My Theology 101

Spirituality & Theology are topics that have interested me for quite some time now. Whilst I don't - and don't plan to - subscribe to any one religion I think a lot can be learned from them all.

I attended a Church of England primary school, and whilst I learned a great deal, and still have a love for some of the bible stories, particularly the nativity, I have a big issue with using the work 'God' to describe the higher power that I think I believe in. I guess it's just the connotations of a white-bearded man that doesn't quite cut the mustard for me. And the idea of "god-botherers" and "bible-bashers". This is a massive sweeping generalisation but I guess there aren't too many people out there really who give religion a good name when it comes down to it.

However at secondary school I was pretty intrigued with Judaism & Buddhism, and used to bother our lovely Religious Education teacher Mr Gent with loads of questions. He informed me that I couldn't "just become" a jew, but he did sort out a visit to a Buddhist temple for my best friend & I (which I found hugely disappointing as it was just a house in Shirley, and the people there weren't even advocating vegetarianism they banged on about the wheel & the steps, which at our young age were HUGELY confusing!)

Not deterred on my one-woman mission a few years later I found myself investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (or Mormons as you may know them), quite possibly because the elders they sent around to my house to talk to me were fit. Hey, I'm a marketing & sales girl at heart, if you send the fit charismatic ones around people will always listen harder! Needless to say once I got down to the details of some of their views (let's just say they have an interesting take on homosexuality for one) we soon parted company. Oh, and they marry them off young, so I had a lucky escape ;-D

For the last couple of years I have been really interested in the New Age theories, and they seem to resonate most strongly with me as the truth, from my personal experience as well as the theory. They can get a bad name from too many lentil eating tie-dye wearers at festivals drugged up to their eyeballs spouting on about how "the universe can save itself" but as I said before there will always be people who give these things a bad name. However, when it comes down to it though a lot of our very finest minds, like Einstein, Da Vinci & Jung were New Agers.

A quote that really resonates with me is: "Like the bee gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions" - Srimad Bhagavatam. I like that.

As I've previously mentioned in August I stayed in a Zen Buddhist temple for 2 weeks. It was an interesting experience, and whilst I didn't agree with a lot of the ritual, I learned a lot about meditation, living consciously & humility. Which I've definitely transferred across into my 'real world'

So today is the start of Ramadan. This is the Islamic month of fasting, in which Muslims abstain from eating, drinking & sensual pleasures from sunrise until sunset. There are a whole host of other things that are banned such as being disrespectful, cruel & selfish, in order to promote a physical & spiritual purification. They are also encouraged to read the whole of the Qur'an during this month and donate to worthy causes. The benefits of this process are seen as increased compassion for the necessities of life, self-purification, reflection & increased focus on spirituality. So I have decided to also observe this fast myself. I have made a couple of adjustments though, I will be drinking water & herbal teas throughout the daylight hours as I'm working in a hot city & think purposely dehydrating myself is a bad move, and I may well drink alcohol a few times after the sun has set, but apart from that I'm going to go for it! It's currently 4.34pm & I'm shocked that I'm not even hungry yet, but generally when I fast my body knows I'm on it's side :-D I may even give the Qur'an a bash. Why not? Wish me luck!!!