Religion vs. Spirituality

Namaste.
For most of my life I had a very specific religious world view.  It colored everything that I thought and did, whether for good or ill; based largely on fear and obligation.  Of course I felt that I was living righteously: loving others, being charitable, etc.  I somehow managed to gloss over the fact that my religion only had room for one viewpoint (The Truth, you know!), and was more than a little bit judgmental for that very reason.

However, there came a point for me where everything came crashing down, and the only one left to pick up all those pieces was me.  I don't know what I expected:  Angels? Jesus?  "The Church" to come and pick me up and dust me off?  But none of that happened.  I felt shocked, disappointed, hurt, and dismayed.  Where was all of the love I had heard about for so long?

I was finally forced to take a long, hard look at not only WHAT I had believed for my whole life; but WHY.  And it turned out to be mainly because that was how I had been raised.  Not a good enough reason to maintain an entire world view!  It was time for some deep soul searching. 

As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher appears:  Enter my beloved Louise Hay, with her excellent book You Can Heal Your Life.  "Aunty Lou," as I am fond of calling her, dared to write that "Beliefs are nothing more than a thought - and a thought can be changed!"  With that simple, profound sentence, I heard the chains of my religion drop to the ground with a wondrous CLANK!, and I stepped out of the prison that I had made for myself. 

It took a great deal of courage to give voice to the doubts - and then to my new found freedom of thought, especially as I was (and still am) married to a man who remains devout to that same worldview that I no longer espouse.  In addition, the majority of my friends were also still quite happily entrenched in the same, with no desire to change and a great deal of dismay over my apparent "backslidden" state.  But, having taken the lid off that Belief Box, there is no getting back inside it!  My thoughts are now truly my own.  I am free from the need to judge others, instead seeing that all are on their own journey of self-discovery.  I am free to explore absolutely EVERY belief system, with no fear or obligations holding me back!  And let me tell you, the freedom is deeelicious.

Do I still believe in Jesus?  Absolutely.  Do I still believe in a literal interpretation of the  Bible?  Not on your life.  I view it now as part history, part metaphor.  A terrific guidebook, along with many others that have been left behind for us all to encourage healthy living.  HERESY, you say?  That's okay.  I can live with that.  I prefer thinking of myself as a soul pilgrim, a seeker of truth and proponent of love and wisdom; but if others have a need to protect their own worldview by pointing fingers and judging, it bears no reflection upon me. 

I wonder if any of you have come out of mainstream religion to find your own place in the world of spirituality?  Jesus was all about the love - and so am I.  I finally can truly say that I love my neighbor REGARDLESS of their own beliefs, and that I love myself.  I will do my best to love, serve, teach, and learn with the rest of the days that I am given on this beautiful planet. 

In summary, I have found that the difference between Religion and Spirituality can be summed up in this one precious word:  FREEDOM.

PRAYER TREATMENT:
I give thanks in the knowledge that I am one with the eternal Divine Intelligence, always working within me to reveal wisdom, give me peace, and fill me with unconditional love.  And so it is!

-Rev. Jan