I got a late night text last night from a child I dearly love. At first it scared me because of the hour that I received it. Usually, as most parents know, when you get a text or phone call late at night it is about something bad that has happened. Not so last night and if you give me just a little of your patience I will explain. Sort of.
To understand this you must know where I am coming from in my raising. My Dad was a Deacon in our Baptist Church growing up. Every time that there was something going on at the church he was there to lend support and do what was needed. We were always there early and I think that is where I get my insistance of being early wherever the wife and I go, which leads to some conflict between my wife and I as she is always late. I tell her that she will be late to her own funeral and I sincerely hope she is.
Any way I was raised as a Baptist and baptized as a Baptist. My Army dog tags even reflect that. I even went to a Baptist college, Ouachita Baptist University, and was married in a Baptist Church. The churches my family attended when the girls were young were all Baptist. I no longer consider myself as Baptist. When people ask now I tell them that I am either Druid, or Celtic (that is with a hard 'c' on both ends).
The reason being? Several years ago there was a movement within the SBC and by a lot of the SBC pastors to politicize the pulpits. They went so far as to say and I quote, "If you voted for Clinton you will go to hell!" This from a pulpit on a Sunday morning. Time, energy, money, and space was devoted in bulletins and official church publications telling parishioners how and who to vote for, what causes to support, and if you did not then you were certain to burn in Hell.
To begin with, when Paul was faced with the same, or similar, questions, his response was this, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Also in the charges to pastors, he emphasizes caring for the spiritual, and physical well being of the flock, bringing hope and encouragement to the down trodden and sinful. There is no where in Biblical teaching where it is stated that preachers/pastors have the responsibility to tell their flock what to do politically. And nor should they.
This, and I will have good friends who will try and tell me I should not feel this way, is why I left 'organized' religion. I go to church not to hear of things political, but to renew my soul, and to find comfort for it as well. If this is wrong so be it. Those that know me, I think, will see my true beliefs reflected in how I try to live each and every day.
Now to the question that started this off, "Daddy do you believe in God?" The short answer is this, I believe that there is a higher power that has charge of the whole of what we can see, of what we can understand, of we cannot understand, and what we cannot see. Has this belief changed since being diagnosed with ALS? No. I am at peace with what is going on with my body and my eventual demise and I think that is a large part of what religion is meant to give to us.
(Sorry for this being so long today, I just could not answer this in one line. If you have been offended by what I have said, I will not apologize because each of us are entitled to our own beliefs and opinions.)
Until next time....................
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