Some humorous, yet sad aspects of institutional religion.

John Chuchman's book "I Love My Church, BUT, OH MY GOD" is about religion, specifically the troubled contemporary religious culture of the Roman Catholic Church, which includes within it elements of deep spirituality and high institutionalism. Formulated in John's characteristic free-line formatting, some selections read as mystical poetry and others as direct confrontation - all contest for institutional and hierarchical reform. In his inclusion of both the political and the mystical, the prosaic and the poetic, John provides a metaphor of the Church itself: often superficial and foolish in...

The first letter of John, 4, 7-16, touched me deeply with the words, God is Love; When we live in Love, we live in God and God in us. The restrictive, biased, inadequate view of Our Creator as a white-haired old man sitting in judgment of us simply no longer worked for me. Indeed, it seems we have envisioned the Divine in our own image. Perhaps a better idea of God is Source of Love, Embodiment of Love, and Love in Action. God (as Verb) IS Love and I AM only because (God as) LOVE IS. Join me here in exploring this notion.

Divine Incarnation is not merely some historical event that happened 2000 years. Incarnation and Creation are One in the Same each and every Moment. As Creation Evolves so does Incarnation. As we evolve, our notion of the Divine evolves.

Human beings . . . how often have we heard those two words without a thought to what they mean? Oh, we could define "human," but what about the word "being" or better yet, "Being." Vaclav Havel, Czech writer, dissident, and finally, peaceful liberator of his country searched for the true meaning of Being in his series of essays written while in prison. Havel described Being as the state of one's heart, the key to life and one's orientation to it. He believed there are moments when we briefly glimpse these islands of meaning: when we love, show compassion, look into another's eyes. These...

Unknowing It has been very hard for me to learn not to need to know. I don't mean just simply being OK with not knowing, but learning not to need to know. It requires my admitting, accepting, embracing my limits. I realize that God cannot be known by the power of intelligence. In coming to the realization that God's very Being is Love, I have only been able to glimpse, taste, pursue the Divine in my heart which constantly longs for Love, for my Creator. The terms I have used to speak of God are never clearly intelligible, watertight and hermetically sealed. God can never be seized by my...

Rather than being stuck in the Guilt, Grief, and Anger occasioned by Institutional Religion, the author describes his journey in Spiritual Growth and Nurturing towards a personal Transformation/Metanoia in Love.

In this lovely book of passionate poetry, John Chuchman shares his Quest for True Self, urging and encouraging his readers to embark on a similar journey, one of an awakening connection to the Soul. Through his passion for writing which blossomed in his second half of life, John challenges us to listen to our soul's essence, that secret that is our passion, that part in our soul, ready to be awakened. Many of John's poems encourage the reader to realize how important, even essential, it is to unleash our creativity. Here we will experience the fulfillment, the joy, and at times, even the...