Our Father

For the past couple of days there has been a theme that has taken place in most of my conversations with various individuals. I haven't done anything to provoke these exchanges but yet they seem to arise. Last week, I was talking with a coworker over lunch and I stopped to say grace before I began to eat. I did the sign of the cross and commenced to try to enjoy my food. My coworker stopped and asked, "You're Catholic?" I replied yes and I could immediately tell where this conversation was going by the look on her face. Then she says, "My father told me that you guys don't believe in Jesus, right?" This wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement. Although I was annoyed, I proceeded to provide a small lesson on Catholicism for her. I don't know if I was more annoyed that this was an almost 50 year old woman who was just ordained as a minister or that my lunch was being interrupted for this topic. Later on that week, I had two separate but similar conversations with friends about Catholicism and what was understood about it.
The topic of religion never gets me excited or frustrated only because I know that some people are so strong in their convictions that its impossible to discuss anything with them. What bothers me is that most people only understand certain religions by what other people have told them. They don't take the initiative to research other belief systems and come to a different level of understanding about them. Unfortunately, I know that many churchgoers take the words of their pastors, priests, rabbis etc. as the ultimate truth. This thought process is very irritating to me because people who hold high positions in religious institutions can have biases and misinformation as well. I have met way too many people in my life who quote their pastors as if he/she has a book written in the Bible.
My belief in the Trinity is strong but I also take the time to learn about other religions as well. Just because someone isn't a Christian doesn't mean that they are not loved by God and are damned to a life of misery but I know there are others who feel differently. Just today, I was visiting with a patient who is very near death and a volunteer from my company was present during my assessment. We were discussing all of the stories the patient used to tell and what a sweet person she is to be around. All of a sudden, the volunteer became very serious, leans in while staring into my eyes and says, "she's a good Christian woman and deserves prayer." So...if she was a Buddhist and lived a wayward life, she wouldn't be deserving of any spiritual intervention? I never understand statements like these from so called "religious" people because I find them to be awkward and strange. I also find the people who make those statements to be awkward and strange as well. In fact, in that moment I actually thought that the volunteer was going to start smacking me in my face with her Bible pamphlet like Margaret White in the movie Carrie. My eyes quickly scanned the room to look for a broom closet and then I realized that I was in a safe place.
I know that religion provides structure and guidance for some people but I wish it wasn't taken as seriously. The underlying concept of the religions I have studied so far has been love. I'm not sure that a person's religion is going to be relevant at the end of of their journey. I think that how we treat people and use ourselves for good will be far more important. With this being said, I hope that we all take the time to educate ourselves about different cultures and belief systems. We shouldn't take ideas and adopt them as our own without fully understanding them. Flexibility of the mind and heart is priceless and we can all learn from each others differences.