Do I WANT Jesus?

[saythleen]

I was talking with one of my best friends about another one of our best friends, who hasn't been such a best friend lately.  They both go to UVA.  She was saying that our friend has changed in a good way.  She's become less... uppity because she had an epiphany about God- that we're supposed to love him and love others, not impose that on other

Comments

[neome21]

This reminds me of a discussion I had with my best friend Catie about people being religious versus people being spiritual, and how sometimes it's hard to find both in a single person. You have people who will think about religion a lot and go to church because they feel obligated and will follow the rules because they feel they should - religious. This in opposition to those people who seem to ever be seeking some understanding of what people can't understand, seeking some higher meaning or sense of the divine or well... spirituality in their lives. We wondered if the religious people were really getting much out of religion besides having something to lord over other people (which seems counter Jesus). And who wants that?

Your post also got me thinking a lot about how I switched from being someone who dreaded going to chruch and felt like it was an obligation and did a complete 180. I guess for me when I started going to mass of my own free will, and i could stop whenever i wanted, and I was getting good things out of it, it all kind of snowballed.

I HATED going to church as a kid, teenager, hated it, thought it was totally boring and an obligation and I stopped going altogether in high school. Later on, Matt brought me to church a couple of times and I went just because I wanted to be supportive and I realized just how much i liked the homilies. I started going to church regularly on my own freshman year while that whole relationship decline was going on. It was like getting a motivational speech every week. The longer I went the more I could modulate the bad things that happened in my life and the more I looked for how the bad things turned into good things, which made the good things seem like little miracles. God became not so much a deadbeat dad and more like the kind that gives you a different perspective and good advice.

Sorry if that sounds to witness-talky o.O i've been working on this retreat far too many hours XP.

Yeah but it seems like it's not something you can force, it doesn't make you a heathen, you live a good life. You say you've had beautiful religious moments in your life, and "at least for the moment" when you refer to how you feel, it seems like if something changes seems like you'd be open to it. Just keep being awesome and it'll all be fine.