I have been accused in the past of being anti-Christian. In an honest appraisal of my writings I would say this is true.

I have often felt that hypocrisy was one of the worst behaviors because it is also one of the most difficult to avoid. I too fall into the hypocrisy mud and wallow around a bit. I often don't do what I say, or hold others to a standard that I am not willing to uphold. In fact, I am a great one for pointing out the short comings of others, while ignoring my own. I can judge and criticize with the very best.

I am reminded that other people are on their own journey as I am on mine. I need to leave them to their path, whatever it is they have chosen, and focus on my own. People, consciously or unconsciously chose their lot in life. For instance, I have neighbors that are the most compassionate, ethical, considerate people I have ever known. They live well and they share their gifts with those that have less. They do this selflessly. They are Christian and are heavily involved with their church. They are a credit to this religion they have chosen as their own. Interestingly, these are good people, who would be good people regardless of their religion.

Religion does not make people good, it only allows good people to express themselves. Being compassionate is a personal choice that reflects a spirituality that transcends Religion. In fact, being Spiritual has little to do with Religion. It is about choices of how we chose to view others and how we chose to care for ourselves.

However, the more conscious we are about our lives, more spiritual we can become.

Living Consciously means making decesions about right and wrong every day, rather than just cruising on autopilot and letting our society make the choices. Conscious living means questioning everything, and being open to whatever answer we get. Conscious living is not criticism or judgement as these are behavior that stem from fear or hurt. Conscious living is not about restriction or rigid adherence to rules and norms, it is about making your own personal decision about how you want to live your life. You chose to return a wallet with $100 in it. You chose to allow someone to cut you off in traffic without becoming angry and vengeful. You chose to be an arrogant, pitiless, ignorant megalomaniac like George W. Bush....oops, got some judgement in there.

Even Bush has his path and has his own journey. I can fault his behavior, but I must accept that he has his own journey to make.

To all of you who happen to believe in Christianity, or Judaism, or Moslem, or whatever, I apologize for judging your journey. I apologize for branding you with the same iron. You have your path, I have mine, yours is no better or worse than the one I have chosen, just different. As is true of every living creature. There is a world of varying realities and the world is far more complex than any of us can know or understand. I must not judge who you are and where you are going because that is for you to decide.