"The Rapture" was a big topic of conversation this past week. People tweeted about it. Some blogged about it. Others posted Facebook status messages about it. Not usually informed on current events as they usually depress me, I did actually have a clue what people were talking about.
I spent a lot of time laughing about how gullible some people can be. Several people dissolved their entire lives thinking that May 21st was the end. One family, a married couple with one child, another due next month, budgeted everything so they'd have nothing left on May 21st. It makes me wonder what kind of lives these people led to be so easily misled.
Reading different points of view, it made me stop and think about my own beliefs. I know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that a power greater than myself exists. How could there not be? Too many things have happened in my life, good and bad, to have any other explanation. Things completely outside the realm of my control or rational thinking.
What if those believers had been right?
It's easy for me to say those people were idiots, completely gullible, and deserve the struggle they have to get their lives back. The bottom line is, I'm really jealous of the level of faith that they had. I struggle daily with my beliefs. I consider myself a Christian, but at the same time, I question some of the beliefs that define Christians.
One of those beliefs is that one must go to church every Sunday to be a good Christian. My belief is that God hears us no matter where we are. I enjoy church for many reasons... the fellowship, the learning. These are the reasons I attend church, not because I feel it's a requirement for admission to heaven. When I struggle with whether I really want to go to church today, it's not because of a perceived obligation to God.
People judge you for attendance. God knows what's in your heart.
Being away from the church for so long in no way meant I was away from God. I may not have been as close as I should have been though. Attending church helps keep me focused on trying to live a life of which God would approve.
I believe I'm a good person. I don't intentionally cause pain to others. When I do cause pain, I do the best I can to make amends. I try to live by the golden rule and treat others the way I like to be treated. Knowing the "right" thing to do isn't always second nature. I am learning. Attending church helps me learn. It helps me to grow personally and to pass that knowledge on to Bryce so that he may learn right from wrong.
If the Rapture happened tomorrow, I'd like to believe God would see fit to take me. I consider myself a work in progress. God knows what's in my heart and my growth potential. :)
"I live my life daily as if there IS a God, I do my best on a daily basis to do what I believe is right."
A friend wrote this in her blog and I can't help but appreciate her words. Thanks Donna!! ♥
1 comments:
I'm glad church works for you. I'm not a Christian in the sense that the "church" means it. I have my own beliefs based on what I know from having gone to the other side during a physical crisis. You've had one too, so you know what you know. Be secure with that. People shouldn't judge others. Period.
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