Page 69 - C:\Users\Owner\Documents\Flip PDF Professional\Ellin Dize proof book\

Resolve to love one another in the New Year

December

Author Napoleon Hill was once asked why he belonged to a particular political party.
“Because my father was of that party, of course,” he said.
The inquirer replied, “Does that mean if your father were a horse thief you would be
one, too?”
Usually, we belong to a particular religion for the same reason: Our family was of
that religion. In olden days, everyone in the community walked to the neighborhood
church, which determined their religion and denomination. People like to go where they
know people; many join churches today because a friend invited them to a church supper.
Food seems to bring apprehensive people beyond the church doors.
Things seem to go pretty well until a pastor gives a sermon that troubles the
congregation and starts them wondering about what is taught within the church walls.
Some perceive religion as you either have it or you don’t, and those who go to church
must have it, and those who don’t must not. And once you have it, it’s never supposed to
change or you have lost it.
So is religion a product that you get, or is it a process that you develop as you grow?
Maybe it is a journey, not a destination.
We cannot judge another’s spiritual journey based on our own experiences. Nor
should we pigeonhole others. What we believed as children changes as we mature and
grow in our faith. As society and religious leaders change, so changes the religions.
Some become uncomfortable as modern music is introduced. A Roman Catholic
friend stopped attending church when a guitarist played during Mass. Some lose their
holy feeling when a band is inserted into the service, yet the music change has nothing to
do with the church’s religious beliefs.
A relative said she gets a rush when she sees the priest and altar boys walk down the
center aisle at the beginning of the service. Church envelops all our senses: We taste the
bread and wine at communion; we smell the wooden church pews and fresh flowers; we
hear the organ and hymn singing; we even hear the silence during a meditative prayer; we
feel the ambience of the sanctuary and we see the colorfully uniformed church leaders
and choir. All of this affects our psyche, and we feel holy. We like that good, holy
feeling, yet that has nothing to do with our religion either.
Religious leaders agree that God wants us all to love one another. Let us stop thinking
of what our religion can do for us. Turn it around to thinking how can we start practicing
what most religions propose.
In 2010, let us resolve to put into effect what most religions preach: to love one
another.