Long-established in my past is a weak background in religion.
My mom fell asleep in church a lot. Pretty embarrassing.
My brother (who I admit I look up to) toyed with being atheist in his teens, but ultimately became agnostic.
The largest-impacting religious movie I ever saw was Dogma, and that had a poop monster in it.
My husband never actively went to church or really upheld religion.
There's not a lot of influence on religion in my life. I consider this a good thing because it's allowed me to explore my beliefs without a lot of judgmental influence.
My friend was born & raised catholic, her parents active members of the church. A few Sunday's she'd even bring me along. I wanted to convert for one reason: all that standing, sitting, standing, knelling would insure mom would stop falling asleep at church; YES! What I witnessed over time has broken my heart. There is no doubt in my mind this girl is a lesbian. I've known her since we were in kindergarten, we've been good friends since the 8th grade. The happiest I've ever seen her was her brief time in a relationship with a woman. It was like all the strength I've ever seen in her over the years finally came out and shone so bright; it was beautiful. The relationship ultimately ended, and part of the influence of this end was my friend's inner battle between her religious beliefs and her self; religion won. My friend will still live a happy, healthy life, but that bright light has dimmed again. I will forever love and respect her choices, but I will never understand how she can call what her heart wants a sin. Maybe it's not something I'm supposed to understand.
I liked the movie Dogma for one reason: I liked its thoughts on having ideas instead of beliefs. Ideas can be changed, are open to other considerations. Beliefs are pretty set in stone. Kevin Smith, for all his goofy stuff, has some pretty interesting ideas too.
I found further clarity on a wonderful book called The Shack- highly recommend! This book opened up my mind to the notion that, like my girlfriend's choices and beliefs, some things really are not meant to be understood. Kind of like an ant trying to process physics- we just don't have the capacity to understand all there is that makes this world what it is.
One of the problems I have with religion is those organizations that require dues. This just bugs me. How does money associate with religion? Really, if there's a separation between government and religion, the government-printed stuff should be separate too.
The world is my church. It teaches me and uplifts me daily. In turn, that's where I give my money. I donate my time to my own non-profit. I donate my funds to causes I care about. I do my part to improve the world around me, my church. Some months it includes no financial deposit, others it's a majority of my 'free spending' money. Today I purchased a bag of food 'for a needy family on thanksgiving' at my grocery store. Several weeks ago I donated to a children's hospital network. In a few weeks I'll begin the major work for the fund-raising efforts my organization does for children's arts programs. For me, this makes way more sense than giving it to a religion.
For all the various arguments about religion, I cannot help but ask: does it really matter? As long as people are finding happiness and healthy life choices within it (non-cult related), why should it matter which is right, or whether there is a God at all? It's kind of like finding out how magic tricks are done. As much as you are mystified by the trick, and you get that feeling that you just have to know how it's done, the moment you do it loses it's magic and beauty.
I do believe in a God. Whether it be one all-powerful being or three magic elves is not for me to say. There is something there that makes this world sometimes an amazingly beautiful place, found in simplistic every day acts that- if only for a brief second- make this world feel blessed. The kind act of a stranger. The sound of a baby's giggle. The ability to hear beauty in music or see it on a crystal-clear blue sky day. My eyes and ears do that, but what recognizes its beauty beyond appreciation into a feeling of something whole? For me, that's God.
One of the problems I have with religion is those organizations that require dues. This just bugs me. How does money associate with religion? Really, if there's a separation between government and religion, the government-printed stuff should be separate too.
The world is my church. It teaches me and uplifts me daily. In turn, that's where I give my money. I donate my time to my own non-profit. I donate my funds to causes I care about. I do my part to improve the world around me, my church. Some months it includes no financial deposit, others it's a majority of my 'free spending' money. Today I purchased a bag of food 'for a needy family on thanksgiving' at my grocery store. Several weeks ago I donated to a children's hospital network. In a few weeks I'll begin the major work for the fund-raising efforts my organization does for children's arts programs. For me, this makes way more sense than giving it to a religion.
For all the various arguments about religion, I cannot help but ask: does it really matter? As long as people are finding happiness and healthy life choices within it (non-cult related), why should it matter which is right, or whether there is a God at all? It's kind of like finding out how magic tricks are done. As much as you are mystified by the trick, and you get that feeling that you just have to know how it's done, the moment you do it loses it's magic and beauty.
I do believe in a God. Whether it be one all-powerful being or three magic elves is not for me to say. There is something there that makes this world sometimes an amazingly beautiful place, found in simplistic every day acts that- if only for a brief second- make this world feel blessed. The kind act of a stranger. The sound of a baby's giggle. The ability to hear beauty in music or see it on a crystal-clear blue sky day. My eyes and ears do that, but what recognizes its beauty beyond appreciation into a feeling of something whole? For me, that's God.
No comments:
Post a Comment