To the God in whom I believe
Assuming that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and died around 30 – 32 CE, then for almost 2,000 years people have been discussing Jesus as the son of God. Of course, there are the followers of Judaism which tack on another 1,000 years of considering their lineage and history. There are other examples and words for a god, or the God, but here I speak about the God known to followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Of course, there is a true, meaningful and important difference between the God in whom one believes and the church to which one might decide to belong. God by almost all definitions is eternal, existing prior to any material existence, and intended or considered to likely “be” and exist long after all material form of life are extinguished.
The church, any church, does not have such durability or intentions. The church is the manifestation of what some people (often men only) want other people to believe that their version of “god” intends and demands that the other people to adhere. These devises used by church founders is all too often founded in the same sins which all forms of God suggest we avoid, apathy, pride, greed, gluttony and avarice, to say the least. It’s as though there is the pure and simple essence, which many feel and hope to know, and it gets corrupted and abused by people for their own benefits and uses.
To the people with whom I live
The people with whom I live, friends, family, the public, may or may not believe, or even know God. Inasmuch as we live here for now, before we leave this mortal coil, we must manage and engage with the people here. If we have a great relationship with God, but none with the people in our lives, that is lopsided. Further, if all we have is our relationships with people in the here and now, and no touchpoints with God, where does that leave us?
The people who surround us may be far away (childhood friends who live in different countries perhaps), or they may live in the same city, but lead lives so far apart from you, that you rarely see them. This is true of friends and even of distant and close family members. The people with whom we mostly live then are those that happen to be near us at the various stages in our life. If you are at an assisted living facility it is the care givers. If it is early in a relationship or marriage, it is likely to be each other, or close friends.
Many people have close relationships (whether that is friendship or only association) with people with whom they work, or study. During these times, with many hours filled at work, or in sport, or in studying, whether you are friends are not, you are living much of your days with them. What they think and do, preach and reveal means something to you, as they “surround” your day.
At some point, after you are raised and leave your parents’ house, after you realize that work colleagues may not be friends, and after all the people you meet and associate at school or hobbies are left behind by time or choice, you get to decide the people with whom you want to associate and spend time amongst.
To the church to which I belong
The Catholic Church has been many things to many different people over the years from the date of the death of Jesus, then the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Then, it morphed throughout history. There have been schisms (separating East from West), and too many “crusades”. At times, it is hard to define the “Church” to which one belongs. The church cannot escape the many wrongs it has committed, whether in near term with abuse of children or older as in the Albigensian Crusade where the Catholic Church for its own political and economic reasons killed hundreds of thousands of Catholics in France who followed a more esthetic view called Catharism.
While there are many established churches today, Church of England, Methodist, Pentecostal, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, these did not take their present shape and consistency for many centuries after Jesus died, and they are still maturing and changing today.
Therefore, when one states that they “belong” to a certain church, does that refer to the present makeup or does that include all of the histories, the good and the terrible of that church. St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was for many decades a follower of Manichaeism as well as the Neoplatonism. He then became a great church father. Manichaeism, although it may be considered the first religion which reached a worldwide audience, did not benefit the later established church in Rome and Constantinople as it addresses possible dualities in thinking and in the power of creation.
There may be no specific church to which you wish to “belong” or to be monogamous. Many people are spiritual, or some atheist. The question you should ask is the church to which I belong (if any) in a clear alignment with the God in whom I believe? Are the people with whom I associate and spend my time also in alignment with my church (or spirituality) and the beliefs you hold?
Two Paths Diverge 