tidings of the overwhelming

In my most recent workshop piece, I wrote more about God than usual, in my usual-for-school safe, vague, impersonal terms. A classmate called me out in his written comments, said, "Use I and God in the same sentence. Be explicit." Good advice, but I was sad because it made me realize how noncommital I am in certain communities--I'd rather have everyone like me than alienate them by talking about God. And then in certain other communities, where I'm supposed to talk about God, I'm afraid to because my beliefs might shock and divide. So here's what's on my mind, for a start.

I love God and Jesus. I don't love churches or religions. Religion is a human creation, so I feel free to pick and choose elements from each and still call myself a Christian.

Jesus died for my sins and for yours, whether we wanted him to or not.

I am probably saved, and you probably are too, even though I've never formally "asked Jesus into my heart." He's always been there. It's not up to me.

I believe in karma. I believe in meditation and yoga. I believe in the Four Noble Truths and the Five Pillars of Islam. I believe every religion has a lot to offer anyone.

I don't believe anyone but God has the authority to decide, or even guess, who's going to heaven. It is not our business. Each person should focus on whether she is doing the right thing, not converting her mom or the pizza guy or the African who's never heard of Jesus. Similarly, I don't like it when people think admission to heaven requires a certain set of steps, a certain way of life. That's not up to us.

The Bible is a great book. A holy book. It has a lot to teach everyone. And it is divinely inspired. But so is Mary Oliver's poetry, so is Haven Kimmel's fiction, so is my friends' and my writing. The Bible is flawed because its writers, however inspired, were flawed. For example, it says not to mix fibers like cotton and linen in fabrics you wear. And we've totally rejected that law. We've rejected a lot of the laws dealing with meats and food. So if we feel comfortable ignoring those, why do people get so fixated on other laws and use them to hurt others? The laws about homosexual activity appear alongside outdated hygeine laws we ignore, so why not be lenient about that, too? And don't even get me started on the stuff about women. The Bible is a product of a time and place with prejudices just like any other, and we should try to extract the wisdom and guidance without getting bogged down in the hurtful specifics. We should also read other religious texts and focus on the commonalities, the deep truths that apply to humanity rather than a sect of it. (The title of this post came from the Koran.)

Anyway. Mind your own business. Love everyone. Give more than you receive. Pray and trust. Read holy things. Don't worry about the rest of it. God's got it under control.