God Isn’t Your Ex

I don’t know if there is a god and neither do you.
If there is one though. If a god exists and he is in fact omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, then that is all there is to it.
Because if that kind of God exists, He’s not watching your behavior. He’s witnessing your humanity.

God simply
Doesn’t take attendance
Doesn’t have a meal plan
Doesn’t expect you to sit in a box and confess anything to anyone for any reason
Doesn’t care if you wear white and dunk in water
Doesn’t care if you have sex before marriage
Doesn’t give a shit who you love or why you love them

God wants you to eat
It’s ok if you doubt
You’re allowed to use words, any of them. All of them.
God wants you to feel joy

There is no dress code
God doesn’t think that if you suffer, it means you care more.
You don’t need to memorize words out of a book… any book.
He doesn’t care which building you go into nor on what day you go into it.

Poverty is not a lesson
Abuse is not for the strong

God isn’t jealous… he’s God, not your ex.

Here’s what I know for sure, though. Undoubtedly, 100% and without question.

IF there is a God of any kind. A presence, an omnipotent being that is here with us, ALL that matters is that you do good.
Perfection?
Absolutely not.
But do good. Do the best you can. Be kind when you have the energy for it, and work with what you’ve got.

We are dealt hands in this life. Some of them simply don’t allow for us to follow stringent rules. There are so many that suffer with priorities much higher than covering ankles or keeping kosher. They need to survive.

I don’t know much. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything at all but I also know this.

Whatever your beliefs are, whether they contradict the above or not, I will fight for them. I will stand with you, arms locked, feet firmly on the ground, and protect your right to follow your beliefs because for so many of us, religion means peace, it means answers, it means structure, it means meaning… for so many, there are entire lives lived surrounding belief systems that simply bring joy and connection.

Connection.
Connection.

That is what this is all about. Not just religion, but this. All of this.

This is about connection.

So eat your fucking cheeseburger, masturbate on Sunday morning, and feel free to feel.

Feel outrage when a child gets cancer. There is no greater plan in that. You don’t need to trust that He knows better than we do.
It’s just fucking terrible.

Feel sadness when someone dies.
Anyone. For any reason.
Feel proud of your body and your mind. Express your being in the way that makes you feel most held in this world.

If you want to pray, fucking pray.
If you want to read the bible… read it. Believe in it. Follow it.
Fast if you want. Eat if you want.

Sit in confession and tell the priest all the bad shit you did that week. I hope you feel better when you follow his instructions to absolve you.

All I ask, from one human to another is that you be kind. Understand that for some of us, these rules, books, buildings, and beliefs are all that we have to keep us going. To make sense of it all. Of anything. They are what we have to stay connected and without them, we are lost.

Understand that your beliefs are for you and no one else. Share what you’d like, speak and express freely and love hard. I promise you that you are not here to keep people from hell.

God didn’t put us here to set us up. To test us. To tempt us or to trick us.
We are here because we are.
We exist to feel love, joy, and connection.
I know these things. I know them for myself. And that is the whole point.

This isn’t even really a “piece.”
It’s not supposed to land some profound punch.

It’s just my little religion written down. The stuff I’ve carried for years and finally put into sentences.

What’s funny is that I am trying to end this piece with the sentiment that I want you to disagree with me. I want you to have your own set of beliefs and live by them fervently. I want you to understand that I know nothing… this is all just rambling. They’re the ramblings of beliefs I’ve held for a very long time and am putting on paper because they matter to me.

The sentiment I wanted to end with is that I want you to understand that I support your beliefs too. As long as they don’t hurt anyone.

The problem that I’m having is that I’m lost in these words. I’m lost in direction here. I can’t quite find a ‘landing’ that hits how I want it to and that in itself is the irony of my point.

I’m lost, but I’m doing my best and I know that you are too.