A Believer

I wrote this years ago and have always held onto it. Originally the plan was to send it off in an email "FWD:FWD: type of thing and see how far it went and who I knew would send it to me unaware, "Did you read this?" But I ended up never doing so in part because it is MINE, but the point was to be anonymous, so how would I make it mine and keep it anonymous? Kind of can't.. Sure I could have made up a fake name, but once you read it, you'll see why I ended it with "A Believer." Either way, I felt (and still do feel) like I should share this with people.

So intro aside, here's another read into the depths of my mind.
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God

To believe in God or to not believe in God… is this really the question? Shakespeare aside, the question is irrelevant. Everyone is always more than happy to celebrate that someone believes in God, but what is said afterwards is where all the strife truly begins. Those who do not believe generally don’t care, and those that do… choose not to waste their time on someone who will not try to give the benefit of the doubt. What confuses me so much is all the time wasted on those that already believe. The reason is that they do not believe the way others want them to believe… again, aside from the fact that both of the individuals taking part in the strife believe in something more, something greater.

One is Lutheran, one is Catholic, one is Muslim, one is… you name it. Granted I do not know even the basics of all religions, but it seems apparent that most of them all have dealings with a greater power or being. If everyone seems to come to the same conclusion regardless of how they get there, why is there so much anger and hostilities between them? The answer is the same so let bygones be bygones and rejoice in the fact that everyone are brothers and sisters.

The problem is that they are not bygones. Everyone seems to feel that in order to be ‘equal’ everyone must believe in the same style of belief as the one doing the judging. And yes, I do see the irony in how Christians are told not to judge. Most religions have a place of worship and something to read about their religious beliefs. I grew up in the Christian background, borne and raised Catholic. That statement alone gets me into trouble, I said the word “Catholic.” I am often told, that it ‘has so many inaccurate statements because so many contradict each other,’ that others are ‘half truths,’ and then there are others still that are simply misread. Then again, we’ve all played the telephone game where messages are passed down from friend to friend only to hear the bizarre message at the end. Religions have done this for more than just 5 minutes between 8 friends, so I think it is understandable that some things aren’t going to make sense. The bigger picture is still there, that’s what I prefer to see. We all take different paths; it’s the destination that matters, that is all anyone should care to see.

I keep straying off of my topic; sorry it is just too easy to do. Places of worship & Books of worship. Are these required? Must these be delved into to believe? The first thing that comes to my mind is that how could such things exist if a higher being didn’t come first? Surely the higher power was the inspiration, if not, then it (read: God) could easily be refuted as made up. In this, God (or the higher being, power, whatever it is you call it) came first and the books and places came forth to help remind us of it. From this, why is it so important that we use such devices? I can understand why one would like to read the bible or go to church (Christian words, and much shorter, so I’ll use those words instead), as it helps reaffirm in their eyes what they believe and what they strive to attain. But the question still remains, is it necessary in order TO believe? No, it is not needed. Granted many of us would not know of the belief had it not been for a church or a bible, it had to come about without it… I’d like to think that the belief (which is a part of my logic) would have gotten us that far anyways.

Church – A place to go for worship. People congregate in churches to learn. This is its inherent purpose, but now it is also used to commune, to meet and greet, and socialize with others. Today it has two uses. The first being its intent… a place that is filled with that which is peace and good; to learn and grow with your relationship with the power you have come to know. The second is to spend time with others that believe similar to you. It gives everyone a place to talk about their day, their jobs, everything that they do without having people ridicule them for their beliefs, as humans as we all know are quite prone do to so.

Bible – A book that teaches us about the chronicles of the being and its followers throughout time. I don’t know about other books, but the bible is comprised of many many books written through time, all compressed into one very fat book with small text. Stories, parables (which are basically stories), letters, and anything else one might write are here. Albeit it can be quite hard to find what you are looking for without a guide or program to aid you, the book is seen like the handbook. “Go here for assistance!”

In my opinion they are tools. No not in the sense that we’re all being used, but rather devices that can make your life easier. Its kind of like a Carpenter and his tool-belt, sure it can really help you out, but it definitely is not required. Also just like any other tool, it is often misused. There are many that own a bible, but never read it or even merely acknowledge its existence, just as there are those that go to church, go through all the motions, but never think twice about what they are doing or why they’re doing it. They’re going to church, “Because we’re supposed to.” If one goes only because they feel they must, then do they want to? Is there a real purpose to going? “Surely you can spend at least one hour of your time each week” (as Catholic masses last about as long). Sure we can, but that’s not the issue. If you’re going to go there like a little robot because you’re programmed to, well then you’re a little robot going there because you’re programmed to. There is no emotion, there is no love, there is no want… what are you ‘giving’ to the god in return? Not much only to show that you’ll do whatever s/he says regardless of using that free will of yours that is oh so emphasized as to her/him giving you.

I do not believe that these tools are required to hold a belief in something greater, nor are they required to gain said belief. I will agree that in this day and age it definitely would be a lot easier to discern one’s beliefs by reading and listening with the use of these devices. With so many things being said, these are great sources to use. They are no end-all, but definitely something to work with and from. Once you know what you know and believe what you believe… what’s next? Use the tools? Sure, No one is stopping you, just as they should not stop you from venturing out on your own to further your belief as you see fit. This is the problem, they do. Your belief is different than another person’s and as such you must be blind to them as you do not see things the way they do. I love how judgmental everyone is, especially when they point out that only the higher power should be the one who judges.

I keep rambling, I can’t help it, this topic just makes me so flustered. The point of the matter is God, and God alone (emphasized the word because using names emphasizes a certain belief, so we’ll use the word and use a capital letter to point it out) nothing else should matter… Yet it does. What do people want? It seems more than needed. People need to look out into the world, the strife, the pain, the misery, and the hardships. The death, the blood, the fires, the destruction…… and lets not forget the Love. Through all that happens it still exists as does the Hope to go on, and the Brotherhood amongst those that follow a greater power. Through this belief people are able to bond as they each know that there is something better out there, if not in this lifetime then the next (so to speak). It shouldn’t matter what name is used or if they go to church or don’t… or if they read the book or they do not. These things are trivial in the bigger picture, which is that they believe just as ‘you’ do. So why the strife? Be happy knowing that they’ll end up where you’ll end up… at the final destination in one peace. (Pun intended).

-- A Believer