Realizations

Realizations often come when we least expect them. Recently, in the middle of a rehearsal, I had a realization. As the choir was singing about peace, the question, “What’s the point of religion?” popped into my mind. I suppose many people practice a religion to find God, to know and love God, to discover what God wants them to do, and so on. When a person practices a religion, it seems to me they attempt to understand who they are in relation to their God. I realized most religion might be centered on the wrong relationship.

I realized God is not “my God.” I can’t possess God. How could I possibly possess an infinite being? An old hymn declares, “Jesus is mine.” I beg to differ. Maybe I might belong to God, but I don’t think that’s the point. Religions spend an awful lot of time proclaiming that “our God” is awesome or at least better than “their God.” Many people believe their idea of God – their religious conviction – is true, while other beliefs are false, or at least not so good. I realized this is not the point either.

We routinely see those who practice one religion finding fault with those who practice another. World history is punctuated by religious disputes and holy wars. Merely questioning the actions of a religious group can bring charges of discrimination or persecution, as if there isn’t enough actual discrimination and persecution among the religions of the world. And religious people have added to these conflicts. Why is it that religions remain in disunity rather than do whatever it takes to foster unity and harmony? Why do churches multiply by dividing?  The Methodist Church has recently fractured over differences in beliefs. If religion really provides a path to God, the source of all good, why do we fight about it so much?

If religious beliefs do not bring us closer together, it seems to me these beliefs are meaningless, and our religion should be abandoned. If religion cannot help us live and work together in peace, it seems to me it doesn’t matter what we claim to believe about God. In the end, whoever or whatever God is will become evident in the way we treat others. If Protestants hate Catholics, or Jews hate Muslims, or Christians hate non-Christians, their religion is clearly pointless. Wherever the fruit of religion is division, there can be no God.

When I was in high school, my dad told me to be tactful – considerate rather than insensitive. The old saying, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” comes to mind. God is in the way we convince others to work with us, not in the way we try to force them to become like us. And the convincing is usually done by listening, leading by example, giving rather than taking, and becoming the kind of people who, in their treatment of others, show the point of religion. Religion is for people, not God. He doesn’t need it. We do. “The kingdom of God is within you,” the master said. Perhaps the point of religion is not some kind of metaphysical relationship with God, but our relationships with one another.