An excerpt (8.21.19)

I've stepped back from a Christianity that says that to be good...

I must agree

I must be quiet

I must speak one way and live another, or alternatively I must live a perfect life for fear of judgment

I must condemn people I disagree with

I must seek to turn everyone into a fellow believer.

I squirm within those expectations. I reject the fear-based relationships it created wherein I was always seeking affirmation that I too was good. It was good for a time perhaps, but it grew stale.

So I stepped back to find something that works-- Something fluid. Something that releases the pieces of my soul that were trapped before. Something that dips into the source of life that I've felt at various times over the years.

The Church and theology have gotten so much twisted, that has left a bad taste in my mouth about this whole faith thing.

But my encounters with the Divine have been full of love and grace and peace. I believe it is Divine Love that even now is guiding my dreams.

None of my baggage comes from Jesus. If I can walk back to him with that baggage and allow him to illuminate truth and let all else fall away, then we may just have a way forward...