I pride myself on my humility.
Did you catch the irony and oximoron there?
I have a ways to go before my ego is extinguished and I and God become one.
Different religions have different ways of articulating the basic point of the spiritual life: the extinction of the ego and thereby the uniting of ourselves to all others. Doing to others as you'd have them do to you.
At the same time, I take a very laisez fair attitude towards any and all religious doctrines, dogmas, and prohibitions, hiding behind Jesus's words in Matthew 22:37-40: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” So basically, live and let live. That's how I've simplified it.
But doesn't that make me no different than the secular humanist who does nothing on account of their love of God, but merely what she herself has deemed (through her own intellect, reason, logic, ... ego) as in the best interest of society?
Yet I keep insisting that I love God, and that I want to draw near to Him. How? By doing my own thing? Just like true peace is more than just the absence of war, true love of God is more than just the avoidance of evil. I have been satisfied with being morally "good enough". I have taken God's mercy for granted, feeling myself entitled to it on account of... simply being a daughter of God, made in His image.
I can do better than that. I want to do better than that. I am, I can, I ought, I will, said Charlotte Mason.
The seemingly arbitrary rules of ... say.... Orthodox Judaism. Does anyone "have" to do all the mitzvot in order for God to love them? No. But shouldn't we WANT to please our Heavenly Father even if we know He'll love us without "works"? If we happen to fail, ok, we know we have God's mercy on our side. But take it for granted, that's the wrong attitude altogether.
I may need to come around to making a decision to do things not because I "have" to, but because I "get" to - I get to please my Maker, I get to join countless others in pleasing our Maker, I get to reap the rewards of a community if I yoke myself to them in this way. I do not have to. I am not Jewish. As a Gentile, I have 7 very basic commandments to abide by. But th emore I choose to draw closer to God (via community, via affiliation, via mitzvot), the closer God will draw to me.
