Hope Chapel in Bangalore and my sermon for Sunday
CAUTION: RELIGIOUS CONTENT

This morning I went with a fellow volunteer to her church, the Hope Chapel in Bangalore. Every christian church I have visited around the world does it differently. Isn't that wonderful?!

The service was lovely and there was a band that helped us sing all the songs, in english. There was an electric guitarist, sax player, drummer, back up singers, lead singer and a screen that showed the words to the devotional songs.
For some strange reason all the songs sounded like christian versions of The Flaming Lips'. This made it really fun to sing along. And I did my best to rock out. I even added some harmony and variations. In this church calling out, "Amen!" or singing outside the verse is ok.

The pastor is a small sof-spoken man who preached today on the meaning of the slaughtered lamb during passover. He spoke about sin and here is where I got lost. You see, I don't believe people are sinners. I believe we make mistakes because we forget that we are divine beings. I think every human has a shadow, (The Wizard of Earthsea portrays this beautifully), and that we do not lose our shadow even if we are "good" we just get better at forgiveness, gratitude, generosity and tolerance. This makes our shadow less likely to assert itself.

I myself am constantly fighting with my shadow, which makes me a "sinner". I am learning to forgive myself, (and in turn others). I am learning to be thankful, (which helps me to avoid depression). I am learning to be generous (which somehow lessens my desire for things). And my tolerance is beginning to grow. This helps me to forgive myself for not being perfect in my thoughts, emotions and actions.

An enlightened guru once said, "You are perfect as you are. You just need a little work."