Spirituality Update

On the one hand, not much to tell, on the other, another paradigm shift is among us.  I had pretty much decided that I was a deist.  But there wasn't a spiritual practice that went along with it, so I was also spiritually independent.  But since Hubster insisted I needed a retreat, something I do enjoy, and the retreat was on the books for several months, I had decided that this overnight Catholic women's retreat would be my one last ditch effort to maintain a shred of Catholic identity.  After the retreat, I was going to let it go for good.

And then I went on the retreat, and I remembered being religious, and I listened to the talks, some of which resonated with me more than others, and I thought about what it really meant to be Catholic, why I was drawn to a religious life in spite of my reasoning telling me otherwise.  I decided that it didn't matter what was or wasn't scientifically "true".  What mattered was what religion could do for me in my life.  It could inspire me to be a better person, and it could help me feel joyful about myself and life.  Whether it was literally true, allegorically true, or relatively true within my cultural upbringing was nothing more than hair-splitting.

I remain a religious relativist, to the dismay of my believing fellow Catholics.  I don't think any one religion - traditional or secular, for that matter - has the "fullness of truth", as the Catholic church likes to call it.  But I remain a religious relativist within the Catholic church.  Unless and until a formal decree comes my way, officially announcing that I am no longer Catholic, I say to those Catholics who accuse me of not being Catholic - go pray about something useful!