Thursday, October 29, 2009

Blessed by a Priest

:) i went to a bonfire with my two littlest nieces the other night. it was HUGE! well, we were standing there when this guy walked up. he was tending the blaze. after introductions and some chatting, i found out that he's a priest (well, retired due to an injury). anyway, after a bit, he asked if he could bless us. SWEET! when he got to me, he also added something that he thought god wanted me to know. it was awesome! a shot of hope from someone i don't even know. :)

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by the way...just to give a little background on my thoughts on things...at least today. :) while i would definitely say that i'm "protestant" in my perspective, i'm not "anti-catholic". a man that helped to focus my vision of christian education was catholic. he was so in love with jesus that he actually contributed to my desire to experience god in a relationship far more than "intellectual".

what i am, though, is "anti-religion". by "religion", i'm not referring to the major belief systems in the world. no, i mean a legalistic approach to faith that elevates lesser truths, duties, "must's and must-not's", opinions, structures, etc. to the status of "core beliefs". granted, there are definitely convictions that people have...wisdom-driven guidelines...but to make them requirements to be a believer??...not for me. it's too driven by shame, fear and pride for me.

funny thing though...turns out there's "religion" all over tarnation...even in the belief systems of the non-religious. go figure.

for me, it's jesus. it's about an every day lovin' that i know and experience...and the things that he wants me to be and do to love him and my neighbor.

i don't know if all those words make sense or not...all i know is that i'll take a blessing from that priest and anyone else that's dishing them out. :)

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