Question
What church do you belong to?
Answer
A common spiritual question that eventually comes to us all is
"What do I believe?" Some may respond with the name of
their church. "I belong to XYZ Church."Other may use a
catch all, their denomination. "I'm a Christian" or "I am
Jewish" or "I'm a Buddhist".
Others may come up with slightly more complex answers.
"I believe in God, he created it, we're stuck with it." or "I
believe in money, it's the only path to happiness."
The worst off will answer, "I believe in nothing."
So what is it that I believe? Well, thanks for asking.
To me and remember this, it's only my opinion, there is a
Creator, who not only set the universe in motion, but
periodically ensures the gears don't get jammed. He let's
us make our own mistakes, and has finally given us but two rules
to live by.
1. He is the ultimate boss. Everyone else is a middle-manager
allowed by him. I'll voice my disclaimer a few times, the
Creator is not necessarily male or female, but both at the same
time. I use the male reference as that is what I am accustomed
to.
2. To quote Bill S. Preston, Esquire, "Be excellent to each
other". That's simply another way to say Love everyone.
Pretty simple, no judging allowed, nothing else. Those
two rules in and of themselves have for millennia, been the
Creator's main theme. Everything else that religion has tried to
teach us has been pure hogwash. Of course, if it were that
simple, a whole industry would be put out of business. The
industry of religion.
This is not to say we don't need religion. It brings us
together. The rites provide benchmarks for members to aim.
However, every religion I have ever researched or experienced
has one thing in common. Guilt.
Guilt is the creation of the Opposer. It's what makes
the poorest family place their last dollar into the collection
plate. It's what drives wedges into families and friends.
Face it, most of the businesses today feed off Guilt. Why did
Weight Watchers become such a successful venture? Guilt.
Don't get me wrong. I'm am not an insensitive sod,
feeling sorry is good to learn by. However, when something
is a part of you, but Guilt tells you to lop it off at any cost;
where is the Love in that?
- Matthew Gerrior, 9/4/2005