Religion getting in the way?

When I was fourteen I was in a Christian Youth Group and a very generous couple would take us to events on the Christian scene that were happening elsewhere in Northampton. (I was at a bog standard Anglo-Catholic Church and I guess the happening things were happening in Charismatic types of churches). I regularly met a chap called Angus, he (I think) was a curate at a happening church. He spoke exactly like Neil from the Young Ones..

Looked for a clip to give an example but the episodes were all hideous... found this though..

Anyway.. whatever.. whenever this curate called Angus was talking to people at some point he would use the phrase 'Peeeersonal relaaaationship with Gaaaaawwwd'. And myself and other badly behaved teenagers would repeat in our best hippy voices 'Peeeeersonal relaaaaaationship with Gaaaawwd'.

What has struck me lately is the whole baggage of religion so often obscures, it it interesting to me and important, some of it, but it isn't what faith is about.. I have been writing this blog for five months.. and what has struck me is much of it is important to me.. but what if you took away some stuff:

• The social action
• The concerns about the environment
• The love of post-modernity
• The love of poetry
• The fun of churchmanship
• The concerns for equality

Perhaps lets go further to find out what it at the core of faith and take away

• The worship
• The communion
• The scriptures
• The divinity of Jesus
• The resurrection
• The church

Or even further, take away..

• Prayer
• Faith
• Love
• Hope..

What is left? Well there is still something.. something that I think Angus would call the personal relationship with God.. and Paul Tillich would call the 'Ground of my Being'.