New Title - By Dan Hardman

We know that religion was not intended for this purpose. Unfortunately, people are like sheep, looking to be lead which opens them up to be manipulated and used and abused. I believe religion was intended as a tether between mankind and the universal creative force that made us. That it was intended to help us create a tremendous helping life here on earth, but not to be the essence of what, why, and how we live. You know, it has amazed me for years how Christians don't understand what Jesus meant when he said, "For the love of money is the root of all evil."

And what do we see when we look around us? Huge churches, pastors and ministers driving Rolls Royce's and Mercedes, and living in mansions with bank accounts that rival the gross national income of some small countries. Literally billions of dollars squandered on preacher's egos and personal fantasies.

Here is what I did. I examined EVERYTHING. Everything I had ever been taught, thought, believed, heard, read, dreamed... I checked, rechecked, and double-checked it all! I left no stone unturned. My life was a complete shambles, because of the massive overhaul being done. Then, like a mason laying brick for a new house, I began carefully restacking the building blocks of my life. It slowly came back together as I scrutinized ever-so-carefully the building materials. I had to throw away many bricks that had been in my life since I was born, one of which was prayer. Let me re-phrase that, useless prayer. I didn't necessarily throw prayer out, but I totally recreated it, its purpose, and its usage in my life.

Prayer, like each element had to be almost scientifically reconstructed. It also meant that even the thing that I had held to the tightest, my Christianity was in jeopardy of being thrown out. Then came the day when I realized that I could not, and no longer felt it was necessary to, call myself a Christian. That was the scariest day of my life. Me, not a Christian anymore? What the hell had I gotten myself into, and where was it taking me? Yet I had passed the point of no return and had to go through with it no matter where it led. I had realized that anyone who was a Christian for either one, or a combination of, these two reasons I am about to mention was totally lost anyway. These reasons are:

1. Wanting to go to Heaven
2. Afraid of going to Hell

Mankind is motivated by two things: hope of gain and fear of loss. If this is your motivation for being a Christian, you are lost, in life that is, and you don't have to wait until you die. I learned through my renewal process that I had to transcend that selfish mode of thinking and being concerned only with myself and get to the real reason for living, which brings me to my next topic, death.

Yes it's true, just like the Bible says; death is the last enemy to be conquered in that the fear death is what most people dread. Death itself is not really the enemy of mankind. People don't know what to expect from the death experience so they are terrified of it. But there's a catch, you can't escape it. Damn, damn, damn, what a paradox!

Christians want to go to heaven but they don't want to die. They are waiting for the rapture, some mass catching away of the imaginary elect (more like the "elite") few, in order to escape it. Death should be your friend because you can't get to there, whatever or where ever 'there' is, from here except by dying. Death is the door to eternal life, which is the foundation of hope of any Christian's faith, a new life after life on earth.

All life must come to an end and death is the ship that will carry each of us safely to the other side. Thanks to the horrible myths that have sprung up about the afterlife most people face terrifying uncertainties and go kicking and screaming into death. I imagine that most Christians are exactly like this only to find out that once on the other side they probably ask like little children at an amusement park ride, "Wow, can we do that again?"

And it's true that some people die untimely deaths, but I guarantee if you had the chance to ask anyone who has died if they would come back to live on earth again, not a one of them would say yes, untimely death or not.

So, I am no longer a Christian. Then again, why should I be? There is no mandate by any means in the Bible that says anyone has to be a Christian, period. In fact, the term "Christian" came from outsiders who observed those who said they believed in Jesus Christ (thus the word Christ-ian) and they, the outsider observers, began to call them Christians. It wasn't the followers of Christ themselves but others who first applied that term to believers in Jesus Christ because they were seen following his teachings.

Modern Christians are so easily led astray that they repeat the lie of "Christian" meaning Christ-like, when in fact Christian means a follower of Jesus Christ as seen by others.

