Every hero has a battle to fight within himself

I am reading a booked named "The End of Religion" and it's focus is an aspect of spirituality and religion that I have, it seems, known or felt most my life. You know how sometimes you don't know you feel a certain way until you experience something or read something or meet someone that solidifies the idea for you and then there is that light bulb moment where you know .... this .... here .... in this moment validates what I have always thought and known. Well there's been alot of that for me lately. It's like God is guiding me. I believe he is with me showing me how our relationship should be. One of the reasons I was distant from God to begin with was the church, but now that I've reconciled in my brain that I am a believer and my life and the well being of everything I love all depends on God's grace and my faith. A result of that reconciliation is that I'm trying to be especially careful to not be turned off or turn away again because of religion which necessitates that I am careful of how I get involved with other Christians and come to know and grow closer to God.

I believe because of this thought filled approach God is guiding me and I am very thankful for it. I have been exposed to the genius that is Andrew Schwab....well I don't know about genius but I do know he is highly intelligent and I think personifies what it is to be honest in your spirituality. I don't know that christian culture promotes being honest over presenting purity at all times which is a facade and I think ultimately harmful.

I've been reading interviews with Schwab because I find him interesting and thought provoking. Most interviews are obviously about his music and some on his writings and so reading them can be repetitious, but it does ultimately pay off with some interesting pearl of wisdom smack dab in the middle. I just finished one where he compares struggle with Spider-man 3 the movie. There is a lyric in one of his songs that accidentally lined up with the plot of the movie: how every hero has a battle to fight within himself. Spider-man is fighting Venom that has become a part of him and we as Christians each day have similar fights within ourselves. We have a decision to make about which voice we are going to follow in our own heads which is a simplistic way to express the battle between the spirit and the flesh.

I'm telling you this guy is insanely insightful!

So this book "The End of Religion" is about encountering the subversive spirituality of Jesus. I heard about it when I met the bass player in a Canadian band called New World Son. They were amazing and I got to talking with this guy and it carried into the wee hours of the morning. He was so cool and real and told me how he and his wife struggled for years to find a church to call home, but the one they frequented really did make alot of sense for them- this book is written by his pastor. So back to the book - so far its about how very into rules the religious were in the time of Jesus and how he came along and broke those rules. How his primary mission was to tear down religion as the foundation for people's connection with God. How he was criticized for his interactions with tax collectors and prostitutes ect ect. Jesus was a revolutionary and somehow we've forgotten that! I really wonder if we would recognize Jesus if he returned in our time. Sadly I don't know that we would. It's something to think about.

I'm LOVING this book!