by Bethany Vanderzand

Created on: April 18, 2008

Contrary to popluar belief, one does not need to be near a religious structure, listen to a religious sermon, or commune with religious people in order to know God. God is omnipresent - He is everywhere, in everything, always - not just church, not just the bible, not just "friendly Christian neighbors".

The Church has a considerably less than reputable history of persecuting pagans, manipulating and extorting peasants, funding wars, and dividing nations. The Church constantly disputes among itself, even - separating into countless denominations and printing countless translations and interpretations of its own scriptures. Why would I want to associate myself with such a destructive, hypocritical, indeterminate sect when I am perfectly free and capable of worshipping on my own terms?

The Father was before religion, texts, and holy men, before Sunday-school, rituals, and creeds, before any of those dogmatic principles the world uses to cage spirituality - yet He still made Himself known to man through His presence and His creation, and also through man's intuition and dreams. There is a sliver of God's spirit in each of us - it binds us to Him - and through that spirit, He communicates with us. God's face is in the rivers and the sky, the birds and the trees, the eyes and the smiles of others - not walls.

I have known God all my life because He is in me and around me eternally. How can I ignore or overlook such a presence? I don't need to enter a church, listen to self-righteous exhortation, and pray impersonal, spiritless, prescribed prayers to understand the character and majesty of my Creator. He is in song and laughter, in anger and in tears, in joy, in sorrow, in birth and death. All I must do to see Him is open my eyes. All I must do to hear Him is open my ears. All I must do to experience Him is to live the life He has given me. Church will never dictate my faith; in fact, it will leave no imprint on my faith whatsoever. Church is a man-made institution of narrow-mindedness. I have never felt as spiritually alive in a church as I have alone or amidst the wild. God does not hide in a church or religious gatherings - He is with you always.

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