I don't often talk publicly about my beliefs. I've never written about it from a personal point of view before,except in fiction; but sometimes you have to 'stand up and be counted'. So count me!
I was born and brought up as a Catholic and I still practise. Maybe one day, with enough practice, I'll get to be perfect. I'm also probably a heretic  because I don't believe that this is the one true religion. It's just that for me it has most bases covered, and the ones that aren't, I cover in other ways.

How does that work? Let me take a trip back in time to my schooldays. I was convent educated, but when I was fifteen, one of my school friends became a born-again Christian and started attending an evangelical church. We weren't particularly close, but she talked to me about it and I was fascinated by her enthusiasm. She gave me a couple of books to read which had a profound effect on my thinking. One was called "God is for Real, Man" and the other was John's Gospel in Modern English. That was when I realised that sectarianism isn't really for me. I started to think about Christianity in a new light. I didn't 'convert', I just woke up and opened my mind and heart to the real meaning of Faith, which is all about the love of God and my fellow human beings, and not so much about the way in which you choose to worship, or even the name by which you call your God. 

I suppose my Faith is a sort of "Pick 'n' Mix" really. In my late teens I had a friend who belonged to an Elim Pentecostal Church. She often slept over at my house on Saturday nights if we'd been out socialising - then on Sunday morning she'd come to Mass with me and we'd go to her house for lunch. In the evening we'd go to her church. It rocked!  Variety is the spice of life indeed, and I was full of admiration for the way people spoke so openly about their beliefs and shared their testimony with the rest of the congregation. I never had the courage to do that, and it's only in recent years that I have begun to apply the Christian label to myself and to state that it's all about the love of Jesus Christ without whom I am nothing. I read the bible much more too. It's full of Good News, you know.

There, I guess I've just delivered my testimony. It was incredibly difficult, but I feel better for it. Oh yes, I'm still attending my own church and will no doubt continue to do so, but I hope I'm bringing something  extra to the table and maybe, one day, I'll have the opportunity to share it.
 
I don't think anyone has the monopoly on divine Truth - we have to find it where we can, which is why I'm signing off this post as:

A Roaming Catholic.