Church

Every Saturday morning for the last seven months I look forward to attending my Gamblers Anonymous meeting; today was no exception. We have a saying in GA "what you see hear what hear here let is stay hear"; rings very true so all I can say about this morning's meeting is WOW!!! What an amazing group of people and no they are not LOSERS far from it; everyone in that meeting is a WINNER. They have recognized a problem in their lives and are trying to correct this problem. I do know some good has come out of my situation because without my finally admitting I have a gambling problem I would not have met these incredible people.

Also today we as a family went back to church for the first time in a very long time. My wife and I were both raised Catholic. My wife's family is more of a die hard Catholic than my family. After making my holy confirmation it was my choice to attend church regularly because my parents did not make me go. My wife went to a Catholic grammar school and wasn't given the option to go to church it was something she just did when she was younger because her family would go every Saturday or Sunday.

About 11 years ago my wife went to church on Mother's Day by herself because I refused to go with her and when she came home from church she was crying. The mass was very emotional and I knew my wife missed her mother because we had recently moved to Las Vegas. I made it a point to go to church with her the next Sunday. The church was being built and the priest was not like any priest I had encountered on the East Coast. I instantly felt at home in this church and kept going. I volunteered as a lecturer (someone who reads the Gospel) and was really enjoying the Church. At this same time I was attempting to quit gambling by myself and I thought going to church would help as well. I don't quite remember what happened but two years later I stopped going to church because I think the priest who I really liked had gotten transferred to a new church and I was not really fond of the new priest.

Then the scandal broke out in the Catholic Church regarding the molestation of the young boys. I personally did not like the way the Catholic Church handled these allegations. So I decided to stop going to church and also I got back into gambling. We did have our children baptized in the Las Vegas Church; however; I was no longer a lecturer and my wife also had stopped going. When we moved to Southern California I asked my wife to try a Lutheran Church and we went for a Christmas Service. The service was good but I think it was a little too different for my wife. I would consider the Lutheran religion "Catholic Lite". The concepts are all the same but the message is delivered a little more subtly. This didn't work and I know my wife wanted to remain Catholic. A few months ago we tried an Bible Study Service; I know this was much too different for my wife but I did enjoy the service.

Last week my wife took the children to the Catholic Mass and I told her I would join her this week. I did go and yes, things really haven't changed since the first time I went to a Catholic Mass 40 years ago but I will say the West Coast version of Catholicism seems different than the East Coast version. The church is brand new and very large; the people are nice but they seemed nicer at the Bible Study service and the Lutheran service. I know my wife and I have to make a choice in what religion we should raise our children because my daughter is at the age where she will be making her Holy Communion in the Catholic Church next year.

I know my wife would like to continue the Catholic upbringing. My past problems with the Catholic Church still linger but what matters most is my children. Everyone needs something to believe in be it Catholic, Protestant, Judaism, Islam, etc., so we will raise our children with some type religion which will be Catholic. It is not a bad religion and if you cut out all of the politics and guilt it is just like any spiritual program. Yes, there is a Higher Power at work and things happen for a reason.

I would like to give my children this base religion and when they are old enough to choose for themselves they can choose to join any religious service or not. I will not guilt them into doing anything they don't want to do. I want to make sure they attend whatever service for the right reasons. So many times in life we do things out of guilt and because we have to; hopefully when the times comes for my children they will "want" to continue their religious fellowship.