Don't Look For God in Church

                                                              

      

I was raised in the Catholic Church and, went to twelve years of Parochial school. My teachers were the religious sisters (Nuns) the whole twelve years. I even considered becoming a nun when I was in high school, but then the Beatles came onto the scene. Need I say more? I was in love with the quiet Beatle, George and no longer interested in working as a missionary. God understood.

                                                                  

I was always in trouble with the nuns because I always asked questions about the church's dogma. I guess the good sisters didn't know what to make of a free thinker. I had questions. Why did pagan babies go to Limbo? What is purgatory? Why would God send you to hell for eating meat on Fridays? Why does the Catholic Church have the most boring music in the world? Why are the sermons so empty of meaning? Just didn't make sense to me. How could the church ever explain its actions during the inquisition. There are no excuses.

Religion's main purpose, and this is for all organized religions, is to control the commoners, that's us. Do I really need a cleric to explain the bible to me? I am an intelligent woman and I can figure out the meaning of the parables.

                                                      

                                                            
When you hear the priest, minister, rabbi or Islam clergy say that God wants to punish us or, that man is above woman or, that it is okay to kill in the name of God, I say, "Bullshit!"

This isn't the God I know or love. When people try to use religion to shame others or to isolate them, they always shout out that their hate is justified because the bible says they're right. Yeah, well guess what? I read the bible and Jesus didn't say half the stuff that people claimed he said.

What he did say was to love his Father; to love one another; to feed the poor; to care for the widow. I didn't read anything about women not being allowed to be priests or that he hated gay people. And, he sure as hell didn't give the Republican Party the right to use his name whenever they want to push through a bill that will make the corporations and them, richer. I'm pretty sure he was for the strict separation of state and church. "Give to Cesare"....Don't use GOD to pass a law.

I've stopped going to the Catholic church every Sunday. One priest was bad mouthing the poor. What the hell? Jesus hung out with the poor, you dumb ass! I've decided to try out different religions like I would shoes. The church I went to this past week is called the Trinity Christian Church. They have great music to stir the soul and the minister talked about real things to help the poor. Next week, I'm going to my niece's church in South Philly. I want to go to a Hindu Temple next. After that, I might go to the ocean and commune with God, because it's not in church that I find GOD.

                                 my daughter and oldest grandson                         

I find GOD in the stars that shine down on me, or the moon so bright in a night sky, or in holding a baby in my arms. I find GOD in a child's laughter or a breeze that cools the night. I find GOD in the people I pass on the street each day. My GOD is all about love, forgiveness and allowing us to explore who we are and, find our places in this big wonderful universe HE created for us.

Any religion that doesn't treat woman and men as equals, or isolates a member because of their sexual preference or political ideas is no church for me. Any religion that encourages people to kill in GOD's name is not worth the dust from my shoes.

                                                      

I will walk in my GOD's footsteps. I will respect all people even if I don't agree with them. I will consider every woman on this planet, my sister; every man, my brother. Every child will be loved as my own, but expect a smack to the back of the head if you act like a fool. I don't care what gender you are. If you are a kind, loving and caring soul, you are my friend. I don't care if you are poor. I don't care about your race. We are all part of one race; human. I will speak out against the people who rape Mother Earth and pollute the food and water. We don't own the planet. We should leave it in better shape than when we arrived.

                                                         

I think I've covered everything. A friend of mine, Janice Wilson, keeps inviting me to go hiking with her. I think I will. I know I'll find God on the trail.

Finding God in a Drum Solo

                                                        

Last night, I was invited to an event called "Grounds for Good Coffee House" by a friend and fellow writer of The South Jersey Writers' Group. Kathy Appleton and her husband, Jay are part of "The Church Praise Band at the First United Methodist Church.

                                                           

                                                           

I asked two other friends to join me and off we went to Moorestown, New Jersey with me driving and using my GPS to get there because as all of you who follow my blog know, I have no sense of direction. We got lost, but we finally made it to our destination after my GPS, with some nasty attitude, recalculated our route.

                                                          

I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic School for twelve years and continued going to the Church until a few years ago. I haven't been a fan of organized religion for some time now. I never felt that GOD was about religion. HE is about love,  compassion, forgiveness and, more importantly, not judging others and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want us bad mouthing the poor or blaming them for being poor.

I'm a very spiritual person and have a close relationship with GOD even if I haven't been going to church. I've found that when I listen to music that certain songs, be it rock, punk, rap or new wave, remind me of the Creator and I feel at peace....so what does this blog have to do with finding God or drums?

                                                       

I was really enjoying the music played by The Church Praise Band. The singing was excellent and Kathy was amazing on the harp, but it was the drum solo for the song about the little drummer boy that made me feel like God was sitting right next to me, tapping his fingers on the table and tapping his feet on the floor. I am going to try and make other events when "The Church Praise Band" is playing. I might bump into GOD again. Here is a video with the drummer (I don't know his name) it's about five minutes long. Enjoy.

Post by Marie Gilbert.

Sometimes, You Find God Over a Cup of Tea

                                                                     

 

Yep, that is the title for this blog, and no, I didn’t become a religious fanatic overnight; although I am a very spiritual person. I don’t bide with Organized Religions  who try to bully their followers into blindly following, afraid to question some of the mandates handed down; even if these mandates are hateful and prejudiced.

                                                                  

But, the topic of Institutionalized religion is for another day and another blog. Today I want to talk about inspiration and creativity. After attending Sunday mass (yes, I go to church) I visited by granddaughter Katrina and her very insightful mother, Sue.  

                                                                         

                                                                

She made us a cup of tea and we chatted about my weekly blogs and my plans to self-publish one of my short stories about the zombie apocalypse. Sue is an amazing teacher, but she is also a talented artist. She’d asked me if I had ever watched https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector  I hadn’t, but I was sure curious. She pulled up an episode of Ted Talks on her computer, which featured the author of Eat Pray Love.

                                                                             

                                            Julia Roberts starred in the film based on the book.

                                                                      

Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat Pray Love, muses over the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses, but I’ll let this video below explain.
 

 

After we had watched this video, I told Sue about my novel and the chapter where God is speaking with the heroine of the book after a particularly nasty battle with demons. He tells Emele that his love is like a song that is sent out racing through the cosmos.
                                                                         

Every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every living thing scattered throughout the universe hears this song. Unfortunately, there are times when sentient beings aren’t tuned in, but when we do great things and create a story, poem, song or painting, it is because we have heard and connected with this song of creativity and life. I look at this 'inspiration' as God tapping us on the shoulder and saying, "Here, try this."

                                                                   

                  

                                

As writers, I’m sure we’ve all had days when the universe is aligned in the right position and we can’t stop the story from taking its first breath on that blank page. But, there are times when nothing we do short of standing on our head for hours to increase the flow of blood, helps to get one word on the page. I didn’t know how to explain this condition, but thanks to Ted Talks and Elizabeth Gilbert; I get it!

                                                                            

So, the inspiration that I felt in church was also found in a quaint Victorian home in Audubon, New Jersey, and I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours with two muses; Katrina’s mom and Elizabeth Gilbert on Ted Talks.

What inspires you to write?