One week before Easter I find myself reflecting on what I consider traditional religion. My mother taught us to never discuss politics and religion. This advice was before the existence of blogs and before she knew how opinionated I would become. So, against the advise of my Mother and my better judgment here I go…
I am not an expert of any religion yet I have very strong opinions on the subject. I do not go to Church, at least not normally. I will go to Church next week on Easter Sunday to please my wife. I will go and worship God in my own way among other friendly people that no doubt feel much differently than I.
Whether you practice Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism or another religion altogether I respect your belief. I even respect the irreligious and atheist’s rights to their beliefs. The key word is belief. I have no problem with one’s beliefs, it’s when our arrogance takes over and we begin to believe we have the answers that gets my blood pressure up.
My personal beliefs are very simple. Life is far too perfect to be an accident. No one is ever going to convince me the we are the product of amino acids and lightning strikes millions of years ago. With that said, no one is going to convince me that we are the only planet with abundant and intelligent life on it. How do I know? I don’t! That’s the point. No one knows what’s true, we simply have our beliefs. The next time some one walks up to me and asks me if I’ve heard the truth or the good news I have this post to direct them to.
Simply put, we are a small planet in a very small solar system. Our solar system is among billions of stars to make up our galaxy. Our galaxy is just a dot in the universe among countless billions of other galaxies. Certainly one capable of creating such a place is beyond our comprehension. I am content to believe there is a God and I can not begin to comprehend what that is or what it means. Why is that so hard for so many to accept?
To understand just how small we are I highly recommend this video:
Journey to the Edge of the Universe
Here are a couple more related videos:
The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken
The God Theory
What’s especially unexpected is how similar some of this is to the rationale behind some of my own beliefs.
I’ve said many times that, given how every piece & part of our bodies – regardless of how seemingly insignificant – does indeed have a purpose, there’s just no way we can be the result of happenstance. The appendix, for example, is only now becoming somewhat recognized as a potentially-important component even though we’ve lacked the understanding to know just what purpose it served and was just unceremoniously cut out for decades by well-intentioned doctors. And just look at the philtrim – that groove that runs between your upper lip to your nose – which would seem utterly trivial, yet it makes a whole range of facial movements possible.
Likewise, I can’t fathom that the universe, more vast than our little brains can comprehend, is inhabited only by us. I fully expect that we may, by design, never discover the others – and might not even recognize them as “living beings” even if we did – but that doesn’t preclude them from existing.
Rob O.s last blog post..Scroll With It, Baby!
Hi Rob, thanks for stopping by and having the courage to comment on such a dangerous subject lol
It’s true, things are just too perfect for me to believe it’s just an accident. Even issues like evolution, to me anyway, prove a higher power.
Some would say things like disease and famine are not perfect. It’s hard to accept but death is a necessary part of our ecology for obvious reasons.
Just the fact we need the exact chemical makeup that exists with our atmosphere, water, vitamins and minerals is beyond a miracle. We need the sun to survive yet it would kill us without the protection of our atmosphere. Good thing that protection is there. Lucky for us
This subject is probably a little deep for many but can’t help myself sometimes. It sounds like we think along the same lines on yet another subject.
Ok Brian,
I passed this up and did not comment right when you posted. I was a chicken shit. I wanted to make sure I was not going to get into a brawl.
I think some people are confusing Churchianity with Christianity. They feel the more often you go to a building labeled as a church the better Christian you are. I feel the building has nothing to do with it. What happens and how you live the time spent away from that building is what counts.
I also do not dwell on if we were evolved from pond scum or if we all started with Adam and Eve. Truthfully, the Adam and Eve thing kinda freaks me out. I also have met many people that would cause me to think pond scum is not far from the truth. So, I just know that we are here.
I think that part of the grand plan is to be accepting of others. Yes, even those that have different religious beliefs. I find that to many strongly religious people are judgmental. I do not think it is anyone’s place to degrade people for being different as long as it is not harmful to others.
I lived with a Buddhist for awhile and have ever since believed that they were the most caring non judgmental people I have ever met. They helped me when I was extremely sick. They did not push their beliefs on me but, they showed me. These people lived what they believe. Help others and be the best person you can be.
I know there is a fine mix of faith, beliefs, laws…that we could all use. Not 1 persons interpretation of lives grand plan is correct. We are all human and make mistakes. Even the religious books are written by man that may have misinterpreted what was meant.
Ok, throw stones now!
FYI – I am the Granddaughter of a Nazarene preacher, daughter of a Southern Baptist deacon, sister to a Southern Baptist preacher, niece (and cousin) to MANY deacons, preachers, choir directors….
Sheryl Lochs last blog post..Problogger Build a Better Blog
Hi Sheryl, I can’t throw any stones. I agree with everything you said, although I’m going to have a hard time getting the term ‘pond scum’ out of my head lol That really has a ring to it and I think I’ve met those same people
[...] see my unpopular religious views, see ‘What Do You Know About God?‘ on my personal [...]
I simply know that God IS, and that is enough for me.
Sorry that it is so short Brian, but that’s is the truth of it. Oh, I only go to Church on Easter, Xmas, weddings and funerals and I know it’s not enough, but again, that’s how it is.
Sires last blog post..Reflections Of Sydney
Hi Sire, that’s a great answer. “God IS, and that is enough for me”. That’s very cool. And you go to church a lot more than I do. It was a pretty good time though, real nice people. The setting is awesome. It’s over a hundred years old set way back in the country.