In this particular part of the Bible Belt, a great many people have taken to wishing me "A Blessed Day". It is on their checks and their answering machines and used regularly in everyday conversation. Few things annoy me more.
Religion in the south is no private affair - there are Bible Schools and camps and bookstores, religious gift stores and day care. Church attendance is high and most people who go still go in "church clothes", excepting, of course, for the Unitarians of what is affectionately known as "The Church of Anything Goes", a free spirited congregation who actually do seem to practice what they preach. Mostly, the rest is window dressing, habit, and tradition - it wouldn't do to not be seen in church, people would talk.
If my soul is to be saved, it will not be within the confines of a designated building on a designated day of worship but rather through living a life as best I can, on a wing and a prayer, I admit, trying to do as little harm as possible. Until it reaches out and wrecks the lives of others, sin is a private affair, between my conscience and my beliefs. If God is to judge, I trust Him to look at the whole picture. A life is, after all, not much more than a body of work, some good, some bad, some worthy, some not. I think that like a teacher grading on the curve, all will be taken into consideration.
It's a well intentioned phrase, probably sincere most of the time and while I appreciate the thought, I'd be happier without it being put into actual words. I never like to be told what kind of a day to have - I'd rather decide for myself.
The distance between religion and spirituality is infinite.
Free will is a bitch.
Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate
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