Tolerance, Choice, and God.

I spent the morning moving classroom furniture into my new classroom and visited with the staff who are my friends.  I teach preschool at a Presbyterian Church and it is a wonderful place to work.  The preschool program was started as an outreach program for the church and it has grown by leaps and bounds!  If I wasn't such a strong Episcopalian who absolutely is dedicated to the church I already attend, I could easily become a Presbyterian and join this church who is my employer.  In fact, I have two church families so I am very fortunate.

I grew up southern Baptist, became an Episcopalian, and work at a Presbyterian church and I embrace the influences of all three denominations.  Christianity is Christianity and the fundamentals of faith are the same.  How we express our faith may be different...but we are all moving toward the same destination.  I know there are those who would argue this point with me and try to convince me that their way is the only way but I can't and I won't believe it.  God made us all unique individuals and each of us have to develop our own relationship with Him.  Even inside each denomination are differing opinions and there is no way that everyone in the world could ever agree on the one and only "right'  way to worship God.   God gave us the freedom of choice and as long as He is the center of our choice, I don't think the details are important.  Just because I prefer to use the Book of Common Prayer and take part in Holy Communion every Sunday does not make me a better or worse Christian than those who follow a sequence of events in their services and only take Communion on a quarterly basis.
It is our sincerity, and our choice to be close to God that is important.  We have no right to judge, only God has that right, and He is a loving and wise God.

So I guess my topic for this spiritual Blog today is tolerance.  We can be true to ourselves and allow others to be true to themselves.  We can love others, pray for them, and accept them without judgement or prejudice.  Our best witness for Christ is how we care and act towards each other.  God is love and if we have allowed Him in our heart then we become a part of that love....and that my friends (whatever church you belong to) is a beautiful thing!  amen