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Most of you know about my journey. For the new comers you should scroll down and read … MY STORY… Hi I’m Joe and this is my story… This will catch you up.
I have been traveling through the “Bible Belt” and have been reflecting on my life and why I am here. I keep coming across interesting information, some of it is new, some I already knew and some of it I was trying to ignore. The ignoring part was instrumental. I used many methods to ignore this knowledge.
Life is full of questions. Some are trivial, some more serious — and some tremendously important. About my health, my financial situation, my family and my future. But the greatest, the ultimate questions turned out to be about God and my relationship to him. Nothing in life is more important than this. Good health, financial stability, secure employment, a contented family and a hopeful future are all things I want. Yet even these are temporary and eventually pointless unless I have a real relationship with God, one that is clear and certain — and will last for ever. Our soul is eternal, our body is mortal.
My struggle with all this is coming from a religious upbringing that no longer resonates with me. Religion and spirituality are 2 separate things and can be practiced together or separately. To me being a spiritual person means being a person whose highest priority is to be loving to yourself and others. A spiritual person cares about people, animals and the planet. A spiritual person knows that we are all One, and consciously attempts to honor this Oneness. A spiritual person is a kind person.
A religious person is one that will worship ritualistically, say their prayers and follows the rules and rituals of their religion. They follow the directions of their leaders mostly without questioning. If they do this without caring about loving them self, others and the planet. They are simply following a programed way of being. They are missing out on the spirituality aspect.
There are many people who do not practice a religion, who do not pray or belong to any formal group, who are very spiritual people. These people naturally do caring things for others. They think about how they can help. Their thoughts are kind rather than judgmental toward themselves and toward others. When you look at them, you see kindness in their eyes. This was me for a long time. I see this as a good way to be but for me personally, there is still something missing.
On the other hand there are many religious people who are anything but kind. We all know of religious people who are extremely judgmental, righteous, and outright mean. Can you be both religious and spiritual? Of course! But only when you are operating in your religion from your heart rather than from the learned dogma of your mind.
Where am I going with this you may be asking…
So my searching led me back to my Catholic upbringing. Catholicism is what no longer resonates with me, I don’t think it ever really did. Hell, there was so much negativity. (pi) The teachings of Jesus always made sense and still do. At the very beginning of my journey, while I was in Florida, I was invited to a bible study and accepted. It was my first bible study ever. It was nice. Nice people, (thanks cuz) nice food and especially really nice conversation. I saw how they read the bible and were able to reference passages to make points. There was a always passage or more to prove a point. From here I met an old friend G. and we have been talking about yoga and Christianity, among other things, most of which were relating to the bible. My thirst for truth once again woke up. This has led me to opening my own bible and doing some reading myself. It has been many weeks since Florida and I have been reading, listening to bible studies on line and doing research to find out more about God and Jesus and even yoga’s role in my life. Back in the day I used to read the bible on the train when I worked in NYC. I hid it in a magazine though. The stories, the proclamations and the prophecies all came back to me, with joy. I know there is a reason for everything, God works in mysterious ways. I am on a soul searching journey and I found my soul. I am proud to say that I have been saved by accepting Jesus as my personal savior. With this announcement I expect to lose some friends but more importantly to gain many brothers and sisters. I will keep studying and keep reporting what I have been learning. God bless you all!
One last thought …
“…Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
This passage is commonly mis-attributed to Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Inaugural Address.
It actually comes from the book ‘A Return To Love’ (1992) by Marianne Williamson
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