Trellis

 Think of following a spiritual path from some tradition, as opposed to winging it yourself.  The tradition is like a trellis and you are the plant/branching out on the trellis.  You don’t know which way the branch will go, but it will go in some direction on the trellis.  So it is with a tradition.  You don’t grow into a Buddhist or a Christian as if it were all a cookie cutter result.  You grow to be more you in whichever tradition you chose to follow.  There is no Buddhist perspective or Christian perspective.  There is a Buddhist giving their perspective from their practice as it is with a Christian.  If someone says, “Are you a Christian?” The answer is not a simple yes, as if there is only one kind.  That is fundamentalist and tribalism.  Rather, you are the unique you who follows a Christian tradition.  Fellow Christians are on the same trellis, but not all the same branch going in the same direction.  Or maybe I am a heretic!