The race to the bottom of the box (a prize)!

It's Saturday again.

I'm at my parent's house resting.

I've done a lot of thinking this week, and especially over the past few days.

I'm supposed to be preparing for my debut at a coffee shop poetry night, but can't seem to find the proper inspiration.

Nonetheless, I kind of feel like just posting a little something, so that I stay prolific. Maybe in free forming a blog will help me find the muse required to get something else written... probably not, but you never know!

Lately, I have been really thinking about what it means to be a Christian. I experience a lot of literature from this particular faith tradition: books, blogs, songs, music, sermons, and even Facebook status updates. It is everywhere, every turn of the page, every click of the mouse there is something talking about the Christian ideology.

I know there is an ebb and flow to life, and we are all journeying towards the grave (like discussed last week), but how we get there is kind of important to me: I want to live a good life; I want to be a good person; I want to make a difference in the world; and I, sometimes, think it would be cool to experience an afterlife. However, the big question is, who defines those things? Who says what it takes to be a good person? Who decides if somebody is a good person or not? Who says we can even effect the flow of life?

Even underneath the umbrella of Christianity, nobody really agrees about these things. You can isolate any single denominational stance, and they still don't agree on anything. There are at least 5 different types of Lutherans; Catholics all over the place; Calvinists; Pentecostals; Anabaptist; Southern Baptist; Methodist; Quakers; American Baptist; Creationists; Scientific Christians; and the list really goes on forever.

I mean, arguably, at the core of these sects should be the same beliefs, but I'm really sure that's the case either. To a bigger point, I kind of find myself questioning [again] whether the faith system makes sense.

How does a bastardization of an older faith tradition, non-parallel stories, and a violent repulsion of violence and injustice add up to a logical system of worship? It doesn't.

I just read a blog at Shoplifting in a Ghost Town that painted a very disturbing picture of the faith tradition that I have subscribed to for a good deal of my life.

In America, a lot of the problems we face are due to a allusive Christian agenda being lived out through our society. Fight me about it if you think you can, but it's all over the place. We segregate, murder, defile, oppress and deport in the name of a god that supposedly loves us, and everybody else....

I don't know. I'm at a very difficult place at this particular moment, and I don't really feel like ranting one way or another. Just know that I'm thinking and am willing to discuss things!

Life is a journey, and figuring out how to get to the prize at the bottom of the box is the entire battle! Can't we fight together?

-Andy J. Graves