MN wrote:
As is also often the case, he found religion.


MN, it is not religion that transforms a man, it is Jesus Christ Almighty Himself Who transforms us in an instant in His Love for us. Jesus Christ is REAL and He means what He says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." As the Catholic Church teaches, the primary purpose of the Church in this world is to lead us to Jesus. Jesus IS alive and well. He is a man, but a man like none other. He is Divine. When He comes and manifests Himself to us, He comes in a dimension not of this world. He comes in a spiritual dimension. The Person of Jesus Christ Almighty is the personification of LOVE. All it takes is one moment in time to experience His Love and we're forever changed.

It is exactly as God said:

" And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. "
~ Jeremiah 29:13

Most don't seek the Lord as they ought until they run into trouble and need a miracle. I knew about God and I believed in God but I never sought Him with all my heart until I was in trouble and no man alive could help me. I needed a miracle and turned to God with all my heart.....and was blessed beyond anything my mind could have ever conjured up! That was almost 30 years ago and it's been one blessing after another since that time!

God bless you

"Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment." 
~ 1 Cor 1:10