Do you believe in God like you used to?

This is one of those years when Easter and Passover fall on the same weekend. If you were ever going to get closer to God, this is the perfect time, or is it? The way people view religion has changed over the years, especially in New Jersey, where we're tied with Kansas and Iowa as the 19th most religious state according to the Pew Research Center. I know that way I worship has changed dramatically from when I was growing up in Catholic school/ church to what it is now. I see God more as a relationship than a religion and thus have eliminated the middle man.

When I was a kid I was taught to fear God as well as the nuns in Holy Rosary Academy who thought nothing of smacking you around if you ever screwed up. Questions I would ask about God were met with "It's just one of the mysteries of the Lord." I wanted to solve those mysteries and Catholicism just wasn't doing it for me. Again that's me. I believe everyone should worship in the way that makes them happy otherwise your heart won't be fully in it.

While I believed in God and that he loved me I couldn't wrap my head around how someone could love you yet want you to fear them, and if you wanted to reach him you had to go through a church. As I got older and more rebellious, one of the things I turned against was the church but never God. If, in fact, he was the almighty and did love me, I wanted to get to know him and cultivate that relationship. Wouldn't you?

It was around that time that the movie "Oh God" came out with George Burns cast as a funny friendly God who had all the answers and took care of John Denver. To me, that was the perfect relationship I wanted to have. I started not only praying but talking to God and through those conversations I got answers. I joined a bible study group, where I took a class, but unlike church, not because I had to but because I wanted to.

When class started, the instructor said "Ask God for something that you've always wanted." For me it was getting on a radio station that I had been trying to get into for the past three years. Later the next week, I found that the one I was working at was going automated and I would be out of a job. Remembering my "ask" I took a shot and called the program director who informed me that his afternoon guy had just given notice and could I come in for an interview. I was hired part time and ended up growing into the morning show which later got me hired in Philadelphia.

That's just one of the many signs of proof for me that God exists and to this day he's active in my life as well as my families' lives. We all pray and believe. The others are that I get to have the family and friends I have, do what I always wanted to do, and be able to make a living doing it.

What about you? Do you still hold the same beliefs you were taught as a child or has your spiritual scope changed over the years? Do you still go to church, or temple, or mosque? How active do you believe God is in your life?

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