if the soul were contained in a material object, it would need a big box.

  On Friday I'll be flying into Dublin, Ireland.  I put mass at St. Patrick's cathedral on my list of things I want to do, somewhere near the Guinness factory and the Museum of Modern Art.  But when I look at the list, mass sticks out as a question mark.

I think about religion often; or perhaps more accurately, why I am not a devoted member of one. I was raised catholic, but to tell the truth it never really caught on.  I'd go through the motions, learn the prayers, go to Sunday school, but it was never something I wanted to do, never something that made me want to follow Christ with a burning passion.  Sermons never did anything for me, they just came off as a few minutes of rhetoric that I either didn't understand or simply didn't care to. 

So when occasionally the topic of religion comes up, my answer is, "well, uh...I'm kind of catholic?  Well confirmed catholic...but I haven't gone to church in ages."  This answer inevitably leads to a questioning of my innermost thoughts.  What do you believe in?  And sometimes I don't know.

I believe in questioning that which I think I know.  I believe in love.  I believe that a warm hug can't solve everything, but it sure as hell can help.  I believe that music is a vital part of life.  I believe that dreams mean something.  I believe a lot of things, but what do I believe in?

Some people believe in magic.  Some in fate.  Some in divine intelligence.  Some in chance.  Some would argue they have nothing at all to believe in.  But whatever you believe in, whatever you put your faith into becomes an intrinsic piece of your identity.  So then what, do I call my faith, my religion?  A hodgepodge of various thoughts?

I suppose what I believe in is a realm outside our physical world.  I believe that what we call 'reality' isn't the only game in town.  I believe that there's a peace to be found in my unknown, unnamed realm, and living a life of curiosity, acceptance and a touch of adventure can take me there.  So do I believe in God?  Sure, if you want to call it that, a higher power, a transcending presence, whatever, to me thats just semantics.

So maybe I don't go to church.  But I do believe in something, and for me that something can be found in the strangest of places, like a great back-beat, a first kiss, a poem that feels like it was written for you, a best friends consoling words...I could go on, but it doesn't really matter.  But that feeling, that sensation of true consciousness, of blood-pumping life?  That is what I pray to. 

So what do you believe in?