Being away on a road trip and spending some quality time with the people I love is refreshing, blissful and relished.

However, I was very much burdened to write a piece on religion, for whatever the reason it is not made known to me yet. It was on me throughout the three days, like a niggling itch on my back where I cannot reach.

To those of you who have been readers of Chatty Lass (and for any new visitors who are observant enough), I think I have made my religion no secret, devoting 19 articles to it thus far.

I am not going to shout on the mountain tops that Christianity is the way to go, bashing up other religions along the way, nor am I going to insist on converting you by laying out the goodness and 'benefits' of what I believe in.

To make things clear, my belief is not based on what I can gain or stand to benefit, it is way more than all of those selfish desires. More on that later.

In my opinion, I think that religion consists (or should consist) of a balance between objective truth and subjective experience. One cannot exist without the other.

If any person (or teachings in a religion, for that matter) has tried to convince you that by being careful to adhere to all the laws and fulfill all the requirements in a revered Holy Book, you are indubitably granted full access to heaven, I would suggest to you that you are most probably not gonna end up there anyways.

Why? Because we are humans. Laws and rules are meant to confine us within a certain parameter, shape us as decent people with intrinsic values. Every once in awhile, we falter and we get sidetracked. That does not mean we should be damned to hell. It is not, at any point, meant to be the central basis of who we are.

Likewise, good works alone are never enough to place us on a sure road to eternal bliss. Why? Same case scenario will happen, a day will come where tiredness and weariness supersedes everything else.

Now, why should religion maintain an equilibrium of truth and personal experiences?

I will state my reasons laced with examples.

If a religion was made up of 100% objective truth, or based very strongly on teachings alone, the world will have a rapid influx of Pharisees (or Yahudi, for Islams).

If a religion's fundamentals are from 100% subjective experiences (or again, based strongly on that), self-made interpretations or claims for self-gratification will occur.

I may seem harsh or cynical here, but I believe what I am saying is the truth, nothing less and nothing more.

On my part, what I believe in, it is not religion to me. Theoretically, when I am asked of my religion, a Christian will be my reply.

Declarations of love for my Saviour are never for the sake of religious requirements, because the focal point of my belief is not as a religion, it is a relationship of love. That is how it is to me.

It transcends all the selfish desires and self motives, I am able to write the 19 articles because He is my life testament.

A religion should never be just teachings, requiring of you to be better. It should compel you to want to be better, not out of fear and trepidation, but out of love.