As you all know I don't hold a lot of corporeal things sacred.If you didn't before, look at my banner again. I don't think there is much holy about paintings, or statues or the image of Jesus. In my mind, the Pope , Mother Teresa and the pews at
St Matthias are up for targets of any joke you may think of. The punchlines to two of my all time favorite jokes involve Jesus complaining that he can't walk on water anymore because of the holes in his feet and a nun perplexed, exclaiming "Boy that's a hard one!"
With that said, I have no problem with anyone's relationship with their understanding of their higher power. God wants you to do service? Do it. Your giant red panda spirit guide tells you to be better to yourself? Start listening. If at the end of the day it makes you happy, by all means follow your spiritual calling to the ends of the earth.
Now, I do take offense at people driving planes into buildings blocks from where I work in the name of God. I have a problem with people who vote for a man who leads us into killing for money because their religious beliefs say that abortion is a sin and he claims to be what they call pro-life. How can one be pro life and order thousands to their unnecessary deaths? Religion can enliven us, and it can blind us.
My mom never liked my telling her that I had my own personal relationship with god. I don't necessarily subscibe to the man parting the clouds with his meaty omnipotent fingers to watch someone spilling the seed to a pornographic magazine in their house's bathroom kind of god. (and not that I ever did that...it's digusting) I sort of think of all of us, our energies mixing, our souls intertwining as god. God is the place where each of us affect each other and have the capacity to shine at our greatest, and excel both together and solo in ways otherwise not possible.
Mom did not dig my telling her "God wants me to stay home and watch the pregame show...the Jets really need this one!" . Or that god didn't care when I said God-dammit, or that I didn't have to kneel in church. I HATED kneeling in church! Always. I decided, shortly after my confirmation, that I was going to do what I want. Confirmation, for those of you who don't know, is a Catholic sacrament which is supposed to be you becoming an adult in the eyes of the church. My mom always said to me when I whined as a child about not going to church that I could quit once I was an adult in the church (boy I am sure that she hates even having said that to me now). I took her at her word and quit.
A catholic ceremony is about the most mind numbing exercise in the history of the world. To me at least. I remember only once or twice being even remotely interested. Though it did give me a lot of time to use my imagination. You would be amazed at what a young boy's imagination can do in a
Faux-Gothic cathedral surrounded by images of dead (and sometimes dying) people.
One good thing I did get out of my young religious exploits was a good healthy dose of guilt. Ooooh Mama! Did I ever.
At the risk of my mother reading this I should add that I got a strong basis for moral living and good character. I also think the book of Job is really cool. It's like
Trading Places meets
Constantine.
Anyhow, what spurred this ramble on was the following
Check it out.New York City here I come!
