When you concretize a mythology, you ruin it in my opinion. If there is a spiritual dimension to life, I don’t think it can be contained or defined by any religion. I think the stories we tell about the spirit reflect our encounter with the mystery. I don’t think the stories explain the mystery or make it apparent.
I don’t know what the ultimate truth is. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants and trying to figure it out as I go along.
I studied religion and philosophy in college, and I came away believing that no one has all the right answers. And 15 years ago, I came close to dying. I’m 47 now, not in the best of health, and a lot of people in my family have died young. I know that I can go at any time. I can feel it in my bones. I dread it, and I’m afraid, but I try not to let the awareness ruin what time I have left.
I’m starting to wonder just how many of my dreams will come true. Things could have worked out differently, I know. I have my regrets. But you can’t change the past.
I just hope that it’s a little easier for the young ones and the ones who haven’t arrived yet. I wish the ones who are so terrified by the mystery would stop choking the young with their ideology. I wish someone would stop the con artists who have discovered they can use religion to better their social standing at the expense of others. When religious dogma takes precedence over our experience, when we bulldoze people with our religion rather than dare question our beliefs, when we rip ourselves apart in an attempt to mirror an idealized image that was born from our dogma, that’s when religion and ridged beliefs become destructive.
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