I sat down a few years ago and said a ferverent prayer not necessarily directed to any being, but in this prayer I said I want to know the truth and I'm willing to pay the price the answer may require. Within a short period of time tons of information came flooding in to me but the information and direction wasn't to any church. The information turned out to be in short that God, whoever or whatever he is has to be bigger than the Bible and religion. I started to rethink God without the concept of being born in sin and needing a saviour. I started looking at history, archaeology, science, and modern discoveries to format my thinking. I've concentrated more on being a good person, a good neighbor, and the father to my children that I never was. I love everything about life more than ever and I try to get the most out of each moment of life.
I agree shootist. I too opened myself up to the wisdom of the universe and was led to conclude the same. There's just no way I could confirm to 'organized religion' again, knowing what I know now. I still pray for direction - to whom or what I don't know and am not trying to find out. But the Bible God resembles mankind too much to be believable. And the cognitive dissonance that results from trying to reconcile violent executions to a 'loving' creator is probably what keeps the butterflies in the pits of the stomachs of those who do believe. That loving/fear/hope dynamic that played out in my heart and mind all the while I was in the borg ... (maybe you will be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger) I don't miss that at all.
To answer the question regarding my passion: Writing - learning, my children, career, education, the four seasons - love in its many forms of expression.
sweet tee