merry birthday to me and happy chirstmas to you :O)

I got a forward in my email yesterday. It was said to be written by Ben Stein, a kind of essay on religion and its place in our society. I liked a lot of what it said, didn’t like a lot of other things. So will all respect to the great Ben Stein (if he did indeed write it) I’m going to go ahead and pick it apart and share what I thought the highlights were. But first I’ll talk about my problems. It was a little too close to a vengeful god kind of email for me. A little too much, you push god away and what do you expect. I believe in a loving and merciful god. I also believe that things in this world are happening for reasons that some of us won’t live to see. The purpose behind the action isn’t revealed to us immediately, that’s why you have to have faith. Otherwise you’re just living in a world with chaos. I can’t tell you why there was hurricane Katrina, but I can tell you it wasn’t to punish the poor people of New Orleans or any other town it destroyed. I can’t tell you why people are dying in the Iraq war, but I can tell you that every single death is teaching us something. And isn’t that ultimately what it’s all about? You leave but your legacy lives on, teaching those of us who remain something about how to live this life. In the email it says “It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year…I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?... Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.”
These are the parts of the email that I like. The reminders that it’s ok to have religion, it’s ok to believe in god, however you see him/her. That the common thread of having a religion, any religion you like, is something that tied our ancestors together. I went to an adult ed session at my church last weekend where they talked about church sociology and how the number of people in this country(and all over the world) that attend church (or temple or the mosque or any kind of religious gathering weekly) is dramatically going down. And I wonder how much of that is our society- like it says above, it’s ok to worship Nick and Jessica but not god. And I wonder about why this is true, when it became such a bad thing to have a faith. I would be lost without mine. I can easily say that I would not have made it through the past year of my life without my church family. I’m not sure really what I’m saying in this post, but if you stuck with it this far then thanks :O) I hope you have a fantastic December 21. I happen to be turning 27 today, so I know I will have a great day. Lots of love to you, peace r