I began to question who am I at a very early age. We didn’t go to church often, and I never went to Sunday school. My mother, God bless her soul, taught me some very deep basics concepts of the faith and told me that the faith of the other kids was not the one that we belong to. My dad viewed religion as a way for people to discriminate against others.
It was not until late teen years that I discovered that not all Christians were the same. I found out that I belonged to one stream of Christianity, that was the way to heaven, and that the “others” had a big problem. Later when I embarked on finding out more about the different faiths, I discovered that all of them had the same idea. Even those who were not Christian believe deeply that they are closer to God than the rest. They and we are on a lifelong quest to “save” others by evangelizing each other.
During the turmoil in my mind that led me to investigate a number of religions, a new brand of human beliefs was brewing. It affected all the religions. A large portion of the population turned against any belief in God and more yet declared that they are “spiritual” but not “religious.” As I was maturing the nonreligious grew into a majority mostly replacing religion with science. There was no way to prove to them that there is a God and they could not prove that there isn’t. Churches were turned into museums and restaurants. Pews that were shined by generations of people sitting in them were now empty even while the world’s population doubled.
I paid attention to how this new movement affected the general well being of humanity. It seemed obvious that places where religion is strong are lagging behind those who abandoned religions, or place religions on the back burner. It may have nothing to do with religion, but it may be a major contributor. Another possibility entered my mind.
Sex is a major item in most religions. They tend to want to regulate human behavior by restricting and regulating human mating issues, mostly by controlling women. Are religions in decline because they give men superiority over women who are rebelling? Is it necessary for women to be controlled in order to have a religion or even be spiritual?
I decided to remove myself from that argument. I think that women are men’s equals and do not need direction or instructions about how they should live their lives. I am active in my religion, by volunteering and donating, but I refuse to tell women how they should live their lives. The women I know are open to suggestions, but not to domination.
I also removed myself from the argument about the nature of God. I think that humans are better off not trying to conjure what God is. I lived with people of many faiths, and they all were just people. Some were nice, and some were suspicious since they were burned before. A few were openly selfish and only cared about themselves and constantly tried to grab more than their share and stuff it quickly in their overflowing pockets. Surprisingly the worst offenders, in my experience, made an effort to portray themselves as pious and religious for some unknown reason.
Now I am one with more experience than average simply due to my age. I am familiar with the major faiths and spirituality, and I know how science works. I CHOOSE to be a Christian since it offers the most hope. A Christian doesn’t try to force, coerce or cheat others to give him/her more. He or she takes what is given, shares it by choice and still has more than enough.
I believe that there is what we call God, in everything including the person whom I call “I am.” I don’t have a soul. Sorry, I know it sounds horrendous, but I don’t. I have a body, a truck, a house and tones of junk. I am what some people call in English, a soul. In Hebrew, it’s called “Ruach” which translates roughly into “wind.” Invisible and not detectable by human senses. The Bible says that in the beginning there was “Ruach” hovering over everything. It created a body (Adam) from the dirt, and he named all the created things. Part of him was made into his equal, a female that would stay with him to complete him. Those are things that my mother told me.
The pioneers like my wife’s family lived on whatever was seasonal here (in Alberta) all their lives and did well. Millions lived on their farms by their own work and each community was autonomous. The state of the country’s economy didn’t affect them much and the community through the church supplied almost all the services now provided by the government. Priest and Nuns were indispensable and also provided religious services that formed the values of the communities and their Christian character. Now with all the advances we made, we could use the same methods to have a heaven on earth.
All the other faiths had systems similar to the priest and nuns, but some became very prosperous. Stories about TV Evangelists owning jets and mansions emerged and people discovered that the major churches often own lots of wealth. I don’t like it since it takes away from the good that religion and spirituality can and should do.
I am a simple (Raven) man who has a body and a brain. The one that people call God has been good to me and I think he will continue to do so forever. It's easy to do it. Just take what you need and leave the rest. Do on to others as you would like others to do to you. Forgive as you would wish to be forgiven. Expect his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/ Feel free to check other articles and comment.
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