Seek The Eternal from Where You're At

On TV the other day they polled the question of whether religions unite or divide – the majority agreed with divide. This greatly surprised me. The point of religion is to unite, unite with God and unite with others in God – no matter what we label ourselves, i.e., Catholic, Muslim, Baptist, Buddhist, Sufi, Hindu, Jewish, Yoga, Presbyterian, etc.

These are merely labels and words. God is spirit. Religions divide when men’s egos choose to use religion in a manner not intended; for example, as a system of control versus a tool for healing souls. Religion used to divide is abhorrent to its purpose. Religion used to cause suffering and inflict torture upon the innocent is pure evil. We must turn from this evil and not feed it.

People at times say we invented religion as a way to escape from the reality of death, to cope with our fears. How arrogant we are! Religions have been given to us through Grace as a way for us to unite with the Divine and a side effect of uniting is the loss of our fear of death, the unknown.

God wishes to bless us with everything we need to return to Love. This world is a world of Love; we are merely blind and deaf and dumb to all but a few shadows. These shadow glimpses entice us to faith and hope and following a path leading home to the Eternal All. The bravest are those who have no glimpses yet pursue the path purely out of faith and hope of a Love greater than themselves yet having no knowledge or experience of such.

Some differentiate between being spiritual and being religious as if the religious life were somewhat at odds with spirit. The true source of all religions is God, Love. If one has a religion, embrace it. Express gratitude for the love it adds to life. If there is dogma one does not agree with, express gratitude that we can disagree. Embrace with heart, embrace love. Dogma is of the mind, not the heart. It has grown from generations of thoughts. We can be grateful, love, embrace, accept, work within and still be the change we want to see in the world.

Religions are a blessed tool that allows us to open to God and become aware of who we are in relation to Him/Her . Many confuse the tool with its objective.

Love does not have to be debated. Not one thought need be wasted on a tenant. People debate minute aspects of a scripture. This is not love. What difference does it make in your life who is right on this particular point and who is wrong?

The more we disagree and argue over tenants and interpretations in the various religious sects as well as the differing world religions, the more divisive we become. We each have our own name for God. This divisiveness keeps us from unifying under the All in All, keeps us separate and fighting among ourselves, when God seeks all His children to be one with the All. Follow Mother Teresa who, even though faithfully Roman Catholic, embraced all religions.

Yet, even with the acknowledged and unacknowledged corruption of some major religious organizations, I believe worship in communion with others is paramount to achieving spiritual growth. When we pray, we do not say, “Give me today my daily bread;” we say, “Give us today our daily bread.” It is a communal prayer for all. If one desires to grow in spirit, worshiping in a community is useful. We are pack creatures in this physical world, and as droplets we make up a river in the spiritual. Therefore, we as individual droplets combined in spirit create an unimaginable energy flow that will manifest itself in the healing versus the destruction in our world.

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Religions teach us how to humble ourselves to God through bent knee and physical prostration. We bow to our Creator, to the greatest good, to God. We prostrate in a position of surrender. We praise and thank and plead with this Higher Power. This praising, talking with, listening to, and worship, all with a grateful heart in complete trust, opens one up to God and to the self who is a part of God.

If all who loved God, the Eternal All, whatever name and whatever precepts, holy books, rituals, etc. – made worship and love of God their priority, modeling placing God first in their lives while loving all who put God first in their lives, no matter the name of God, then the world would be a more light-blessed place for us to dwell.