Church?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm with Mimi (as usual),

This Sunday morning I spent cycling through the crisp air in the sun past golden dry fields of whispering grasses, side by side with the one I love. It was so beautiful an experience it was like spiritual and uplifting. We discussed it together and he and I agreed that this oneness with the beauty of Nature and our own minds and bodies was like our religion. It makes us humble and grateful and able to love other human beings too. It strengthens us inside and out, and comforts us in times of sorrow. It aligns one's molecules into harmonious patterns somehow. And isn't that what it's all about?
No offense, but I found the premise of this poll too narrow to begin with- setting the limiting perimeter of "going to church"...which overlooks many non-christian religions as well as nature-based or individual meditation type beliefs.

[Bad JuJu]

This Sunday morning I spent cycling through the crisp air in the sun past golden dry fields of whispering grasses, side by side with the one I love. It was so beautiful an experience it was like spiritual and uplifting. We discussed it together and he and I agreed that this oneness with the beauty of Nature and our own minds and bodies was like our religion. It makes us humble and grateful and able to love other human beings too. It strengthens us inside and out, and comforts us in times of sorrow. It aligns one's molecules into harmonious patterns somehow. And isn't that what it's all about?

I've felt the same kind of awe and humility in breathtaking natural surroundings. And I think we can appreciate natural beauty and nature's remarkable workings without always and only ascribing them to a mystical creator. The world is wondrous in itself--the way two rudimentary cells can combine and change to make a sentient being, the way life forms have developed to fill every possible niche in nature, the way tides ebb and flow, seasons change (or don't change, depending on where you live)--I could go on and on. I've written briefly about this wonder on my blog, if you care to read it:
On Wonder--It Is What It Is
We all see different things in nature, but we should try to realize that most of what we see depends on what we've been taught to see.

[HappyAnika]

"I'd rather be climbing a mountain thinking about God than sitting in a church thinking about climbing a mountain"

I saw that on a hiking forum and I really liked it. For the sake of this forum we can replace "climbing a mountain" with "riding my bike" (unless of course you like to climb mountains on your bike . . .).

I'm not religious myself, I'm more with the spiritual nature-loving crowd. I like to be outdoors to experience the connectedness of living things with nature.

[snapdragen]

My family stopped going to church (Calvin Presbyterian) when I was very young. Mom was at some kind of a social thing, a tea perhaps, when, as she put it "one of the good church ladies" made a remark about the church allowing "those people" in. "Those people" were African Americans. Mom left, and announced we would never be back.