Finding my Religion

Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of a James Taylor song? Take Fire and Rain for instance.

."Won't you look down upon me, Jesus. You've got to help me make a stand. You've just got to see me through another day. My body's aching and my time is at hand. And I won't make it any other way" 

Or, You've got a friend "If the sky above you should turn dark and full of clouds and that old north wind should begin to blow,keep your head together and call my name out loud.Soon I will be knocking upon your door"

James Taylor songs are about love, pain, despair, hope and.....Spirituality. When I want to be close to a higher power,  I go outside explore the beauty of our planet and like Sweet Baby James, I arrive when I look up. 

This brings me to a discussion I had with a friend who felt that she really needed to not only tell me about her beliefs,she needed to sell me her beliefs. Of course this involved an examination of why I was spiritually inferior because I did not share her beliefs.

At midlife, through the power of observation, life experience, and just plain common deduction; I have concluded that the more someone lectures me about religion the less likely they are to have any real value to me in regards to teaching me anything about their faith. Note that patting oneself on ones back, is not in fact the true sharing of faith. 

I have stopped listening to people who tell me that they have a personal relationship with God based on their faith. Instead, I focus on the people who show me they have a relationship with faith itself. Those who live in love, on the basis of the belief that they should love as they live. Their actions require not a word to be spoken. 

In defining my own faith,I believe that faith is not defined by the number of times one attends church, rather it is whether the person carries faith in his or her heart that seeps out into real actionable deeds. After all, we all know  people who will show us; loyalty. dignity, trust and truth. You might never find them a church, in fact they often don't bring up allegiance to a particular faith.  

The silent ones without religious piety, communicate love of humanity in other ways. They will do what is right even when it goes against their own desires. They can be found working for Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, registering voters, acting as Big Brothers or Big Sisters. They will be on the front lines choosing people over money, the comfort of others, over their own personal comfort. They are the people who will let you find God, spirit, the theist in them. These are the people who can teach us a great deal about loving one another. Not through a memorized verse, but through a memorable life.