Religionless Christianity?

The other day I walked into Wheaton Religious Gift and Church Supply. I had walked by before and seen some Catholicy-looking stuff in the window, and I decided it might be worth checking out. What I discovered inside was an awesome Family Christian Bookstore - Catholic Version!

Catholic Medals

As I walked around like a brat in a candy store with a goofy delighted grin on my face, I came to the section of the store with the rosary beads and the sacramental medals. I stopped in my tracks. It had suddenly hit me that Christianity, at least Catholic Christianity, is a religion. A religion interacts with supernatural things through the use of Holy Symbols. These sacramental symbols, which had once meant nothing to me (or worse), took on a whole new meaning through the eyes of my new-found Catholic faith. They are wonderful gifts, not magic charms, but physical vehicles for the work of the Holy Spirit, received by faith in his power.