Our Faith

I had breakfast yesterday with a very good friend, and we began discussing our spiritual lives. Much to my surprise, she told me that she questions the existence of God.

I don’t know why I should have been surprised. She is an extremely intelligent and analytical person. She has a masters degree in political science and can analyze anything from a strictly objective view, which I envy. Me, I always go with my gut and my heart, making me often wrong and frequently silly. I guess if you look at God in a strictly objective, analytical way, it’s easier to question His existence.

Still, I have always noticed that she is drawn to the symbolic traditions of organized religion. She was brought up mostly Episcopalian (though her parents had a relatively short-lived stint in the Catholic Church). And to this day, she will occasionally attend the morning prayer service at the Episcopalian cathedral.

During our breakfast, she gave me feedback on her reaction to my blog entry about angels. In that entry, I mention that I believe many young people no longer believe in God because they are lazy or don’t like to be held accountable. She suggested that perhaps I needed to consider that maybe the problem is in what we believe about God and what is taught by organized religions.

Okay. There. I’ve considered it.

Undoubtedly, organized religions have flaws because they consist of flawed humans. Separate from those organized churches, however, I think what we believe about God is what Jesus told us: Love Him, and love your neighbor.

I need my Catholic Church with all of its traditions and prayers and community, and yes, all of its flaws. I need occasionally to kneel in a quiet church to pray. I need the Eucharist. I need it to feed my soul.

And I need God to exist, and know that He does. I can’t live my life without having someone greater than me to whom I hand my problems. Life is too difficult and crazy to live alone, without knowing that God is taking care of me.

And believing in God does require some accountability. He has expectations. The Ten Commandments are a good starting point. But in the end, I think that one’s spiritual life is not organized religion. It is a relationship between God and me.