Yes, I believe in God. Is that so wrong?

I don’t see the big picture. I don’t have a clue. But I know God does. I’m going to declare that, even if I don’t feel it right now.
- Steven Curtis Chapman

My assistant emailed me that message today. Combine that with a string of signs I saw on our family road trip yesterday and I knew the time had come to finish and share this post.

A bit naive? Perhaps. But that's faith.

I’m not one to talk religion much. I don’t hide the fact that I go to church, but I don’t actively spout off about my faith much, either. It tends to open a can of worms far bigger than anyone should try to handle on a blog. A previous post about Ben Stein’s movie got someone’s dander up because I dared to say what other people were thinking. And since Faith is one of the 5 Key Areas we’re delving into this August at The Renaissance Mom Experience, I figure I need to be transparent on the issue of Faith.

So here it is: I believe in God. I believe there has to be something bigger in this world than me, myself and I. There’s too much going on for my own brain to comprehend, and I find it difficult to assert that it all just happened by random chance.

Now, some of you will scoff, laugh or simply stop reading. That’s entirely your choice. But before you do, let me also offer this viewpoint.

I’ve never been one to force-feed my spiritual beliefs on anyone, partly because I’ve struggled myself with what those beliefs are exactly. I’ve met people who could just look at me and tell me things about my life that have NEVER been public knowledge. That’s some kind of inexplicable thing. I’ve met people who you might call ‘intuitive’ or ‘psychic’ – a term which seems to hold more derogatory connotations than anything else these days. And yes, members of my family (myself included) have demonstrated some type of intuitive ability.

In the strictly Christian sense of things, I’m still trying to figure out what all that really means. If you look at my upbringing, you’ll find I was raised “Metho-Catho-Baptist” and (gasp!) did a lot of research in my early twenties in earth-based religions.  I am Catholic now, and that’s mostly for one reason:

I feel at home in a Catholic church. I’ve sung in a lot of churches, and the first time I set foot in a Catholic church, I felt like I had finally come home”.

I can’t explain it. I don’t really try. Maybe it’s the ritual, maybe it’s the structure, maybe it’s just the pretty window glass. I don’t think it matters much – at least not right now. The fact of the matter is that I believe that God put me where I am, Catholic or not, and gave me the experiences I have endured and entertained – Catholic or not. And it doesn’t matter much if “God” is actually a universal consciousness, an alien being, pure energy, or the ultimate creator of the Universe, multiverse and everything in it.

It’s my faith. And faith determines everything you are and will do in your life. Faith is the nexus where your core values and your beliefs converge. Faith mandates a belief in something. I choose to believe in and look for the good, strive to help others, and spend each day doing my best to serve the purpose that I believe God put me on this earth to handle. Naive? Perhaps.

We humans created all these “boxes” – these “labels” that give us a sense of peace and comfort by which to categorize the people of the world. If we are truly “one body”, then the labels don’t matter: Jewish, Episcopal, Buddhist, Muslim, Metho-Catho-Baptist, etc.

I’ll probably get shot for that last statement. God forbid.

That’s my struggle right now. Because I believe deeply in my own set of beliefs and core values, and I have a hard time with the idea of labeling the beliefs of others.

I stumbled on a book, Lucid Living: A Book You Can Read in One Hour That Will Turn Your World Inside Out. Yep, that’s my Amazon link. Deal with it.

Tim’s a bit controversial in nature, but one premise form the book struck me: We are all one. Harm to one is harm to all, and love to one is love to all.

That, to me, encapsulates God’s message. Putting one sect or religious group in a box only serves to disintegrate the wholeness of who we are as the people of God – wherever or however God actually “resides”.

And the upside is that there’s little to no real downside to this perspective. There’s nothing wrong with loving everyone. You still need to keep your wits about you. Your conscience will be clean, and if we treated everyone with love – regardless of their world view – how much better this rock hurtling through space would be.

I know I sound like Pollyanna. I know there are still many people in the world that don’t subscribe to that notion. And yes, I’ve had my share of not-so-good life experiences.  I’m sure I’ll have umpty-gajillion more before my time is through.

Will I still be Catholic in 20 years? Who knows?

Will I still believe in God? You betcha.

Logically, faith makes no sense. That’s why it’s called faith.

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Am I crazy? Do you have your own faith you’d like to share? Post your comments below and let the maelstrom begin!