A friend of mine told me a quote that is quite possibly the best thing I’ve heard in my life.  The quote was, “The only time I’ve ever doubted is those times when doubting allowed me to feel better about what I was involved in.”  My gosh.  Right on target.  I can’t explain how much that means to me.  I have never, ever, ever doubted in my life until the beginning of this year.  And do you want to know why?  Because I’m doing things that I shouldn’t be.  There are things in my life that are not right.  To some people they would be minor, but I know in my heart they aren’t.  We have morals.  We have instincts on what is right, what is wrong, and what the best thing to do in a situation is, but do we do it all the time?  Nope, definitely not.  I take the path that feels good, I won’t lie.  Sometimes I shove those morals, instincts, and God-given guidance aside and say, I’ll just do it, there won’t be a consequence.  I think I may believe in karma, or something very similar to it.  Because I know there have been times in my life where I did something that was good, and I just know I was rewarded from it.  It could have been God, it could have been another power, but I know it happened.  And the same goes for bad things that I’ve done, or said.

My friend hit it right on target with that quote.  People don’t want to believe, because they don’t want to believe that there are consequences for their actions, thoughts, and/or beliefs.  Take an agnostic for example; he had better hope there isn’t a God, because if he’s chosen that path, and there really is a God, he knows there may be a problem.  That’s why I find it funny, all these agnostic/atheists that are anti-God their whole life, that start praying when they have a near death experience.  Maybe it takes that to start believing for some people.  I have no idea, I’ve never been there, but I can only imagine.  If your life starts flashing before your eyes, many would have a change of heart.  Now that doesn’t go for me though.  I’m a Christian.  I believe in God 100% Now do I believe every single thing that protestants teach?  Not necessarily, but that isn’t what it’s all about.  This isn’t a competition over who’s right and who’s wrong.  It’s about a creator.  It’s about loving and worshiping God.  I honestly think that every single person on earth, at some point in their life, realizes that someone had to create the universe.  Someone had to invent it.  Someone had to design the complexity of a human eye, or our perfect universe.  Now I’ve seen things out of this world, that I know that don’t just happen by coincidence, and that helps me so much in believing in God.  But I’ll tell you what; I respect people that still believe that have never seen anything happen to them that wasn’t of this world.  That is so commendable in my opinion.  I think people have become too worried about whether or not they are right or wrong about things, and they have forgotten what we should be focused on, which is God, or as some prefer, “The Creator.” They’re so engrossed with pushing their opinion on others, the true focus has been lost.  That’s the issue.  People have problems with what others believe, and while wasting time worrying, they could have been praying/meditating or whatever form of worship he or she believes in.

And by the way, thanks so much to the friend that told me that quote.  That really opened my eyes.  You know who you are.

I’ve noticed something in my life.  More so the last year of my life than ever, nevertheless I’ve always seen it.  I notice that people use religion, ok let’s not say religion, lets just say God, as a result of how things are going.  If situations are bad, God is punishing me, God is letting this happen to me.  If things are good, God is being good to me, God loves me, God is watching out for me.  I sit here day by day, pondering whether that is true or not.  If things get bad, people that doubt God have no problem blaming Him.  God did that to me, God caused this.  Why is that?  I think because we need something to blame.  Why are most Atheists, Atheist?  Because they believe God allowed something bad to happen to them, or simply don’t believe he exists because of what did happen to them.  The God that I worship doesn’t cause things to happen, He’s not harsh, and He’s not a smiting God.  I would think He would be compassionate.  

