century's most significant theologian, liked to say that Christianity is not a religion; rather it is a way of life. In that, he contrasted Christianity to the world's major religions. He might have said something like, when Christianity becomes a religion, it has forgotten its identity.'

Restated by Rev. Reford Nash,


'Trust each other', the new marching song of those with faith in human beings.

Geoff Fernald 1997

Another religiously relevant poem by Whitman: