Final Thoughts....

This is my final entry for this project.

I started looking for resolution to a stereotype of churches and Christianity that I hold. A belief system that I operate from that tells me churches are institutions and Christians are fake. This has been a two week journey....I have walked down memory lane, traveled into forgiveness, anger, explored humility, sought a common ground in the Bible....I looked for proof in the mainstream that something...anything really that told me my stereotype was wrong, I found encouragement from an atheist, and I cried as I read some of your private emails. Many of you have emailed me--unable to comment on my posts for personal reasons--but open that you too are in the same place as I am.

And in a true effort to seek resolution, I went to "church" on Sunday. But this was hardly what I would classify as church...rather a community...a family...of Christ-followers. They were united only by love and acceptance, they were open and kind, they were....dare I say it...real.

So now? I wish I could say that the switch has been flipped and I have erased my stereotype and made peace with the institutions of church and Christianity....but I would be lying.

I can say that I have resolved that real exists...that not everyone who bears the "Christian" tag is fake...and that humility plays a role in my response.

For those of you who are reading, I know that this has become a topic of misguided conversation among some individuals. I knew going into this that my name would take on labels of all kinds...and I knew that those who would choose to label and make the choice to not see this as a journey would indeed prove my stereotype correct. I also know that this blog has opened up doors to conversations that are good, kind, real, hard, messy, curious, and unconventional....and for that...I consider myself blessed to learn from those who are searching for real as I am.

I still believe that churches are misguided, missing real--Christians, for the most part, are still fake....still engaged in a systematic religion instead of a liberating realization of God himself. Yet, I am learning to see a Christian as an individual on a journey...a process not my own...but nonetheless a process to be at the least, respected.

I think while I may have been on the road for resolution...I found something greater...the ability to hope in real again....and no, I am not a Christian...I am a Christ-follower.