In light of a recent posting from a friend regarding teaching the 10 Commandments in school, I have decided to change the Lenten tradition of self denial of something I love into giving myself to those I love, in the form of interpretation of my core beliefs. I have seen the conflict between my mother’s core belief of a benevolent God and that of my brother’s private school staff member’s belief that God will punish each and every transgression committed by my brother. I rode in the car with a very angry woman for over 100 miles and witnesses a mother’s rage against a woman who used Christianity as a weapon. I watched her unload that anger, turn to hug and kiss my brother and send him off to bed, then turn silently toward our car. We drove in total silence while her tears flowed freely. As we got out of the car at home, she put her arms around me and told me “God is Love. Don’t ever question that”. I am the 5th child of a Christian couple. I was Christened in the Lutheran church on the same day as two of my brothers when we were a newborn, a 15 month old and a 2 year old. As young children we attended church and Sunday school at the Methodist church. As a teenager I joined the Episcopal church, was confirmed and taught Sunday school. I married in the Catholic church in Italy but raised my son in the Episcopal church in America. I now attend the Christian and Congregational church. Growing up in Pennsylvania I was heavily influenced by the Quakers and the Amish, although I never worshipped with them. Even though I changed churches often, my religious beliefs remained the same. What remains as my core beliefs are: Belief in the love of God and the teachings of Jesus. I believe that to be judged a good person in the eyes of God is a lifelong challenge. I do not believe that I am entitled to exclude other people because their core beliefs differ from mine. I believe that if I am wronged I have a right to make a decision to find a solution to the wrong-doing or to walk away. As you can see, I call myself a Christian but I cannot label myself with a specific denomination within my Christianity. I choose the church based upon convenience of location and remain or leave based upon the congregation’s values. I learned long ago that if you are not welcomed by the people who worship in that location, if they are reserved and forming a judgement of your worthiness to worship among them, they are not the type of Christian I want to be. I have read the Bible all my life, however, I am unable to recite anything. I even have to look at the index to find the page number of each book. I have never felt that this ignorance is an obstacle nor do I judge those with the ability to quote or find given passages as more or less devout. When each of us enters a church we are handed the program which will guide us to lessons and messages we will share in that day’s fellowship. I believe that whether I gather on Sunday morning in our church or any other given day on the banks of the river or in the middle of one of the many pastures here in Kansas, I will be sharing the moment with others who hold the same (or similar) core beliefs as my own. I believe that the one subject in school that I felt plagued by was the very subject that God showed me would be my salvation. Science. God bless the students who enjoyed and understood science class. God bless the students who chose to further their education into medicine and research. I have been blessed, late in life, with first hand knowledge of the importance of science in our lives. It was sort of a slap on the face and a kick on the gluteus maximus that woke me up to the fact that I could no longer play the ignorance card. Ignorance would only lead to death. I had no intentions of arriving at the gates to heaven and admitting that I had no idea my life on earth could end. There are many ways I could approach my interpretation of the 10 Commandments. I have chosen to speak (translate) as a Life Coach specializing in the chronically ill. My blogging, therefore, throughout Lent will be focused on the commandments in the development of a life plan for the chronically ill.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:52:54 +0000
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