When you move to the South, one of the questions that you will be asked is, “What church do you go to”? The answer that I most often gave was, “I’m a recovering Catholic”. You may be surprised to find out that that answer usually ends the conversation about religion. I guess most people don’t know where to take the conversation from there.
It turns out that I’m not the only one who identifies as a recovering Catholic. I am a member of a Facebook group by the same name. There doesn’t seem to be much activity in the group these days. That’s understandable, I guess. I lost my religion, ironically, while I was attending an all-boys, Jesuit run high school. I am a product of Catholic education, grade school through college, and no amount of indoctrination could keep me from leaving it all behind.
It wasn’t until much later in my life that I found something to replace my religion with and that is what I call spirituality. Spirituality most likely has a little different meaning for everyone, so I won’t try to define it here. When I think of the word spiritual, I am not restricted by any specific religious dogma. I am not held back by concepts that are thousands of years old. A lot has happened in the last two or three thousand years and I believe it is time to move forward in our beliefs about who we are and why we are here.
I have written a short booklet about the journey one takes when they decide to question their religious beliefs. This is often referred to as Deconstruction. The length of time it takes to complete the journey is different for everyone. For me it took almost three decades. I’m sure others complete the journey in a much shorter period of time. At some point we start our Reconstruction. We start to accept new belifs. The journey can be filled with some surprises, and it can be a relatively lonely one.
It is my hope that this short booklet, “Losing My Religion”, will help support individuals who find themselves on that journey. I hope that it will provide some amount of encouragement to those who are encountering obstacles. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There are others who have traveled this same journey. It is worth the effort.
The booklet is available free of charge on my website, www.MichaelGLove.com . I invite you to download the booklet and read it at your convenience. You will notice that there is a second booklet, “Embracing My Spirituality”, which is also available as a free download, which is really the next part of the journey. This booklet describes how to go about remembering the reality of your greatness. You are more than you think you are. It helps you to open your heart to the love that we all are.
Comments