(This post is on spirituality, so if it’s not your thing….)

Eli Glasman has a heartfelt post up on his struggles with losing faith in God.

The sense of loss he feels is apparent.  It’s hard to believe in a Supreme Being when you’ve been taught a certain way and that way conflicts with how you feel inside.  It must have been so hard for him to feel that he had to choose between religion and how he felt intrinsically.

As I said in my comment, I understand his sentiments. I went through a period of not believing, but that actually made my faith stronger. Our paths lead us in directions that don’t always make sense at the time, but as we move along, we see how things are connected and how struggle helps us to grow, as in the butterfly that struggles out of the cocoon.

I had to learn to stand up for myself and not let others define who I am.  Not letting others define who I am also means not letting others define my connection to God.  Spirituality is as personal as it gets.  We are unique individuals with our own paths to follow and no one has a right to impose their beliefs upon another.

I don’t think being an atheist automatically means condemnation.  If one follows “Do unto others….” –I see that as spiritual, whether the person claims it or not.  I think we will be judged more on how we treat others and conduct ourselves here on Earth, rather than if we went to Church every Sunday.