The Spirit Within

Spirituality has become an important part of my life in the last few years.

I don't mean religion. That's essentially a battery of man-made traditions couched in a veneer of institutionally dictated series of beliefs. It is a self-limiting pretense at understanding God usually based on an extremely narrow perspective.

Most organized religions keep God locked up in a box of their own creation. Then they play the "my God's better than yours" game that leads to anger, hostility and bitter resentment. Until we free God from our chains of limitation, I don't believe we can ever really understand the essence of God.

Recently I have had the opportunity to engage in some conversation about spirituality with someone who is pretty special. This person is intelligent, articulate and always makes me think. They indicated to me a degree of frustration with the whole concept of God, Christianity, the Bible and what it means to be spiritual. And I could sympathize. This person has a warm and caring heart and I believe wants to be connected to something bigger than self.

Don’t we all?

I believe that everyone is on a spiritual journey whether they accept it or not. Some people will agree and some will disagree. That doesn't matter. The truth is some of those who agree still aren't really doing anything about it.

My friend's frustrations address a real challenge in our society. Often any talk of the spiritual nature of life ends up tainted by societal concepts based on a culturally historic link to Judeo-Christian beliefs. When we have been surrounded all our lives by a traditional understanding of God as being the all-powerful spirit being of the Bible, our Holy Father in Heaven, a thing to be both feared and loved, breaking free from those thoughts can be difficult and leave us wondering, if not this picture of God, then what?

What indeed?

Suffice it to say we now live in a society shaped largely through beliefs fostered by a Bible that was essentially created by a group of bishops who decided what stories to include and what to leave out during a period of history in which political upheaval was a real possibility and a way to placate and control the people was desired. Does that sound like a reliable reference upon which to base a modern concept of God?

For those with a vision filtered through beliefs tied to such a system, of course it does. Those who can be open and live beyond the scope of ancient perceptions may start to see God outside the confines imposed by humanity.

I don’t believe there is a god, but I believe that God is all there is. By opening our minds and hearts to the fact that our limiting beliefs cannot contain God, we allow the reality of spirit to embrace us. We are not separate from God for God is not an individual being. God is found within us and we are within God. If you really want to see God, go look in the mirror. God lives through the creative energies that shape this universe and exist in every part of it, including us.

Faiths that claim a monopoly on God are shaped by a limited vision that adheres to concepts forged on anvils of ignorance. The challenge that arises for some of us comes when we think beyond that box in which many organized religions would keep us contained.

Jesus is quoted as saying ‘you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Coming to the realization that much of what is preached as the truth in most churches today is in reality concepts shaped by the minds of men and not Spirit can be a harsh awakening. Many who turn away from church end up turning away from the beauty of living a spiritual life because they associate God with religion. But God actually has very little to do with religion.

The truth can make you free if you can grasp the idea of God beyond the church.

Recently I came across a website that comes very close to what I have come to accept as my understanding of God. Check out www.spiritualatheism.org. It references the idea of ‘Spiritual Atheism.’ That would seem to be a combination of two contrary concepts. In reality, it makes perfect sense. As the website notes:

“Although Spiritual Atheists do not believe in a literal 'God'; they generally recognize 'God' as an important and powerful symbol of the inter-connectedness and one-ness of the Universe. They see that, individually, everything in the Universe is a part of 'God'; and, collectively, everything in the Universe is 'God'. And that there is only ONE 'God'.

"Even so, many Spiritual Atheists are extremely reluctant to make use of the word 'God', due to the extreme desecration it has suffered by common Theists and Atheists alike.”

For me, the truth is I can walk away from churches that place their perceptual limitations on God. I can start to find the peace that comes from accepting and understanding that the true spiritual journey does not have to follow one specific path. And I can reclaim the very word ‘God’ from those who desecrate the concept, whether they are theists or atheists.

To my friend and any others who may read this, you are a child of the universe. Do not let the limitations others impose on God keep you from the spirit you feel within.

Peace, love and light.