Theme: Your Neighbor as Yourself

An introduction to my thoughts outlining this year’s theme, and open a space for comments/suggestions.

 “Your neighbor as yourself” can be – and is – broad and inclusive, and indeed it is the real business of the Church: relationships among and between people and nations; work; commerce; governance; conflicts; wars… all are “on the table”. We pray for and about these each week in our Prayers of the People.

I’ve included two PDF’s, reading material as set-up pieces, kind of keynote introductions on ways to think about who/what is a neighbor. These are long, and daunting, but hopefully not intimidating, intended as a reference frame for thought and discussion. And questions.

The Nagel article (What is it like to be a bat?) introduces the concept of “qualia”, or subjective aspects of experience: what is it like to be something. There is a lot of philosophical jargon in the article, perhaps off-putting, but worth the slog, and food for thought in coming weeks.

 The Kendler article is about the “mind-body problem”, which has occupied philosophers and scientists for millennia. Contemporary psychology/psychiatry/neuroscience has refined and redefined much of interest: how do we know, and can we trust what we (think we) know?

 In coming weeks: our relationship with nature – the planet itself as our neighbor; February, Black History Month – racism, inequality; indigenous peoples of Maine; conflict and conflict resolution – game theory; wars – refugees and warriors; the list goes on…

Anyway, these are my thoughts for this series. I am a facilitator, more than instructor, and welcome suggestions, criticisms, questions. Contact [email protected]

What is it like to be a bat?
A Psychiatric Dialogue on the Mind-Body Problem