Church - Let me just take a little detour right now from the main road of this story. I haven't really elaborated much about my spiritual journey besides here & there on Twitter.
Confession time(!!!): I have not been to church in nearly a year now. Initially, my explanation was that I was overwhelmed by school and extensive traveling for work. But eventually, other questions began to enter into my mind which have led me deep into a rabbit's hole, if you will (perhaps in another post I will elaborate on how I got there).
But let me just say that was interesting being back in a church; listening to the ministers' interpretations of the scriptures...hearing the cries of exaltation and exhortation...seeing the cross, and being reminded of the one I had tattooed on my right shoulder blade 2 years ago. With all that I have been reading over the past year regarding history, and science, and spirituality...finding myself back in this place once again. It all was familiar, yet foreign. I was familiar with the worship songs. I did not feel uncomfortable. I felt like an observer. I looked around at the faces of all the people. I saw loving people. Educated people. Wise people. In the back of my mind however I saw and heard the word 'indoctrination'. How could I think of such a word at a moment like this? I think it was my brain's attempt to acknowledge the false dichotomy between Christianity and other forms of spirituality (but that's another story). Nonetheless I intently listened to every word preached with hopes of gleaning a message, because I still believe that every experience has a purpose.
On the drive home I thought that maybe the purpose of this experience was to help me realize how everything has come full circle. I mean everything is coming full circle: even the planets are at or near their original positions when I was born.
So here I am back at the place I once started on my spiritual journey. And in a few months I will find myself back at another place: leaving one decade of this life of mine and entering a new one. As I take the time to reflect on where I've been, I am reminded of the sense of obligation to serve humanity; that life is not all fun & games. Now is the time that I must decide who I want to be, what I want this life to mean, what I want to create, and what I want to leave behind.
From my perspective, life as I once knew it has changed and even greater changes are on the horizon!
