The Meaning of Spirituality

       Like many people, I have wrestled with religion and spirituality throughout my life.  For a long time, I rejected religion.  The dogma of organized churches had never set well with me so I chose to distance myself from it.  I considered myself a spiritual person, just not a religious one.

     Then I had children.  I thought that perhaps belonging to a church would be a good thing for the kids.  So we tried.  At first it seemed to be working out, but then I found myself bristling at the ideas that I was a sinner who needed to beg for forgiveness, that I needed to believe the unbelievable in order to be saved, that I had to live a lie - hiding my true beliefs for the sake of fitting in. 

     The straw that really broke the camels back was when my six-year-old son began to rebel.  I found myself forcing him to go along with ideas that I couldn't even buy into.  I knew then, it was time to go.

     But what now?  I still longed for a sense of community...of like-minded, hopeful, positive, loving people (Read more....)

Comments

[Anja]

Totally agree with you. If it doesn't ring true, you will never be able to buy into the dogma. It's not for everybody.
Your sense of community doesn't have to come from a religious community. Sport, theatre, music etc are all interests that can provide a community involvement.

[Lori@betweenusgirls]

Anja,

You're right, a reading group, knitting group, softball team or volunteering for a worthy cause can all be ways of finding that sense of belonging. I'm finding that as I get older I am more interested in joining up with like-minded people for a variety of activities. Being with others who have similar interests (religious or not) is nurturing for each of us.