April 08-A, 2023

**Yosemite Falls 04/27/2006 Oil Paint Rendered**
**Yosemite National Park, California**

Bad religion is based on opinion and hearsay,
good religion is grounded on experience--
specifically, on experience, regular and ongoing,
with the numinous,
the transcendent,
the ineffable,
the undeniable,
the Really Real...
beyond all thought,
incapable of being explained,
defined,
said
or told,
only experienced,
again and again,
as wonder,
radiance,
sublime,
joy,
amazement,
delight,
astonishment,
laughter,
grace...

All bad religion is based on fear.
All good religion is founded on joy,
exuberance,
gladness,
bliss,
glory...
beyond arrangement and orchestration,
choreography and production,
and is as natural as a waterfall
and a rainbow,
and a starry, starry, night.

–0–

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything. View more posts