Losing My Religion. . .

I think it is time to admit, folks, that I do not know if there is a God. No. Evidence that support the notion of a God is not compelling. Not really. I am a deeply feeling person so I try to find the reason behind the feelings in my life where I felt blessed and watched over. I used spirituality and religion like a crutch, reducing my anxiety, creating a space in my mind where the chaos makes sense and worth enduring. But I have never had a spiritual experience that could not be explained by nature, my one wishful thinking, or coincidence.

Religion and the religious have caused just as much sorrow in this world as it has caused joy, perhaps even more. The truth, if I dare to say it, to accept it, to face it, is that I don't know, neither do you, or anyone else, and that is okay. I don't need to know, and I don't need a story, or 100 stories, to prop me up anymore. I have challenged this worldview of mine.

What I know, and what I value, is goodness. From today forward, I will seek goodness, in all of its forms, and I will respect the courage it takes in displaying goodness. We live in a pluralistic society, not a Christian one. And I embrace the goodness found in every belief, without a need to internalize the label's that go along with it. All of us know the difference between goodness and evil intentions, love and selfishness. We are divine! We don't need a book or a preacher to tell us that we should love each other, our own divine souls tell us this everyday.