Rock, I really loved that!! You said a great deal and taught me a something. I have had many experiences in my life that have shaped me spiritually and most have had nothing to do with reading the Bible or going to a church service. Please bear with me while I explain a few of them. I was severely injured during my 7th parachute jump when I was in the 82nd ABN. All my buddies told me I would be nuts to continue jumping. I ended up with 19. As utterly terrified as I was, I still found the inner courage to keep finding a way to get out the door. To me, a religious experience. I began running and lifting weights to lose weight and to deal with a stress problem. What ended up happening was that I found time to contemplate how my life was unfolding and where I wanted to go with it. Some of my deepest thoughts and most wonderful revelations have occurred while toiling through a 3-mile run. To me, a religious experience. I have had the most wonderful opportunity to work with students who are severely and profoundly mentally retarded. The lessons that I have learned from them, and past on to other people and students, have been learned without them ever saying a word or knowing that they had done anything. To me, a religious experience.

If I find fault in religion and how people pursue it, it is in the fact that a lot of people are looking, but they just don't see. Everybody's world is full of potentially religious experiences and they just don't take the time to realize it. To me, the Bible is a guideline for how to lead a better and more wholesome life. The Church is a place to reaffirm and reinforce a set of beliefs. The world, and the lives within it, are where true religion occur. Just my take on things.