Spirituality ...

eIn the weekly therapy sessions I am doing, spirituality is something my counselor is having me consider.

Sometimes, when one is reluctant to believe in, rely on, trust, etc., a higher power, it can be due to confusion between "God, the Father," and one's earthly father.  Conflicts with dad can produce conflicts with God, whoever or whatever that concept may be.

For me, that could indeed be the case, or at least a part of the problem. I've been exposed to so much contradictory information throughout my life that my spiritual beliefs are mostly a big mess.

Just the other day, I came across a copy of the Bible's New Testament. A little miniature copy. I've been planning to ready the entire Bible, just to see what happens. Maybe I'll have some sort of spiritual awakening.

Well, hell  -- no pun intended -- I couldn't get past the first pages of Matthew, where it talks about all the ancestors of Jesus.

Ancestors of Jesus?

So Jesus had brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, all that?

But wait a minute ...

Jesus is really God, right? In human form, sent to Earth to save poor, pitiful, sinful mankind. So that means that God has brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, all that? Huh?

See what I mean?

I saw an excellent cartoon the other day -- Jesus was knocking at someone's door. The people inside asked what he wanted. Jesus said:

"To come inside."

"Why?"

"To save you."

"Save us from what?"

"From what is going to happen to you, if you don't let me in."

That illustrates pretty damn well the fundamental problem I have with Christianity, which is the only major religion I've ever really been exposed to. The whole Jesus story makes no sense to me. If such a thing is God's plan, as so many Christians say, it's a damn strange plan.