Authorpreneur Dashboard – Ogun Holder
Rants to Revelations
Religion & Spirituality
Ogun Holder knew full well the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. His intellectual understanding of the tale led him to believe that running from God was futile. But because he had never run from God before, he thought he d try it anyway. Spoiler Alert: It didn't work. Holder's journey begins with a pious but questioning childhood filled with mandatory church attendance and boisterous congregants. His road leads to a teenage rebellion, and then to a collegiate crisis of faith. He seems to hit a dead end in his 30s as a responsible grown-up until he paves a new path to Divine self. It's a path he's still walking. Readers will relate to the honesty and humor in the mash-up of emotions, ideas and experiences Holder shares about parenting, spirituality, relationships and theology. When taken to heart, these rants might, in fact, lead you to your own revelations.
Book Bubbles from Rants to Revelations
This Sucks!
I heard someone on NPR today reflecting on the cultural evolution of vampires. From nightmarish horror-story staple to attractive adolescent angst, vampires have found a stronghold in the human ethos. From "Lost Boys" to "Twilight" vampire movies were a fairly constant presence in my life. I'm sure I've read almost everything by Anne Rice, the gold standard of vampire literature. So I felt compelled to include at least one chapter to the undead. Being the nontraditional minister that I am, I don't condemn but reflect on our fascination with these soulless creatures. I see them as a representation of our shadow selves and our desires to be more than human. They reflect, I think, a lack of satisfaction with ourselves. I also write, "We think we want to be glamorous and ageless, but is it because we have not seen our own beauty at every stage of life? Superhuman strength? How about the strength of character it takes to be the voice for radical change or equality or the disenfranchised? Want passion? Try the heart-opening devotion and surrender of co-creating with a life partner."
Good advice?
At some point in the book I invite readers to beware getting swept away in the lure of gurus and to discover the guru within themselves. And then I immediately follow with guru-like advice under the moniker Swami Ogunanda. Yes, it could be considered a tad hypocritical. But what other guru would tell you to eat bacon-covered flourless dark chocolate cake? Truth be told, I'm not dark chocolate's best ambassador...I was in it for the bacon. But this dessert [Chocolate-Hazelnut Torte with Sea Salt, Caramel and Crispy Bacon to be exact] from local Raleigh restaurant J.Betski's just about made my world stop. I assert that we need more world-stopping moments in our lives. To not have them is to not be fully alive. And of course we don't swing to the other extreme. My next piece of advice was to remember that balance is the key - no good can from eating too much bacon-covered flourless dark chocolate cake. I know, I know... no such thing as too much chocolate.
Jesus believed in Evolution.
I marvel at those who refuse to let their spirituality or religion evolve. It's even more ironic considering some of the major religions were evolutions themselves. Christianity, for example, evolved out of Judaism. While not intending to start a whole other movement, Jesus was the flag bearer for taking another look at entrenched beliefs. He continually invited those around him to ask deeper questions, thereby unearthing the true spirituality and humanity buried underneath the dogma and near-sighted rhetoric. So why should we stop evolving? Many spiritual traditions that take Christianity to another (I would argue deeper) level are often disparaged because they don't look like traditional Christianity has always looked. Jesus understood that...all the way to his death. And still his evolutionary thinking survived. Don't fight evolution. Embrace it. It's inevitable.
Relationship Revelation
Over the course of our almost fourteen year marriage my wife said and did things that infuriated me to no end. My default response was to say "Yes Dear" and keep the peace, which would infuriate me even more. To be fair, I also said and did things that aggravated her so much that I consider it a minor...no, major miracle that we're still together. We don't irritate each other nearly as much anymore. And it's not because we've settled into a relationship of complacency, going through the motions and taking each other for granted. We chose to apply a spiritual teaching that we used with other people but for some unexplained reason we didn't apply to ourselves. It was to realize that another's words and actions were a reflection of who we are, for better or for worse. When I became angry it was most likely some unhealed trauma that I swept under the rug only to be tripped over by the one closest to me. I had to do a thorough cleaning, not just for her or our marriage, but ultimately for myself.
It's ok to doubt
Most religions don't approve of doubt becuase it is the opposite of certainty, and so many religions are based on certainty. Doubt, I believe, is the beginning of wisdom because it challenges us to dig deeper.
