BE FREE TO LOVE

So here we are, it's been a life long struggle trying to find your spiritual bearings. You have longed to fit into a christian atmosphere yet everyone seems to have their own spin on how or what you should believe. All the soul searching, church visiting, and Bible reading has only left you more confused than you had hoped to be at this stage of life. Why does it have to be so complicated? Why am I always looking in the mirror thinking "I am not good enough to be a part of anything worthy".

That statement could be about you or many people that fight feverishly to grab and retain that faith based love that supposedly only comes when you discover the true depth of God's love for you. If that is the case, as described by so many, then why is it so elusive. Churches are loosing members by the thousands, not because society has turned bad, it just might be because the message has been missed.

If faith is so important, which I believe it is, why is it so damn complicated to merge it into our daily existence. Read this, just do that, pray harder, you know the old cliched routines that are spewed out like steam from an antique tea pot. There are no shortage of ways to worship, BUT they all leave you with that void that makes you think that you are the problem. Or worse, that your past or present behavior makes you unfit to belong into the faith community you desire to be a part of. To be one of the robot zombies you must do this or that, otherwise sit on the back row and be quiet. Oh sure, you are always welcome in this place, well kinda anyway. You know the routine, shut up, sit down, fit in, drop your money in the basket and act you believe what is being shared.

Let's scratch the search here, the good thing is we don't have to dig too deep to find some treasures. Churches, religions, and many faith based organizations have become so caught up in proforma and rubrics that they literally can't see the trees for the forest. Lost is the human element of which we all happen to be a part of. The rules, the guidelines, the membership drives all are intended to bring you in where you can be placed comfortably in the box with so many others. In this little box there is a level of coziness and community that holds people accountable to the straight and narrow path you are expected to follow. This is all fine and dandy until that weird thing God breathed into each of called human heart and emotion catches us off guard. Suddenly a tiny door opens in the back of the box and we are gently pushed out until we can bring our life back into conformity. Even worse, is when we are taught that anything we do that makes us veer off course will most likely cast us into the fires of hell. So, instead of being able to find loving support, we journey through life with secrets that make us feel less than human.

Why the hell did we have to have those dang emotions anyway. If we are called to follow a set of rules that will guide our boring little black and white lives from birth to death, why, why, why was anything placed within us that made us choose an alternate direction. Here goes the faith pundits, so get ready. God gave you free will so you could choose to love him or the world. God offers eternal love and salvation, where as the world offers sin and death. Did I do good? It's simple, very binary, do good GO TO HEAVEN, do bad GO TO HELL. And our God of love created us to have those choices? Rather odd, wouldn't you say. Never the less, we are human, thank goodness, we will make mistakes, we will choose paths that will make our hearts hurt. It is part of who we were made to be. We grow from our trials in life. When we fall into the pits of despair, let's hope Good Samaritan's come along and pick us up, rather than Pharisee's ride along in their air conditioned SUV's and turn their nose's up in an attempt to mask their own faults.

Look, I'm throwing out lots of crap here, not because I have a feud with religion, I just happen to have a passion for humanity. As I say frequently, I love community churches, without them many basic needs would not be met. This is not written for the one's that are comfortable in their faith, this is written for the wandering generalities that gallop through the decades hoping that they haven't missed the meaning of life. This is for the soul searchers starving to share their love for life and people. This is for those that truly desire to make an impact on those that are suffering. This is written for those that know that they have something more to offer than simply going through the motions set out by others. This is for you my friends, THE LOVERS OF LIFE.

It is the wayward souls that are the movers and shakers. It is the people that are willing to dive deeper, think broader, challenge higher, and risk it all that has given us much of what we have today. Let's never condemn the one's that push the envelop, if anything let's push them higher and harder, faster and farther. This is a time of spiritual renaissance, a great awakening, if you will, where love will be our guide. Let's put love back into our local churches, that in and of itself will bring people back. Invitations that are conditional fall in deaf ears, hence the Prodigal Son. His father welcomed him back UNCONDITIONALLY, why can't you. Even bigger, welcome yourself back to the land of the living. We need you.

If you find yourself on the outside looking in, be thankful. Do not allow yourself to get caught up in fear based antics that will put you smack dab in the middle of box to where you will have to no voice and your passionate purpose gets lost. To believe in God's totality of LOVE is to believe that you are also the GREATEST MIRACLE ever created. You have survived your worst days so far, which means the best times are still to be lived. I am a true advocate of faith and spirituality. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that God created us to be as unique as the snowflake. We were not born to conform we were born to stand out.

In closing, I would love for each of you to embrace who you are. Trust me, I know there are things about yourself you may be ashamed of, but guess what, YOU ARE STILL STANDING. This is not a time to put your head down it is a time to fly high. The shackles are off, the doors are open, the stone has been rolled back, the darkness has been replaced by light. This is your life and it is time to live it. If not now, WHEN? Stop looking for reasons to be unhappy, quit complaining because people think different than you, stop judging because others sin differently, and for gosh sakes stop trying to live in a box that is too small for how HUGE your life is going to be.

All we have is now. Yes God loves you without fail, it is time you love yourself and the world around you. This is not written to contract your spiritual or even religious thinking, it is written as an open challenge to expand it. Remember the world needs you to be the greatest version of yourself possible. You will never live that dream or develop your passion by getting on the old trodden path worn out by others. It is time to believe that God has so much love for you that he gave you free will to spread goodness, peace, and love everywhere you go.

God Bless
Dale