WHICH RELIGIOUS PATH IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

On a Sunday morning, it is common practice for me to sit and reflect on the week that has passed and then to contemplate the week ahead. However, sometimes, especially lately, I have been bombarding myself with so many other thoughts – like am I going to be happy in ten years, how many kids am I willing to have(family planning gives you the choice to decide), and on this particular Sunday, what religion are my kids going to follow?


I guess the thoughts were perpetuated by the fact that I was at the time flipping through a lot channels, and particularly the religious ones. I decided to spend most of my day going through these channels and listening to the messages by the very zealous preachers.

In doing so, I made a few observations. All the preachers had different methods of preaching, in that they had different ways of interpreting the bible. In addition to that, I was also aware of the notion that all preachers wanted people to come to their church.

Perhaps I should go back in time. I grew up in a relatively religious environment. By relative I mean, we were baptised, we went for confirmation, we went to church for a year, after the confirmation (or perhaps I should speak for myself – less then a year), we prayed before every meal, and generally involved God in all we did or endeavoured to do.

However, as I was growing, and being one to question everything, I could not help but to feel confused at the very idea that there were so many different churches, with so many different names! To add to that, there were those who dressed differently, (like a uniform that indicated that they belonged to a certain church), and also those who prayed differently, and to a different person or different God or Gods! I was confused.

Of course I asked, and was kindly told: You are Lutheran and you can go to any Lutheran church in the world". I guessed I would be more accepted there! However, what message would I get if I for instance, walked into a Catholic church?


Nobody really told me that I could never go to one, but since the beginning of time, I got the impression that it was probably not a good idea. It was only later that I found out that Catholics prayed through the Mother Mary to Jesus, while the Lutherans prayed through Jesus to God. I think. Bottom line - I was told that one of them was less respectful than the other, or was the right way to pray or something like that. I don't really know the details.

What I do know is that growing up, religion confused me. Don't get me wrong, I was not confused about the idea/knowledge/believe of God, Jesus, and Mary, but rather, the diversity in which they were portrayed or worshipped! For me, being a person with a very logical disposition, it boiled down to this: One God, one belief, one people, one church…even if they were built in different locations, or areas of the country. This was simply for purposes of easy access.

But no - there were many, at many corners, with many different believes and ideologies. For instance, the church of a lady that I know, who went to one of the churches that wore a uniform, believed that you had to give away a tenth of your salary to the church. In this regard, besides the fact that she had more than three kids, she was really struggling to make ends meets. But she was happy because in her church she was told: "Fear not, because the Lord will provide."

I wondered then how the section of "God only helps those who help themselves" paired in with that. In an even more extreme case, also a lady that I know, from a church that did not wear a uniform, but the people shared the same believe (I do not know what that is, but apparently it differentiated their church from the others), quit her job all together to serve the Lord and the church, besides the fact that she had bills, kids and other things that needed her to have a job.


On another occasion, I was visiting a friend in hospital when a bunch of church volunteers literary compelled my friend to "give his life to the Lord" or "burn in the eternal fire of hell"!

I was terrified! Not because I was probably going to be one of the people who would burn in the "fire of eternal hell", but of the people who went around spreading the word of God, but instead instilled so much fear in the hearts of others. Who wants to burn in a fire of eternal hell!

Aaaahhh, then there were "the people from the Jehovah's Witness"! You know the ones that you always hide away from when you see them coming around the corner. Truth be told, I never did. I mean, if these people were so kind enough to come to my house, to tell me about the Lord, why would I run from them!

Again I was kindly reminded that I was Lutheran and that the "people from the Jehovah's Witness"…well, they claimed that this (earth) was paradise and that God would come down to claim his place on earth. In addition, they claimed that if you lived a righteous life, you would live eternally, and that those who died, were sinners. I guess then thus far, since the beginning to time, we are all sinners because we all have to go sometime!
In short, it was wrong to listen to them.

I could go on and on about the diverse and different ideas and faces of God, which were portrayed to me by many that I came to meet in my life!


In a plight to aid my dillema, I then, from a young age decided that I was not ever going to go to church. This was to avoid and deal with all the confusion I had of why there were millions of different types of churches instead of one for everyone.

Secondly I decided to read the bible myself, and interpret it in anyway that suited my life and lifestyle. I figured that's what everyone else is doing anyhow. Also since the bible is really a very positive book and taught the principle of positive living I found it to be a really great motivationally uplifting tool to have. You know, obey your mother and your father, don't steal, don't kill - the Ten Commandments. I loved reading it, and applying it to my life as it made sense to me.

As for the Almighty himself! Just like the millions of people out there who had millions of churches to go to because they shared millions of different ideas and views about the higher power, I had my own special relationship with Him.

"Remember the part in the bible that says "we were all created in the image of God"? Well, that is how I applied my God to myself. That he lived in all of us, and that he was like a Father to us. A protector, a giver, a caretaker! Therefore, when I felt ill, I simply called on my Father and asked him to make me feel better – like my own father would do! Or when I was facing a financial difficulty, I would call on my Father to help me find a way to get money – note, not to give me money, to help me find a way to make or get money. True to his word, so it would be. Money would come. The same applied to all other areas of my life! If I wanted something, I would call on my Father to provide it.


Did that sound a little selfish? More like ask, ask, ask, and give nothing in return? Yes it did, and no, I do not feel guilty about it! Why? Because I deserve everything that is good and right in my life and I should not feel bad about it! That is what my Father would have wanted.

How do I deal with the issue of giving a tenth of what you earn to the church? My theory to that is, why give a tenth of what you earn, when you can give all of what you can! The operative words being what you can! It is called generosity. It is called sharing. It is called empathy and sympathy! It is called loving your neighbour, your brother, your friend, your partner! It works for me. I give of myself and what I can.

However the most important of everything that I had just mention, and I feared, majority of the devout church goers did not have – was FAITH! Oh, it is so important it makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it! I mean, you could go to church day in and out, give away all the money in the world, quit your job, preach from house to house, but if you have not faith, it is all worth nothing!

Faith means believing in something that you cannot see, and there is not guarantee that it is really there! I had loads of that! I loved life, the process, the believe, and my Father so much, that I took it for granted that whatever I asked for would be granted to me without question! And so it was! It worked for me!

I had faith my Father was with my every waking second of my life, guiding me, looking out for me, saving me, loving me, taking care of me, planning
my life in such a way, that I could live it without fear of what tomorrow would bring – just like my father would do!

As for my unborn children and what religion they could follow? Again, I would have to revert that back to my Father, who gave each and every human being the greatest gift of all – FREE WILL.