No Pain?
You’ve heard the concept “no pain, no gain,” right? It applies to much more than just doing crunches or running marathons. The no pain concept can be applied to most parts of your life, include religion.
What do I mean? Well, to truly get the most out of life, it’s important to go on a spiritual journey, not just have a religion spoon-fed to you. Yes, it’s a lot of trouble. Yes, it takes a long time. However, the reward is a happier, healthier life.
Are you an atheist? If yes, I’m sure you’ve been an attempted convert at least a few times in your life. And, amazingly, that’s a good thing. I’m not against atheism. If it’s what works for you, that’s fine with me. However, what I am against is people who never take the time to consider that God might be real.
At the same time, if you’re religious, I best you’ve been confronted at least once or twice in your life by someone who challenges your views on God. And that’s a God thing too! I’m not against organized religion. I am against people who join a religion before ever considering other possibilities.
Rethinking about religion is difficult, especially if it’s a tradition in your family. No pain, no gain. When you think about how religion affects you and how it can (and cannot) work with your life is crucial. I honestly believe that the Divine wants us to find a way to fit religion into our own lives. That doesn’t mean that religion should be secondary in your life. It shouldn’t always be easy. However, if Christianity doesn’t make sense to you, you shouldn’t be a Christian, even if that’s how you were raised.
Bottom line: don’t give up on religion. When the going gets tough…get going!
atheism, religion, no pain no gain, religion, religious journey
June 12th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
giving up on religion. so the story of how i keep trying to live my life. i keep trying to deny my spirituality, and it just doesn’t work. bah!
good post, gives much hope!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I like the correlation/analogy! I always thought of it as: You won’t get the answers you’re looking for unless you ask questions. But I love the “No pain, no gain” connection.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Health studies have shown that people who are religious, whatever their religion may be, live longer and are less physically impacted by stress. Believing in something beyond our own abilities gives us the freedom to accept our limitations.