Find a religion that really suits me

OK. Going on the basis that no off-the-peg religion is going to suit me, despite the fact that I can find worthy parts in all of the major religions, I have decided I WILL attempt to create my own.

So what are the important tenants of faith in this new religion?

1. That God loves everyone: every nation, every person, even the animals, plants.

2. It is not necessary to believe in God, or to be a good person, for God to love you. God loves non-believers, he even loves villains (in much the same way that I would still love my children even if they were terrible people).

3. Though it is not necessary to do ANYTHING to become part of this religion, those who want to become more active in the religion are encouraged to love both God and everybody else.

4. The easiest way to do the above is a) to get to know God better and b) to get to know others better. Once we have got to know people better we can start seeing the things that are good about them, and that is the beginning of liking and eventually loving them.

5. Love is only really love if it expresses itself in action, so the final part of loving people is doing things for them. This is the fruit of our love, and as we give, so shall we receive.

6. The name of God, the sex of God, the way we worship are all superficial things. People name God, love God and worship Him in different ways, and all these ways are acceptable as long as the worshipper does not make God the excuse for acting hatefully.

7. This religion is functioning correctly if all people who are religious can pray together comfortably and be accepting of other people’s beliefs.

And what is my own worship likely to entail?

Things I like from other people’s religions:

Morning, Evening and Night Prayers of the Sikh’s
The lighting of candles and blessings of the Jewish sabbath
The Bakti Yoga (or love-of-God practices) of the Hindu
The way some Christians can talk to God as if conversing with a friend.
The Meta meditations of Buddhists

And what is the only thing in these practices that is really important:

1. To love God and
2. To love everything else.

I have not yet found any of the conventiional religions that really suit me. This is not surprising really. My religious influences are so mixed that it is unlikely that I would find one to suit. My father is an atheist, my mother a Christian, my son an agnostic, my daughter a Muslim, my friends a Buddhist and a Roman Catholic who is married to a Jew. It is almost as if this is my life task – learning religious tolerance and the value in all religions by being introduced to so many of them.

Me? I’m a seeker. I have looked at Paganism, Christianity, Islam, Druidry, New Age, Buddhism, Tao, Native American Spirituality and many others. Some I have rejected, some still seem sensible to me in parts, none seem sensible to me completely.

I believe in one God. Though I am pretty sure he is not male, I still think of him as male and relatively young. He is loving, kind, compassionate…more human than any human could possibly be…the best of all that is human. I believe in reincarnation and I also believe in panentheism.(God ensouls the universe, the universe is part of God but God is greater than the universe) I am convinced that if God is ‘all knowing’, ‘all present’, ‘all powerful’ (omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent) then all creation must be a part of God and God must be present in all creation. The only way I can invisualise this is if we are (what?) His dream? His story? something between the both, so that we are truly a part of God but not God Himself, and he is truly a part of us.

I believe that He was right to give us free will and that we need to do what is right, to become more like Him. I also believe that he does not want us on our knees, but speaking to him normally, like one would speak to a friend.

Does anyone know of any religion in which I could fit?