The Bible is the greatest story ever told.
When I was young enough and not able to express my own feelings about religion and church, my parents made it their personal agenda to see to it that I was brought up a good Catholic and that I attend church every week. Back then and now in hindsight it was probably not the right way to go about introducing me to religion. Forcing me to attend church just made me resent going even more.
Now, as an adult, I have my own feelings about my religion and beliefs, even though I still have a mother who every once in awhile lays the guilt trip on me about my lack of attending church regularly. That standing, I have always been fascinated about my Christan background and its roots beginning with God, Adam and Jesus Christ.
Being that we are now in the Christmas season, it is hard not to think about Christ and what he means to Catholics and Christians everywhere. With all the hoop-a-lah and shopping, the real reason for this holiday gets lost in marketing for new I Pads, phones and the latest electronics that our kids can’t live without
All of my adult life I have always believed in religion and had hoped that what I had been taught really happened, but being an adult I also questioned how incredible it would have to be if it were in fact all true. I know that as a Christian I am not supposed to question my faith but how can any person not think that it might possibly be just “the greatest story ever told”.
Just thinking about it all and how it was passed down for centuries almost seems like an impossibility that one story could live on for that long and not be based on truth and real events. It seems to me that people who believe without question are more at peace with their lives than those who don’t. There must be something to it.
Although I have always questioned my faith, I have always wanted to believe. When people would ask the silly question about one person I would like share a conversation with, I always chose Christ, even though I think I would turn to a sobbing ball of mush in his presence due to the awe of it all. It just seems to me that this life we have must be for some bigger reason than the stress and craziness we live with day to day. To believe strongly that someday we will be in a better place, would make this life easier to get through.
And so in closing, I think its probably better to believe and find that in the end there is no afterlife, than it is to not believe and find that there is a judgment day and I failed the test. So as the good Catholic that my parents raised, I should say that this year, I hope you remember to keep the Christ in Christmas…God Bless!
FWIW, I don’t think God minds if we question our faith. But we also have to accept that there are some things that we just can’t KNOW. Our finite human minds are incapable of grasping or even conceiving of, really, the infinite. Also, there is plenty of historical evidence to support “the greatest story ever told”.
Always an interesting topic. I to was brought up with religion being “pushed” on me. Believe me, it was hard to understand as a youngster and even as an adult a church service that is only in about 40% English. Talk about day dreaming during church, please. But as I got older and now married, I understand how important religion and faith is. It has helped me through some tough situations. At times I get mad at God, but always seeem to remember that he is not a wishing well or the like. He does things for a reason, it’s just hard to understand at times. I am a proud Christian and it makes me mad the schools no longer call it a Christmas break, but a Holiday break or Easter break a Spring break. The Bible is really a remarkable piece of work. Take care and thank you for letting me share my thoughts. God bless.