a beginners recipe........

So here He is.... at the beginning of life as we know it, and for some reason, the spice of life ends up being a canister of Jerks. No, not jerk seasoning.... just plain jerks. And the world is full of them, is it not? Just go out during rush hour traffic, and you can see an abundance of chest thumpers who think nothing of cutting you off on the highway from three lanes over (and no signal other than a middle finger)... or world leaders who practice nefarious deeds to their own populace.

As we ponder the the true calling of our religious beliefs, we cannot help but wonder what our real purpose on this colorful orb is. Were we meant to be the evolved ones, the ones with a higher calling, the ones with the bigger brains to contain knowledge and see that it works? Were we evolved as a species through natural selection, divine intervention, or just sheer luck? Who knows for certain.... but we're here, and our time has been recorded through the efforts of wordsmiths and theologans, thus creating the "age of reason" for our species. It only seems so sad that we tend to basterdize the original recipe.

I am not an athiest, nor part of any organized religion. Many of you who have read here already know this. In fact, I do believe in God.... just not the one you tend to find in religious texts. (He's pretty close, but no cigar.) Perhaps it is because I find that the canister of jerks was held a little too long over the pot, and the bite of their spice overpowers the original intent. They plow over the milder flavors, and to add insult to injury, they do it in the name of their creator through one means or another. Sound familiar? Take our current world events.

We are stuck in this quagmire of a war with people who do not think as we do about God.... heck, they're even sure we're the evil-doers. All because of a difference in religious beliefs. Travel through your history books, and see that this is not the first time this little problem, has surfaced. The list is long. The jerks of the societies always seem to rise to the top, heck, aren't they well versed in supposed qualifications to charm us into being there? That's their job, and we are but their milder flavors. The next step is to prove how holy they are.... in fact, much holier, and with a BETTER God. Yet the destruction and loss of life to prove that point tends to overcook the recipe. Add more insult to injury, and we are also fighting a battle with our own natural resources. Not only do we have a species that can't get along, and feel the best way to keep an enemy at bay is to come up with a bigger bomb, but we have our own planet that's acting up as well. A war on two fronts..... one that could be won if we just learned how to get along to solve the other. But in the blame of a "better" God, we tend to fight the wrong one, and sadly see the facts build up against us in the other. Our priorities are so messed up, that we are throwing away the our existance over a matter of theology. We are ruining the very recipe that makes us the shining entree. Somehow, that didn't seem to be the plan I saw mapped out in Sunday School. Weren't we supposed to live in peace and harmony...... wasn't that surmoned out so well from the priest at Mass? How then do you blame God for the devestation we produce? I think God got an unfair rap, and we haven't taken responsibility for the messes that are man-made.... and there are many of them. Why would this be Gods fault?

That's why I stopped believing in everybody elses God.... the one who I worshiped before I saw how man used His name for their poorly thought out plans. I don't believe in aliens, but could never rule out the possibility that there is more intelligant life beyond our Milky Way. After all, we are only a speck in the vastness of space. That said, I do not believe equally there is a God who sits at the top of the clouds. When I searched for my God, He was no farther than a point to my heart, and the goodness that could be spread from it. I wanted no part of the vengeful Gods positioned in betterment of one another, or the vessels of jerks that peddled what they thought was "the word". I wanted to venture the journey on my own, and feel comfortable with a pleasable God who held no agenda beyond that of doing good deeds.

This past week has been filled with sadness beyond any comprehension. As it joins the long list of senseless acts that man can do to one another, we can only hope that somewhere down the line people will be so disgusted with the carnage, they will seek help (and many meds) to control their psychotic episodes. Too many people have become victims. Too many families have lost a part of their lives.... a part of their hearts. As we learn to heal and overcome the grief.... perhaps we will find ways to overcome the violence.

Only a thought..................