It’s really sad that when I choose titles like the ones for this post, I get more views than when I use serious spiritual titles.

The word “religion” means “to bind back.” I does sort of sound like the slogan for a leather bar, doesn’t it? The question is, to what will be we bound? Traditionally, we might think that we are being bound back to an external God or (even worse) a particular religious tradition. Maybe that sounds good to some people on the surface, but what of Jesus telling us that the truth would set us free? Where does the truth dwell? Again, traditionally we have said outside ourselves in an external God in the heavens, but fewer and fewer people find that particular image of God helpful. Didn’t Jesus also say that when he left (ascended) he would send the Holy Spirit to be with us, and isn’t it the traditional belief that the Holy Spirit dwells in us through Baptism. If we really believe and understand that, we will stop looking outside ourselves what is within us. Religion, no matter what type, does indeed  bind us back – to the God who lives and dwells in us, in whom we live and move and have our being. We can choose to be like a teenager sending a text message to someone on the other side of the room and pretend God isn’t right here. As a great procrastinator myself,  I can see where that could be a form of spiritual procrastination that has its uses, but for the most part growth will occur when we realize – really realize – that rather than being puzzle that’s missing a few pieces, we really do have everything we need right here, right now.