Easter- a Catholic holiday?

I had actually planned to take the day off and not write a post. Looks as if the universe had other plans for my morning. Thank you- I think!

I received an email message this morning from a Catholic friend who is also a member of my creative writing group. It said, "Hope you have a good Holy Week and Easter, although you don't believe, my good wishes go to you anyway."

My first reaction was, excuse me! I don't think you understand what I believe. Apparently her opinion stemmed from my statements that I am no longer Catholic and do not ever care to be again. This person's life is so tied to the church and its traditions that she seems to have forgotten how to think for herself. Everything she writes, no matter the subject, has a religious tone. I guess in her mind Easter is only celebrated by Catholics.

I spent 25 years of my adult life trying to believe in something that was never a very good fit. I remember the words of my beloved grandmother when I made the choice to become Catholic, "You want to be a Christian." At the time her words really bothered me and my intuition was to say no!

I didn't realize I was just trying it out because my husband at that time was a non-practicing catholic. Following my previous life pattern I thought it was my responsibility to get him back into the church. In the process I allowed myself to be swallowed up in ritualistic traditions that were totally against my core beliefs. In 1999 I dropped the church and the marriage and began the process of learning to think for myself.

It did bother me a little when I recently looked up the definition of Christian and saw that it really did not fit. I do believe that Jesus was born, lived and died and that his purpose was to teach his fellow humans how to love each other. He and fellow sages such as: Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad were all born of the same Creator as you and I. It seems to me that makes us all siblings- no savior in the crowd.

As I have previously stated I have a one on one relationship with my Creator that does not require the assistance of any other being, living or deceased. I choose not to label that knowing, it simply is. My church does not require four walls. My beliefs are my own, gathered from 75 years of personal experiences, and I am presently trying to the best of my ability to learn to respect the beliefs of my fellow beings.

I trust this post satisfies the universal push I received to write it this morning. Now I am taking the rest of the day off thank you very much.