Faith and Sprituality
Much has been written to me lately about church, faith, and spirituality. I have read the good, bad, and the ugly and will share how fine the line is between them. As we grow and age our search for our spiritual roots rises to the top of mind awareness. It is our battle from within that makes us ask questions like, why me, or why now, why am I so different, etc.
In this spiritual quest our faith eases into the picture. This is an interesting phenomenon because an event can trigger a faith building moment. Think about the catastrophes like a tornado and the survivors are talking about how blessed they were that the tornado did not kill them or their family. Sad to say the person down the street that lost their life or belongings to a the same storm was obviously not as blessed. So then it is decided that God loves you and has work for you to do. So in your new found faith you attend church again and start helping others in ways you had not done in years. That is usually shallow faith that wears off real fast when you figure out that life goes back to normal quick as do your old habits and attitudes. Faith can also be stirred from a powerful message heard at church. You can have one of those out of body experiences where you think the preacher is speaking directly to you with that message God placed on his heart that morning. I am not making light of that because God does work to reach us in mysterious ways.
Faith is so delicate to and that a fine line becomes evident when something bad happens to you. Then you want to lash out and blame God wondering how he could possibly allow such a thing to happen. If God allows bad to happen then maybe there really isn't a God anyway. See how our minds can go back and forth on this faith roller coaster? Downward spirals however can also place a level of faith back into us. When things are at their worst and we hit the proverbial rock bottom then we call out to God to please help. In the rise back from the pit our faith has a spurt of growth because God obviously heard the prayers of desperation and reached out to save the broken wretch.
Spirituality on the other hand unlike faith is not a moving target. Spirituality is always there it is just not always at a state of awareness to where you think about it. Our spiritual existence is often evident as we ponder the awe of creation. Looking at the trees, rainbow, stars, feeling the wind blow, or watching a gentle rain. All this sets the wheels in motion as to where we spiritually fit into this huge cosmos. Spiritually we know without a doubt that something much greater than us humans made this world in which we find ourselves. The question that our minds love to explore is what, when, why, and how. You see we are spiritual beings living a human existence. God was in us from the beginning and our spirituality is our search for that God.
Then comes church the very mechanism that attempts to put it all together. This is the social aspect of faith and spirituality that helps us grow into better people by listening to the words of God and adhering to the rules of that particular church. Like faith your church life and experience is a moving target. When the preacher says what you want to hear and the music is to your liking and people are not gossiping about you then all is well. When humanity creeps its way into church and someone does something you do not like and you are more than happy to share your dislike then that can move into a virile situation that has profound effects on your faith. If the preacher or clergy have a misstep in life and their humanness exposed you suddenly hear people question if they were ever good or not. Isn't it sad how we can place so much focus on the bad and forgetting all the good.
Church can be a place of hope and faith. It has so much to do with what you put into it. Like the investments I wrote about last week. If you invest your faith and spirituality in a positive way into your church more than likely it will grow. If however you find yourself searching for the so called hypocrites then it is safe to say you will never find true peace in your faith journey because your investment is not in the good but in the bad. When the bad investment matures it will create more of the attitude you brought to it.
Faith can grow in church and it can grow outside of church. There are great people that do not and will not attend church and it is not our place to evaluate their salvation. Conversely there are people that go to church simply to be seen so others will think them to be holy. Either way it is never our place to judge a persons worthiness in this world.
If we want to grow in our faith and allow our spirituality to mature and develop I believe what was placed into us at birth is enough seed that properly watered can rise up in beauty. That water is our ability to love and accept others. There is absolutely no room in faith and spiritual growth for hate or condemnation towards others. Once you elevate your righteousness above someone else's sins I can say with total confidence that your faith is walking a fine line between love and hate. God placed in us the ability to know right from wrong. He also placed in us the ability to atone for the wrongs we commit. Going further and this is the key to it all, he also placed in us the ability to forgive others that have sinned against us and then the desire to help them get back on their feet after a fall. If we live our lives outside God's basic principles the faith you seek will never manifest itself in you. When you lie in bed at night and your conscience is not being kind to you then it is time to evaluate the journey you are own. If you attend church make sure it is feeding you in such a way that you love and accept people of God even those that are different than you. If as you lay in bed you know without a doubt that you are one of the problems that is causing your faith not to develop in a loving way then I say it is time to find another church or another venue that can help you find your way back to the peace and love you must have for your faith to grow.
Is there a connection between faith, spirituality and church? You tell me. I think the bigger questions is this, is there a connection between love, hate, and acceptance. This will be a debate for years to come. Thank goodness as individuals we can choose to follow the faith and spiritual path of love. Trust me when you walk that path others will surely catch the fever and follow.
Open your heart up to the possibilities that the people you encounter are there to help you grow in faith and love. Even people that seem odd, strange, or maybe even bad may still be bringing you a message of hope.
