A few months ago, I found a site where a guy had written blog commentary on the various books of the Bible. I find the commentary insightful and interesting.
Those who know me best know that I'm not religious. I was raised Catholic, but never fully embraced that religion even as a kid. My feelings toward any kind of organized religion are tolerance at best. But years of Catholic up-bringing do tend to result in what I call an "agnostically challenged" state when it comes to religion and my feelings about a higher power.
I've asked myself the question on several occasions about how I feel about the possibility of a God. Over the years, this has led to me considering other faiths including Judaism, Wicca, Lutheran, and a return to Catholicism. Each time, the main issue that confronted me was my ability to "suspend belief" and believe that a God existed as explained by scripture or that multiple Gods/Spirits existed. I found it near impossible.
However, I've never quite doubted that something exists outside of ourselves as human beings. And that is why I never classified myself as an Atheist, but sometimes feel "agnostic" even too specific a label.
Part of me thinks that I will find the answer some day, but that the answer will only truly come with death. I'm not looking to be saved, nor do I wish anyone to try. It took me awhile to determine that sitting with other people in an attempt to worship something that we all probably had different opinions about was not the right thing for me.
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3 comments:
Excellent post. I often describe it as being a genetic anomaly...I was apparently born without the "belief gene." I've tried. I just can't do it.
Have you ever read Joseph Campbell's works, or have you seen The Power Of Myth?" It helped me understand my own conflicts with my Judaism better, and look past all the trappings of organized religion. I also understand that there are things beyond human understanding that both science and religion are trying to grasp.
Campbell is quoted as saying "All religions are true in this sense; They are true as metaphorical of the human and cosmic mystery." He was a Catholic himself, and his own explorations into mythology allowed him to see beyond the concrete trappings of Catholicism, and past the theological aspects of religion in general.
Oh, I forgot, the other great thing about Campbell's work is how he ties in mythology and psychology, especially through Jung and others. It helped him to find the common threads that link all religions and belief systems, from Shamanism, to Hinduism, to Buddhism, and to Juedo-Christian-Islamic belief.
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