Where did this all start?

I was wondering where my religious views started. When did I begin the view that 'all religions are metaphors of the same truth?'

As I look back, I feel like the scientist trying to determine the beginning of the universe - I can get closer and closer to the start, but never actually reach it. So far, it seems as if I just woke up one day and said, 'Oh, all religions are metaphors of a supreme reality.' Obviously, that is not how it began, but it might as well be. As Napoleon said, 'History is a set of lies agreed upon.'

That reminds me of the riddle, 'If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound,' and the more perplexing question, 'If someone is born and dies without ever meeting any life form, did he ever exist in the first place?' Logically, we would say yes...but how would we know?

So, I have to wonder, did my thoughts ever really have a beginning, or have I always known, deep down, that this was the truth?

The closest I have come to the beginning was whilst reading Black, by Ted Dekker. It had a quote in it that I still find explains my thoughts nearly perfectly:

'Is the Creator a lamb or a lion?...Some would say that the Creator is a lamb. Some would say he's a lion. Some would say both. The fact is, he is neither a lamb nor a lion. These are fiction. Metaphors. Yet the Creator is both a lamb and a lion. These are both truths...Neither changes the Creator...Only the way we think of him.'

I read that, and it supported my viewpoints. I think I knew before that time, but it confirmed my thoughts on the matter.