The Great Debate
I understand this will not be popular but I woke up last night thinking about how many people, myself included, struggle with the belief they profess. I have a feeling deep down inside most people have a strong desire to go beyond the religious realm they find themselves a slave too.
Give thought to that before you blast my honesty. Most of us search our whole lives for a religion that makes our faith grow and spirituality to make sense. For many we inherit what we are suppose to believe and heaven forbid if we question it. But the truth most of us face in the secret hiding place of our minds is why things happen the way they happen and why shouldn't it all fit together. We have questions but few answers because for centuries the questions have been akin to a political response that avoids the question more than it answers it.
Let's be for real here. If you leave in America, as I do, almost without fail everyone lives in the land of plenty. Our nuisances for several is the jealousy or envy of who can buy more than the other. For the one's that do in fact live meager they still live larger than a great percentage of the world. Now flip that over to the places on the globe where famine and strife kill people by the millions. There are entire segments of populations that have NO hope of living past 30 and even less hope of having three meals per day and a warm shower. Where is the God we claim to believe in all this? Is it the free will of man that led us to this place of inequality? Great question yet few answers.
To bring this debate closer to home for those of us that have more than we need in material means. Why is depression, anxiety, death, and suffering so prevalent in a society that claims to believe in a God of love. The question becomes, what do you truly believe about God, spirituality, faith, hope, love, humanity, and self. That is asking us to give thought to some topics normally relegated to self discovery. I wonder why we walk in fear of discussing God in our lives. I do agree that this is a moving target. For most we will find the love of God in various stages and circumstances in our journey through this life. But the interesting fact is that the things that draw us to a belief in God are the same things that push away.
Here is my simple short hippie take on this. We are human, whether we like it or not. Our humanity is as misunderstood as a bumblebee being able to fly. We are tempted, not because we are bad but because we are human. We fail miserably as we walk this walk, based on what we are taught to believe. Often times we pride ourselves in picking out the failure of others but gosh be damned if people pick out ours. Humanity is our gift and often times our curse.
Once we understand the power of love and acceptance then the actual acts we consider failures just might be the gateway to self discovery. Oh yes there is a God that created this wonderful place we inhabit. I can't say with absolute certainty where he resides other than I believe to the core that some how without my understanding he has a place in each of us. It isn't religion that forges that belief it is life. Pure and simple when we face each day with love, unquestionable love and full acceptance of the differences of others, God will spark a flame inside us. You and I may never understand it but I somehow can make more sense of this than some of the aspects of religion I have heard all my life.
To conclude let's go back to the random question of faith that started this. I, like many, struggle to believe the religion that we have been taught for years. I find it almost unthinkable for religions to kill (not physically) the love for humanity they profess to facilitate. If we could take away all the books ever written about religion I believe whole heartily that people will still find away to love. Leaving ourselves exposed to love with the direction of others can often times force the true agape love of God into a reclusive state. Love is like a flower, it has to be watered and find sunshine in order to grow. It needs nurturing. So do we friends.
We are human, we make mistakes, some get caught, some do not. At the end of the day we are more alike than we are different. We all question who we are, where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Let's boil this down to a simplistic form. Let's love one another and allow the power of a God that is real to grow inside us. That growth can end wars, unite people, end hunger, heal emotional wounds, and bring unity much faster and far stronger than all the divisiveness religions bring.
Just a thought from old peaceful hippie.
peace to you
Dale
Comments
Why do we have stress, anxiety and depression even when all our basic needs are met? Perhaps it is because we want more and haven’t gotten it? It’s also caused by others not living the way we think they should. We want people we love to be a certain way; we want them to change to fit what we want them to be. (this ends up causing stress / suffering for those people) Of course, the yin yang effect assures that we also suffer.
Religious people profess to believe the bible is the Word of God. I’m cool with that, even though they cannot agree with what it all means, so they continuously split and part ways with a lot of bitterness. If they truly believe what God’s Word tells them, why do they not keep the most important commandment? “Love God with all you heart, soul and mind. Also, Love your neighbor as you love yourself” Perhaps they do lov e others with the same LACK as they love themselves. They are disgusted with themselves, so they are disgusted with others…
Regarding ‘anxiety, stress and depression’ that most of us face, especially religious people; the answer is in the Bible they smack ‘non believers’ over the head when they question God. How screwed up is that when the Bible gives them the solution to anxiety? Philippeans 4:6 says in modern language: “Don’t be stressed or anxious, instead be thankful and meditate on being grateful, THEN ask God to help you become the person you really want to be. If you do this, a peace that cannot be explain will guard your heart and mind, the same way it did for Jesus.”
No matter how it is interpreted, religious people rarely follow it. Why? Perhaps they don’t really believe it or they don’t trust God. Yet they are quick to condemn ‘non believers’ for not trusting God. They create so much misery and suffering for other, there’s little doubt that they in turn create misery and suffering for themselves. And rightly so. They put down people who are different or have alternative lifestyles. They do exactly what God tells us NOT to do. That’s why they suffer.
I’ve been healing from depression and anxiety as a result of PTSD. (Much of which came from religious leaders). The most effective thing I do to continue to heal Is to be grateful; to be clear of what I want and meditate on these things. Additionally, I practice ending the suffering of others. So it could be said that I practice doing exactly what God tell us all to do?