Oddly, just last week, the topic of faith and religion was a topic of discussion in our own home for a day or two. Cristy received some unsolicited feedback on the subject from a longtime friend, and unfortunately, the tone was judgmental to a degree. (More on that at another time.) And that incident has heightened my consideration of faith and brought my relationship with God, the work in progress that it is, into sharper focus.
Two days ago, a blogger and artist who also works in the publishing business featured this fabulous collage of words on his blog (Fullet at Secret Forest) and it has renewed my love affair with the beauty of words. This particular wordle attempts to describe an inspired exploration of faith.
Faith is personal. We should never be judmental...people tend to focus on the words in the Bible...but those words are interpretted in many different ways. I am no Bible scholar. I was involved in church, but left to surmounting hypocrisy. Weirdly enough, I have found my realtionship with God to be much stronger as I have explored spirituality within myself. I no longer bind myself to other's opinions. I would say my faith is strong, but it is personal. I would also not call myself religious but spiritual, and I use the word spiritual to describe my relationship with Him as I feel my connection with Him on a very deep level. Am I making sense? I think we each walk a different path, and as we find ourselves, we find our spiritual connection, and it is much deeper than having someone else tell you what to think, say, or do! I think that as we come to know ourselves, we learn simplistic purposes here on earth are just as important as those that seem expansive. We never know how many people we reach. I don't know my purpose or who I touch, but I think living with love and acceptance in every moment (and it's often a challenge as I get caught up in the tangibles of life) propels me toward whatever purpose I am here to serve. For the record, unsolicited advice is usaully a form of preaching from someone who thinks they area bove reproach...sorry if that is harsh, but I have found that those who offer that sort of advice are usually ignoring their own weaknesses. Besides, tell Cristy that no one knows her spiritual realationship but her and NO ONE has the right to judge her choices or interpretations or spirituality. Sorry for the rant!
ReplyDeleteI love how you shared this....
ReplyDelete...."my relationship with God, the work in progress that it is, into sharper focus."
That's how I always describe my relationship with God.
Evolving.
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This opens up a whole big can of worms in my book when it comes to religion. So am I going to bite my tongue on most of this. But I have to state that religious dogma has caused more pain, suffering and the prevention of progress in this world that anything else. I personally cannot stand the concept of organized religion. That said, one of the things that makes our society what it is, is the freedom to beleive what ever you want and to practice what ever belief you have. Faith is something that you find through soul searching and self discovery. It isn't something that is taught to you by a someone wearing a funny collar or robe. Faith and spirituality is a journey, it isn't something that should be learned in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteFaith, inspiration, spirituality are there for all of those who want to embrace them--through organized religion or through other more informal means. I think they're part of who we are. Recently, so many "anti-religion" people have accomplished exactly what they claim to hate in "religious" people--judging others for their beliefs. I hope this can all stop and we can allow people to freely express the spirituality that calls to them, in any form, without judgment.
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