Left Behind
I love to write on the edge of controversy yet do so with tact and respect. This morning while out struggling through my run I began to reflect on my week. As many of you know that read my blog three years ago I left the church I attended for 19 years. I will not go into the story of why I left however I did meet with the pastor this week to at least put closure to that chapter in life. With the closing of one chapter opens the door for a much broader and honest book of life to be written. Even though I left that religious institution my faith never waned, if anything it grew.
As my run got into the hills I felt like I was running up Mt Everest, that is how bad I struggled, but I wrestled through the pain by allowing my mind to escape to my favorite place. My escape is my cerebral man cave to where I give myself permission to go where we are taught not to tread. I question everything about my faith, religion, and spirituality. Never in an effort to disprove anything, but in an effort to allow God to keep coming alive in my life in more wonderful loving ways. I have found it healthy to openly discuss the questions we all think about yet fear to say. It brought me to this interesting self dialogue. Who were we before the world told us who we should or could be? I think as each day, month, or year goes by we get further and further away from who we could have been because we are so busy trying to conform to who the world tells us we must be. I found the courage to step off that merry go round of life and get into the streets and meet people that have the most amazing faith and love yet seldom if ever attend church. What an interesting dichotomy of life. On the one hand we strive to be our own person yet on the other hand we strive to conform to who society deems we absolutely must be. Are you with me so far? Let's wade deeper into the water because all this was circling my mind and I still had three miles and one huge hill to run.
I have a passionate love for life and humanity that I feel is my God given purpose. I now use that purpose to reach people that the world has basically forgotten. Do you remember the movie "Left Behind"? The concept, if I recall, was that when Jesus came again the people that were not saved would be left behind in a world of chaos and destruction. I may not have that exactly right but you understand what I mean. Have you ever considered that the real people LEFT BEHIND are the ones that the churches can't conform or reform so they simply ease them out by exclusion. Think about that for a minute please. There are a multitude of ways to be left behind by the so called people of faith. If we do not conform to their so called TRUTH then we are out. They are very kind to pray for us in the hopes we come to our senses and make our way back into their pit of conformity. In my tired and weary mind we allow ourselves to be left behind when we accept that we are all a cookie cutter human being that has to be one in harmony with the religious body of which we are affiliated.
I realize at this point that you think I have an ax to grind with churches and that is not true. I love church, I love the Bible, what I dislike is all the righteous, prophecy, and so called truths that each one claims to have exclusively. God created us as different as snowflakes, not so we could be confused but so we could be complete. I believe much of the depression, anxiety, and hate we face in the world stems from people that have forgotten how to love without limits. We can't have a totality of love if all we do is try to be what we are told to be. Love in totality comes from God through each of us but that can only be felt when we make the decision to live our lives as the person we were created to be.
Who are you? Think long and hard about that before answering. As I approached the last mile my mind opened up in such a beautiful way. I had allowed myself to close a segment of life and to start anew and fresh once again. I am entering a period of self discovery and I will go at it with my live on the edge attitude. I realize God created each of us for a purpose far greater than our current understanding. I will walk by faith and love each person as I go. I will only look back to forgive those that trespassed against me and I will forgive myself for all the sins I have committed. As the late great Helen Keller once said, "the only thing worse than life with no sight is a life with no vision". I now have vision and I pray that you too will find the courage to explore those deep questions of faith and spirituality. God gave us a mind to think with and I plan to put mine to use.
In closing I would like to say how awesome it was to meet the sister of a wonderful friend I met at The Cancer Treatment Center of America seven years ago. My friend succumb to pancreatic cancer yet our short time together gave me the courage to continue stepping out in faith and realizing that we do not have to do what everyone else does in order to have a happy life. This week was the beginning of a new book and I plan to write it with the highest amount of peace, love, forgiveness, and acceptance I can find.
peace and love
Dale
As my run got into the hills I felt like I was running up Mt Everest, that is how bad I struggled, but I wrestled through the pain by allowing my mind to escape to my favorite place. My escape is my cerebral man cave to where I give myself permission to go where we are taught not to tread. I question everything about my faith, religion, and spirituality. Never in an effort to disprove anything, but in an effort to allow God to keep coming alive in my life in more wonderful loving ways. I have found it healthy to openly discuss the questions we all think about yet fear to say. It brought me to this interesting self dialogue. Who were we before the world told us who we should or could be? I think as each day, month, or year goes by we get further and further away from who we could have been because we are so busy trying to conform to who the world tells us we must be. I found the courage to step off that merry go round of life and get into the streets and meet people that have the most amazing faith and love yet seldom if ever attend church. What an interesting dichotomy of life. On the one hand we strive to be our own person yet on the other hand we strive to conform to who society deems we absolutely must be. Are you with me so far? Let's wade deeper into the water because all this was circling my mind and I still had three miles and one huge hill to run.
I have a passionate love for life and humanity that I feel is my God given purpose. I now use that purpose to reach people that the world has basically forgotten. Do you remember the movie "Left Behind"? The concept, if I recall, was that when Jesus came again the people that were not saved would be left behind in a world of chaos and destruction. I may not have that exactly right but you understand what I mean. Have you ever considered that the real people LEFT BEHIND are the ones that the churches can't conform or reform so they simply ease them out by exclusion. Think about that for a minute please. There are a multitude of ways to be left behind by the so called people of faith. If we do not conform to their so called TRUTH then we are out. They are very kind to pray for us in the hopes we come to our senses and make our way back into their pit of conformity. In my tired and weary mind we allow ourselves to be left behind when we accept that we are all a cookie cutter human being that has to be one in harmony with the religious body of which we are affiliated.
I realize at this point that you think I have an ax to grind with churches and that is not true. I love church, I love the Bible, what I dislike is all the righteous, prophecy, and so called truths that each one claims to have exclusively. God created us as different as snowflakes, not so we could be confused but so we could be complete. I believe much of the depression, anxiety, and hate we face in the world stems from people that have forgotten how to love without limits. We can't have a totality of love if all we do is try to be what we are told to be. Love in totality comes from God through each of us but that can only be felt when we make the decision to live our lives as the person we were created to be.
Who are you? Think long and hard about that before answering. As I approached the last mile my mind opened up in such a beautiful way. I had allowed myself to close a segment of life and to start anew and fresh once again. I am entering a period of self discovery and I will go at it with my live on the edge attitude. I realize God created each of us for a purpose far greater than our current understanding. I will walk by faith and love each person as I go. I will only look back to forgive those that trespassed against me and I will forgive myself for all the sins I have committed. As the late great Helen Keller once said, "the only thing worse than life with no sight is a life with no vision". I now have vision and I pray that you too will find the courage to explore those deep questions of faith and spirituality. God gave us a mind to think with and I plan to put mine to use.
In closing I would like to say how awesome it was to meet the sister of a wonderful friend I met at The Cancer Treatment Center of America seven years ago. My friend succumb to pancreatic cancer yet our short time together gave me the courage to continue stepping out in faith and realizing that we do not have to do what everyone else does in order to have a happy life. This week was the beginning of a new book and I plan to write it with the highest amount of peace, love, forgiveness, and acceptance I can find.
peace and love
Dale
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