Thanks. Honestly, I feel really fortunate. I experienced an incredibly visceral and momentous tragedy as a child that kind of snapped me out of it. Everyone around me was praying for something that was clearly futile and I didn’t see god anywhere. My belief was always tenuous and fear-based so in that moment it just seemed futile and silly. I spent a few years trying to reconcile what I was taught with reality and just couldn’t. It’s a little embarrassing, but when I saw the film Little Buddha, and was introduced to the actual words of Buddha all the fear just melted away. Then, when I read the Tao Te Ching, everything finally made perfect sense (including how silly and dramatic Buddha could be!).
I have a wife I’m infatuated with, three kids who are geniuses (fight me!) and stronger social and emotional bonds than I ever had or saw in the church. There’s no such thing as perpetual peace and the pursuit of nirvana is a form of holding, but I’m really, really happy with my life. In fact, just today @JustGoodSense said something really beautiful, albeit about a hideous man, that perfectly encapsulates how I feel:
Also, sorry everyone for the topic derail.
