I've never been a real fan of the term deconstruction to describe the evolution of my faith.
I get it. I certainly had to tear down and remove much of the bullshit that was nothing more than the rules of men and the control of religion. But I didn't just bulldoze everything and rebuild a faith or belief from scratch. It was (and still is) more of a remodeling project. Certain underpinnings of my previous faith remain foundational in my current beliefs and are what I am rebuilding upon.
One of the biggest differences between the religious John of the past and the more spiritual John of the present is that I am now more concerned about my own faith and relationship with my Creator than I am about the relationships of others. In fact, I really feel like your relationship (or lack of one), or your faith is none of my business.
I am more than willing to share my thoughts, beliefs, and life philosophies with you. And I am equally willing to hear your thoughts, beliefs, and life philosophies. I just no longer feel it is important to me that you convert to my way of thinking.
Growing, changing, evolving as a spiritual being is a full-time gig for me. Being nice is a daily struggle when my natural tendency is to be a snarky, sarcastic asshole.
Trying to understand and follow the teachings of Jesus seems to work for me, but it is an ongoing project. I have to admit, it's a little bit disheartening to think that I'm going to be changing constantly and never really complete the remodeling project of becoming the John that I need to be, but the work continues. Maybe I need a sign -- Please excuse my mess. Remodeling in progress.
John
Posts to Out of My Hat are just my thoughts on varied subjects from politics, religion, parenting, magic and life in general. Please feel free to comment on or share any of the material found here. Just note the source and, when possible, provide a link to Out of My Hat.
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