Tradition

I am an Atheist. But recently I've been considering going back to church. I've always sort of dipped my toes into religion, so to speak. This sounds totally silly coming from an Atheist I know but there is something I really like about tradition. I like lighting candles for eight nights and singing songs in a language I don't understand. I like singing hymns out of a hymnal. I like going to satyrs and leaving a place for Emanuel. I even like sermons. That is why I've been thinking about going to church.

The problem is when you don't believe in anything there is no need to commemorate that lack of belief. There are no traditions that one must carry out of a sign of their lack of faith. There aren't a lot of aesthetic selling points on Atheism. But that's what I believe in, or don't believe in, as the case my be.

Religious people don't understand why I would carry on with traditions even though they are essentially meaningless for me. To be perfectly honest I don't know for sure why I would either. There is just something about traditions even if I'm just doing them for the sake of repeating the action. I want my life to have tradition. I don't need every action I take to be drenched in meaning. The meaning for me is happiness.

In all honesty I wont go to church. I feel like participating, despite my lack of belief, is cheapening the experiences of those with plenty of faith. But I do miss hearing sermons. Pastors are like the dependable advice columnists of the religious world. Maybe I should spend more time with the news paper instead.