It's hard letting go of the things I first learned, first experienced. Rather, it's hard knowing what I should let go of or should not let go of. There is comfort and familiarity with the first stuff, always doubt and suspicion of the new. Not that there isn't excitement and wonder concerning the new stuff, but just concern at best and fear at worst of whether giving up the old for the new is really enlightenment rather then deception.
Frankly, there isn't much different I actually believe spiritually , aside from the homosexual issue (enlightenment or deception?) now then I did 15 years ago, and, too, the way I approach the whole thing. I will say now, often, that I simply don't know. Evolution vs. Creation, for example. Now, it doesn't matter to me if either is true or false -- my faith is not effected. I am now free to apply good science and reason to the question rather then having to defend either side because I am not wedded to either as the foundation of my world-view or cosmology. My faith (as Christian or atheist) doesn't depend on the correctness of the issue. Is that a good place to be or not? I think it is!
Science, good science, should do nothing short but confirm the order of the universe, if we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a mind that is open to receive truth of it -- even if it confounds our first learning. Religion, good religion, should do nothing short of explaining the honest significance of it all to a human race created by a careful hand in God's image. If, that is, we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds that are open to receive. Science, whether one is a Christian or atheist, should present things as they are, not as we would like them to be. Religion, whether Christian or atheist, should present meaning, although the end points will probably be very different. Or, will they, if we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds that are open to receive.
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