A proper Sunday musing from a non-practicing Catholic?

let me find my comfort
in my own way
whether it be in laughter
or in God
leave me be
how can it harm you
if I pray
how does it hurt you
if I believe in heaven or hell
why does it pain you
if I don’t

A proper Sunday musing from a non-practicing Catholic?

This is my blog and I tend not to speak of things like religion or politics but religion has been on my mind lately, so here it goes. (FYI, I’ll likely not ever talk politics other than to say I’m middle of the road– conservative in some ways and liberal in others.)

I was baptized into the Catholic Church and grew up going to mass on Sundays, attending catechism then youth group. I had my First Communion and my Confirmation. I drifted away from the Church by the time I was in college and subsequently did not marry in a Catholic church when the time came. I have gone to mass here and there but not regularly and not lately. Sometimes I miss it, not for the words spoken by the priests (which more often than not elicited anger in me) but for the calm and serenity in the ceremonies. I liked the way we all prayed together, said the words together. I liked the communion. I liked staring at Jesus upon the cross and wondering if he really did give his life that way, for us. I accepted it and still do but more so as a story told as an example of sacrifice. To me, the Bible is filled with stories to teach us lessons as opposed to being a historical document. I consider myself more spiritual than religious these days.

Go along long enough in this life and you begin to see parallels in the stories told in different religions. There’s Creation. There’s Sacrifice. There’s the Hereafter. I began to see the parallels and my mind broke everything down to the basics.

Be good. Do no harm. Love. Laugh. Live.

So that’s how I go along in my life. I’m not charitable as I can be but I believe I put more good into the world than bad. I’m lazy and neglectful and I can do more but I respect others and their beliefs. I do my best to refrain from negativity.

I believe in a higher power but I believe more in the goodness of spirit in the human soul. I believe in balance. I believe in feeling and acknowledging sorrow and pain as well as joy and laughter. I tend towards a sort of naivety that right will always win, that the truth will out, that karma brings balance. Even in the darkest days, I strive for the light. This is me, this is what I am.

If people want to believe in God, let them. Who am I or who are you to say otherwise? If it doesn’t harm you and brings them comfort, then why rail against it? Isn’t it possible to be religious and free thinking?

But I do want to ask sometimes, why fear God? Why is there such a phrase as “God-fearing”? Why do you fear the symbol of Light and Goodness? Why do you let fear rule you?

Also, why is God so exclusive? If God is about Love, why would He (or She) care whether a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman and calls it marriage? The answer is God doesn’t care. God is Love. And if you believe that, then you shouldn’t care either. (And that is my take on same sex marriage.)

God isn’t about the church or temple or mosque in which you dwell. God is about YOUR SPIRIT, YOUR GOODNESS, YOUR LOVE. Take God away from your arguments and take responsibility for your answers. Say I FEEL this way or I BELIEVE this way. Don’t say, “Well, the Church says.” When you say that, you’re giving up yourself to someone else’s ideals. If they’re your own, then OWN them.

Have respect for your fellow earth dwellers. Refrain from the name calling and the hurtful words. Nothing pisses me off more than people picking on other people. Take some of those lessons your religion hopefully taught you (as it taught me) and apply them to your daily life.

Be good.

DO NO HARM.

Love. Laugh. Live.

It sounds simplistic, I know it does, but sometimes the simple things can go a long way.

And to those who don’t believe in God or religion or the like, aren’t the lessons the same at the heart of it?

Be good.

DO NO HARM.

Love. Laugh. Live.