Why do I need religion? I have GOD

Recently I discovered something about myself that I had not paid close attention to before.  While I have always been aligned with The Most High God and also an appreciative recipient of the purging of my sins through the bloodshed and death of Jesus Christ, I am not a fan of religion. 

I have family members who consider themselves to be Christian, Baptist, Pentecostal and I might be related to a few Atheists.  However, I myself have never identified with one religion exclusively.  What I have identified with is the fact that I am in awe of everyone’s belief systems and the choice to worship without condemnation.  I admire the kosher lifestyle of the Muslim and Jewish faiths.  I can closely identify with the dedication to family and marriage exemplified by Catholics.  Through exploration and understanding of others I find myself without warm regard for religion but full of spirituality.

It is documented fact that wars have been ignited in the name of religion.  How many wars can we prove have begun because of a person’s spirituality?

Our spirituality or the “vital principle of conscious life, which animates the body mediating between body and soul” is where our true essence lies.  Our value system within this life, the goodness of our character that we want to pass on to our children, sharing and community are common to all people and unlike religion bring us closer together.

I believe in Spirituality but I am not religious.  I will always have God but why do I need religion?

Some people may believe that without submitting to the doctrines of an established religion that you have no moral compass but if morals played as big a part in religion as it should there would be no religions that called for the bloodshed of innocent citizens in the name of any God.

In polytheist African villages animals are sacrificed to the gods.  In the Baptist church monetary offerings are made to god.  When our lives are going well or according to our plan, any God is good.  However it is the midst of crisis that a God or Gods are either praised or cursed.  But at the end of the day we all need to believe in powers stronger, wiser and higher than ourselves.  In a chaotic and sometimes callous world faith and hope are the only things we truly own.

Source: Dictionary Reference.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Spirit?s=t

Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?

Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?

I can choose to love the way I want to!

From a very young age in homes all across the world children are taught who and how to love.  Growing up with my mother and stepfather I learned through their interaction that a man slapping his woman on her backside as she sashay pass him signified his attraction to her.  In that same household I observed that silence is not always an indication of peace.  Watching the parents of my friends I discovered that yelling and screaming, backed up by shouts of “I hate you and get out of my house”, did not always lead to a breakup or divorce.  It was “just how they are”, and an ingredient in the cake of love.

In some households young women are groomed to take care of the house by cleaning, cooking and sewing (even in this day and age) in hopes of landing a suitable mate.  Meanwhile their male counterparts are learning a trade in order to provide for an imaginary future family.  Subtly as children we are taught to seduce, entice and lure a significant other for the preservation of the previous generations concept of marriage, family and happiness.

In some countries such as Africa and India suitors are presented to children before schooling, grooming or playing with imaginary friends has taken place.  Marriages are arranged, dowries are paid and here in the United States inheritances are like marriage licenses. 

What is not asked of children is their opinion or input.  It does not matter that one day they will have to live with the choices set forth and planned by parents who themselves have either married for money and only received love or vice versa.  Parents and loved ones fail to realize that when they pass down their relationship habits that we also inherit the bad along with the good.  Along with the house we inherit abuse (emotional, financial, physical, sexual, dug and alcohol), insecurity and co dependency issues.

Is it no wonder that men and women “suddenly” discover that they are bi or homosexual.  There was never a chance that these people could have voiced the fact that they did not want to marry nor have children.  Just think about the people who know they don’t want to be parents and have children to please their own parent or a spouse.  Had they been allowed to speak their peace we would possibly have a world with fewer unwanted and abandoned children.  I am curious to know if children were allowed to feel and not simply follow how more beneficial would their lives and personal relationships become.

I have friends who are happily married with no children (and don’t want any) living estranged from their families because of their decision.  I know single mothers who are fortunate and blessed but have no husbands and are frowned upon.  But isn’t our individual happiness most important, that in first knowing and loving ourselves we can fully love another?

So why is our individuality stifled in childhood to conform to society and tradition only to be used as a weapon against us in adulthood?

In my thirties I now know without a shadow of a doubt that I can live with and love anyone I want regardless of age, race, religion, economic status or gender.  But why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?

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Book Review for October 27TH

October 27th by Keith Poole 

 Review by Lena Land Books

Jackson Murphy is a Super-Star Barber, known around town to work hard and play harder.  With his closest confidante Tyrone by his side, Jackson smoothly navigates the brutal streets he was raised in and the relationships he flows in and out of like a true Player.

Author Keith Poole’s voice is both comedic and grounded in reality as he spins his tale about Jackson, a man other men aspire to be and a man who women can’t seem to live without.

As Jackson easily holds the title for “Player of the Year,” his main man Tyrone could be best described as a self-professed “Mr. Nice Guy.”  However, Tyrone is a star in his own right as a man who appears to be the epitome of naiveté and chivalry.  A polar opposite to Jackson, Tyrone is the man most women dream of marrying.

Initially, the book seems to be about a day in the life of Jackson Murphy, yet it is so much more.  This story is about friendship, loyalty, and growing pains.  Surprisingly it is a love story too!

Although October 27th begins with a slow simmer, there is an air of anticipation for what is to come.  Readers will not be disappointed as the final chapters build for an unexpected climax.

All In A Day's Work Book Review

All In A Day’s Work by J.D. Kennedy

Review by Lena Land Books

5/11/2012

With New York City set as the backdrop for this witty tale, Author JD Kennedy captures the inequalities and biases within society and corporate America by introducing the characters of All In A Day's Work.   Most of who are all too familiar.

The story, told through Regina's (The Office Manager) rose-colored lenses, not only gives the reader a glimpse into the dark-side of PR, but also provides an unfiltered reality of the racism, sexism and stereotypes that we all face in our waking lives.  Although the story is delivered through humor and satire, it is hard to escape the reoccurring feeling of a deeper message lingering between the lines.

Each character in the book has personal baggage, as we all do.  However, these employees happily carry their issues to work with them, as easily as they would a MacBook.  Whether working with Percy (The President) who uses his position to mask his inferiority complex toward women or working closely with the college intern who happens to run a drug den out of her Hermes bag, Regina certainly does have her hands full.  As she casually mentions in the book, "being on the job is never really about the job at all."

Never a dull moment to be found in this story, All In A Day's Work sheds light on our troubled society while simultaneously making light of it!

A Street Corner in Brooklyn

Bruised cigarette butts adorn the ground,

just outside of the corner store.

Newport makes room for Marlboro.   

A carnival of cancer sticks galore.

Corona cerveza bottles lined up like domino’s,

waiting to be tipped.

Young unkempt dudes and old flashy broads posted like walls along a tiny strip.

Broken payphones eating quarters.

Weed bags covered in smiles.

Scratched, scraped and ravaged until empty, crack vials.

Dirty needles nestled in crevices where plants 

used to grow.

Feral cats running from putrid pregnant rats, with nowhere to go.

By L.S. Williamson (2012)

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