Definitions

Religion:  NOUN 

1. beliefs and worship: people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life

2. system: an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine

3. personal beliefs or values: a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by

4. obsession: an object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by

"The danger is that you start to make fitness a religion."

The definition of religion has changed for me over the years- with much struggle and input from experts like Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, I have come to see that Religion is a code of rules, rituals, and myths to lead the uninitiated to a sense of greater understanding of the community in which we live, in order to create a shared understanding of the deeper aspects of life. By the tricky age of teenager-dom, however, Religion had become for me a rigid method of following rules and regulations, going through the motions of what once inspired people, simply because it is a tradition. Religions vary understandably from community to community, growing larger and more militant as our communities do. This is a creation by humanity in order to explain and control the spiritual world we feel in the depth of what many people call our souls. In the case of my childhood religion, it seemed to be so far removed from my experience that the stories only made sense in translation. The gospels that were read from a pulpit (or from the midst of the congregation) were such outdated stories that the places, the people, and the actions all had to be explained to make any sense of the overarching story.

According to the definition above, one’s own personal beliefs, regardless of number of followers or hierarchical organization can count as religion. “Where two or three gather together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). In the solitary confinement of my own mind, I have my own religion

Spirituality: NOUN 

1. spiritual quality: the quality or condition of being spiritual

2. church property or revenue: the property or revenue belonging to a church or church official ( often used in the plural )

A connection with the deeper reality of our lives, beyond the rational understandings of the physical and logical world is as necessary to me as breathing, though I know it is not as desperate a need for some others. Spirituality is the warmth in the indescribable part of you that somehow makes the pain and anguish of life worthwhile- not just bearable, but somehow necessary and right. The problem of pain and evil is only balanced by a deeper spirituality that can guide me from confusion and anger to acceptance. It is the feeling of being connected to the world while wandering in the woods or watching the waves crash on an untouched beach. It is the beauty of knowing that there is a place in this world created for each of us- and a meaning passed to us from something larger than ourselves.

Church: NOUN 

1. religious building: a building for public worship, especially in the Christian religion

2. religion's followers as group: all the followers of a religion, especially the Christian religion, considered collectively

3. religious service: a religious service that takes place in a church

"go to church"

4. clergy: the clergy as distinct from lay people

5. religious authority: religious authority as opposed to the authority of the state

6. branch of Christian religion: a denomination or branch of the Christian religion

The place where these two can combine is “Church”, which I often use across religious boundaries and in what might be considered inappropriate manners. My Wiccan friends find their churches in the woods, surrounded by trees and the light of the moon. Some find church in large buildings with altars and symbols scattered around them- Temples, Churches, Meditation Houses, and Mosques all fall into the same category. The place is designed to inspire Spirituality, in whatever tradition you find it, and can succeed, if you perceive the symbols and surroundings correctly- in the light of your spirituality and your own traditions.

Religion seems to be the business side of G-d. The rules, the hierarchy, and the stated meanings of myth and symbol are all wrapped up in the “religious” side of things. This boils down to a rational, logical truth (logos) which was ideal in the Greek spiritualties based on the philosophies of the 5^th century BC and before.  This was a drastic change from the mythologies and creation myths of their past, where images and stories were created and distributed for their mythical and archetypal meaning, rather than an analytical truth. Logos was a rebellion against what religion had been in the same time period, and philosophers (notably Socrates) were executed for their logical rather than traditional tendencies. Now, logos has been incorporated into Christianity as an alternate name for the messiah in the creation stories, which is oddly appropriate. Jesus Christ was rebellion personified, following the Greek rationality on a mission to make sense of the mythical world of Judaism, which had required a priestly interpreter for much of Hebrew history. Judaism found their spirituality in the rules they had been given. Their special place as the chosen people was dependent on the rituals, the actions, and the rules of day to day life. In contrast, Jesus was the Greek logos that replaced the rules and regulations with a renewed spiritual existence of self, wrapping the whole of the Religious teachings into the Golden Rule.

If one were to follow the Golden Rule, and move outside of oneself, the rules are only guidelines to spirituality. The rules were all intended to build a community of like-minded spirituality in the only way the ancient beleaguered Hebrew peoples could accomplish it. The Word (Logos) is G-d and was with G-d from the beginning of time.