The Missionary [by Laura]
I was coming home from work earlier this week when a boy sat next to me in the bus; he was dressed in a neat white collar shirt and straight black trousers; I think I knew what he was even before he started talking. Earlier in life I would have been intimidated by someone who wanted to talk about something very personal to me, but this boy radiated such innocence and calm that I was intrigued to continue the conversation.
I was almost sorry when I had to get off at my stop.
He asked me a set of questions - do I believe in God? What is the purpose of life? Have I ever seeked a meaning to my existence or looked for God? Have I ever tried talking to God? Spirituality or faith are nobody else's business, so I regretted that we were in a crowded bus instead of somewhere more appropriate for such a conversation.
I told him that for now, I've settled for 'quiet disbelief' and he repeated the words after me, seemed to be amused or amazed at the thought - maybe just the choice of words.
My problem with God, gods, faith, or spirituality is not the actual ideas, but with the institutionalising of them. When things get written down they become inflexible – in the hearts and minds of men they start to represent an absolute truth; something solid and unchangeable. In my heart I know this is not what religion should be about.
And yet, don't get me wrong; religion can be the saviour the church would have you believe it is – my own step-brother was what you could call a lost soul before he found God. He's now a priest, and happily married; I haven't spoken to him for a long time, but I have the feeling that he is happy and at peace with the world and that can only be a good thing.
While I was talking to this golden-haired, befreckled boy in the bus, I felt that he was indeed a 'child at heart' in the sense the Bible teaches, and it was truly a beautiful thing.
And yet I couldn't help but wonder if his faith was coming from the heart; or whether he was just living by a book, taught to him by his church and his family. Did he come to this faith by truly finding a god, or merely by external initiation? What made him leave home to come to Denmark to share the message of his Lord, Jesus Christ the Saviour?
These days people tend to forget how important it is to have a dialogue with representatives of different ideologies; people who have their heart open for a discussion without trying to sell their ideals to you; people who believe in what they feel is true, even when it is completely different to what you believe. The key to peace is not in agreement, but in understanding.
I'm not sure if the encounter with the missionary was a random one; it set me thinking about spirituality and the things I actually do believe in. In a way, his mission was successful, even if my conclusion wasn't the one he was hoping for.
Do I believe in God? No.
I don't believe that there is a conscious entity of divine proportions out there who has capacity for love and judgement.
My own spirituality – though still fragile – is based on what my own heart has experienced. I would say I believe in the capacity of the common person to live in harmony with their surroundings and accomplish happiness not through achievements but through personal evolution. But those are just fancy words for saying 'I believe in life.'
* * *
Although otherwise common as muck, Laura claims the title of the Queen of Procrastination. She's also an expatriate Finn who spends most of the time inside her own head - out of which the words overflow on their own accord. Any resemblance to coherence is therefore purely coincidental.
I was almost sorry when I had to get off at my stop.
He asked me a set of questions - do I believe in God? What is the purpose of life? Have I ever seeked a meaning to my existence or looked for God? Have I ever tried talking to God? Spirituality or faith are nobody else's business, so I regretted that we were in a crowded bus instead of somewhere more appropriate for such a conversation.
I told him that for now, I've settled for 'quiet disbelief' and he repeated the words after me, seemed to be amused or amazed at the thought - maybe just the choice of words.
My problem with God, gods, faith, or spirituality is not the actual ideas, but with the institutionalising of them. When things get written down they become inflexible – in the hearts and minds of men they start to represent an absolute truth; something solid and unchangeable. In my heart I know this is not what religion should be about.
And yet, don't get me wrong; religion can be the saviour the church would have you believe it is – my own step-brother was what you could call a lost soul before he found God. He's now a priest, and happily married; I haven't spoken to him for a long time, but I have the feeling that he is happy and at peace with the world and that can only be a good thing.
While I was talking to this golden-haired, befreckled boy in the bus, I felt that he was indeed a 'child at heart' in the sense the Bible teaches, and it was truly a beautiful thing.
And yet I couldn't help but wonder if his faith was coming from the heart; or whether he was just living by a book, taught to him by his church and his family. Did he come to this faith by truly finding a god, or merely by external initiation? What made him leave home to come to Denmark to share the message of his Lord, Jesus Christ the Saviour?
These days people tend to forget how important it is to have a dialogue with representatives of different ideologies; people who have their heart open for a discussion without trying to sell their ideals to you; people who believe in what they feel is true, even when it is completely different to what you believe. The key to peace is not in agreement, but in understanding.
I'm not sure if the encounter with the missionary was a random one; it set me thinking about spirituality and the things I actually do believe in. In a way, his mission was successful, even if my conclusion wasn't the one he was hoping for.
Do I believe in God? No.
I don't believe that there is a conscious entity of divine proportions out there who has capacity for love and judgement.
My own spirituality – though still fragile – is based on what my own heart has experienced. I would say I believe in the capacity of the common person to live in harmony with their surroundings and accomplish happiness not through achievements but through personal evolution. But those are just fancy words for saying 'I believe in life.'
Although otherwise common as muck, Laura claims the title of the Queen of Procrastination. She's also an expatriate Finn who spends most of the time inside her own head - out of which the words overflow on their own accord. Any resemblance to coherence is therefore purely coincidental.
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