More Thoughts on Religion

I've been giving a lot of thought to religion this week, specifically organized religion.  As stated in a previous post, we've begun attending church again, and the priest is having informal get togethers after the early service to talk about the denomination and other religious issues.  The first meeting last week was extremely enlightening.

I was raised Southern Baptist.  We were an "Amen-ing" congregation - well steeped in fire, brimstone, self-sacrifice (no drinking or dancing) and solid forgiveness.  Dutifully, church was attended twice on Sunday, plus Wednesday, with misson studies, choir practice, witnessing, youth activities, etc. thrown in.  I even went to school at the church.  And yet, with all of this continuous emmersion in the faith, there was no sense of guilt when I stepped back from the church to pursue my own spiritual journey.  It never even occurred to me that there could or should be.

It was therefore very surprising to me to find that others experienced extreme guilt and loss when they separated from their original church denominations.  For some, the division was several years ago, and yet it was apparent that it was still very fresh and in some cases painful for them.  This has led me to a lot of consideration on this issue...

If God is a loving God, why would he want to have an earthly system in place that causes so much guilt and pain?

It leads me to believe that there is something in human nature that seeks the direction that organized religion provides.  And there are those committed to providing a system that neatly indoctrinates them from birth into that sytem to the point where they can see no out.  If this is the case, does that not make every organized religious system, regardless of belief structure, a cult?

Weight for It

So there are millions of people out there who have determined that this is the year that they will finally lose the extra weight they are carrying around.  You can tell that by the barrage of weight loss products being hawked on TV and the special get-in-shape section at the end of every aisle.  This is the #1 annual resolution, and commercialism is there to get it done for you.

In the fitness industry, there is a name for those parking place stealing, cardio-machine hogging people that only show up for a month or so every year - it's "poinsettias."  Like the flower, they bloom in all of their glory, and fade by February.  But for a short time, they are committed!

In the midst of all of this, there is one company that is encouraging you to "Help yourself to happiness."  Let's face it, getting up in the cold pre-dawn hours, dragging yourself to the gym, and sweating for a while does not sound like the most fun on the planet.  So why not have a little "happiness" to go with it?

At this point, you're probably wondering where you can sign up to just "Help yourself to happiness."  Heck, I want to get in line too, and that's exactly what we'll be doing for our happiness at the Golden Corral Buffet.  You can serve up happy as much as you want for one low price.

I wonder how much the fitness industry is paying Golden Corral to advertise all that happiness?

And Now for a Little Religion

There is an amazing compulsion that comes over many to start the week off with a little dose of religion.  Dutifully, we get up and put on our "going to church" clothes and manners.  Then we head off to sit-stand-sit-kneel-sit-stand, sing a little and listen to the sermon.  Most of the time, there is little new to hear, but there is comfort in the ritual of it all.  This is why millions of people turn to their religion everyday.

We recently started attending church again.  It had been a long hiatus for me, as I was raised Southern Baptist and figured I had logged enough hours in church before the age of 18 to get me through until the end.  But the husband wanted to go, and the ingrained religious lemming inside me thought that it may be time to be a follower for a while.

This church experience has been different for me thus far.  Yes, the denomination is new, but the real difference is the minister.  She embodies the phrase "radiating joy" and works to make her messages (not sermons) relevant - but not in a Joel Osteen kind of way.  This is church and ritual, but it has a liberal dose of humanity thrown in too.

Don't ask me what this morning's biblical passages were, because I heard them but didn't really listen.  I also can't tell you how the message began.  But, a little ways into it, she got my attention.  She was talking about the Hebrew people wandering in the desert for 40 years before ending up at the promised land - a land of milk and honey.  This had been the goal and the "pay off" for all that they had suffered in their nomadic existence.  But when it came time to reach out and take it, they were afraid.  They were paralyzed because the promised land was populated by "giants."  Everything they wanted was right there.  They had a guarantee that it would all work out.  And yet, they were paralyzed by their own fear.

Wow.  Talk about a true lemming moment. 

It made me realize how so many of us, including me, are able to see exactly what we want.  We put in the time and work, all we have to do is take the final step for the "pay off."  Then fear steps in and cuts us off at the knee.

We once again fall prey to that lemming trap of the "comfort zone."

So pick up your slingshot and stone.  What's your giant?