God ... Yes, I Am Going THERE!
Let me start by saying I don't claim my beliefs are IT. They're just my beliefs. So, if you believe different, NO problem. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and whatever yours are, if they're positive, more power to you! And if they're not, just know they're harming you more than anybody else. That being said, here's my thoughts on God.
I saw the coolest bumper sticker a few days ago. It said:
God is too big to fit in one religion.
Wow! You're darn tootin'!
God IS too big to fit in anything, really. Still, I am a member of a Lutheran church because I LOVE the wonderful people I have met there and the fact we do so many wonderful things for the community. However, that does not mean I feel that Lutherans (or Christians, for that matter) have it right and that everybody else has it wrong and that's why I LOVED this bumper sticker. I have basically chosen not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, but I think our little minds cannot even wrap themselves around the concept of God and what we think God is, much less truly understand it any more than an ant can understand human beings or the calculus we can do.
Because we really don't and can't know, the bottomline is that traditional religion is based on faith which is a thing of beauty, if you ask me. There's just something very beautiful and pure about believing and KNOWING in your heart that all is well and okay in the midst of the chaos we see in this world every day. Heck, even the chaos are just right, although that's easier to say from a distance, of course, but I truly believe they (the chaos we're creating) are serving their purpose themselves by spurring us on to create that which we do want in the world and what works for everyone (basic human freedom and opportunity, food, shelter, education, community, friendship, joy) and get rid of what so clearly doesn't (hate, poverty, hunger, violence, et cetera).
Traditional religion, of course, is based on a book as well. I think we are all more than aware of the Bible, right? And then there's also the Koran. And the Talmud. Et cetera, et cetera. You get my point. In addition to all the different versions claiming their way is THE way, all these books are written not just by man (so that even if it is so that the Bible is the word of God as we're told it is, it is still told by fallible man as are all the other books) but by MEN and something about that doesn't bode quite as well for the 21st century as it did for the olden days.
So, here's my take on life and religion and God in a nutshell.
We don't know with 100% certainty where we really came from nor where we're going. All we know, really, is that we're here now. And that's what the Bible is about (amongst other things), about a positive way to live.
That's why I go to church on Sundays ...
I go there because I love living from that context of being good (in spite of my humanness and all those ugly things we do or hate about ourselves) and doing good.
I go there because if Jesus were alive, I'd go hear him talk! Wouldn't you?
I go there because church to me is not an institution or a building but a community of people.
I go there to share myself and my life, to contribute to the community I live in, to love people and to thank Jesus for having been such a cool human being and such a good example to others.
I go there because I am happy to learn more and more about what I didn't know much about just a few short years ago. I used to be an atheist (or I used to say I was) even, which was so arrogant of me because to discard something without ever having really looked into it (not from my childhood experience but as an adult) is pretty ridiculous.
I go there because scripture is so GOOD!! It's incredible and amazing the beautiful things written in that book. Talk about some incredible gems. Good Lord, had I known, I'd been going to church a lot sooner!
Lastly, I go there because almost every time I sit there in that sanctuary listening to the service, the readings, the songs, the gospel, the tears gently roll and that's when you know you're being touched in your heart and moved in your soul and I want to live no other way. I want to be touched, moved, and inspired as close as to EVERY MOMENT as possible because life is short, people, and this ride is going to end much too soon even if I could live to be 150!
So, thank you God, whatever or whoever you are. Everything else - all the dogma, all the fighting between people about what is the right religion or not - is not important to me. To me, God is simply the greatest of all things possible, the greatest, best, most positive of all things, the greatest potential for us human beings, which is what Jesus was committed to and declared himself the incarnation of, and that's what I worship/look up to and relate to - potential, goodness, greatness.
It's just such a beautiful life to waste it on the negative and what I believe God to be is good and wonderful for ME! I only wish you just as good a relationship (with God) in whatever way it works for you without having to kill something else off to make your version right. Just consider giving it some real - adult - thought and have whatever you make and get out of your relationship with God be good not just for you but for those around you not in the converting them sense but in the sharing-yourself-and-your-goodness-and-positivity sense because, in the end, individualism boils down to nothing and community is really where it's at. If not, we'd all go into a cave and stay there ALONE and humanity would've ceased to exist lonnnng ago!! NO FUN!!!! :-)
Bests to you!