Lately, I can’t deny that I’ve sat and wondered why in the world my mother got breast cancer.  That is something that I simply can’t understand.  People ask me my opinion on it all the time.  Why it is she got it, because in my opinion, my mother is one of the most devout people I know.  Many could say, it’s a test.  Ok, so God is testing someone that is already devout, instead of affecting non-believers.  I really have a problem believing that.  I have a problem with people who think death is God’s will.  How can that be?  How can God allow a death of someone, and hurt so many people, just to have it play into a master plan?  I won’t believe that, and I don’t.  I’ve really struggled lately with the will of God.  I won’t lie.  Don’t get me wrong, I still believe, but things make it hard sometimes.  Hardships arise in my life, and I just ask myself, “Why? Why is this happening?”  I also realize that we aren’t puppets on this earth, but at the same time, if God’s will is set in stone, are we not puppets?  Let’s pretend for just a second that God’s will is going to happen, no matter what I do.  Why should I even care then?  Why should I get up and make anything of my life?  If I’m already destined to go to Heaven or Hell, what does it matter if I sin all day, and make the wrong choices in my life?  Those are questions that have and will always plague my mind.

Why do people’s religious views so greatly affect how they act?  Now don’t get me wrong, I realize that whatever we believe in should have some type effect on us, but not to the extreme of becoming a jerk about things.  I know people that are just rude, and it’s almost like a religious “arrogance,” for lack of a better term.  So what causes this?  Blind faith maybe?  To me blind faith is a bad thing.  I personally think that studies should be done on multiple religions, and we should find the answer without just taking for granted what our parents have taught us. 

I sometimes question why Christianity should be labeled as “right” and everyone else is, from a Christian’s point of view, going to hell.  I’ve always wondered how that works.  What about Jews?  They only believe the Old Testament.  They don’t believe Jesus was the son of God.  But, as anyone with even a little biblical knowledge knows, to get into heaven, you must believe in Jesus.  

It kind of sickens me where the world is going with religion, and the labels that a lot of religions are receiving.  Ok, so that brings us to a question.  Is it right or wrong to take the Ten Commandments down from a public place, just as what was discussed about a year ago in Alabama?  I can kind of see both sides on this.  On one hand, this nation was founded on.  Then, some would claim though, that our nation was founded on “freedom of religion,” Well that is true, however, our forefathers intended that to mean freedom on forms of Christianity, not necessarily any religion.  However, that has been overlooked over the years.  But I ask myself, if I were taught from birth to worship Buddha, or cows, or the moon, how would I know better?  If that were the case, from my point of view, I would be right and Christians would be wrong.  

Someone I once knew said something that I despised.  She said, “Everyone in America should be forced to be a Conservative Christian.”  Ok, give me a break.  That’s going a little extreme is it not?  Simply because that’s the way she believed.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; people’s views are narrow, dogmatic views, unwilling to look outside the box.  That’s the problem with our world.

Ever considered how big of a part your faith plays in your life? Does it affect the outcome of situations? A bigger question, does it affect your decision making. I like what Gandhi says: Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. That statement really says a lot. Consider it. Is it a contradictory statement? Well yes and know if you ask me. Yes in the way that, your decisions will affect the lives of people. A great example of that is the movie Sliding Doors. It shows you just how much a single event plays in your life. An excellent film by the way. But it’s not contradictory in the fact that what you do day by day won’t make differences in how you view things, due to the simple fact that we usually don’t consider alternate outcomes, because who has the time?

But back on topic, does religion/spirituality/faith play a part? I would love to say yes. I would love to sit here and tell you that everything I do, every decision I make, is because I’m a Christian, and because it’s what I know I should do, but you know what? That would be a lie. I’m not proud of that, but it’s the truth. To live like we should would require so much more of us. All of our money would go to churches, we would be evangelists, preachers, or missionaries. Or maybe that’s just a way of making excuses, just as we all do a lot. I experienced something over the holidays that made me think a lot. There is a particular person, that is possibly one of the most devout Christians that I know, that more or less, amazed me. So therefore there is a conflict. To be Christian, is to be moral. Look at the Ten Commandments. Jesus basically said, and this is paraphrasing, but he said that to get into Heaven, all one must do is keep the Ten Commandments. Do most moral people do that? I think so. For those that may not ever be able to hear about God, well you know I just don’t know. I can’t answer that, nor can I understand it. There are times that I wish I could, but then again, if we could understand everything, we would be God. There are times that I wonder a lot. I used to a lot more. Times that I wonder why my prayers weren’t answered. But I came to realize something over last summer, it’s that God’s will may conflict with what you are praying for. I believe that praying for God’s will to come true is the best prayer a person can say. That’s all there is to it. Of course this is just my opinion, and isn’t necessarily right or wrong, it’s just what I believe. It’s all void if you don’t believe Christianity. And I don’t say that in a condescending way. Religion is chosen, and I think logical facts and reasoning should be used when deciding what religion you intend to be. Nothing should be forced on us, and no one should say they are more right than others. You know that’s an issue I have with religion. Every single religion thinks they are right over the others. Even civil wars within denominations of Christianity! Give me a break. Aren’t we all serving the same God? So why does it matter if Bob the Methodist wants to go to the liquor store, and Sam the Baptist sees him do it and convicts him. That’s one thing about religion that I’ve always had a problem with, and never really understood.

