Spirituality...

Spirituality is one of those things that has always intrigued me, but also terrified me at the same time...if that makes any sense.

For the longest time I thought that being a Christian meant reading your Bible everyday, going to Church every Sunday, praying regularly, and making my best attempt at loving other people (as best as I could), and doing my best not to sin.

Keep in mind, during this time, I was in High School, a teenager, and really didn't know what any of those things were...Even in my first few years of college, I thought that reading my bible for a few minutes, and asking God for strength & grace for the day made me a good person. But I found that as my day went on, it became difficult for me to remember the text I had read that morning, and that I struggled with feeling guilty for this.

As time has gone on, I have found myself still trying to make sense of things, but I am convinced that God can speak to us in almost any and every capacity- through His Word, books, music, even movies and TV. Having said that, I still think it is something that eludes me. I have read a number of different books, but still find myself asking the question of what it is, and how it works...

I think perhaps I might need to get back to the Gospels- to take a hard look at Christ's ministry, and see how he handled himself with others. After all, faith is only faith when exercised in light of community...

I guess that's all for now, comments, thoughts, experiences, stories, etc. are welcome.

Kuran burning? We might as well be shooting ourselves in the head...

I felt as though it was appropriate for me to respond to what has been going on in the media about this Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Kuran on the anniversary of September 11th this year.

What I really want to know, is, how, can the Pastor of this church, claim to be loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet be showing such hatred towards the Muslim faith?

Now, don't get me wrong, I can understand people's frustration, and anger, even, against the people who were involved in the bombings of September 11th. But in a situation like this, I am reminded of the words of Christ on forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-22:

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Where is the forgiveness? Where is the love (insert Black Eyed Peas song here...) for our enemies? God has forgiven us of our sins, why can't we extend grace to the people who hurt us?

Sometimes I think that as Christians, we think that it's okay to love everyone who is like us: socially, economically, spiritually, etc. and that that is where our "love for others" should end. We think that it's okay for us to hate our enemies, and it's justified because they have wronged us, or just because they are different from us.

It is easy to hate something you don't understand. But we also need to remember something else: The people involved in the Trade Center bombings on 9/11 were extremists, and terrorists- not every Muslim on the planet thinks that that is the way to take care of things.

Maybe if that Pastor took the time to at least research the Kuran, and look through it, he might be surprised at what he would find.