'A rose by any other name...'

A friend of mine, whom I have not spoke to in quite a number of years, said to me that I had changed. We both laughed that nervous yet amused laugh, and I asked, 'Is that a good thing?' To which they responded with,"Yes, yes of course! You've become much more spiritual. How did you do that?' Again, we laughed the nervous laugh, and I became silent. How did I do that? I thought. They was gracious, and said I didn't have to answer, and I tried to respond; something about being Excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and wanting to find something I could believe in, and how I'm still searching.

Now I'm reflecting upon the question, and I find I don't know the answer. I guess I'm driven to find some thing that I can hang my faith on. I am a Christian, but I am more then that, I believe there are other Master Teachers, such as; Buddah, Quan Yin, and Shiva to name a few. Then there's the host of teachers from Meso America, Incan, Mayan, Middle Eastern and African, names I do not know, but know they exsisted. In my heart I truly believe God sent at least one Great Teacher to every civilization, whether we chose to admit that or not is another matter.

It's this first musing point that I feel Christianity falls down, leaving me almost embaressed to call myself Christain. In my opinion (and we all know about opinions!), Christianity has the audacity to believe, that if you don't use the right words, there is no way you're going to Heaven.

Is it not just a tiny weeny bit possible that we are bickering over a name, God? One day I had the epiphany that God is God, always has been, always will be. Perhaps people choose the name they liked best for their use. Wouldn't that be much like Shakespear's saying, " A rose by any other name, would smell just as sweet." God by any other name, would still be God?

This whole name concept is one of the things that had me looking at religion, and why I have issues with man-made religion ('man' being the operative word here). As far as I am aware, in most 'western' religions, only the word 'God' is acceptable, and a few other names that derive from related religions, such as; Yahweh or Elohim, and perhaps Allah, but he's Arab... If you look up 'Names of God' in Wikipedia, you receive quite the discourse. Yet I still maintain, it's just a name for the same Being (for lack of a better word).

Here is where religions go off track for me. A large number of them teach compassion and understanding, and yet if you chose the wrong name/word for your God, they'll fight you to the death...What's up with that? Where did that gentleness go? I just don't get it, do you?

Blessings to you.