clrturquoise *.*

Just received this email from a friend from watermark and though I don't have time to really interact with it now I wanted to get it up here because it struck such a chord with me, not so much because it answered all (or even any) of my questions but just because of the tone of acceptance and understanding it contained. So here it is:

You know I hate it when religion becomes a burden to a person's faith. I have always considered not having been raised in a fundamentalist home a blessing, especially the more I understand the damage caused by toxic faith.[...]I do understand your crisis of faith. I have had people suggest that the best thing to do when facing such a dilemma is to take a vacation from church. Try not to feel judged, because I know your history in the C&MA and the long ties to the traditions of your family and denomination will probably dog you.

I don't think you're alone in your struggles either. I think the revolution taking place is a reflection of people with similar struggles and thoughts. Jesus was a Jew, He wasn't protestant or catholic and I have had those thoughts for years, since seminary in 1980. I at one point considered returning to catholicism. Let me just say, I love Jesus but hate what we have made of Him and the church. I don't have doubts about Him but for me my crisis was and is how can I reconcile the simple message of Jesus with the screwed up denominational rantings of fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

I have two people in my house church who won't call themselves Christians. I can't go that far, but I do understand their struggles. I asked one of them "would you follow Jesus if he walked in here now" and he said yes! So I advised him to just say I am a follower of Jesus and try to live by His teachings.

Look for Him everywhere and you will find Him.(green for earth day)