What is Religion?

Today I decided to talk about something that can be a very touchy subject for some but it is something I have seen over and over again scrolling through blogs….. Religion.

I should start off by saying that I did not grow up with any sort of religion. My knowledge of God was a man that lived in the sky and sometimes people talked to him when they were sad or scared. I had two books about God. One was on his love and how much he loved everybody the second was about Noah’s arc. I truly just thought they were stories just like my green eggs and ham. I wasn’t really introduced to the concept of God until I was 8 years old. After some unfortunate events between my parents my dad and I moved in with my grandmother. She wasn’t religious either but she did have a relationship with a higher power. She brought me to church every once in a while and even then I still did not really understand much when it came to God. I just really enjoyed the music.

Fast Forward to my high school years. I had grasped that God was a big deal and that he made everything happen. As a teenage girl that gave me someone to blame. I remember trying to pray and it was really emotional for me. I would cry and beg and cry and beg. And then I would be more upset because I didn’t get instant gratification. So for me God was just someone to blame. After I got sent to a temporary foster home my feelings started to change and I was introduced to a religion for the first time in my life. My foster parents were catholic and went to church every Sunday. I chose to go with them out of curiosity because all I had heard about Catholic Church was that they were strict and mean. But my foster parents were the most amazing people I had ever met so I wanted in to their life. As I walked into this church they gave me all the instructions. And I have to say I loved it. I still didn’t understand most of it but I loved the structure and the consistency. Coming from a life that was so chaotic and walking into something so sturdy feeling I loved it.

Fast forward to my 20s once again I had gone through a bit of a rough patch. I was homeless and pretty alone. I was introduced to some people who didn’t teach me religion. They taught me spirituality and it saved my life. I still don’t know much about religion. I just know that there is a power greater than myself. I found a lot of comfort in having a God. I have not defined God or have even tried to figure out anything about him. I don’t want to over think or complicate it. I just know that God is watching over me and wants me to be a good person. I have nothing against religion I actually find it a very good thing because that is how others have found God and I think that is amazing. Every religion has someone that has given it a bad name. That is one person! I have met many people from many different religious backgrounds and they have been some of the nicest kindest hearted people I have met.

What I choose to believe or what others choose to believe is their choice and not for anybody else to try to decide for them.