Matters of Grace

I am an active member in a Lutheran church. But I must confess that I no longer subscribe to the creeds we recite. For years I happily parroted the various creeds I had to memorize as a child without a second thought. But, as I got older, the whole notion started to bother me. I say I believe, yet I don't really believe... am I misrepresenting myself? If I do not believe in these particular creeds, what sort of creed would I feel comfortable with? Typing out loud for a moment, maybe the 'perfect creed' would look something like this: I believe it's always good to face the facts. Whatever God happens to be, I am not Him/Her/Them/It. I will seek the best for others as for myself. Not only does it make good evolutionary sense, I'll feel better too. Looks good to me. But Creeds are a tricky thing. While they are usually designed to facilitate peace and unity, historically creeds seem to bring about controversy and division. (The split between the Roman and Eas...

It's interesting how much of 'me' comes from 'me' and how much comes from something else. I'm not making the confession that I lack a spine inasmuch as I confess that I am, like anybody else, a creation of the place and time in which I live. Consider: political systems, ideas about education, concepts of right and wrong; these are all dictated by where I live and when I live. Even how we live our religion out is dictated by here and now (which makes me thankful I was not born 'there' or 'then.') Here is my question: can we transcend this? Can one really become more than just a collection of the opinions/beliefs of others? Or are we nothing more than a creation of the place in time in which we live? The world may never know.