Hi. I'm new to the group. I've read JESUS FOR THE NON-RELIGIOUS and now I'm reading ETERNAL VISION. I have found both books to be transformative.
I have run the gamut religiously. I was raised by a Roman Catholic father and a Southern Baptist mother -- a bipolar religious experience, to be sure. I taught Sunday school to teenagers for 7 seven years, raised my son in the church for 7 years, started attending college, and then abandoned religion completely for about 20 years.
I found a Baptist church (from fire to the frying pan) -- and I attended it for a few months, and then I was kicked out because I was told that I didn't "fit in". I asked too many questions. I was devastated.
I tried a few different churches but was ultimately and sadly disappointed in each of them. They propagated hatred and judgment, and it hurt to hear their messages.
I finally, long story, found a church called the Metropolitan Community Church. This church was founded by Troy Perry, a gay man, and the church I attend has an almost entirely gay congregation. I'm among the 9% of hetero congregants. I love this church. It is ecumenical, as there are many faith traditions and people who have no faith tradition. I believe, even though I don't agree with some things about the church, that it is home from me.
I vacillate between going to seminary or getting a graduate degree in psychology. While I am not a "believer" in the fundamentalist sense, I do find value in the Judeo-Christian Bible. I think of it as crude science, romanticized, poeticized, but still of great value to humanity. I see a hurting world, one that has been duped for 2 millennia, one that is having the rug pulled out from underneath it, and I want to hold it in my arms and help to lead it back to wholeness.
My fears about seminary are real and worth deliberating about. I am not a young student. I am 54 years old. But the rest of my life, I want to be of service to my world, my fellow humans.
I know where I am spiritually, and in seminary, I will probably be "taught" doctrine with which I do not agree. I'm not a kid, and so I won't be tugged to and fro, or rattled. It's not about where one gets her education, it's about what she does with it. I want to help others to see that they are loved by whatever understanding of a [G]od they have. Most religions miss the mark in the unconditional love department.
Anyhow, I look forward to discussions here. I am a progressive and a liberal....and my philosophies often do not mesh with "Christians"...obviously, I've been kicked out a few churches.
Peace.