Many paths to One God

I recently had lunch with a dear friend who asked me, "Becky, are you still a Christian?" She was very confused about my blog and my referring to God as the Creator and not God or Jesus. This is a question I encounter on a regular basis, which I am sure, is because I live in the bible belt.

I was raised in the Catholic faith tradition, which is a Christian tradition. (Believe it or not, some people don't know that). My Catholic upbringing set the foundation for who I am and what I believe. Even though I struggle with some of the dogma within the Catholic faith, for the most part I embrace this tradition. I love the ritual, the sacraments, the music, and the liturgy. I love the teachings of Jesus and he is my Way-Shower.

So in this sense, I am a Christian. However, if the question is, "Do I believe that Jesus is the only way to encounter God or to gain the idea of "Salvation?" the answer is no.

I have been blessed with meeting and studying about so many people from different faith traditions whom have beautiful relationships with the God of their understanding, that my view of God has been forever expanded. I believe in an infinite God which expresses Godself in vast and infinite expressions and in many different faiths.

Years ago, I heard a friend's 18 year old son respond when asked if he was a Christian, "Why would I believe in a God who would banish 80% of the world's population to Hell!" This rattled me to the core. I had never thought about that and it opened my eyes even further. Desmond Tutu says, "To ignore people of other faiths and ideologies in an increasingly plural society is to be willfully blind. . . We are severely impoverished if we do not encounter people of other faiths with reverence and respect for their belief and integrity."

I have always been fascinated with other faith traditions, so it boggles my mind that there are so many people who fear other faith traditions. I asked myself, "how can this be?" What I have found is, they limit themselves to reading only what their church or faith organizations suggests that they read. They do not question or investigate what they are being spoon feed from the pulpit. They do not own their own faith, they grab a hold of some one's idea and join in. I, on the other hand, have always questioned. They call me the "Pot Stirrer." I usually stir things up.

I thank God for the Sister's in the Catholic church who allowed me to question, to push the limit, to disagree. They lead me down the paths of the great mystics. They opened the books of our history, and of other faith traditions. They held my hand as I moved from a childhood faith into an adult faith.

I am liberated from having to believe what the masses preach. I am free to seek and experience God within and without. Through this process, I know that we are all on the path home-returning to God consciousness. God is on the mountain top and there are many paths to the summit.

Sacred scriptures from all faith traditions affirm that there are many paths to know God.

• Christianity: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons [and daughters] of God.
• Islam: There are as many ways to God as souls; as many as the breaths of Adam's sons [and daughters].
• Hinduism: They who worship other gods with faith, They adore but Me behind those forms; Many are the paths of men, But they all in the end come to Me.
• Confucianism: In the world there are many different roads, but the destination is the same.
• Pawnee Native American: All religions are but stepping-stones back to God.

How would our lives and our world be different, if we all took the time to question, investigate, read something different, and made a friend from a different faith tradition. We might learn something new, we might begin a new trend, we might change. Who knows?

"By paths they have not known I will guide them. . . . These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16