Dear God

I have been thinking about religion and church a lot lately. I have sort of had to because of events that have been occurring at my own little house of worship.

A person's spiritual beliefs are a funny, funny thing. While I deeply love talking politics, and frankly even religion (although I am so far from an expert I daily await God's intervention via lightening bolt), I do occasionally find myself longing for the days when it wasn't considered polite to discuss either. Of course, then I wouldn't be left with much to talk about. All things considered, some may welcome that silence as well.

But religion. I guess I should say that it is my belief that religion and spirituality are really two separate things. Having grown up Presbyterian, church was an assumption, something I put little thought or effort into. It also didn't exactly dictate much in my life short of where I might be on a Sunday morning. What little interest I had was easy to lose in my teens and during college. It helped that I went to a small, then-Southern Baptist affiliated school that liked to keep boys on one side of campus and girls on another. God forbid we mingle. THINGS might happen.

During these formative years, when my opinions began to blossom I came to more and more see religion as bad and spirituality as good. To this day, I can name more individuals that I consider to be in possession of a true sense of spirituality who probably haven't set foot in a church in years, then I can people who loudly and publicly promote their religion and worship every week.

Maybe this is the subconscious Presbyterian in me, but I strongly hold with the idea of good works. I want no part of a God that will overlook the lifetime 

I have spent, the good and bad I have done, for one last minute giving over of my soul, no matter how heartfelt it may be. I don't consider myself saved, nor do I aspire to be. Instead I hope that everyday I am doing something, no matter how small, that makes me a better person and does something good for someone else in some way.

I didn't mean for this to turn into Broad's personal path to God (but if you are interested, I can whip together some sort of kit for the nominal fee of $19.99). But what does puzzle me greatly is how so many people can tout their religion, their beliefs, their "what would Jesus do"-ness (by the way, that drives me over the brink, if even one tenth of the world REALLY did things the way Jesus would have, our planet would not be on the brink of disaster either physically or economically, women would not be beaten, children would not abandoned, etc. you get my drift) and yet act so callously toward one another.

Sometimes a church can feel like a bad day in high school all over again. One faction ganging up on another. One group with an agenda and many caught, unknowingly in the cross hairs. None of which are even remotely in the vein of "what Jesus would do."

I don't know what the answer is, but it makes me wonder if the people I know who are spiritual aren't on a better track than those who are religious.