I figured I’d get this entry in while I’m on my lunch break.
I am a Christian. I wear a necklace of the Hindu deity Ganesha, the Lord of Obstacles. It seems appropriate when I’m writing and debugging code. It was given to me by Dino’s sister, a devout Hindu woman, as a wedding present. I don’t consider it heretical or idolatrous. For one, I believe God reveals God’s self in many different ways to many different peoples and cultures, and to claim to have the one truth and understanding of God (as, sadly, many Christians seem to do), is – quite frankly – racist. Second, it was a gift, lovingly given, from my sister-in-law, to her new brother-in-law. It was a gift of love, how could it not be of God?
Such things aren’t idols. They aren’t worshiped. They serve as reminders of the love God and others have for us. The keep us mindful of things we may normally take for granted. I’m Protestant, and traditionally Protestants are opposed to graven images, but I was also raised Catholic, and I have a crucifix, and a figurine of St. Francis, and a small statue of the Buddha. They are just things, but they serve as reminders, as points of meditation. If I were to loose them, I would not loose that which they represent, which is far more important.