The apostles and early disciples called themselves believers, and they went from house to house worshipping, fellowshipping, and communing with one another. So what about that? The massive churches and cathedrals would have had no place in the early church. Such structures are nothing more than symbols of vanity to the selfish, egotistical, so-called ministers, pastors, bishops, apostles…, whatever they want to call themselves, who have the nerve to tell the rest of the world that Christianity could not be spread without money. So now even Christianity has to bow to the almighty dollar. Many a preacher has told me that the church is a business. We all know what is behind that, don't we?

Ok, yes we live in a different time, after all that was 2000 years ago.

Jesus said to be in the world but not of it. Christian schools have sports programs just like all the other secular schools, yet Christians specifically set up their own schools to be different from their secular rivals. And they drag with them all the trappings to ensure they are carbon copies of those same secular schools. Oh, I forgot, they do allow school-sponsored prayer and Bible reading. Of course, that makes all the difference. It's alright to knock someone's head off in a football game if you pray before you do it.

So it was that with great mental and emotional pain and suffering that I renewed my mind, or at least the process was well under way. Then came the hard part. What could be harder than my initial undertaking? Telling my family, especially my mother, about my new life and recent decisions. Don't forget my mother came from a very strong and deeply religious heritage. She was not about to just give me over to the devil, but was, and still is, determined to bring me back from my back-slidden state. She is still praying for me, and I love her for it, but mostly I just love her.

Did I tell you about my new mother? Well, she's not really new; she's been around forever, literally. She was there even before my flesh-and-blood mother was. It's Mother Earth. Most people only think of Father God and completely ignore the notion of Mother Earth.

They don't think Mother Earth has any claim to deity, but Mother Earth is even more vital than Father God because Mother Earth is right here with us. She is what we walk on, dig into, and rest on everyday. Let me make my point this way. Have you ever really thought about how babies are born? I mean really thought about it? Ok, picture this: A man and a woman do the do and the man plants his fertilizer in the woman's seed, or egg as we call it. Then what happens?

Well, the man carries the egg for ten months until the baby has reached a predetermined stage of growth and the time has come for the baby to under take life on its own, right? WRONG! The woman does all of this. But for some reason men make it seem as if this is a punishment for the woman due to some imagined sin long, long ago. In reality, the woman is the part of the species of mankind that has, maybe in one way or another, proven to be trustworthy enough to carry this new life into the world. The same thing is true for Mother Earth.

Things happen for a reason, and I believe that we are here on Mother Earth for just that reason. We are here in the "womb" of Mother Earth until we reach some predetermined point in our growth on this planet, and at that time we are passed from this life in this 'womb' to a totally new existence and life experience.

And from here we go. . . well, I don't know, but sometimes I can't wait to get there. That's why I pray to my Mother Earth and my Father in Heaven. American Indians call him Father Sky. I teach my children the same.

I don't get trapped into loving money or things or position or any of that other foolishness that trips up others who get so easily derailed from their true purpose in life. Thank you Mother Earth! I praise you because you truly are worthy. And thank you Father Sky, I love you both. Here's a little reminder. In the book of Genesis it reads: "And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1v26-27.

That's where I am now in my renewal process and I must say that I am enjoying my new life and what I understand of it. Of course I encourage everyone to have a renewal of their minds also, but understand that each of us will come to different conclusions. That's the way it should be. Otherwise, we would just be experiencing another form of religion and I would be just another guru with a scheme.

I hope you enjoy the book, but remember that the contents of it are the result of my mind renewal. Some things will be a revelation to you as they were to me, and some things will not. Some things you will agree with, others you will not. Nevertheless, the most important thing to remember is that agreement is not always possible, nor always necessary, but maturity and tolerance are mandatory. One of my main criticisms about Christianity is its failure to tolerate anyone else's point of view or belief system. This type of behavior only leads to "wars and rumors of wars." I think we all have had enough of that.

Copyright © 2005 by Dan Hardman

For information about Essays from Church, Vol. I, click here: http://penknifepress.com/Shownovel.cfm?NOVELNUM=7

- The Publisher
Copyright (c) 2003 by Penknife Press, Ltd.
7544 S. Phillips Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60649

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Brother Dan Hardman will be keeping the Black community informed on issues concerning the church and righteous living. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

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