Love is in the air and your ability to grow in faith is every where. RISE UP and become the change the movement needs.
peace to you
Dale
In this spiritual quest our faith eases into the picture. This is an interesting phenomenon because an event can trigger a faith building moment. Think about the catastrophes like a tornado and the survivors are talking about how blessed they were that the tornado did not kill them or their family. Sad to say the person down the street that lost their life or belongings to a the same storm was obviously not as blessed. So then it is decided that God loves you and has work for you to do. So in your new found faith you attend church again and start helping others in ways you had not done in years. That is usually shallow faith that wears off real fast when you figure out that life goes back to normal quick as do your old habits and attitudes. Faith can also be stirred from a powerful message heard at church. You can have one of those out of body experiences where you think the preacher is speaking directly to you with that message God placed on his heart that morning. I am not making light of that because God does work to reach us in mysterious ways.
Faith is so delicate to and that a fine line becomes evident when something bad happens to you. Then you want to lash out and blame God wondering how he could possibly allow such a thing to happen. If God allows bad to happen then maybe there really isn't a God anyway. See how our minds can go back and forth on this faith roller coaster? Downward spirals however can also place a level of faith back into us. When things are at their worst and we hit the proverbial rock bottom then we call out to God to please help. In the rise back from the pit our faith has a spurt of growth because God obviously heard the prayers of desperation and reached out to save the broken wretch.
Spirituality on the other hand unlike faith is not a moving target. Spirituality is always there it is just not always at a state of awareness to where you think about it. Our spiritual existence is often evident as we ponder the awe of creation. Looking at the trees, rainbow, stars, feeling the wind blow, or watching a gentle rain. All this sets the wheels in motion as to where we spiritually fit into this huge cosmos. Spiritually we know without a doubt that something much greater than us humans made this world in which we find ourselves. The question that our minds love to explore is what, when, why, and how. You see we are spiritual beings living a human existence. God was in us from the beginning and our spirituality is our search for that God.
Then comes church the very mechanism that attempts to put it all together. This is the social aspect of faith and spirituality that helps us grow into better people by listening to the words of God and adhering to the rules of that particular church. Like faith your church life and experience is a moving target. When the preacher says what you want to hear and the music is to your liking and people are not gossiping about you then all is well. When humanity creeps its way into church and someone does something you do not like and you are more than happy to share your dislike then that can move into a virile situation that has profound effects on your faith. If the preacher or clergy have a misstep in life and their humanness exposed you suddenly hear people question if they were ever good or not. Isn't it sad how we can place so much focus on the bad and forgetting all the good.
Church can be a place of hope and faith. It has so much to do with what you put into it. Like the investments I wrote about last week. If you invest your faith and spirituality in a positive way into your church more than likely it will grow. If however you find yourself searching for the so called hypocrites then it is safe to say you will never find true peace in your faith journey because your investment is not in the good but in the bad. When the bad investment matures it will create more of the attitude you brought to it.
Faith can grow in church and it can grow outside of church. There are great people that do not and will not attend church and it is not our place to evaluate their salvation. Conversely there are people that go to church simply to be seen so others will think them to be holy. Either way it is never our place to judge a persons worthiness in this world.
If we want to grow in our faith and allow our spirituality to mature and develop I believe what was placed into us at birth is enough seed that properly watered can rise up in beauty. That water is our ability to love and accept others. There is absolutely no room in faith and spiritual growth for hate or condemnation towards others. Once you elevate your righteousness above someone else's sins I can say with total confidence that your faith is walking a fine line between love and hate. God placed in us the ability to know right from wrong. He also placed in us the ability to atone for the wrongs we commit. Going further and this is the key to it all, he also placed in us the ability to forgive others that have sinned against us and then the desire to help them get back on their feet after a fall. If we live our lives outside God's basic principles the faith you seek will never manifest itself in you. When you lie in bed at night and your conscience is not being kind to you then it is time to evaluate the journey you are own. If you attend church make sure it is feeding you in such a way that you love and accept people of God even those that are different than you. If as you lay in bed you know without a doubt that you are one of the problems that is causing your faith not to develop in a loving way then I say it is time to find another church or another venue that can help you find your way back to the peace and love you must have for your faith to grow.
Is there a connection between faith, spirituality and church? You tell me. I think the bigger questions is this, is there a connection between love, hate, and acceptance. This will be a debate for years to come. Thank goodness as individuals we can choose to follow the faith and spiritual path of love. Trust me when you walk that path others will surely catch the fever and follow.
Open your heart up to the possibilities that the people you encounter are there to help you grow in faith and love. Even people that seem odd, strange, or maybe even bad may still be bringing you a message of hope.
Love is in the air and your ability to grow in faith is every where. RISE UP and become the change the movement needs.
peace to you
Dale
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