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| I don't think this is St. Theresa, but you get the point. |
It's easy to trash religion as a negative force in the world. If you look at the headlines, it
is a negative force. If you look at the historical headlines, even, it is a negative force. But those who were raised in sane religions with love and peace at their foundations know that religion can be profound, comforting and spiritually (go figure...) uplifting.
For instance, there is this Catholic thing we Catholics do. I'm not sure if it is prevalent in other Christian faiths, and I -- a public school kid -- didn't hear it much until I started teaching in a Catholic school. I have recently found out that the idea is often attributed to St. Theresa of Avila:
"Whatever you do, offer it up to God and pray that it may be for His honor and glory."
She uses it in the broader sense, of course. Hers is a prescription for living for God, first, but I find Catholics tend to use it more as a mitigation of and to make meaning
out of suffering, either minor or major.
