Appetizer

The Summer Day is a poem by Mary Oliver on the act of attention is a form of prayer ...

May I show you to your table?

This blog is not meant for the public at large, and I do not expect much traffic, although all are welcome to read and comment. It is however, an online diary to secure my thoughts and findings on beliefs and life philosophies as my memory is nothing short of pathetic. It is also a place my fellow ents can come to see such things that I serve up.

First of all, you will notice in the blog title Age of Reason Cafe, the first portion was taken from the pamphlet written by the freethinker and philospoher, Thomas Paine. Paine has had a fairly big impact on my thinking over the past year or so, and I will be quoting from The Age of Reason many times to come in this blog.

Secondly, you will notice that the byline does not include the word chef. I am confident at this point, most reasonbale ideas and beliefs have been floated by someone in humanities history, and so I am not cooking up what you will read here. Rather, I will be showing you to your seat, serving up the ideas, and cleaning up after you leave (all gratuities accepted).

Let me finish this first blog by quoting a few lines from the beginning of Paine's pamphlet:

I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

I believe the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.

and

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

I especially like the last sentence of the second quote. Coming from a fairly strict Pentecostal background, the journey I have taken over the past couple of years lead me to this point ... my mind is my own church! WOW!!!