Sunday

It’s Sunday morning and if I were back in junior high I would be going to church. St. John’s UCC, Slatington. I rarely missed back then because it counted toward getting confirmed. I always enjoyed Confirmation class. It was kids I went to school with and knew really well. I also belonged to the Youth Group of the church and look back fondly at going on paper drives almost every week. Charlie Carlton was our leader and he drove the truck while the rest of us sat on the paper piles in the back and sang and joked and sometimes huddled together in the cold.

This Sunday morning I am not going to church. My spiritual journey has taken me in a different direction. No, not Satanism!  But if that’s your thing, be the best Satanist you can be. I always have been fascinated by religion. How a kid growing up in Libya will most likely be Muslim. Thailand, a Buddhist. Israel, a Jew. India, a Hindu.  Slatington, a Christian.  My thought was that something so important and so personal should not be accepted just because it is what our parents believe. So. I’ve done the reading and I’ve done the research, and I have found what works for me. I consider myself a Buddhist. No, you won’t find me in a flowing robe and a shaved head! But you will find me thinking about impermanence, how everything has a lifespan and how everything is constantly changing and you should appreciate what you have in this moment.  You will find me thinking about reincarnation. I’d like to think that my daughter is out there living some fabulous life rather than hanging around in heaven playing a harp and waiting for her mom and dad and brother and sister.  When I say that, I am not dismissing any one else’s beliefs. I , and no one else, knows the truth for certain. That’s why it is called faith! When the Dalai Lama was asked to explain Buddhism he said “It’s very simple. My religion is kindness.”  I’m going with that!

Enjoy this beautiful Sunday that lies ahead,  whatever you belief system! Namaste’.