Belong before you Believe
This morning I visited a church in my hometown to hear my son's girlfriend sing. As most of you know I have put a bit of distance between myself and organized religion over the last few years. To say that I was a tad apprehensive would be an understatement. Never the less, I was committed, and I'm glad I was.
The singing was great, as I expected it would be. It was the message that concerned me the most. I was not in the mood for another run of the meal, get a good dose of Jesus sermon. To my surprise I was able to harvest some gold in them there words, if you will. Pastor Jeremy said something at the end that will forever resonate with me "You can belong before you believe". Let that soak in for just a minute. In just about every facet of life some sort of belief system is forced on us, so much so that we feel as though we must choose sides. That so far from the truth and so far from love.
Think about the latest news alerts. Who stands and who doesn't stand for the National Anthem. Before anyone gets crazy on me, yes I stand. BUT and PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. Just because my belief and preference is to stand that does not mean I can't love and respect the one's that do not. Heck I would almost bet that at ALL large attended outings were the National Anthem is being played there are people at the concession stands, in the corridors on their phones, in the restrooms, etc. Are they being disrespectful too. My point is we all belong to the same country, state, city, and creator. As long as we can peacefully share our point of view there is room at the table of love for everyone.
Take this a step further, I'll wade into no man's land for a minute. Look at how divisive politics has been to our country, family, and friends over the last few years. There are people that have literally drawn a line in the sand, burned bridges, built up walls, and ripped apart relationships simply in the name of politics. Keep in mind, just because someone thinks different, has a different point of view, or acts different, DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE WRONG and you are right. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we spent more time listening and learning than spouting out only what we believe. There has to be room at the table of love for everyone. Even as divisive as politics can be, when we come together with the sole purpose of listening, learning, caring, and loving, amazing things can happen.
My final point is one of religion. Most of you that have followed me for years have somewhat of an idea of my thoughts on this topic. For many religion is a wonderful conduit to faith. To others it is stumbling block. Beings attendance in organized religion has dropped drastically over the last 25 years, it would seem to me that we need to be reaching out an inviting people to the table for open share and dialogue. Faith is so much more than a set of rules to follow or words to recite. It is a soulful conversion of the heart that can last a lifetime. Just because someone seeks their faith in ways you do not understand or believe, doesn't make them wrong or you right. There is room at the table for everyone. It takes everyone to make God's world harmonious. We all need each other.
On a daily basis I write a quote that says "when love is no longer being served, have the courage to get up from the table". Expanding on that please be careful that you are not the person that is removing or keeping love from being at the table. Remember it takes both sides to build a bridge, we all have to do our part. It would seem easy enough to start, simply by learning to love one another. No human walking the earth today is free from sin. We all have skeletons in the closet. Each of us says and does things on a weekly basis that we regret. We are no better than anyone else.
My eyes were opened once again today. I see life and the world around me through a fresh set of lenses. I can belong before I believe and so can you. I will close by saying this, God created all of us not some of us. We were created with love for love. It is incumbent on us to share the love that has so freely been given too us. Do not judge someone just because they sin differently than you, If I recall your halo doesn't shine any brighter than mine nor mine yours. The table is set, love is served, everyone is invited.
God bless
Dale
The singing was great, as I expected it would be. It was the message that concerned me the most. I was not in the mood for another run of the meal, get a good dose of Jesus sermon. To my surprise I was able to harvest some gold in them there words, if you will. Pastor Jeremy said something at the end that will forever resonate with me "You can belong before you believe". Let that soak in for just a minute. In just about every facet of life some sort of belief system is forced on us, so much so that we feel as though we must choose sides. That so far from the truth and so far from love.
Think about the latest news alerts. Who stands and who doesn't stand for the National Anthem. Before anyone gets crazy on me, yes I stand. BUT and PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. Just because my belief and preference is to stand that does not mean I can't love and respect the one's that do not. Heck I would almost bet that at ALL large attended outings were the National Anthem is being played there are people at the concession stands, in the corridors on their phones, in the restrooms, etc. Are they being disrespectful too. My point is we all belong to the same country, state, city, and creator. As long as we can peacefully share our point of view there is room at the table of love for everyone.
Take this a step further, I'll wade into no man's land for a minute. Look at how divisive politics has been to our country, family, and friends over the last few years. There are people that have literally drawn a line in the sand, burned bridges, built up walls, and ripped apart relationships simply in the name of politics. Keep in mind, just because someone thinks different, has a different point of view, or acts different, DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE WRONG and you are right. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we spent more time listening and learning than spouting out only what we believe. There has to be room at the table of love for everyone. Even as divisive as politics can be, when we come together with the sole purpose of listening, learning, caring, and loving, amazing things can happen.
My final point is one of religion. Most of you that have followed me for years have somewhat of an idea of my thoughts on this topic. For many religion is a wonderful conduit to faith. To others it is stumbling block. Beings attendance in organized religion has dropped drastically over the last 25 years, it would seem to me that we need to be reaching out an inviting people to the table for open share and dialogue. Faith is so much more than a set of rules to follow or words to recite. It is a soulful conversion of the heart that can last a lifetime. Just because someone seeks their faith in ways you do not understand or believe, doesn't make them wrong or you right. There is room at the table for everyone. It takes everyone to make God's world harmonious. We all need each other.
On a daily basis I write a quote that says "when love is no longer being served, have the courage to get up from the table". Expanding on that please be careful that you are not the person that is removing or keeping love from being at the table. Remember it takes both sides to build a bridge, we all have to do our part. It would seem easy enough to start, simply by learning to love one another. No human walking the earth today is free from sin. We all have skeletons in the closet. Each of us says and does things on a weekly basis that we regret. We are no better than anyone else.
My eyes were opened once again today. I see life and the world around me through a fresh set of lenses. I can belong before I believe and so can you. I will close by saying this, God created all of us not some of us. We were created with love for love. It is incumbent on us to share the love that has so freely been given too us. Do not judge someone just because they sin differently than you, If I recall your halo doesn't shine any brighter than mine nor mine yours. The table is set, love is served, everyone is invited.
God bless
Dale
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