God and Me

My husband and I had an interesting conversation the other day about God and religion. Religion has always been a difficult thing for me to define. I was raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith. I'm sure most people know what they are, they are mostly classified as not celebrating holidays and having a different interpretation of Armageddon. Anyway, I stayed with that organization until I was in my teens. At that point, I had a serious boyfriend who had more wordly views and who seemed to me at the time to have things together. I stopped going to meetings and bookstudies and started hanging out with my friends more.

The past 15 years have been a "search" for my true faith. I have attended different churches that are easy to fit in to, but I never go for more than a couple of months. I just have a hard time committing to one belief system.

So, hubby and I were talking and defining what MY religious beliefs are. First, I do believe in God. I believe that he created everything in the world and men. I believe that there is a heaven, though not necessarily where "we" spend eternity. I do not believe in Hell. I cannot imagine a God creating such a horrid place. I do believe that we have a soul. Now, to explain these points a little bit.

I believe that God created everything, the universe, humans, animals, atmosphere, space, galaxies.... everything. I also believe that God is still creating... through us. Now this is where my theory, to some, would be blasphemy. I believe that God is a part of all of us. You, me, the rocks, the trees.... everything that we could fathom is God. If anyone has ever read Conversations With God, Book 1 you will be able to follow my train of thought here. God started as God, himself was all that he knew... since he knew what he was, he wanted to know what he wasn't. This is where creating comes in the picture. This is also where my idea of the soul comes into play.

I believe that our soul is a piece of God. He wants to experience everything, and what better way to do that than through the creation of billions of individuals. Picture it this way, God is in Heaven after having just experienced the life of Adolph Hitler. Now he knows exactly what life is like having chosen that life. Next, he decides he wants to experience what life is like as a woman born in Pennsylvania who does nothing extraordinary with her life, but it is a completely different experience. Does this make sense? After the soul learns these things from these lives, it knows what it is not.

Heaven is like a changing station... it's where the soul decides what to experience next. I think that Hell is a fabrication of man. I think that we all experience Hell during our life. That Hell is at different levels for everyone. For example, one woman's Hell may be to live through life having enduring torture and abuse as a child. Another person's Hell may be living life as an AIDS victim. Those two people have different experiences of the most traumatic event possible in their life. So, I think that Hell is as unique an experience as life itself.

I do not have the Bible memorized, nor do I study it religiously. I don't think that God wants us to spend our whole life afraid of what will happen if we don't. I think that He wants us to experience life as fully as we can.... after all, it is His experience. I know that if some very devout person reads this, then they will be extremely angry... that is their chosen experience. That's the beauty of life.

Besides, religion isn't known for promoting logical, rational, personal thought. Too often I have had conversations with people who think they are having their own thoughts where in actuality, they are regurgitating Scriptures and ideologies. I enjoy talking with people about God and beliefs... I like to worship God and have a relationship with Him based on what feels right in my heart, not what someone mandates that I do. I would be eager to read any response that anyone has. Just keep in mind that I do not study religion, the Bible, or follow a certain faith. I like to think, and listen to other people's points of view and I certainly do not attack someone else's chosen faith, and I expect the same in return.