What If

What if the boxes I've so carefully placed my beliefs in have prevented me from seeing the real picture?

I was recently encouraged by a friend to challenge my thinking, question my beliefs, and step outside the boundaries I'd set my thoughts and behavior in.

But how does one do that?

Well, I started by digging down to the root of my beliefs about truth, and began the questioning there. I realized that for me, the root was religion. From my infancy my parents taught me a truth set within the confines of the Bible and the Christian religion.

 And I am glad that they did so, because I know that it is the thing they felt was the most important for me.

However, even before really questioning from the roots, I'd already started to have a lot of questions. God wasn't so difficult for me to grasp, as much as all the things he supposedly espoused.

The biggest item on the list for me was his alleged intolerance for homosexuality. I know it's distinctly possible for God to teach against homosexuality in a manner that is good and loving (not like some folks who seem to speak hatred towards those with whom they disagree on this issue).

I.e., TRULY love the sinner and hate the sin.

Except that the more I looked at homosexuality, the more I observed that it is a wonderful thing.

So one option is that maybe peoples' interpretation of the Bible is incorrect when it comes to this subject.

Or maybe...maybe life isn't supposed to be lived within the confines of dogma - that truth isn't supposed to be sought through a set of books called the Bible.

Maybe there is morality, without such a limited, restricted code set.

And maybe living life doesn't mean following one set of ideas, and maybe finding truth doesn't involve seeking it through one or two limited resources.

Maybe God exists.

And maybe he exists outside the small confines of my perfectly ordered world, in a life so different, simpler, and more beautiful than I ever realized.

Whatever it is, I'm pretty excited about it.