Questions

Religious? Faithful? Spiritual? How do you define what you believe? Do you have strong beliefs? Did you choose your faith or religion or did you inherit it? Do you feel that your beliefs are the "true path to enlightenment / righteousness / salvation / whatever"? If so, is every other belief system simply wrong? Could they be right and maybe you're wrong? Would you be willing to consider that as a possibility? If you were born into a different belief system, do you think that you would eventually find your way back to your current belief system? Would you be willing enough to listen, open enough to consider, honest enough to accept and brave enough to embrace this new faith? Be honest… These and many other questions race through my head on a regular basis.

If I'm honest, I have to admit that I believe what I believe because I am a product of my environment, not as a result of conscious choice. For obvious reasons, people who did not have a strong religious upbringing are free to choose what they believe. For those of us that grew up in religious households, it's simply not that easy. For some, turning your back on the faith of your family while simultaneously adopting a radically different faith structure can be just as difficult to do as coming out openly as a homosexual. Consider an Orthodox Jewish person converting to Christianity. That's a BIG deal. One that in many cases could cause that individual to lose some lifelong relationships.

I grew up as a "PK" (Preacher's Kid) and lately I've had what comes close to what many people might consider to be a crisis of faith. To be clear, it's not a lack of belief but rather a number of questions. Questions that I'm not sure anyone can answer for me. I'm going to need to work these out on my own. I'm not sure that I have a point that I'm trying to make in this post. I'm just writing and hopefully I'll have an epiphany that helps me out in this area. Thanks for reading.