About me
(though its not really about me)
Welcome to Meaning tree (www.meaningtree.org)
My name is Chris
I feel privileged to briefly share a little about myself, if you are interested, perhaps our dialog may go more smoothly and be without unnecessary speculation as to my motives or perspective. Let me tell you about what I do, have done and a little about what is close to my heart.
I write, I am a musician, a writer, a science enthusiast, I read a lot, and I am currently employed in school safety. .
I am retired from law enforcement and have worked security in clubs in the city, and venues on the Jersey shore (not the T.V. show) .
I am not rich, nor am I poor. I am thankful for what I have, and patient to receive what I am working to acquire or achieve.
I spend most of my time with regular people with very common struggles. Some of my friends and family have a deeply committed, yet, unfanatical sincere, thought out, faith and belief in God. My other friends have told me plainly that they just "don't give a crap" about religion and have even less energy to expend on the pursuit of life's meaning. However, and ironically I might add, they do admit, in opportune moments of honesty, that they care about life, success, happiness and their world. Like me, they are all people who make mistakes, people who struggle, people who feel pain and people who in certain opportune moments of honesty, ask questions. Those type of questions that have been asked by the world's greatest and simplest or most average of thinkers alike. In the most common form these questions have appeared in several themes and variation you may have heard such as;
" what is the meaning of life, what is my purpose?" "What is truth?" and "how do live my life to make the world a better place?'"
Oh yes, and whether or not the Giants will win the super-bowl or the Yankees in the world series or at the very least beating the Boston Red Sox!
I think about these questions everyday I live. (except the sports questions) Not just what they imply for me, but the times I live and work in, my culture, country and world.
It has become my conviction that these are not questions (other than the ones related to sports) for mere philosophical entertainment. Rather, they are very powerful in contextualizing much more than a intellectual debate.
The question of meaning can be challenging, fun, deeply rewarding and life changing!
I believe strongly that the question of meaning is important not because I need intellectual entertainment but because I believe it is the best way to open up a dialog that one day may make the world a better place for my children and their children to live in.
For me, this journey began, with intensity, shortly after the 9-11 attacks, as my co-workers, friends and acquaintances began to entertain questions that more or less went as follows; how could a God of love allow such a thing happen? How do we know which religion is true, particularly when they all claim to be the only one true religion? So as the dialog heated up I felt compelled to embark on an investigation that would take me to books and U-Tube lectures & debates on history, philosophy, religion, psychology, biology and physics. Admittedly, my initial mission was to determine what drove religious fundamentalist to commit to a strategy that seemed so alien to the fundamental principles of the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). As the weeks, months and years passed I found myself becoming deeper entrenched in the age old questions of', what is reality? what is truth? However, my journey was in no way focused on a process that led to the typically circular philosophical approaches and traps. Rather, I have been committed to staying on a path of constant discovery in which cosmology, quantum theory ,psychology and scripture provide a continuous supply of insight into the nature of creation and the fabric of reality. While in the midst of my ever growing range of discovery and insight I realized a theme that seemed to frame the entire quest and give it purpose. It was a question that could be asked in several different variations but most commonly appears as; what is the meaning of life?
I am no stranger to the pragmatic styles of thinking of the law enforcement community and my love for science and theology has revealed to me that truth can be expressed through many different mediums or modes. As an artist I can testify to the fact that being human is much more complicated than the sterile and often incomplete theories and models that modern scientific approaches have focused on concerning issues like the question of meaning. I am certainly conscious of philosophical problems between communities that have claims to providing answers to the meaning of life question. But I do believe with a certain type of dialogue we can at the very least agree to disagree. Perhaps, then we will be able to establish what we share in common as truth and what will be beneficial and serve a purpose in our daily challenges .
No hidden agendas
Though I will share a little about myself as we go along so you know I speak from life experience or the inspiration that the challenge of living often facilitates, Though my passion in life is the personal pursuit of meaning and living in its presence I am committed to not making this project about me. At this point I want to be able to assist others in discovering their meaning and if we end up sharing a similar vision that is very exciting for me. I would like to let you know what I am planning or attempting in this conversation in order that my words and insights will be helpful and not nearly mere philosophical rantings, so common of what can found on the web, capable only of wasting our precious time. I am not a member of a religious organization nor am I a Tenured professor so I will speak freely without fear of being fired, ex-communicated or worse!
In other words I have no hidden agendas.
I believe strongly in the merits of science and the method by which it, and its adherents, comes to embrace truth, through rigorous commitment to what creation tells us through arduous testing, accurate models and hopefully interpretations that are coherent, not just with other scientific theories & discoveries but philosophy as well. I also believe that science itself does have much to offer concerning the nature of consciousness and why creation exists at all, which has enormous implications for the questions of God, spirituality and meaning. It is here, at the junction where science meets spirituality, and Biblical Christianity in particular, that I have spent much time researching. Hopefully, I have at the very least enough insight to raise some good questions. I also hope that this might facilitate the contribution of you as well.
thanks for visiting.
Send me an email with a question, comment or whatever is on your mind: