Love is the answer

I am not sure how many people enjoy reading biblical history or church history. It is fascinating how over the years various cultures, rulers, popes, political influence, and radical extremist have changed the face of what we call religion. Several times throughout history we find teachings that support that there will be no new revelations as it relates to the written Word however there will be new revelations as it relates to the  understanding of God's word. That last statement is the reason why new churches, new interpretations, and new evangelist stimulate the senses of a people seeking spiritual meaning and growth.

Is it good or bad? Could be both or neither or either. It is always nice to have clarity and better understanding of anything as long as it is not manipulative. Religion was not meant to be law and order it was meant to serve with love and help people attain heavenly salvation. As with anything though money, power, ego, and narcissism found it's way in. As people experienced the good and reaped the rewards another group was exposed to the bad and lost the desire to trust and believe what religion was intended to stand for. 

In my research over the last year I discovered what I felt I already knew but did need to validate. For many religion is a one way street, what is in it for me. In that case the outcome will always be bad because the relationship is founded with selfish intent. The bad experience these people have was self induced yet it will be spread to others with bitter division. Conversely the people that enter into a religious relationship with humble contrite hearts usually find growth that leads to inspiration in others. Sometimes this is short lived depending on life circumstances and other times it is like a marriage they work through the rough spots keeping the main thing the main thing. 

The crux of this particular writing is that religion has positive and negative influence on most people throughout their lives. Few will stick with the church they inherited from birth or found during their quest for spiritual development. Finding a church is a journey just liking finding a home. If you do not like, trust, and believe that which you seek, you will not find that which you hoped for. A church has to be more than a preacher, priest, elders, or deacons, it has to be a place of communal growth, a safe haven for finding who we truly are. 

Let's take a simplistic view of this for a moment. If you enrolled in college to learn about quantum physics you would believe what your professors taught you. Their experience, knowledge, and books shared would give you the basis to understand that which you did not know. If you later discover that everything you learned was false your trust in that institution is lost. The time you put in the enthusiasm you shared with friend and family is gone and what is left is bitter disillusionment and embarrassment.  This same principle aptly applies to religion. When we put our faith and trust into a church or an institution only to find out later that what we were taught was not true that too leaves us with wound and displacement of hope, not to mention shame and confusion. 

What do you believe when it comes to religious teachings? It is easy to say, "only believe what the Bible says", then I have to ask, what does the Bible say? Remember there are literally thousands of interpretations and explanations. Millions of books have been written trying to explain various verses of scripture in new and exciting ways. If the teaching is simply to believe what the Bible says I suppose we can believe anything because the explanations and interpretations can lend itself to myriad of possibilities. Consider how many crimes have been committed because someone thought they understood a secret in the Bible the rest of the world missed. How many times over the last 2000 years do you think people have taught that the end times are now. That exact teaching is why the early writers of scripture waited so many years before writing it down. Think about the cults that have lead to mass suicides all because they followed what they thought was the correct teachings of scripture. You see my point?

I personally love scripture, I love to read it on my phone, my ipad or pick it up the old way and just enjoy time in the Word. I guess to my fault I only see the good in the Bible, I fail to see the bad or simply refuse to see it. When others shout out how the Bible says this or that is wrong I think to myself that love is the answer. I suppose I skew my understanding to far one way because I choose to believe that God created us to love, be loved, live in peace with the earth we inherited. We have minds to think with, hearts and souls to love with, and bodies to work with. Do I strive to use that which I have been given to better understand that which I do not know? Yes without reservation, I constantly seek faith development and spiritual growth. I want to understand why and how so many people (me included) can believe the same words in a multitude of ways. Where some see love and acceptance others see hate and division. All from the same source. One church says that the only way to heaven is to believe what they believe, while another says we will all attain heaven if we just accept Christ in our hearts. Some say to love and unite others say divide and conquer. 

I can't speak for anyone other than myself so in concluding this I will say that I feel no stress in loving and accepting others for who they are. I am personally convinced that God made us black, white, gay, straight, male and female not so we could fight each other but so we could come together as one and make this world a better place for all. 

peace to you

Dale