The Nicene Creed is the profession of faith that’s said during Roman Catholic Mass.

If we’re lucky, in the course of our lives we come across teachers. I’m not talking about the kind with chalkboards and classrooms, bur rather the friends and lovers who cross our path as the years go by, each contributing something different to our growth

We don’t always recognize them right away. After all, sometimes the student isn’t ready when the teacher appears. But sometimes, later in life, the teacher and the teaching become clear.

Some people find those teachings in organized religion. Although I’ve had a long relationship with Catholicism (of the ethnic flavor), a close acquaintance with the Jewish faith and know more than I ever thought I would about the beliefs of evangelicals and fundamentalists, I just can’t buy any of them.

It’s not that I reject those teachings; it’s just that I don’t subscribe to them.

Many of them claim to be the one truth path –and believe it strongly–but I believe just as strongly there are many paths to God.

It’s ironic, since one of my favorite parts of the Nicene Creed has us exhorting that we believe in one church and one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I love it when the congregation says “holy Catholic and apostolic church” because the rhythm and alliteration are almost a meditation. I certainly do not believe Catholicism is the only way to God.

My “spiritual” experiences over the past few years have led me down a number of different paths. Just as I’ve come to learn that I am both a pacifist and someone who absolutely does not believe in capital punishment, I’ve come to learn more about what I believe to be true. Or more aptly, what I do not believe to be true.

Religion’s a tricky thing.

If you are more when you check-out than you were when you checked-in the universe is a better place and one more soul is more polished.