I like your chain analogy. That works. ;-)
But I have a different view of how God works.
God judges you on your DEEDS (and God is the only one who can) not on what you say or how many times you go to church.
If you live your life true to YOURSELF, you are doing what was destined for you. It may be that you task, your mission, is to make life difficult for others so they can grow and learn. if that is your mission, given to you by God and you do it true to yourself, then you are not in fact sinning, you are following God's will for you.
It is not up to us to decide what is sin and what is not. That's is God's job. it is up to us to live our lives in a way that makes sense you US as individuals.
And you can see for yourself what happens when you commit yourself to living the way God intended you to live. You get blessed with a beautiful family, and a wonderful life. (long may that continue)
I live my life in a way that is true to my nature. It annoys the crap out of some people. But that's just the way it is.
I don't go to church or rely on someone else to tell me how to live. I do what feel TRUE to me.
And God will judge me for it.
Seems somewhat contradictory:
"It is up to us to live our lives in a way that makes sense to US as individuals. And you can see for yourself what happens when you commit yourself to living the way God intended you to live."
I agree that you that mouthing pieties and attending church regularly has little to do with "living the way God intended you to live". Deeds are what counts, but how do we decide which deeds are OK? It is extremely easy to convince ourselves that our actions are ethical: our "feelings" can easily mislead us.
How do you decide?
It's not a clear cut thing. There is lots of ambiguity in life. Often I won't know it's the right thing until after I do it.
But when i do the right thing, I get a feeling within that I have indeed done the right thing.
It's hard to describe.
I don't convince myself to do the right thing. If I have to do that then it is probably the wrong thing :-)
What makes me feel good, what make me feel right, is helping people. The action itself is the reward. That's what makes me feel that it is right.
I'm sorry. I can't articulate it better right now. I think if you are being true to your nature, the things that are true to your nature come easily to you. They are effortless. And in that space the world just feels right to you.
I probably need beer before I can really explain it ;-)
I understand what you're saying, but we should remember that (for example) Germans who helped murder Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and mentally retarded people also had “warm fuzzy feelings” fostered by a daily, unrelenting diet of government-sanctioned “information” and social approval that convinced them that they were doing “the right thing” to help others and make the Third Reich strong.
Vague “feelings” are comforting, but they can easily mislead. Study of moral literature (especially the Bible), unremitting introspection, and constant questioning of one's motives are ways to strengthen one's sense of ethics.