The Word of the Lord- A Chronicle of Faith
Alright, so I know that I haven’t really fulfilled my duties as a blogger, but it’s the end of the semester so things have been a bit craaaaazy lately. However, seeing as how it is Easter weekend and I have a bit of time, I would post a little something. I’m not quite sure if writing about the topic of religion would be taboo or not, but I feel that it is slightly appropriate for this occasion. I won’t profess to be the biggest church-goer around, or try to convince anyone to be “reborn into the family of God”, but rather, I thought I would give a little history lesson on my experience with the church and my altered view of God and the afterlife and all that jazz. For today, I won’t go too deep into my beliefs, but we’ll have a little crash course in the basics.
So, to start, my old man is Anglican. He was raised that way and his mother was very involved in their church. However, when he was younger, he used their church for a different purpose. Now, one thing you have to know is that my dad, while being a pretty decent guy, is a bit odd and isn’t like most other people. I’ll give you an example: I have two sisters, and after my grandfather died, the three of us went through boxes of some of his stuff. We found old war medals and pictures, but we also found some report cards from when my dad was in elementary school. There was one in particular from when he was in the first grade. The marks were pretty good, but under the comments, his first grade teacher had said “Jamie is obsessed with cleanliness”. Most little boys like to play in the mud and whatnot, but here he is, just a little kid, and he was obsessed with cleanliness- so let that set the stage for his many idiosyncrasies. Back to his experience with the church though, instead of becoming working with the minister, he convinced those who ran the place to let him practice playing trumpet there.
My mother on the other hand grew up as a Roman Catholic. Her father (my opa) was an alter boy when he was young, but got fired because he liked to sleep in on Sundays and was late every week. So, although it was unorthodox, I was baptized as both an Anglican and Catholic. I also was sent to Catholic school, but it was very rare that my family attended church. Of course, we DID go on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter, and I received my first communion and first confession.
When we moved for the first time to a new town, I entered the 3rd grade in a public school because it was more convenient than the Catholic one, which was on the other side of town. Eventually, I became friends with a few kids who were students at the Catholic school and so I switched. The church and the school were strategically placed beside each other, and so, before school every Tuesday morning, I would go to mass. One morning, I had “spelling” homework due, but I has not finished it. When I was praying in during the mass, I had prayed that something would happen, and I wouldn’t have to turn it in. I think that was the first time I experienced what I thought was God (sorry if that offends anyone). I say this, because it just so happened that my teacher ended up going home sick at lunch and the homework was put off until the next day. Shortly after, I followed in the footsteps of my opa (grandfather), and was trained as an alter boy. Before you ask yourself, let me answer you- No, I was not molested by the priest. To be quite honest, I don’t think that the old man would have had it in him, even if he wanted to. I often questioned if he could see, and thinking back now, the poor old guy most likely had some degree of dementia.
Traditionally, in Catholic school, students receive the sacrament of “confirmation”, which is when you are recognized as an adult in the church, during the eight grade. When it came time for my confirmation, I was no longer serving in the church and had become quite a smartass. Now, with this sacrament, you are supposed to take the name of a saint and your catholic name. I didn’t really take the whole process too seriously, and chose St. Lucifer (the devil). I’m not quite sure how, but my teacher never quite caught on, which may call into question her level of cognitive abilities. So, I am now the devil in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
To say that I strayed from the church in my youth would be an understatement. I went to a Catholic high school, wore the uniforms, took religion classes and went to mass when the whole school went a few times a year, but apart from that, I had no connection to faith or religion (which are actually two totally separate things in my opinion). The type of people I spent time with would most likely spontaneously burst into flames if they ever stepped foot in any religious institution, and the types of mischief we got into would give a priest a heart attack if I were to go to a confessional. When I began university, I met the girl I am currently with during the first week. Now this girl was nothing like me at all. She had grown up in a Christian Reform household, gone to a private Christian Reform high school and was very innocent. Her family was very involved in their church, and she was a Sunday school teacher. The first year or so we were together, we often had discussions and debates over different issues regarding faith and everything that went along with that. When we moved in together, her family was not happy, as this went against what they had taught her and believed that we were living in sin. At this point I had only met her parents once (I spent a little bit more time with her sister), and so things were rocky. After almost a year, I had to man up. I decided that if we were to have a future together, it was important to get to know them. When we first got together, she had stopped going to church for the most part, so in an attempt to rectify the situation, I gave her church a chance and went to a service.
