I am currently in Boston, and will be returning to Southern California tomorrow. So I don’t have the time to devote to a blog that has been on my mind from before the time I began this blog. However, I do want to share a bit about it beforehand, in what limited way I can.
It has to do with some of the most influential people in the Bible: David, Joshua, Jonah, Solomon, Moses, Joseph, and many more (some female characters as well, don’t worry … it’s just that books of that time are so male dominated). So many of these people are REVERED for their spirituality! They are held up as beacons whose spiritual light we should harken to.
When you really look at their lives, however, you see that they weren’t religious people … not in the form of what most religions have become known as today. Many of them lived hermitic lives, some of them had multiple wives or were adulterers, and a lot of them strayed from God’s will for their lives and were brought back. Even in the latter case, at least from what the Bible says, those characters did not cease being loved by God. David was the Beloved of God … he did not cease to be so because he had the husband killed of a woman he wanted for his own. Think about that in today’s terms … played out on CNN, would he get ANY mercy??? That person would be vilified beyond anything forgivable. Yet … David was STILL the beloved of God … and still loved God.
These are the REAL life caricatures that I want to focus on … in all religions (and I welcome other’s contributions in religions that I have less knowledge of). The men and women who were REAL people … they made the same mistakes we all make today … but they were beloved of God. There is no difference. The only difference is if we choose to give up our relationship with God, because we listen to those around us who tell us we are not worthy of God (or their interpretation of God).
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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.
We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!
There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.
By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.
In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.
Religion4All 
What if there is actually something wrong with us? I mean, we all seem to have something innate. We all set up rules even for ourselves that we do not follow. For instance, I have personal goals (regardless of my spiritual obligations) to avoid lying, but I have certainly lied and have broken my own laws. Now, I know that there is something inherently broken in me. This is where God’s love comes in. Think of a dog. When we bring in a dog from the wild, clean him, groom him, train him, discipline him, feed him and love on him, we are trying to make him more lovable. A smelly disobedient and violent dog is not lovable. God, when he brings us in, wants to make us into something more beautiful than we are. Sometimes it’ll take some scrubbing and discipline but God loves us and his love is more than kindness. If I only wanted to be kind to my children then they would go without any sort of discipline and they would watch TV and eat ice cream all day long. God loves us, and that love is “something more terrible and splendid than mere kindness.” – C.S. Lewis. So yes, it seems that there must be a certain fear of God but only in a reverent way, like my kids love me but fear my discipline.
This goes into something else. Because God loves us, he will want the best for us. So to say that religion or practice doesn’t matter is to reach beyond our grasp. Certainly it matters. Going back to the child analogy, my kids should obey what I say. This isn’t so that I get a power trip but for their own good… I want them to be happy but in the best possible way.