Note: This may be a sensitive topic to some so please remember, I'm not meaning in anyway to offend anyone. My opinions are always optional and I only wish to pose some interesting questions. If talking about spirituality is not one of your favorite topics, maybe you could read this post a bit later or not at all?
Does religion make me happy?
I've asked myself questions when I hungered for growth and awareness. A couple of those questions included, "Was I really truly happy being religious?" and "Did religion bring me joy?"
I had to be honest with myself and really get down to the fact that I was not happy being religious. I was scared, worried I wasn't enough, close minded, nervous and always judgmental of myself and of 'others.' I had happiness and joy in moments. But over all I had too many unanswered questions that were not being addressed at all which left me feeling alone, lost and confused. I did 'what's right' because I believed it's what I was 'supposed' to do to bring me joy and happiness. Doing what's right then made me look good in the eyes of God so now he'd love me, I'd get his blessing and be safe, right? Why then did I feel so lost and confused even if I did everything right? Confusing, noninclusive and elusive, this is how religion felt to me everyday.
Being completely honest took all the guts I had at the time. Of course my life changed when I left religion. There was much loss. However, this is where my life began to heal. My strength began to return. I'd finally broken free of my co-dependent, external God relationship. This is when my eyes began to open and I saw that God is much much bigger than any religion, and much closer too.
Does religion divide us?
See if you will how religion might cause division. There are over 35,000 different versions of Christianity on the earth today, all claiming to be, 'The one true word." This doesn't include the thousands of other religions which are not Christian based. How can they all be claiming the same thing? How can they all be true? It is impossible. Yet each believe wholeheartedly they are right. How does one really choose without dividing oneself from another? That's religious division for you. Good luck picking the 'one truest of true' versions you need to follow.
A broader view of the Divine:
In my opinion, take if you will a much needed and much broader look at what religion is trying to encompass but can't quite grasp. A perspective which encompasses EVERYONE and brings them together. Step back, open your eyes and heart to a much grander picture. Think galactic, think multiverse, think cosmos times infinity all connected to one source, a Divine Creator if you will.
Think if you will of this Divine Creator, experiencing itself for eternity alone. The sorrow, pain and unbearable sadness of being alone for eternity was too much to endure for another eternity. This sorrowful experience was a catalyst which caused the creation of a thought. One original thought, "I don't want to be alone. I want to experience myself as more than myself." The will and desire of this thought created, in simple terms, polarity, and the beginning of eternity with other selves, each evolving, growing and experiencing them self through the Divine Creator.
The One Divine Creator which is Love (originally called Logos), is everything and now could experience itself in and through the experiences of it's other/sub selves (sub Logoi.) This was many times more joyous than being alone.
This broader view explains how all religious and non-religious people receive blessings, messages, intuition, nudges and answered prayers. All are part of the one original thought. All are Divine. All are One.
