Let's see, my spiritual journey begins in a farm outside of a small town in Kansas.  I grew up in the faith of my parents- Roman Catholic.  All in all, it was a positive religious experience for me.  This was the beginning of my spiritual journey- even if I did not really understand what spirituality meant until many years later.

My parents were Roman Catholic with a capital R and a capital C.  We went to Mass every Sunday.  Many times Saturday night and Sunday morning.  And maybe also Wednesday night mass during the week.  All holy days were observed.  During Easter Holy Week we went to church 5 of the seven days of the week. 

Of course I went to religion classes, memorized all of my prayers, knew the sacraments, served as an alter boy, participated in the high school youth group CYO.

I believe my parent's faith was also spiritual for them.  It was something that permeated their daily lives.  We were not rich- but they were always helping out others who had less; inviting people who did not have any place to go for the holidays to our house.  I learned some of my greatest spiritual lessons from my parents.

But looking back my childhood religion was a lot of rules and requirements that I had to follow.  Go to mass every Sunday and on Holy Days.  It was not what I got out of Mass- I just needed to fit it in.  It was also how I saw life.  Follow the rules, do well, and you should succeed.  So that's what I did, I got good grades, I didn't get in too much trouble, I was involved in organizations.  I followed all the rules. 

And that all worked out pretty well.  I graduated HS.  Went to college.  Picked a career that seemed safe and practical.  Worked for a national accounting firm then went to Law School.  Life was kind of like checking off the boxes.

And all that time I continued to go to Mass every Sunday.  Not because I really was getting a lot out of it- but because that was what I was supposed to do- it was the rules.

But there were some problems.  I found myself not agreeing with the political positions of the Catholic Church- The role of women in the church, should priests be allowed to marry?, sexuality, contraception, and even the basic non-democratic method of governing the church.  But I knew that others in the church did not agree with these positions either.  I trusted that it would all work out in due time. 

And of course there was a really big issue.  I was gay.  Another issue that the church opposed.  In many ways I felt the church opposed me.