I’ve often said that we use religion like a crutch. Sometimes I’ve said this condescendingly. I don’t anymore. Here’s why.

Certain beliefs I held were crutches. I’m sure the same applies to some I hold now. What are crutches for? They give us mobility. They assist us in getting around. They help us live our lives. They aren’t our preferred mode of mobility. But when we are handicapped, a crutch works! Once we get healed we put the crutch away.

Perhaps in the past I burned my crutches as an act of defiant victory. Now, I gently put them away, never to be used again, and with respect. Thanks to the crutch, I got to where I am today. Without it I would have been extremely restricted.

I have a closet full of crutches. I don’t intend to use them again. But thank you, crutches! Even though you were a sign of disability, you were also a sign that I was fiercely determined to move.

This is how I also consider the crutches of others. Hey! I recognize that crutch! Wow, that’s an interesting crutch! Cool crutch! Why so many crutches? That’s the fanciest and most complicated crutch I’ve ever seen! Whatever works for you!

But we do realize that they are only a provisional tool to get us to the next stage. I respect and appreciate crutches for that. Nothing more. But nothing less.