Hello! And Welcome to this part of my world!

I see you are an explorer of Life's Mystery too! I have had a few people question the "Mystery" part. They have said "Shouldn't it be Mysteries?". My response to that is there is only one Mystery. Our existance. If we knew that answer there would be no more questions.

I have spent a good portion of my life reading and studying religion, looking for clues to this great mystery. I consider myself to be a very open minded, God fearing, life loving person. You know, I had christian there, instead of person. If I had to chose, I would have to say I try hard to follow the example I feel Jesus left. My opinions however of Jesus' teaching tend to differ broadly from those of modern day christians. Infact, I find myself very ashamed of the way christianity has split itself into several fighting factions. That's why I changed it.

What I am going to try to do here is explain my thoughts and beliefs on this whole issue.

I will try to "categorize" my thoughts for you as we go. First my thoughts on God in general. In the near future you can look for thoughts on these topics:

I think God has offered us several teachers throughout history. "Good" (Vishnu, Lao Tzu, Buhhda, Jesus, Mohammed, Martin Luther King JR, etc) and "Bad" (Shiva, Kahn, Satan, Hitler, Johnson, etc.). You have to have them both. Infact one would not exist without the other. I am a firm believer in balance. So we have good forces and bad forces, all working in harmony under Gods direction moving existance along to whatever the heck God has in store for us next. Trouble is, only God knows what that is.

And that is where most people get stuck. They want you to believe that they know what God has in store for YOU. And only by believing in the way they present past events, and even some future events, will you be assured God's mercy. Well, to me Jesus spent his short time on Earth preaching just the opposite. Everyone is granted God's mercy. Whether your a begger or a theif, a jew or a buddist. If you seek God, you WILL find him. No matter where you look, God is everywhere. Not just with the Jews, or Catholics, or Baptists, or Buddists, or Hindus, or Muslims, or Mormans. I could go on and on with the exclusive rights club.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think there are pleanty of good God fearing people who are wrapped up in many of the faiths listed above. Infact, a thought had once crossed my mind that religion was itself some sort or evolutionary learning process. When you were ready for the next step, maybe you came back as a monk or something. My current thoughts about time kind of blow that theory, but that is another debate to be posted soon! What is important is the fact that whatever belief you chose, they still all believe in God. Even Satanism. People who worship Satan believe that he is the son of God, and one with God as Christians believe that Jesus is. Hindus while worshiping many "subgods" (much like the Catholic Saints) still believe in only one true God whom they call Brahman. I don't understand why people who truely believe there is only one God can't see that he is the ONE in all religion. We just tend to look at him differently. If anything I have learned that to be true.

As for agnositcs, I think many of them are just put off by the nasty taste organized religion has left in the mouth of humanity over the last 2000 years. Some are a little spiritual even though they don't want to admit it. This, in my opinion is just another choice. Eventually you will get tired of not getting anywhere and come to your senses. God is everywhere and everything.

The New Age movement has brought a few back to divine thinking. But there are still those who refuse to admit that there is life after death. Or even that there is LIFE in everything around them. Even in your monitor that you are looking at right now. You and that machine have the very same itsybity tiny particles called atoms. Sure, those atoms are arranged so differently that they produce very different molecules, which in turn create very different products, but they are still basically the same. Our protons and electrons just buzz around at a different speed than those of a tree or a machine. We have only begun to understand our little corner of the universe but we know that it is a very precise working organism, made up of the very same tiny atomic particles found in each and every one of us. With all of it's chaotic appearence, life has quite a cosmic order.

God, I believe is that Cosmic Designer. From that point on, only he knows the reasoning for what has become of things. Who knows... maybe we were actually an accident! Maybe his intent was to make an energy source, the universe, and life was created. Maybe he saw that with this new form, he could manipulate it's density into forms and shapes that pleased him, and at the same time create even more energy to funnel into the greater cause. Who knows!

Whatever your belief, God's wish is just that you respect life, in all of the forms he has given it. That includes respecting yourself as well. You are his most precious posession. We are told in almost all forms of religion that God created man in his own image. I believe it was his intent for us to experience the joy of physical reality the earth provides with it's material state. Perhaps it is something not experienced in Infinity, who knows. Just be thankful that God has given you that chance, and show his respect to others. Yes, you are your brother's keeper. And your sister's, and your Mother and Father's.