Now, I had some experience with a Christian Reform family in the past. In my younger days, I had worked for a farmer who was a deacon at a Christian Reform church and on occasion, we had discussion about his religious views. Although he was a good man for the most part, I did not like what he had to say in some matters. He tried to convince me that it is wrong to be gay and that women should be subservient to men. Now, I may not be a homosexual, but I DO think that what people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms is their business. Needless to say, I did not have a very good impression of this religion. I was very surprised to find that not all Christian Reforms are like that. The first time I went to her church, the pastor wrote his sermon around “Cats in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin. The next week, he played some David Bowie in church. The man himself is very young- about 28 years old- and extremely lively and charismatic. He had hair past his shoulders and wear glasses which are reminiscent of Buddy Holly. When I tell people of him, I call him the hipster Jesus. Every Sunday, it is as if I am going to the theatre because his sermons are more like a one man play. His wife, who is also in school to become a pastor, reminds me of a modern hippy. The first time I attended service at this church, she was wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt.
However, my experience with this church has solidified what I had already thought about religion and faith. Although I ceased to be involved with the church by the time I was in high school, I did believe in Jesus Christ. Some believe that he was the Son of God, other say he was merely a man, and there are also people who do not believe that he existed at all. Whatever your belief, if you read the Holy Bible, you will notice that there is a theme in the Gospel of love and peace. I am not saying that I agree with everything in this book, but the messages that Jesus taught were ones that can be carried out, even for atheists or other religions. Turn the other cheek, do not harm others, love your neighbour. There it is, the one thing that binds all religions together, the golden rule- treat others as you wish to be treated. This is what brings me to the foundation of my faith (which has always been quite strong). When I was in the 11th grade, I took a compulsory world religions course. The teacher was quite awful, but there was one class where she was talking about Mother Theresa, and she recited a quote that basically said that to a starving child in [Africa], the only way that they could experience God was through a loaf of bread. This is what I base my view of a higher power on. I think that essentially, all religions are the same. There are semantics that cause religions to differ from each other, but they all have the same God, but are simply experiencing and seeing this higher power slightly differently. In the end, no matter what you call “Him”, how you see “Him”, or what you believe about “Him”, it is going to be the same entity who simply wants you to spread love and care for one another. Personally, I don’t believe in all of the 10 Commandments that were given to Moses. Many of them don’t quite make sense to be rules of the Lord. In the words of the late (but great) grandfather of comedy, George Carlin, “About 5,000 years ago a bunch of religious and political hustlers got together to try to figure out how to control people and keep them in line. They knew people were basically stupid and would believe anything they were told, so they announced that God had given them some commandments, up on a mountain, when no one was around.”
As long as you have the ones about harming others, you don’t need the rest. It can be broken down to about 4:
- Thou shalt not kill (or harm anyone physically or emotionally)
- Thou shalt not steal
- Thou shalt not bear false witness (lie)
- Thou shalt not commit adultery
These four prohibit you from committing acts against others. All of the rest are bullshit. Perhaps I will dissect the commandments at a later date, but for now, I will just state that as long as you don’t harm others, anything else should be alright. What really gets me is this business about premarital sex and homosexuality. Why is the church so concerned about what people are doing in their bedrooms? If you get an STI, wear a darn condom. If someone doesn’t WANT to have sex with you, then don’t do it. It’s very simple. Sex is healthy, it’s an excellent cardio workout and let’s face it, it’s pretty damn fun.
I will stop there and continue on that train of thought some other time, but my main point is, all religions are the same, they simply experience their higher power in slightly different manners. This thought of my was solidified the first time I attended this Christian Reform church I spoke of. Now Roman Catholic churches are very traditional and formal. The priests wear robes, the music is often solemn, and the service typically follows a strict regimen. Now this church was a bit more laid back. Not everyone was dressed in suits and dresses, the pastor was dressed very casually, the music was performed by a rock band, and they do not have communion (or Lord’s Supper as they call it), every week. These are very little differences, but in essences, they are the same at the foundational level. I’m aware of how Christianity was split off into the different sects after the work of Martin Luther’s theses, but I think that all of the holy wars and fight for power among all religions is futile. I am a strong believer in peace; John Lennon and Mahatma Ghandi are among the people whose lead I choose to follow; I am a Christian by nature, but I do not ascribe to any specific religion. When people realize that there should be a separation between faith and religion, the world will be one step further to knowing peace.
Until next time, keep your eyes and ears peeled for some more Paradigm Ramblings (still haven’t come up with a better sign off)
– A.P.
paradigmramblings 