This is a continuation of my story about how God and I met and decided to be BFF’s. You can find the first chapter here. Last time we talked I was moving to Texas. Nothing like moving to the bible belt to really get you thinking about God.
I Figure It All Out
By the time I moved to Texas I had managed to really get my head around this whole God-thing in a way that not only made me comfortable but prevented anybody from talking to me about it.
My masters degree is in Medieval literature. This means that I studied the period when the bible was written. And when you study literature of that time period you realize several things. First, almost all of it is based in fact. Second, most literature of this time period began as an oral tradition and was only documented years later (and when I say years I mean hundreds of years later). Third, the law of “telephone” applies here. This means that as stories get retold the enemy goes from having one head and being 6 feet tall to having 10 heads and being 600 feet tall. It doesn’t negate that there was indeed an enemy only that perhaps he wasn’t quite as big as described in the story. This makes believing that the bible is the “word” – the infallible word of God, difficult. When you add this revelation to my combined religious experiences I settled on a very clear set of beliefs for myself that worked.
I didn’t believe in organized religion. It is a great thing to say because nobody knows how to respond to this, not even the professionally trained Mormon missionaries. After all, nobody can actually live the life delineated by any church or temple. It is obvious that the bible – much like many books – is not THE book so what is the point of basing an entire religion on it? I decided that organized religion was not for me and that I would focus on developing my own faith in God and leave the rules and regulations to everybody else. It seemed silly to say I was a Christian or a Jew or anything when it was impossible for anybody to live up to those standards.
I Meet The Religious Zealots
I will say that moving to the south was a bit of an eye-opener for me. There are churches EVERYWHERE. Seriously, they put up churches down here like some places erect McDonalds. There is a church on every corner and sometimes more than one. I’m not even talking about local, small churches but big, giant, mega churches. It blew me away. Plus, NONE of them were Catholic. People warned me. They told me that religion was going to get me in trouble down here and indeed it was amazing to see how introductions go in the south.
Person A: hi Beth it is nice to meet you. So you just moved here?
Beth: Yes, I’ve been here about 2 weeks
Person A: Wow, I guess the heat has been a big adjustment?
Beth: Oh yeah, it is crazy hot here
Person A: So, have you found a church yet?
Really? You’ve known me less than thirty seconds and you feel that it is appropriate to ask me if I’ve found a church yet? Honestly, I haven’t even found the grocery store yet otherwise a place for me to connect with God. For some reason people in the south do not think that it is an invasion of anybody’s privacy to ask about church affiliation because OBVIOUSLY WE ARE ALL CHRISTIANS! I kept to myself, delicately dodged questions of faith and marched forward.
I Meet My Second Important Person
Although I might have struggled with the idea of religion, my faith in God has never wavered and I have felt him with me every step of this journey. There have been several cross roads in my life when I have felt his presence more than others and moving to Texas was one of them. I had no real reason to move here. My job did not require me to move. However, from the beginning I felt something pulling me here and I could hear God’s words telling me to leave Michigan. I met David 3 months after I moved here. In December of 1999 we got engaged and I knew God wanted me here in Texas, because I needed David.
Up until this point my spiritual journey has been mainly navigated by myself. I neither sought nor found a lot of outside guidance. However, meeting David, and more importantly his family, would forever change me. Soon my journey would be crowded with people who will guide me, provide me with answers but most importantly did not judge me.
Interesting. My own faith rests in large part on having met my husband when and where I did. He was exactly what I needed, and only an omnipotent, omniscient Father could have set that up for me. (although the feminist in me ALMOST feels bad for casting my husband/marriage in such an all-important light).
I enjoyed reading your “testimonial,” Beth. Thanks for sharing it!
Your experience certainly parallels my own. In Texas it is ASSUMED you are Christian — actually PROTESTANT — because the Mexicans are Catholic. I have lived off and an on in Texas and have a lot of family there, but the Religious emphasis is suffocating to me and the complete insensitivity to others — like my Jewish wife– make living there a problem.
What is interesting though is that most of this is felt in the smaller towns not so much in Dallas itself. Dallas has become such a diverse city, even my own neighborhood is probably equally split among whites, Asians, Indians, and Hispanics. Texas is one of the few states where being white makes you a minority. In addition, with so many technology companies based in Dallas we have a huge influx of Asians and Indians which means our Hindu population is rather large. Even with all that diversity though, they still have a “religion” section in the Dallas Morning News – it does cover all faiths, but the idea that there is most definitely an emphasis on faith is felt everywhere. Much like the automotive industry is felt everywhere in Detroit.