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I am a Christian, though I don't currently have a denomination. Up until yesterday, I considered myself Catholic. Our pastor had said yesterday that religion isn't some Golden Corral buffet where you pick and choose little bits of different belief systems; to consider yourself a member of a particular religion, you have to accept all of their beliefs. So, I was sitting in the pew, thinking "you know, I have a few hang-ups with the Catholic church, perhaps it's not right to call myself Catholic at this time." However, that's not what brought me here; I signed up to this site because I have to take a break from non-Christian websites. Now That is something I should probably go into more detail about 
A few years ago, I heard a few fellow parishioners say "it's easy to talk about love and acceptance when you're surrounded by people of the same belief system, but it's a little more difficult to do so with people you don't see eye to eye with. You don't have to accept a person's belief system to accept and love the person." Now, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop,but I have ears like a bat Anyway, I was driving home and thought "Does that ring true in my life, are there a group of people I have a hang-up with?" Of course I had an instant answer, but it was a little harder admitting it to myself. It's sometimes difficult (at least for me ) to admit to myself that I'm a work in progress. But getting back on track, those people , for me, are the "spiritual but not religious" crowd. I wouldn't say I hate them or anyone else, but I don't want to hear about magic talismans, psychic readings, tarot cards, Ouija boards, astral projection, or how the universe itself is trying to evolve humanity into beings that can travel through space and time just with the power of their mind. What agitated me the most was phrases like "I used quartz to cleanse my aura and chakras". I'd like to stop for a minute to tell you a little mini-story pertaining to why statements like that grate my nerves.
Years ago,I was at the county fair with my wife ( girlfriend at that point ) when I saw these little minerals ( or gemstones in layman's terms) with what looked like nature scenes painted on them, called picture jasper and scenic agate. I remember stopping and telling the merchant "Dude, you're an amazing artist! These stones look like real photographs of forests and deserts and stuff!". The merchant told me "Son, the praise goes to God and nature. These scenes are created by dendrites and the earth shifting. All I do is cut and polish them." So, I bought a few, and on the way home I told God " The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive. I do the best to do my part, but YOU are so giving that even the ground we walk on is capable of creating such beautiful works of art. Every day for as far back as I can remember, you've never ceased to amaze me!" God must have heard me, because a friend who's an auctioneer came up to me a few days later. He had with him boxes upon boxes of raw, uncut gemstones that didn't sell at auction for some reason. Man, I was happier than a pig in slop! I bought a few books ans studied these minerals during my free time, and it became my favorite pastime. Years later, my wife jokingly said "I'm not much of a person to stereotype, I knew from the moment I saw you that you weren't just another rude, crude, multi-tattooed sailor (though I Am a Navy veteran ), and I knew from the moment I heard you speak that you just weren't some big, dumb, blonde farm boy ( I did grow up on a farm though, lol ). However, I never in a million years thought you'd get so much enjoyment out of looking at sparkly rocks, it's too bad that you couldn't somehow make a career out of your pastime." She was joking, but little did she know that I could indeed make a career out of my hobby, I've studied to become a gemologist/gemologist appraiser for the last few years. My point in this story is that I have held every mineral you could possibly imagine (as well as some that the general public are unfamiliar with ) for years, and I have never once heard one tell me anything, and the only thing that I ever felt was a deeper appreciation for the gifts that God gives us. So it really agitated me to hear hippy dippy, voodoo statements about the gifts God's given us like "Wow man, this gemstone so completely matches the color of my soul aura, it's totally opened my third eye."
Ok, back to why I'm here. It didn't really dawn on me that I had such a strong prejudice until I stopped to think about why statements like the above "Wow man, this gemstone so completely matches the color of my soul aura, it's totally opened my third eye chakra" agitate me so badly. God and Jesus are infinite love. They love and accept even those who mock or don't even believe in them. So, perhaps it was time to get off my high horse, just because I don't accept a person's belief system doesn't mean I shouldn't love a person as a person. I'm not xenophobic, homophobic, Judeophobic ; why should I make an exception for Wiccans, mystics, or anything else of that nature? So, I've spent the last year or two on non-Christian websites, reading about Twinflames, astral projection, kundalini awakenings. I can't lie, I've had to tell myself many times "you don't have to accept the beliefs to accept the person". Jesus didn't just sit in a circle with the apostles, so that they could have conversations that they could all agree with each other about. Granted, I'm unfit to even shake the sand out of Jesus's sandals, but I want to be...hmm, maybe open-minded is the wrong words.... open-hearted, maybe?
I've tried my absolute best to give those people the courtesy of at least reading what they have to say. But last night, a person was telling me in that chat room that she had spent the last four hours in an astral doctors office because the unborn dragons she found in the astral realm were suffering from internal bleeding due to her accidentally overfeeding them, and a little voice in my head spoke up "I can't do this anymore, I need a break. I can't tell if these people are for real, or they're fantasy roleplaying, or they're so lonely that they're crying out for attention any way they can, but I can't stomach any more of it for a while." Jesus knows I've tried my best, for over a year. But I've read everything from people claiming to be alien/angel hybrids to reincarnations of Saints and angels, a few women even claimed to be my wives from past lives. So, I signed up here because I needed a break from that other stuff. I'd like to read more about how God and Jesus touch the lives of others, instead of the stuff I've read for the last year.