Wow my life feels so overwhelming right now. I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s stress, or something else. I, probably for the first time ever, am having trouble controlling my emotions. I guess it’s the time of year. About a year ago this time of the month, something life altering happened to me, then a month later, something else, so I guess it’s just memories from that. I can’t listen to a song from then without getting upset, or feeling sad, or happy, or mad. It’s such a weird feeling. Religion has been on my mind a lot lately. Do I believe this, do I believe that. What if something doesn’t work how I want it to, will I be mad? Well you know that’s a good question, because I have never been in that position. Why is it that we are all so quick to give up on religion, well you know what, let’s throw that word out the window. Let’s use the word spirituality. It’s much more fitting. Religion is too big of a word. Why are we so quick to give up on it? Why do we do what we do? We give up on it, not because we don’t have faith, but because things didn’t work out as we planned. I thought about that, and the story of Job from Bible.

Job 2:3
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Man, when I read this, or anytime I even think about it I almost cry, because I feel like that sometimes. That’s why I think bad things happen to good people. I, personally, don’t believe God is to blame for calamities, or diseases, but I know one thing, He has the ability to stop them. Think about it, if we have the ability to cure a disease or stop an illness, but we don’t, are we not affecting the outcome? God uses situations like this in our lives to strengthen us, to test us, to push our limits. He wants to know, how strong are you, Kelsey? How willing are you, Kelsey? What sacrifices are you willing to make for me, Kelsey? Being a Christian is not about giving up the things we love to do, it’s not about being a hermit, or a monk in a monastery; it’s about our willingness. It’s about how willing we are to give something up for us. Does God have to write things in the sky for us, to show us that He is real? Is it not enough to look around at the perfectly designed universe, and say, this isn’t chance, it’s God. That’s why I don’t really understand why people have to say God only deals through science. That’s a concept I’ve never really understood. Why would God use the big bang to create the universe? How is something written as clear as the book of Genesis taken so symbolic? That to me doesn’t make sense. I don’t direct this at anyone or any particular denomination for their beliefs, it’s simply my thoughts on the matter. Why must everything be explained by science? Why do humans have to know everything? I just don’t think it’s necessary. Why do we have to medal in what we aren’t supposed to understand? Sure God gives us knowledge, but I don’t think He wants us to use that knowledge to play His part. This world is growing more corrupt day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. I don’t think it will last much longer. I am not necessarily saying I will see the end of the world in my lifetime, but I have a feeling it’s coming soon. The more we advance in certain aspects, the more corrupt our society becomes. That’s just a fact. I see the day where we are pledging allegiance to the flag, one nation under man. It’s only a matter of time, folks.

And no, I haven’t turned into some religious fanatic raving about the end times, this is merely something that has been on my mind lately. I feel like I’ve kind of been warned to be on my guard lately, for some reason. I think we have an interesting ten years ahead of us, but that’s just me. I’m no prophet, and don’t claim to be, and am not claiming that as a prophetic statement, but it’s definitely something to think about. Thoughts like those don’t just pop in our heads for no reason. God uses us sometimes I think. Contrary to many of my friend’s beliefs, I believe God is very involved in our lives.

Joel 2:28
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.