Is this what grown up looks like?
What I have been thinking about
Christianity under fire….again…probably for the best
An increase in atheism
A book I read once offered a defense for religion in human history and that it was time to let it go.
How I look in the mirror on every birthday I remember and ask the same question.
The matter of faith in brief
My faith life is distinctly Christian. I won’t apologize for that. I don’t follow Christ because I want to be better than any other religion. It confuses and frustrates the poop out of me, but at the end of the day, I pray.
Christians - in all their various flavors - give me heartburn and warm my heart. We are more known for being hypocritical and causing fights in the public arena. In the shadows, there are some honest-to-God miracles of love and grace happening because, every once in a while, Christians burp beauty into each other’s faces.
Atheists are on the rise. I don’t blame them. There are days I imagine what that must be like to be an atheist. But as for me, it is just too lonely and too limiting to my imagination which truly hopes that God is bigger than my imagination.
There was that book that offered a lukewarm offering for faith and atheism. It basically said….in the beginning(no pun intended), human beings were stupid and arrogant. We needed to explain stuff we didn’t understand by inventing something that would explain it. Inventing God made us look brilliant and humble. Then human beings started to get smart….inventing the wheel and astronomy and taxes and pottery….and long story short…..we outgrew our need for God to explain stuff and make rules for us. In fact, religion became a source of tremendous violence so it seemed wise to the author for humanity to ditch all flavors of religion - altogether. It was like singing the Beatles’ song “Imagine” as the new anthem for a grown-up civilization.
My Annual Birthday Mirror Question
So, Deb, is this what grown-up looks like?
I don’t see the grown-up part. At least not yet. Oh, sure I see the getting old and decrepit part. I see the maybe I need to moisturize part. I see the crap….I didn’t sleep nearly enough last night part. I see the eye of a wise woman and still can’t see my own wise ass but I know it is there. But no, no grown-up.
Until then, following Christ is good for me and definitely good for anyone around me, especially the ones who give me heartburn. It’s less lonely. And more filled with possibilities. Maybe that is why the Kingdom of God is not for grown-ups afterall.
Peace,
Deb