Sarah Nyhan

When I was younger I wasn’t exposed to the Hispanic or Latino peoples to the same measure as when I was older. We ate crunchy tacos at the house. The kind where you buy the shell and seasoning packet at the grocery store. And those were tasty for sure.

But when I was around the beginning of high school is when I remember starting to go to Taco Bell. It was our weekly ritual, if you will. Every Friday my brother and I would have to clean the house before our mom got home from work. Then she would take us to Taco Bell. Where we’d have a three dollar limit to get anything we wanted.

We really enjoyed those trips to Taco Bell.

But then I met a girl who became my best friend. And she changed my world when she introduced me to the Jalisco restaurant just down the street from the Taco Bell. So close but a world away in terms of flavor and pretty much anything else.

It was the salsa first. And I’m still not over it. Every once in awhile I’ll still drive by and order just the chips and salsa.

Once I experienced the more authentic food, I could never go back to Taco Bell like I had before. They weren’t even in the same league.

I never knew the Jalisco-style food existed before I tried it. My entire world changed from that one encounter. I’ve experienced phenomenally better food since I left the comforts of Taco Bell and switched over to the “real thing”.

There is no comparison.

But that’s also the difference between religion and being relationship-oriented.

Religion can work for you for a time. There are a lot of decent things that can come out of it.

But religion is man’s attempt to box up God. Religion introduces you to the concept of God. But religion is like eating fast food Taco Bell.

Whereas experiencing relationship with your Creator is compared to real authentic comida cooked by an abuelita. You have no idea what you’re missing until you make the switch. And you can never go back to operating like you previously did.

We talked about relationship with Christ when I was in religion. But in that context it was anything but, basically. Real Love is not transactional at all. But the whole premise of most religions is boiling God down into a formula of what we do to get a deity to like, approve, or tolerate us enough to get what we want from it.

I can describe Taco Bell. And I can describe religion for you.

But it would take a long time to try to describe all the more complex flavors of authentic “Mexican” food. Not to mention all the other countries in Latin America and beyond.

Which is the same with real relationship. I could spend a lifetime trying to define and share everything I’ve experienced when switching from religion to relationship.

Now that being said, I still think there is great value in the community religion is probably better at most in providing.

And I still think there is value in creating spaces to invite people to experience relationship with their Creator on a level there’s a good chance they never before heard was possible.

And I’d personally love to be able to congregate with others to talk about and celebrate the freedom and Love I’ve experienced since I was brought over to this new-to-me way of Living.

Even studying and defining shared values can be helpful. But that’s where the slippery slope for me begins. That’s when people start arguing. When they start dividing just to split hairs. Where I don’t think Jesus would agree that’s so much a point worth us parting ways over.

I love Jesus. More importantly Trinity Loves me. And Loves us all.

It was always simple: “Jesus Loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.”

Religion could have stopped there. That is the whole story. That’s all you need to know.

Or we could have gone so far as: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white – they are precious in His sight.”

That’s it. That’s the whole message. That’s everything you need to know. There’s your theology. Now you’re qualified to tell people about Jesus.

More importantly share your personal experience. Invite them to real relationship. Change their whole world like my best friend did when she introduced me to real salsa. 🙂

Jesus speaks for Himself. We don’t need to make things anymore complicated than that. Just Live God’s Love in you. It’s that simple. Just lean into the freedom of the safety you experience in Christ. Believe me, doing that will bring more attention to the message you wish people would embrace than you will probably would ever want. It’s unnerving how people react so violently to someone challenging their beliefs. When the end message is only relief.

I can’t do the heavy lifting. All I can do is enjoy my Life. All I can do is try to share the Love and freedom I’ve experienced.

Less in words – although I still clearly indulge that intellectual itch. But if you stop at mental masturbation then you’re still treading in religion.

We were made to experience God’s Love. That is Life. That’s what makes everything worth Living.

Enjoy the chips. Enjoy the salsa. Better yet, enjoy it with each other!

Religion wants to preserve the body in some museum-like condition. For what?

Relationship says, “Fuck that.” Relationship puts that full body to use until the very last day.

I think there’s more to come after our last breath here in this Earth suit. But what scares me is if we only get one chance at this human experience. And then waste it all thinking all God cares about above everything else is preserving our bodies to the extent that we go out in the closest condition as when we came in.

Fuck all that. There’s no way that’s the main point. Not in a world so endlessly big, bold, and breathtakingly beautiful.

I appreciate the invitations, but y’all out your mind if you think I’m going to spend the rest of this trip holed up in a room beating myself over the head, crying over ever mistake I ever made. That’s not the worship I think my God desires.

Of course I wish I could have done differently. But I don’t have that option now. I can only move forward. I can only do better this time.

And I’m under no delusion that I will not continually “fail”. I’m only a kid. Only dropped into some fantastic timeline. With zero clue as to what we’re all doing. That alone proves it can’t be so serious as religion goes on and on about.

Oh there is importance. But important things don’t have to look like getting beaten over and over on the head multiple times a week.

Like the kids say, y’all need to get out and touch grass. Y’all need to turn off the damn devices and go look at the sky. Get out of those damn four falls and listen to the ocean exclaim the real greatness of God!

And eat some authentic tacos while you’re at it. 🙂 Eat the damn salsa. As much as you want. Trust me, you have no idea how much you are missing out. You’ll never go back. Not for all the Taco Bells in the world. 🙂