Wednesday, May 16, 2012

How to end a blog

There are lots of abandoned blogs around the Internet - several of them at this very site (and by this very blogger!).

This is about to become yet another statistic in that sad yet unsurprising group.

What can I say? I've gone around in the usual circle, from unquestioning faith, to complete doubt, to kind of uncertain, back to shaky yet sturdy (for the moment) faith.

I'll go around again in the future, I have no doubt.

But does anyone really want to read about it?

Based on my hit count, apparently not.

So if you're one of the few who's actually been reading my posts - or if you stumble across it late one night, on your own journey round the circle of faith-doubt-faith - let me just say:

Even if there is no God - you're not alone.

And if there is ... well ... you're not alone.

Either way - you have to figure it out for yourself. Ultimately you just have to decide what seems right to you.

And yes, I know all about the Bible verse that says "There is a way which seems right to man, but it leads to destruction." OK, I get it.

But there's another one that says, "He remembers that we are dust."

What that tells me is very simple:  if there is a God, he UNDERSTANDS.

So be not afraid - live your life - and (if you're in the mood to pray) ask for that understanding.

Because if there is a God - you'll get it.
Goodbye - and thanks for reading this far!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

And yet there's this ...

The late great Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, came up with this list, 10 reasons why I am a Christian, a few years ago, and it still resonates with me.

I wonder if I'm just doomed to bounce back and forth from belief to nonbelief to all sorts of different varieties of belief.

Is life just a giant pinball machine?

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

What have you learned, Dorothy?

Well ...

I've learned that just because you were born into a certain religion doesn't mean you have to follow it all the way to the end of your life.

I've also learned that almost every religion, when you get right down into the center of things, are very similar, because almost all of them are about getting right down to the center of things.

I've learned that there are good and decent and compassionate people who practice all types of religions, including "none of the above".

I've learned that assertions are not facts.

I've learned that there is so much more to learn that one lifetime just isn't enough. And that if there is indeed a god, he/she/it had better (a) be infinitely patient and (b) have a great sense of humor, because we're all going to screw things up. All of us.

And I've learned that I'm not the world's most consistent blogger.