And now philosphical musings...specifically about religion.

:::Religion....:::

I've struggled with it for a long time. I've always believed in God,
and that has never changed. But the search for the path to God is a
bit more difficult than just the faith and belief in Him.

I was raised as a Seventh-Day Adventist. I was always drawn to the
Adventists, especially in their belief that hell, as generally
pictured by many christians, is not eternal torment and pain. That
particular aspect of God's percieved character always troubled me.

Not long after my parents divorced, we stopped going to church.
Sometimes in the midst of everyday life and struggles, you lose sight
of spiritual matters.

I went to several churches with friends, though I was always a
proclaimed Adventist. I've studied other religions as well, and at
one point I got lost in easter philosophy. I found alot of wisdom
there, especially with Buddhism. I've always been drawn to their
reverencee for life, though I may not agree with every aspect of
their system of beliefs.

When my oldest brother Michael met his now wife-Sarai- I was
introduced to Islam. He eventually converted to Islam, as did my
other brother. I find alot of truth in Islam and the Qu'ran, though I
don't agree with how some Muslims interpet it. It is filled with
Hadith- stories of the prophet Muhhamed not in the Qu'ran which seems
to go against the teachings in the Qu'ran. But I digress... :)

They have a reverence for God that I find beautiful. Everything in
their lives is built around Him. Prayer times are beautiful to watch.
They stop everything, and devote daily prayer to God.
The only conflict I saw between Islam and Christianity was obviously
their views on Jesus. They see him as prophet, and believe he sits at
the right hand of God. But they do not share the belief of the
Trinity. I still struggle with that belief myself.

For me, I find myself studying. I see truth everywhere I look. Even
in Hinduism you see a direction to One God above their many lesser
gods. I've found in the vaguest religions that if you dig deep enough
you will find One God. I always remember the scripture in the Bible
that the Lord has sheep in many folds. I don't know if I think there
is one true religion, but that many religions had a small piece of
it. In the end I think there are many paths to God, and some are in
unlikely places. Most important is your free will. He gave it to us
all, and if we exercise it to come back to God, the path we choose
matters very little.

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I posted that at one of my Yahoo Groups, and I felt like putting it down here. I always get introspective and philosophical late at night..especially when I am suffering from sleep depravation. :)

I did okay at work today, and they let me leave early. Well, they made me leave early because I was going into overtime. I wasn't going to complain. I have to be back at 6am for a store meeting though. I guess it's a good thing I took a nap when I got hom, because I have little inclination to sleep at the moment.

So now I've waxed philosphy for a bit and gotten it out of my system, I am going to go see if I overcome my writers block at the Tomb and post to the story.

As Always....
~Liz