My Mom and I email about God

It started simple. My mom and I were exchanging emails about books we were reading. Our conversation developed into a nice dialogue of what be both believe. I've been immensely helped by this as I've had to look closer into what I actually believe. A sort of comprehensive monologue of my personal belief.
This is how it began:

I haven't read it yet mom. (Lit by Mary Karr)
it's on my list early this year. one of the first. yeah, i agree about being choosier what one reads. i usually have 2 or 3 books going at once. sometimes if i read a couple hundred pages of one a get a little bored so i can skip to another. also, with a book like that it can be really descriptive and graphic so i like to be reading something else fun at the same time. kinda like food. whatever you put in your body or mind has an effect. very true mom.

 My mom replied the next day:

In your last e-mail you said something about whatever you put in your mind......reading, has an effect on you.  And that made me wonder if you are putting in HIS WORD?
It amazes me at times when I read something I realize that the verse was just what I needed. God has certainly blessed us.  When I look back at my mother and dad, brothers and sisters. I feel blessed even thou some choose not to be part of my life.  And then I look back on Tom's, your Dad's family and I am so thankful to God that I was part of their life.
 And of course then theirs Dad and you and Steven.....and the years have gone by. Wonderful memories!
 Funny isn't it Adam how you would like to STOP the clock and go back in time and really appreciate each day and appreciate that person or people.  But the "time" might be right now that you would be looking back on someday. Here is a verse that I read not long ago that I liked..... Ephesians 4 11-13  love mom

 My mother is a fantastic woman. She has always had a strong faith in God and Jesus. To my knowledge she has never wavered from this belief, even after the death of my father, she was resolute, strengthened by God's promises of an afterlife. Religion has truly gotten her through the toughest of times. However, our experiences with religion vary greatly. Without going into it now, here was my response:

it's interesting you should mention that. i just finished a book by Graham Greene called the Power and the Glory. i share all the books i read on this website, goodreads, so my friends and i can give eachother reviews or recommendations. anyway, this book got me thinking a lot about how individuals overcome sin. themes like: is damnation absolute or guaranteed salvation.

"As the lead character, the 'whiskey-priest', moves from one place to another, Greene takes us along on a journey taut with suspense and tension. However, it is really his moral journey which is the most captivating. We not only witness the priest's struggle to escape, we also get to look into his tormented soul and his ambivalence. He is constantly torn between following what his religious faith has taught him while his worldly sense seems to make more practical sense. He feels guilty for his sins, but he loves the fruit of his sin. He almost wishes that he be caught so that he could be rid of the fear and the misery. But doesn't his faith teach him that it is his duty to save his soul? He has sinned and is immoral, but he is also full of compassion and love for fellow human beings.
A question that haunts the priest and the reader throughout is whether he will find redemption and if his soul will achieve salvation? Or do immoralities and sins always overshadow a man's goodness? Greene makes it so easy for one to understand his characters. The priest, with his virtues and his flaws, feels like a very real person. It's not at all difficult to imagine such a person walking some part of this earth in flesh."

i like to read books that make me think. moreover, i don't like being told what to think. i don't like someone who says to me, "god (lowercase on purpose) wants you to do this," or "this verse means this." i'll figure it out on my own if that is what it means.

i just don't care for reaading the bible. i don't trust it. i don't trust men or established religion at that time (40+ A.D.) i believe in a god and i believe there was a Jesus, but that's about all i'm certain of. and i'm OK with that. i haven't met or heard of a single person alive or dead that got Jesus' teaching correct. every person has their own interpretation, i know i have mine, and that is what guides my life. i'm not pushing it on anyone else. only doing what i think is best -- not following the word (cause that's flawed), but following what I believe Jesus taught: love.

i feel like this email has gotten too long. but i wanted to explain so i don't misrepresent myself or how i feel about religion, the bible or god.

Grant it, I may have given a little more than she expected, but I felt it was a good opportunity to open a dialogue between my mother and I about what we believe. As i've been mostly clear for a long time about what my mother believes, I've suspected she felt the same way about me: my beliefs were much like hers (not true). So an opportunity arose, and I took it. I don't consider this disrespectful. I very much enjoyed this exchange with my mother.


More to come...