Joshua - A religious person ?

An excerpt from the book "Joshua and the children" , by Joseph F. Girzone:

You know, Joshua, you don´t come across as a particular religious person, and yet your attitudes and insights betray a depth of spirituality that could come only from unusual intimacy with God.


Joshua smiled and said:

I do not attempt to be religious. That has no meaning. To be perfectly human, as God made us, sould be our goal. If we appear to be religious or pious, we´ve missed the point and our piety becomes a caricature and unauthentic. Real holiness is the natural growth of the human personality to its full maturity as an individual, and in the process, becoming a beautiful person. That is all that God wants of us.


And since each individual is unique, and has a different task to accomplish in God´s plan, each one has to grow differently, so holiness for each individual is different and has nothing to do with predetermined religious patterns and practices that mimic real holiness.

Jesus lived in Nazareth for thirty years, and the kids he grew up with were shocked when he began to preach. They never looked upon him as particularly holy, and yet he was the holy one of God.