I practice religion, but I can’t say I am getting any better at it.
Seriously, though…
This is actually a tricky question. I know this answer is not going to be satisfactory, at least not to me.
I grew up Methodist and Catholic due to mixed denomination parentage. I spent some time in Wicca and then a more general Neo-Paganism. I spent some time wandering, going to Mass, going to the mosque, fretting endlessly over what religion I would be. All this before I turned 30.
I eventually found my way to the Orthodox Church (OCA) in 2010 when I decided that I had to stop circling the mountain, pick a path, and climb. In 2016, we moved and I really stopped participating in religion, other than the very rare appearances I have made at local churches for family events or out of curiosity.
I really miss participating in organized religion. I know that they all have their faults, but I love religion as a human phenomenon. I tend to see religion as a technique with a community.
I don’t think they need to be factually true. They all have some literary truth in the same way that Moby Dick is true because obsession and an overdeveloped need for vengeance will not take you anyplace good. I am a big fan of the teachings of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mount episodes. I don’t think I am much of a Trinitarian though, to be honest. And I still have that “sacred Earth” sensibility from my Pagan days.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not playing at it. I was a little flaky in my younger years, true enough. But I do believe in some kind of higher power or ultimate reality, and I have had too many extraordinary personal experiences to write off the supernatural. (That’s a topic for another post, but suffice to say that I know there’s a spirit world and I know there’s some kind of afterlife.)
Yeah, this is not satisfactory, but I may tackle the topic again some other time.
The Mia Experiment 