XOXO
I saw the coolest bumper sticker a few days ago. It said:
God is too big to fit in one religion.
Wow! You're darn tootin'!
God IS too big to fit in anything, really. Still, I am a member of a Lutheran church because I LOVE the wonderful people I have met there and the fact we do so many wonderful things for the community. However, that does not mean I feel that Lutherans (or Christians, for that matter) have it right and that everybody else has it wrong and that's why I LOVED this bumper sticker. I have basically chosen not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, but I think our little minds cannot even wrap themselves around the concept of God and what we think God is, much less truly understand it any more than an ant can understand human beings or the calculus we can do.
Because we really don't and can't know, the bottomline is that traditional religion is based on faith which is a thing of beauty, if you ask me. There's just something very beautiful and pure about believing and KNOWING in your heart that all is well and okay in the midst of the chaos we see in this world every day. Heck, even the chaos are just right, although that's easier to say from a distance, of course, but I truly believe they (the chaos we're creating) are serving their purpose themselves by spurring us on to create that which we do want in the world and what works for everyone (basic human freedom and opportunity, food, shelter, education, community, friendship, joy) and get rid of what so clearly doesn't (hate, poverty, hunger, violence, et cetera).
Traditional religion, of course, is based on a book as well. I think we are all more than aware of the Bible, right? And then there's also the Koran. And the Talmud. Et cetera, et cetera. You get my point. In addition to all the different versions claiming their way is THE way, all these books are written not just by man (so that even if it is so that the Bible is the word of God as we're told it is, it is still told by fallible man as are all the other books) but by MEN and something about that doesn't bode quite as well for the 21st century as it did for the olden days.
So, here's my take on life and religion and God in a nutshell.
We don't know with 100% certainty where we really came from nor where we're going. All we know, really, is that we're here now. And that's what the Bible is about (amongst other things), about a positive way to live.
That's why I go to church on Sundays ...
I go there because I love living from that context of being good (in spite of my humanness and all those ugly things we do or hate about ourselves) and doing good.
I go there because if Jesus were alive, I'd go hear him talk! Wouldn't you?
I go there because church to me is not an institution or a building but a community of people.
I go there to share myself and my life, to contribute to the community I live in, to love people and to thank Jesus for having been such a cool human being and such a good example to others.
I go there because I am happy to learn more and more about what I didn't know much about just a few short years ago. I used to be an atheist (or I used to say I was) even, which was so arrogant of me because to discard something without ever having really looked into it (not from my childhood experience but as an adult) is pretty ridiculous.
I go there because scripture is so GOOD!! It's incredible and amazing the beautiful things written in that book. Talk about some incredible gems. Good Lord, had I known, I'd been going to church a lot sooner!
Lastly, I go there because almost every time I sit there in that sanctuary listening to the service, the readings, the songs, the gospel, the tears gently roll and that's when you know you're being touched in your heart and moved in your soul and I want to live no other way. I want to be touched, moved, and inspired as close as to EVERY MOMENT as possible because life is short, people, and this ride is going to end much too soon even if I could live to be 150!
So, thank you God, whatever or whoever you are. Everything else - all the dogma, all the fighting between people about what is the right religion or not - is not important to me. To me, God is simply the greatest of all things possible, the greatest, best, most positive of all things, the greatest potential for us human beings, which is what Jesus was committed to and declared himself the incarnation of, and that's what I worship/look up to and relate to - potential, goodness, greatness.
It's just such a beautiful life to waste it on the negative and what I believe God to be is good and wonderful for ME! I only wish you just as good a relationship (with God) in whatever way it works for you without having to kill something else off to make your version right. Just consider giving it some real - adult - thought and have whatever you make and get out of your relationship with God be good not just for you but for those around you not in the converting them sense but in the sharing-yourself-and-your-goodness-and-positivity sense because, in the end, individualism boils down to nothing and community is really where it's at. If not, we'd all go into a cave and stay there ALONE and humanity would've ceased to exist lonnnng ago!! NO FUN!!!! :-)
Bests to you!
XOXO
posted by Narah at 11:34 AM
