From Closet to Clothesline
For years I have allowed myself to challenge my belief in faith, spirituality, and religion. I must admit most of these years were spent in the closet beings it was considered to be apostate to question anything that contested the Bible or the Christianity preached in our pulpits. Not to be swayed by public opinion though I continued to seek out the so called truth of our Godly existence. I had no road map in which to guide my path, just a genuine curiosity that helped pave the way on a journey that led me places I never imagined.
From the closet to the clothesline would be the best description I can give you for the wisdom I gained along the way. I went from being hidden in shame for questioning the things you never question to placing my faith on public display for the world to see. I read, I researched, I spoke to other closet Christians, I spoke to clergy, former clergy, atheist, soul flowers, and anyone else that would take the time to share their thoughts on creation and the creator. The conversations ranged from bizarre to down right silly yet regardless they all held a meaning to the person speaking. I admire people that have the courage to share their faith in such a way that makes it personal to them. We grow up in an atmosphere of strict conformity and stepping out of that structure is almost like divorcing your family. However, if we encouraged such faith exploration I believe we would find that our world would grow more in love and not hate.
Now that we have the background somewhat in place I must ask you some questions. Be sure you are in a private place so as not to disturb the balance of your life by questioning the areas we are about to explore. Matter of fact just ask these questions to yourself and then as you go about your day search out the answers and see what you come up with. The cool thing about this little exercise is that you already do this in the recesses of your mind. I have discovered that most people privately question who they are, where they came from, does God exist, is there a heaven or hell, do I have a purpose, etc. When we asked these questions publicly we are told to just have faith, everything is in God's time. I, like you, struggle to be satisfied with that. Anyway let's get started.
What do you believe? No seriously what do you BELIEVE? If you say you believe in the Bible, do you REALLY believe in the Bible? What do you think your purpose in this life is, not what other people think your purpose should be? Do you believe God directs your life?
This is just a small list of questions that will tease the mind. There are no right or wrong answers and I do not have a hidden agenda. It isn't my goal to change your belief. It is my goal for you to be honest about your belief. I love exploring the depths of my spirituality and in that exploration I have found so many golden nuggets I never knew existed. I found how to love, how to listen, how to forgive, how to accept, and most of all how to let God be alive in my life. Once I let go of the preconceived notions of what faith and religion were supposed to be I was able to find out what it really was in my own life.
Each person walking the earth is different yet we all have a common bond. We are humans in search of self. That search guides us threw a maze of experiences that shapes us into what will ultimately make us people of love or people of bitterness. Either way, love or hate, we impact the world and the people around us. Unknowingly mind you, but we do have an amazing impact on our surroundings. Hence birds of a feather flock together. Like minded people good or bad tend to migrate towards one another. If that truly be the case then I hope I migrate towards people that desire to love one another and explore who they are with courage and zeal.
Once I settled my mind and placed my life on the clothesline I opened up my thoughts in new and exciting ways. I found new friends that loved God in ways I could never imagine. I found like minded people that wanted to escape the conformity found in many churches. I found people that truly wanted to share peace and love yet struggled to find the means to do so. I found wonderful religious people from all faiths that were inviting to a new open minded view of God. Best of all I found people that simply wanted to find meaning in life so they could make a positive impact.
From closet to clothesline is my journey of faith. It is in it's infancy thank goodness. I look forward to every new day challenging my thoughts to find my purpose in this wonderful world God created. I can't speak for you, but as for me, once I let the elephant out of the room the stress of life seemed to slowly dwindle away. I no longer sought conformity I sought understanding and individuality. Love is in our differences and once you learn to accept yourself in new and exciting ways you will learn to love the world and the people in it in a much more bright and beautiful way.
peace and love
Dale
From the closet to the clothesline would be the best description I can give you for the wisdom I gained along the way. I went from being hidden in shame for questioning the things you never question to placing my faith on public display for the world to see. I read, I researched, I spoke to other closet Christians, I spoke to clergy, former clergy, atheist, soul flowers, and anyone else that would take the time to share their thoughts on creation and the creator. The conversations ranged from bizarre to down right silly yet regardless they all held a meaning to the person speaking. I admire people that have the courage to share their faith in such a way that makes it personal to them. We grow up in an atmosphere of strict conformity and stepping out of that structure is almost like divorcing your family. However, if we encouraged such faith exploration I believe we would find that our world would grow more in love and not hate.
Now that we have the background somewhat in place I must ask you some questions. Be sure you are in a private place so as not to disturb the balance of your life by questioning the areas we are about to explore. Matter of fact just ask these questions to yourself and then as you go about your day search out the answers and see what you come up with. The cool thing about this little exercise is that you already do this in the recesses of your mind. I have discovered that most people privately question who they are, where they came from, does God exist, is there a heaven or hell, do I have a purpose, etc. When we asked these questions publicly we are told to just have faith, everything is in God's time. I, like you, struggle to be satisfied with that. Anyway let's get started.
What do you believe? No seriously what do you BELIEVE? If you say you believe in the Bible, do you REALLY believe in the Bible? What do you think your purpose in this life is, not what other people think your purpose should be? Do you believe God directs your life?
This is just a small list of questions that will tease the mind. There are no right or wrong answers and I do not have a hidden agenda. It isn't my goal to change your belief. It is my goal for you to be honest about your belief. I love exploring the depths of my spirituality and in that exploration I have found so many golden nuggets I never knew existed. I found how to love, how to listen, how to forgive, how to accept, and most of all how to let God be alive in my life. Once I let go of the preconceived notions of what faith and religion were supposed to be I was able to find out what it really was in my own life.
Each person walking the earth is different yet we all have a common bond. We are humans in search of self. That search guides us threw a maze of experiences that shapes us into what will ultimately make us people of love or people of bitterness. Either way, love or hate, we impact the world and the people around us. Unknowingly mind you, but we do have an amazing impact on our surroundings. Hence birds of a feather flock together. Like minded people good or bad tend to migrate towards one another. If that truly be the case then I hope I migrate towards people that desire to love one another and explore who they are with courage and zeal.
Once I settled my mind and placed my life on the clothesline I opened up my thoughts in new and exciting ways. I found new friends that loved God in ways I could never imagine. I found like minded people that wanted to escape the conformity found in many churches. I found people that truly wanted to share peace and love yet struggled to find the means to do so. I found wonderful religious people from all faiths that were inviting to a new open minded view of God. Best of all I found people that simply wanted to find meaning in life so they could make a positive impact.
From closet to clothesline is my journey of faith. It is in it's infancy thank goodness. I look forward to every new day challenging my thoughts to find my purpose in this wonderful world God created. I can't speak for you, but as for me, once I let the elephant out of the room the stress of life seemed to slowly dwindle away. I no longer sought conformity I sought understanding and individuality. Love is in our differences and once you learn to accept yourself in new and exciting ways you will learn to love the world and the people in it in a much more bright and beautiful way.
peace and love
Dale
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