God is As Simple

I was born and raised Catholic and I love being Catholic but through the years I have come to learn that the whole idea of religion is overrated and that churches limit us. I think to understand the Creator, people sat down and developed ideas to try to explain who God is and how to worship him. Don't get me wrong, I respect people and their way of worship. I just don't like it when some of these people criticize others or think they have a one way ticket to heaven because their way of worshipping God is superior to others. 

Some might label me a bad Catholic christian but in all honesty, I don't think understanding the whole complex doctrine and knowing the number of garments a priest dons for mass matters. Then why do I still go for mass you might ask or why have I not changed churches? I go because there is where I find peace. There is something ethereal and majestic about cathedrals especially when I find myself alone on some random day. As crazy as it may sound, I love the whole demeanour and I like how I feel when I'm there. I have attended the services of other churches but I have just never felt like home. I am also a stickler for routine so my personality matches quite well with the order of mass. 

Religion has made everything so complicated. The whole chasing for "holiness" thing has made people blind. It has made people think that making mistakes and having faults is bound to send you to damnation yet we are only human and mistakes are part of this life. Churches have been at the pillar of so much unhealthy criticism. The religious zealotry and fanaticism we are seeing today is coupled with so much hate which has been rooted deeply into people's heads such that they can't basically accept that nobody is greater than the other.

It has poisoned and mentally enslaved people to not think beyond what their churches or doctrines tell them of what is right and what is wrong about worship and other things of this world. Religion has pushed people to act in extremes and it has given some people a sense of justification and pride which is downright stupid. It is just ridiculous and sad to see especially in Christianity how the different denominations use the same Bible to tear each other apart. 

I like to refer to myself as a spiritualist. To me spiritualism means living in the world beyond the confines of religion and churches. It means seeing God from a simple perspective. See, I believe in humanity and I believe in co-existence because to me faith is more than religion. I have seen the commitment of Muslims to prayer and the explosion of colour in the Hindu culture. The meditation of the Buddhist monks and their way of life just shows how powerful the human mind is. I have learnt from Taoism philosophy that in every darkness there is some light and in light there is some darkness. Yin and Yang. The world, our spirit, operates fully if we are aware of this balance. These very diverse interesting philosophies is why I have no problem having sane and constructive conversations with Halima or Singh or even Lee Wu. I can comfortably tell them that the whole idea of the sacrament of reconciliation from Catechism classes is just one way of letting us Catholics know that we need to constantly keep in check with our spirit and free our souls from troubles. We may not understand all about each other. But because we know we are just souls in these world searching for some meaning in life, we can have peace with each others differences. There is so much we can learn from each other if only we can respect each others beliefs because faith is not just about religion. 

See, I believe in God. He is mysterious and interesting and all things great. I do not however believe that he is trapped in church or any other place of worship. There is so much beauty in the world for me to deny the presence of God. I don't have to go to church to find Him because I have found Him in so many places outside church. I see God in the innocence of children. I find Him in the woven words of poets and in authorship of writers. I see Him in artists who by pouring their souls, use their brush strokes to bring canvas to life. I find Him in ocean waves, in sunrises and in sunsets. I find Him in the wind, rain and in the sparkling stars. I find Him in me and in other people's eyes. I see Him in the kindness shown by other people. I see Him in friendships. I see Him in love. I feel Him in my spirit as I pen these words. It is how I express my faith because I believe I am making a difference in my own small way no matter what people think. This is my kind of worship and these words are my prayers. This universe is my church.

The beliefs and faith we each have of who is God is a whole complex dynamic. As any other person, there are so many questions to which I do not have answers to because not all things in these world are in black or white. I don't know why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. I don't know why there is terror, sadness, disease and despair. I don't know when some of my prayers will be answered. I sometimes can't understand why God lets all of this happen. I don't know where He hides sometimes. May be He lets this happen to make us realize we can be resilient and transcend our differences. That our spirits can intermingle and create a harmonious heaven on earth. I really don't know much. The much I know however is that we can live life enough through faith, hope and love for each other. 

If you think I am missing the point about all this, may be it is because you do not want to get the point.

See, to me, it is as easy as this:

To understand a complex God, I simply look at the proverbial rose.