Thank you for reading my mini-novel
Tumbleweed
A few years ago, I heard a few fellow parishioners say "it's easy to talk about love and acceptance when you're surrounded by people of the same belief system, but it's a little more difficult to do so with people you don't see eye to eye with. You don't have to accept a person's belief system to accept and love the person." Now, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop,but I have ears like a bat
Anyway, I was driving home and thought "Does that ring true in my life, are there a group of people I have a hang-up with?" Of course I had an instant answer, but it was a little harder admitting it to myself. It's sometimes difficult (at least for me ) to admit to myself that I'm a work in progress. But getting back on track, those people , for me, are the "spiritual but not religious" crowd. I wouldn't say I hate them or anyone else, but I don't want to hear about magic talismans, psychic readings, tarot cards, Ouija boards, astral projection, or how the universe itself is trying to evolve humanity into beings that can travel through space and time just with the power of their mind. What agitated me the most was phrases like "I used quartz to cleanse my aura and chakras". I'd like to stop for a minute to tell you a little mini-story pertaining to why statements like that grate my nerves.Years ago,I was at the county fair with my wife ( girlfriend at that point ) when I saw these little minerals ( or gemstones in layman's terms) with what looked like nature scenes painted on them, called picture jasper and scenic agate. I remember stopping and telling the merchant "Dude, you're an amazing artist! These stones look like real photographs of forests and deserts and stuff!". The merchant told me "Son, the praise goes to God and nature. These scenes are created by dendrites and the earth shifting. All I do is cut and polish them." So, I bought a few, and on the way home I told God " The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive. I do the best to do my part, but YOU are so giving that even the ground we walk on is capable of creating such beautiful works of art. Every day for as far back as I can remember, you've never ceased to amaze me!" God must have heard me, because a friend who's an auctioneer came up to me a few days later. He had with him boxes upon boxes of raw, uncut gemstones that didn't sell at auction for some reason. Man, I was happier than a pig in slop! I bought a few books ans studied these minerals during my free time, and it became my favorite pastime. Years later, my wife jokingly said "I'm not much of a person to stereotype, I knew from the moment I saw you that you weren't just another rude, crude, multi-tattooed sailor (though I Am a Navy veteran ), and I knew from the moment I heard you speak that you just weren't some big, dumb, blonde farm boy ( I did grow up on a farm though, lol ). However, I never in a million years thought you'd get so much enjoyment out of looking at sparkly rocks, it's too bad that you couldn't somehow make a career out of your pastime." She was joking, but little did she know that I could indeed make a career out of my hobby, I've studied to become a gemologist/gemologist appraiser for the last few years. My point in this story is that I have held every mineral you could possibly imagine (as well as some that the general public are unfamiliar with ) for years, and I have never once heard one tell me anything, and the only thing that I ever felt was a deeper appreciation for the gifts that God gives us. So it really agitated me to hear hippy dippy, voodoo statements about the gifts God's given us like "Wow man, this gemstone so completely matches the color of my soul aura, it's totally opened my third eye."
Ok, back to why I'm here. It didn't really dawn on me that I had such a strong prejudice until I stopped to think about why statements like the above "Wow man, this gemstone so completely matches the color of my soul aura, it's totally opened my third eye chakra" agitate me so badly. God and Jesus are infinite love. They love and accept even those who mock or don't even believe in them. So, perhaps it was time to get off my high horse, just because I don't accept a person's belief system doesn't mean I shouldn't love a person as a person. I'm not xenophobic, homophobic, Judeophobic ; why should I make an exception for Wiccans, mystics, or anything else of that nature? So, I've spent the last year or two on non-Christian websites, reading about Twinflames, astral projection, kundalini awakenings. I can't lie, I've had to tell myself many times "you don't have to accept the beliefs to accept the person". Jesus didn't just sit in a circle with the apostles, so that they could have conversations that they could all agree with each other about. Granted, I'm unfit to even shake the sand out of Jesus's sandals, but I want to be...hmm, maybe open-minded is the wrong words.... open-hearted, maybe?
I've tried my absolute best to give those people the courtesy of at least reading what they have to say. But last night, a person was telling me in that chat room that she had spent the last four hours in an astral doctors office because the unborn dragons she found in the astral realm were suffering from internal bleeding due to her accidentally overfeeding them, and a little voice in my head spoke up "I can't do this anymore, I need a break. I can't tell if these people are for real, or they're fantasy roleplaying, or they're so lonely that they're crying out for attention any way they can, but I can't stomach any more of it for a while." Jesus knows I've tried my best, for over a year. But I've read everything from people claiming to be alien/angel hybrids to reincarnations of Saints and angels, a few women even claimed to be my wives from past lives. So, I signed up here because I needed a break from that other stuff. I'd like to read more about how God and Jesus touch the lives of others, instead of the stuff I've read for the last year.
Thank you for reading my mini-novel
Tumbleweed
