THANKFULNESS

I have talked about why I believed, and why I no longer believe, but I would be at fault if I did not recognize the good effects of faith and how specifically it helped me in life. Here some things that come to my mind:

  • I’m thankful that my fundamentalist Protestant Christian background helped to influence me NOT to experiment with, or get addicted to, alcohol or illicit drugs.
  • I’m thankful that my fundamentalist Protestant Christian background helped to influence me to treat people kindly as I would wish to be treated based upon the words of Jesus (and were expressed by some other religions before Christianity.)
  • I’m thankful for the Christian family I lived with during most of my high school years.
  • I’m thankful that I met many sincere and kind people that expressed love and compassion towards me and others. True Christians that follow their faith.
  • I’m thankful that my fundamentalist Protestant Christian background allowed me to have churches that were my safe place to go to during high school and afterwards.
  • I’m thankful that my fundamentalist Protestant Christian background introduced me to various types of joyful and often emotional music.
  • I’m thankful to devout Catholic priests and Catholic lay ministers that I have met and learned from.
  • I’m thankful for contemplative Catholic music such as from the Taizé community.

In conclusion, I am grateful to the person named Jesus, whom I believe existed in history, I am thankful for many of his teachings. Many of these teachings have inspired humans to put others above themselves, to care for the widow, to speak out against religious hypocrisy and to fight racial prejudice. Unfortunately most of his followers throughout history have not followed his words. Jesus is not the only religious entity in history to teach these things but he is the one that I am most familiar with and that has most influenced me.