Pondering Religion

I woke up at 2am. I'd been dreaming about going to a high school reunion. For some reason, I had to make a speech to all of my class of '81 peers. It sucked. I laid in bed and my brain started pumping out thoughts on religion.

Religion is an interesting topic. I guess we all have our reasons for believing what we do. For some it's like politics.."I'm (fill in the blank) because my parents were". Others have had a life altering experiences figure out where they fit it. For myself, I spent some of my college years trying out different religions. I felt and continue to feel Quakerism, fits me best. So, I'm a Quaker.

I try to keep religion out of the picture with friends. I think it's wrong to tell others what they should believe. So, I have close friends who are (in no particular order) Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Agnostic, Native American Church...and so on. It's a good mix.

If there is one group I have problems with and find freaky, it's the Right-Wing-Christian-folk. I guess there are extremist in each of the major religions...and even the minor ones.

In my summer travels, I happened upon a monastery just outside of Granada, Spain. The patron saints were burnt alive in a cave sometime in the 1st century(the catacomb is located below one of the main chapels). With the bodies were a number of lead tablets written in Aramaic, Greek and Arabic. The "books" described the foundation of Christian, Islamic, and Judaism as the same. I found this fascinating (the guide leading me around did mention the Vatican had labelled these heresy. ..and that they couldn't be authentic as the Arabic language didn't exist in the 1st century)!

With the Christmas season here, I also like to consider the role of annual holidays. Easter, Christmas and Halloween all correlate well with Celt holidays. The summer solstic in Ireland is called St. John's Day (complete with large bonfires on every hilltop). The history of holiday dates and names (Easter for example) is pretty mind opening.

In the end, we each believe what we do. A meditation I find myself doing whenever the stars are out is first to remember how small I am in this Universe. This is followed by reminding myself I'm personally connected to the light coming from a million light years away. It's humbling and empowering. I like it.

Believe what you believe.