Ideology of Faith
What do I believe when it comes to faith and spirituality? I love the ideology of being a Christian until I talk to Christians. I decided to sit down with myself and explore the depths of my belief. Together we will discover what is at the spiritual core of my being. This may be a familiar journey you face within yourself, yet feel as though you can't outwardly express your feelings. We often hear people speak of integrity, however for some reason when it comes to faith and spirituality we learn real quick it is better to shut up than to speak up. I personally think in order to grow in one with God you must find the courage to explore the relationship without boundaries. When you seek God love will become your guiding force. With all that let's see where my journey will take me.
I have to admit, I claim to believe in Christianity. Why? Simply because I love what Christ stood for. Not so much what Christians stand for (myself included) but what the word of Christ as we know it. No where in the Gospels as I understood them were we taught some of the bitter hate filled ways that have spread throughout the world. Christ in my eyes stood for peace, love, and forgiveness. A concept so foreign to most people that the shear mention of it gets them tense.
The competitive nature of churches to draw people away from one and into theirs also sends a very confusing message to the wayward Christian. It is as if we have to pick and choose which church fits like we would a new pair of shoes. Ask yourself if that makes sense? Do we base our choice on the music, the preacher, the latest sound system, the new gym, etc? We create an affection with our eyes first, ears second, and then our other emotional senses fall into place. The fun then starts because we mask the emotional feelings based on the other senses. All goes well until that day, week, or month that someone or something does something we don't like and then it is time to exercise our other choices. Do you see the religious merry go round? It isn't about finding or awakening God in us, it is about popularity, social status, what looks good, and what feels good. If we were truly in it to find the Christianity we professed to believe we would not have to be members we could simply walk in to any Christian church and feel welcome. Naturally that is not going to happen so we might as well keep up the competitive spirit that confuses the masses and continues to drive people away from church in record numbers.
What do I believe? That is easy for me, because I believe in the humanity God created. We live, we love, we make mistakes, we forgive, we help, we share, we accept. Doesn't sound overly complicated to me but it surely is. Being a person of faith does not require us to be cynical, it requires us to be loving. We have to understand that we were created different so that we could share our talents and become one. I am a believer, no doubt. The droves of people leaving our faith based institutions should make people stand up and take notice that maybe just maybe the way we are doing things isn't working.
Look at drug use, divorce, crime, suicide, bigotry, it is all grown almost out of control. Sure everyone has their opinion and blame as to why things are they way they are. Just for a moment however let's consider that the way we teach each other about love, forgiveness, and acceptance is at the core of the issues we face today. We repeat what we are taught and sometime those lessons are more from witnessing than hearing.
This inward search of which I constantly find myself in regards to my faith and spirituality is actually comforting. In this quest to awaken God in me I have come across amazing people of faith. People that have love at the core of their being. People that place love of God and humanity above their loyalty to a religious institution. People that realize that their humanity is just as sinful and tempting as anyone else. People that forgive others so that their future is larger than their past. My journey has been an amazing walk of faith that has enlightened my heart in ways I could never imagine. I am ready now to go out and continue to share a sign of peace in the hopes that my outward expression of love will create a pay it forward effect. Yes momentum can change the world in a positive way and it starts one person at a time.
I have to admit, I claim to believe in Christianity. Why? Simply because I love what Christ stood for. Not so much what Christians stand for (myself included) but what the word of Christ as we know it. No where in the Gospels as I understood them were we taught some of the bitter hate filled ways that have spread throughout the world. Christ in my eyes stood for peace, love, and forgiveness. A concept so foreign to most people that the shear mention of it gets them tense.
The competitive nature of churches to draw people away from one and into theirs also sends a very confusing message to the wayward Christian. It is as if we have to pick and choose which church fits like we would a new pair of shoes. Ask yourself if that makes sense? Do we base our choice on the music, the preacher, the latest sound system, the new gym, etc? We create an affection with our eyes first, ears second, and then our other emotional senses fall into place. The fun then starts because we mask the emotional feelings based on the other senses. All goes well until that day, week, or month that someone or something does something we don't like and then it is time to exercise our other choices. Do you see the religious merry go round? It isn't about finding or awakening God in us, it is about popularity, social status, what looks good, and what feels good. If we were truly in it to find the Christianity we professed to believe we would not have to be members we could simply walk in to any Christian church and feel welcome. Naturally that is not going to happen so we might as well keep up the competitive spirit that confuses the masses and continues to drive people away from church in record numbers.
What do I believe? That is easy for me, because I believe in the humanity God created. We live, we love, we make mistakes, we forgive, we help, we share, we accept. Doesn't sound overly complicated to me but it surely is. Being a person of faith does not require us to be cynical, it requires us to be loving. We have to understand that we were created different so that we could share our talents and become one. I am a believer, no doubt. The droves of people leaving our faith based institutions should make people stand up and take notice that maybe just maybe the way we are doing things isn't working.
Look at drug use, divorce, crime, suicide, bigotry, it is all grown almost out of control. Sure everyone has their opinion and blame as to why things are they way they are. Just for a moment however let's consider that the way we teach each other about love, forgiveness, and acceptance is at the core of the issues we face today. We repeat what we are taught and sometime those lessons are more from witnessing than hearing.
This inward search of which I constantly find myself in regards to my faith and spirituality is actually comforting. In this quest to awaken God in me I have come across amazing people of faith. People that have love at the core of their being. People that place love of God and humanity above their loyalty to a religious institution. People that realize that their humanity is just as sinful and tempting as anyone else. People that forgive others so that their future is larger than their past. My journey has been an amazing walk of faith that has enlightened my heart in ways I could never imagine. I am ready now to go out and continue to share a sign of peace in the hopes that my outward expression of love will create a pay it forward effect. Yes momentum can change the world in a positive way and it starts one person at a time.
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