faith and spirituality

I believe an important distinction can be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another. Spirituality I take to be concerned with qualities of the human spirit, love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, that bring happiness both to self and others.

- The Dali Lama

i could not have said it better myself. People often inquire in conversation, "what church do you belong to?" i never quite have an answer, and often times i feel put on the spot. i have strong values that come from many faiths. but on a whole, i consider myself more spiritual than religious. i have been part of many faiths in my lifetime, searching for that perfect fit. Each time, i found that the religion confined my beliefs. Each holding positive points of view and each one having some/many/few things that i could walk away with... but in the end i could not call myself complete while being of one set religion. Instead i am learning to be happy with not having a religion as my total base - but instead i focus on keeping myself centered in a spiritual mind.