"What is divinity if it can come
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
Divinity must live within herself:
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
The bough of summer and the winter branch,
These are the measures destined for her soul."
- Wallace Stevens, Sunday Morning, 1915
"Even before I could speak, I remember crawling through blueberry patches in the wild meadows on our hillsides. I quickly discovered Nature was filled with Spirit; I never saw any separation between Spirit and Nature. Much later I discovered our culture taught there was supposed to be some kind of separation - that God, Spirit and Nature were supposed to be divided and different. However, at my early age it seemed absolutely obvious that the church of the Earth was the greatest church of all; that the temple of the forest was the supreme temple. When I went to the sanctuary of the mountain, I found Earth's natural altar - Great Spirit's real shrine. Years later I discovered that this path of going into Nature, bonding deeply with it, and seeing Spirit within Nature - God, Goddess, and Great Spirit - was humanity's most ancient, most primordial path of spiritual cultivation and realization."
- John P. Milton, Sky Above, Earth Below
"In all things of nature there is something marvelous."
- Aristotle
"The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience."
- Henryk Skolimowski
"When the healthy nature of man acts as a whole, when he feels himself to be in the world as in a great, beautiful, noble, and valued whole, when harmonious ease affords him a pure and free delight, then the universe, if it could experience itself, would exult, as having attained its goal, and admire the climax of its own becoming and essence."
- Goethe
Religion, Gods, Theology and Such Matters
Quotes from Pulling Onions by Michael P. Garofalo
Absolutes squirm beneath realities. 9
It is better to cultivate spiritual fruits than religious nuts. 523
I believe in "God"; I just spell It "Fiction." 756
When the Divine knocks, don't send a prophet to the door. 48
Dogmatists are less useful than dogs. 711
Gardens are more useful than churches. 787
The City of God does not meet any of our current building codes. 890
God and I get along quite well, he ignores me all the time and I ignore him. 845
Perfection can be the opponent of betterment. 788
We did not come from dust, nor shall we return to dust, nor are we dust in the wind. 23
There is not much to say about the "Unknown." 3
R. Buckminster-Fuller once suggested that "God is a verb, not a noun." Which verb? Pretending? Storytelling? Fantasizing? Believing? 833
In general, be more specific. 79
If the first man was created in the image of God, then it is obvious that God is mediocre and prone to evil. 786
Nothing grows in Hell. 134
The fear of the Lord is a corner stone of indoctrination and the beginning of the end of wisdom. 850
After understanding thousands of the details, a common variety god is really quite superfluous. 725
The root illusion is a belief in that which does not change. 451
Roundness is the Holy Shape. 629
God may be very smart, but he is a poor communicator. 779
There is absolutely a place for Absolutes and Ideals in our rational/logical way of choosing to think about our experiences. 982
We already live in the Garden of Eden, but we now have to work to keep it growing. 136
God may have created the first garden, but, typical of Him, He got bored with trying to keep it up and make it better. 149
Say a prayer for a good harvest; but don't forget to weed and water. 288
The Bible is morally inconsistent and often morally reprehensible. 842
I never found God in my garden, but goddesses and gods and faeries dance everywhere. 492
Yes, God and Allah are both still dead, yet plenty is still not permitted and virtues and ideals still persist. 330
Before you swear at the overgrown ivy, beware of Dionysus. 602
The Garden of Eden is a badly painted backdrop to a lousy stage play. 860
Even a god cannot listen to a billion prayers a day. 412
Beware of the man who speaks of God only as a father or a son. 573
The real "miracle" is cause and effect. 584
Christians and Moslems love to lie about their own righteousness, and rant about the immorality of the non-believers in their fantasies. 986
The "eternal truths" are sometimes clearly false. 430
Have you noticed that people praying close their eyes? People, please open your eyes and think instead. 444
If God existed it would be necessary to have a Goddess because God is just to lazy and incompetent. 471
If God gave us technology, why did he wait so long to give us a box of matches or solar power panels. 454
What? Another damn Garden of Eden analogy! 476
The seed idea for "God" is springtime. 596
A God who is understood is really misunderstood ... actually no God at all. 598
Variety, Creativity and Fertility are the Songs of the Great Goddess. 509
Hell is a silent dark world where nothing grows. 512
Even Allah cannot alter the past; but our knowledge of the past changes each year. 549
Is the the God of scriptures the Absolute? Absolutely not! 996
Stop looking for the Green Man and He will appear. 601
The gardener is a priestess, the garden her temple and followers, gardening her liturgy. 603
Religion is intimate with awe, anxiety, fear, danger, and death. 608
Avoid dogmatists, they often end up treating you like a dog. 623
What good is All Powerful and All Wise "God" or "Allah" who can supposedly count every hair on your head, but can't find
a house for a homeless family, stop terrorists, get rid of the alcoholic thief next door, or save your citrus trees from frostbite? 681
Mother Nature is always pregnant. 702
It is best to shut one's mouth in face of the sacred. 719
Create your own garden, the god's certainly won't. 736
That something is eternal is unverifiable; it is one premise. 746
If there is a "Divine Lawgiver," then He/She/It seems a rather poor judge and inconsistent. 978
Ordinary reality is good enough for most sensible people; a "higher" calling is answered by few. 759
Don't kid yourself: seeing is not necessarily believing. 761
To many the sun is a god and the earth is a goddess; and, our imaginations are boundless. 762
To save some time, don't let them get a foot in the door. 795
I may not be able to precisely define religious nonsense, but I know it when I hear it. 791
I think, therefore I am a living person; dead bodies don't display thinking, just stinking. 826
Disrespect and contempt for the body is a common trump card for spiritualists; but, our game of life does not use trump cards. 829
Is the the God of scriptures the Absolute? Absolutely not! 996
A sure path to the perversion of truth is to make it a belief. 841
The Bible is morally inconsistent and often morally reprehensible. 842
God is not dead─ he never existed in the first place. 887
"Just believe" is the weakest argument for adopting an opinion. 888
Seeing the "Big Picture" is just viewing a pleasant painting created by your imagination. 846
I have faith that science will help explain our world; but, I don't "believe in" or worship science. 908
Some questions just dissolve─when our spell is broken. 921
Spinoza's God was Nature─by definition. 937
Rather than seeking an answer we sometimes need to stop asking the question. 938
I am not a marionette in the Hands of Deus (or Zeus, Yahweh, Allah, God, Shiva, Coyote, Great Father, etc.) 940
Beliefs tend to channel the mind, wonder opens it up. 953
If you are seeking certainty, the search will likely be tiresome and futile. 955
"Mas o menos" is often quite sufficient. 989
Be content with the probable and hope for the best. 956
- Michael P. Garofalo, Pulling Onions Over 1,000 Sayings, Quips, Reflections
Michael P. Garofalo's Religious Views
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own─a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms. the idea is a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive. I believe in Spinoza's God, revealed in the orderly harmony of what exists.
- Albert Einstein, 1955, found in "The Portable Atheist."
Free Thought, Atheism, Secularism, Humanism: A Brief Bibliography, Links, Resources
