Spin your labels

Working in a grocery store, we always tell partners to spin their labels. What this means is for them to make sure that that cans at the shelf edge have the label facing out towards the customer. I thought this would be an interesting title since I’m continuing my thoughts on labeling and religion.

I remember the last time I started listening to religious music (think rock/praise not hymns) my wife asked me if I was going to start back down that path and I can see her asking me that again. I thought to myself, “listening to Christian music doesn’t make me anymore of a Christian than listening to metal makes me a devil worshipper or listening to rap makes me a gun-toting, crack-selling, cop-killer. Word!”

If I had a choice in being labeled, which we rarely do since we don’t get to label ourselves, I would want to be labeled dependable, loyal, bold, and a familyman. We can influence how others label us through our actions and choices: the way we talk, the clothes we wear, the people we associate with…choices.

Filtering My Faith

As I continue to listen to KSBJ, I notice that I am not really focused on the music and my mind roams freely. It’s as if I am filtering what I am listening to based on what I am interested in. Currently, my interest lies in self-growth and human relations.

I find it odd how people can easily be misjudged. You can have someone who is a total jerk 6 days a week and pulls out their religion, like a coat, and wears it on Sunday. You can also have the Atheist who donates his time and money to charities and helps others in need. In the end, the Atheist will be mislabeled a Christian, when in fact the “Christian” has been mislabeled.

This statement is not all inclusive, but quite a few Christians I have known, I would rather have never met. My ex-wife’s parents are a prime example of this. They were devout Baptist and always preached about God’s hand in their lives, but they were the first ones to turn their back on family and friends when things didn’t fit into their cookie-cutter version of religion. Religion teaches us about love and forgiveness…I guess they were sick that Sunday.

Where Religion Failed Me..or did I fail it?

For the longest time, I have told people that my religion was on hold; meaning that I still held some beliefs but was no longer practicing. I love how people practice religion and practice medicine, a true testament that there are some things that we will never master, but I digress.

I was watching Kingdom of Heaven recently (because I like Orlando Bloom and the time period it was set in, as I like history) and it somehow prompted me to search out the Christian radio station. I was listening to it yesterday and the top 20 countdown and not much registered with me. However, this morning while taking Leo to school they were talking about emotional hoarding and another topic about making your spouse laugh.

While driving back home, I was thinking that I wanted to go back and read Paul’s letter to Corinth and Thessali because they offer really good advice on how to interact with one another. As my mind wandered, I realized that the bible is full of good advice, even I do not hold it as 100% historical fact.

Another odd fact that I realized was that most people, myself previously included, are fine with religion until some major catastrophe, then they want someone (God) to atone for the wrong they have had done to them. The oddity here is that religion doesn’t work that way. The supreme being doesn’t have to answer to its underlings.

My faith was on shaky ground after the passing of my father. It spurned further after reading the DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. The books themselves didn’t damage my faith, it just showed me that I wasn’t the only one with those kind of questions. I still believe the Camerlengo’s speech about religion is flawed, but at its heart it is there to comfort and serve the community. Think about it, strip out all inconsistencies, scandals, and money funneling and the church is about helping people emotionally.