Today's sermon was all about the Baptism of our Lord. I was raised Roman Catholic and the decision to raise me in this religion was made by my parents. My First Communion and my Confirmation still were pretty much their decision as I was 7 and then 12.
It wasn't until I was in college - yes a Catholic college that I chose - that I began questioning what it was that I really believed in. Even at this Catholic college, there were many people from different religions. I didn't know who to turn to talk about my questions and thoughts. So I took a few theology classes, one of which was called Religions in America. I followed it up with Religions in the World. I met like minded people who were searching for who they were like I was. We began having 'talks' and 'discussions' on different philosophies and theologies. I attended many different churches with these friends.
You know what I found? I found that in each and every single church, I found God, I found religion, and I found religious people. Sure it was different religions. Yes, it was different theologies. But they all had a common thread. There was a God.
I started then on a spiritual journey - I didn't particularly care for traditional western religions because I felt they were way too rigid. My sister was divorced and therefore in the Catholic church she was not allowed to either remarry or take communion. She did meet a man and planned to marry him and tried to get an annulment until she learned her children would become illegitimate. She did marry the man (didn't get the annulment) and still attends the Roman Catholic Church but has not taken communion in over 20 years. I have a hard time believing that God would punish her by never experiencing His Body and Blood again.
The Bible tells us to love our fellow man. It doesn't teach this hate. I see one religion spouting that they are the one true religion while another says they are the only one. I see cemeteries that are for different religions and I thought - does it really matter where you are buried? Isn't it more important where you go? What makes that plot of land any more sacred than another? Most religions require you to follow a defined doctrine. What if you didn't believe in all of it? The Roman Catholic church states that it is a sin if you practice birth control. Well, I didn't buy that doctrine.
I then met a man who would become my husband. He was Lutheran - Missouri Synod, a religion that is very close to Roman Catholic. We decided to raise our children as Christians in the Lutheran Church. My father hit the roof. He would not recognize our marriage unless I married in the Roman Catholic Church. So even though I was 25 and my husband 28, we agreed to have the marriage in the Roman Catholic Church. It didn't really matter to either one of us - God was in both churches. But the church had a problem - we had a mixed marriage and could not be married in the Roman Catholic Church unless my husband signed a document promising to raise our children as catholics. He signed the document because it did not state Roman Catholic - it stated catholic. There are many definitions of the word catholic - one important one - it meant Christian, and that we both were.
So although we raised our children as Lutherans, we raised them to be tolerant of others. We attended many different services at many different churches of many different religions. We wanted them to seek their own spiritual path instead of a defined doctrine.
The idea of being spiritual instead of religious or belonging to any certain church is something that has become more and more popular over the years. It has been said that this type of faith appeals to many people who were scarred or disillusioned by a defined doctrine or institutional religion for a variety of reasons.
Religion is a practice. Spirituality is a relationship with God. My spiritual beliefs guide every aspect of my life and are the very foundation of who I am. Don't you think that that is what God intended?
