Today, being Good Friday, had I still been steeped in the religion of my childhood, I’d be taking my family to church tonight for a special Good Friday Service (death of Christ) , then to church again tomorrow (Sabbath) (Christ in the grave) , then another service Sunday evening (Christ is risen). Such are the traditions and rituals of the religion of my parents and extended family. But since I am not a member of any church as I no longer believe in religion, I will be observing this Holy time in my own special way.
I’ve taken the day off from work and munchkin has no school, but she will go to daycare which will allow me to hit the gym, tackle a few chores then pick her up early.
I plan to read her a few stories about this Holy time as I’ve just purchased her a children’s Bible (illustrations and an easy to understand version of the actual bible). I also plan on doing a bit of meditation as I ponder the sacrifice God made when He offered up His only son as atonement for our transgressions. Then Jesus, my thoughts are on Him the most. All He ever did was love us with His whole heart: healing, teaching, leading us by example, never once claiming to be His father, God, for He knew He was but one part of the God-head — the Son, God’s right hand. He was the sacrifice. His life was the price to be paid for all the wrong we ever did. How unfair! But oh what a blessing…
Jesus, during His time on earth, was only concerned with one thing, bringing us all together and pointing us to His father. There was no religion, the only requirement was to acknowledge that there was only one God, to leave everything behind (our old life), follow Him (living a new life), and to be baptized (ritual/act symbolizing the transformation from old to new life). Religion is therefore man made…
There is no mention of religion in the Bible, Torah, Qur’an, or any other translation of the Bible.
The following quote from a fellow blogger, Leonard Durso, sums up quite nicely my own thoughts regarding this:
I am not a religious person in the sense that I do not prescribe to a particular religion because religions separate us, too. Recently I was having a conversation with a young woman I respect whose thinking has always impressed me and she said that after reading the Qur’an for the third time in Arabic she found that the word Islam did not appear once, that there was no mention, in other words, of a separate religion but just a belief in the one God others believed in, too. That it was the words of another prophet who followed other prophets trying to direct people in a similar direction of faith as the prophets before him. What she said was so in line with what I have always believed and which I hear others agree with, too. For those of us who believe in God actually believe in the same God and that God would not condone those who try to pervert the words in any of the holy texts people believe in. They all basically say the same thing and that is what should unite us, not keep us apart. And leaders who try to pit us against each other are not on the side of any God I know of.
– Leonard Durso-
The excerpt above is from a more detailed post. See full post here:
http://wp.me/p3m9V9-1Bs
In closing, during this Holy time, may we unite in the knowledge that God is love. Without Him we would not exist. Without His son, Jesus, becoming the ultimate sacrifice, we would still be required to build alters and offer up burnt offerings as sacrifices for our wrong doings. What a grueling, heinous task that must have been! I for one am glad those rituals are no longer necessary. Moreover, I’m elated that I can now communicate directly with God for the veil separating us from Him was torn the day Jesus hung on the cross. Priests or holy intermediaries are no longer needed, we can now just pray to God as Jesus taught us knowing He will hear our prayers.
However you choose to celebrate this Holy time, remember to love each other and unite in the blessings and mercy bestowed upon us by God through the ultimate sacrifice, His son, Jesus Christ. We don’t deserve His love, but He loves us anyway. I’m humbled just knowing this and I hope to never forget it.
Please note, I deliberately omitted texts as references because I want to encourage you to do your own research.
Thanks as always for stopping by. The song below, Don’t Deserve You, really reflects the message of this post and that of this Holy celebration. Happy Easter, enjoy!
Hugs,
A.
Contents written: March 23 2016. Edited March 24 2016 | ©2016 Moylom Enterprises
Moylom Art Studio 