Buddha Jesus

I know a lot of people who don't have a religious life. They don't see a need for one. Why waste all that time in church?

I'm fine with that. I'm mostly fine with whatever people choose to believe or not believe about church and God and Jesus and Tao and barbecue sauce. And I can understand why someone would opt out of the whole religion thing. One of my closest friends opted out decades ago, and another never opted in in the first place. Same with my wife.

And yet, I still go. I get up on Sunday mornings and go to church. I'm usually there on Wednesday nights, too. In fact, I spend a lot of time at my little Presbyterian church. I love the people there. I love the conversations we have. I love the Sunday morning services. I love that it's a little church with a big, fat social justice heart. I love that it tries to do right by people.

At the same time, there's a big part of me that thinks I don't really belong there. I feel like an interloper because I see a different Jesus and Bible and God than most Christians see. The good news for me is that even though I'm more open about what I do believe these days, they still seem willing to let me stick around.

That's community.

As I've written elsewhere, I've come to see Jesus the way a Buddhist sees the Buddha. I don't need Jesus to be a uniquely Divine Being in a human body come to save my sorry ass and return me to God. I see Jesus as a finger pointing at the moon.

I guess you could say I'm a Jesusist more than I am a Christian. But then, why should my religious perspectives really matter to anyone beyond my own skin anyway? We can have community without that.

If we want it.