Spiritual but not religious

"As I sat in church, I felt the discomfort of heavy stockings and a dress. My parents were slowly calming down from the stress of getting three kids dressed in nice attire, driving to the church, and finding a seat for all five of us in a packed church. My sisters and I would make faces at each other, giggling and trying to make this whole process a little more interesting. My dad would constantly shush us, hoping we would be quiet for the duration of this service. I looked up at the man nailed to the cross. Why do they hang that on the walls, such a strange thing to do I thought. I looked around me at the bored sleepy faces, some paying attention and most probably not. This didn’t feel like joy, love, or peace. It felt like a chore, a duty, or apathy". - Excerpt from my book coming out in the fall.

Throughout my life I thought there were two options: to be atheist or religious. What I figured out during my research into consciousness the last couple years is that spirituality and religion are actually different. Religion is an organization created by humans. There are ancient texts, rules, rituals, churches, and dogma. In some religions there is also a hierarchy or caste system. This is not spirituality. Spirituality is an individual personal journey. It's understanding who you really are, following your purpose and intuition, and deciding what is right for you. This often happens in the comfort of one's bedroom or in the quiet of nature. There's no need to go anywhere, it's a journey within.

Sure, there can be a place for religion in society but I think that religious institutions have to make big changes in order to stay relevant for humanity in the future. Any religion that doesn't see men and women as equal, religions that put certain humans on a pedestal, and the institutions that are not built in truth, and instead conceal corruption like sex abuse and financial embezzlement are not in the highest good of humanity. These institutions won't withstand the evolution of humanity.

Our intuitive abilities are coming online and humanity is starting to wake up to the corruption and negativity of our institutions. As humans continue to wake up the next 10 years, we will remember who we are as sovereign beings. We are taking the chains off and realizing that we can't be controlled any longer.

There are good things about religion like charity, love thy neighbor like yourself, prayer, and meditation. Prayer is talking to spirit and meditation is listening to spirit so there is room for both. There are also religious people doing good work in the world. My point here is that religion doesn't have to be bad, but when you join a religious community, you still need to use your own intuition and discernment to find what is true for you. You still need to find your own connection to spirit and who you are as a soul. No one can do that for you.

The other important point is that ancient text is often imbued with metaphors, stories, and high level discussion. This means that most ancient text can be interpreted based on the individual. If I read biblical texts, I may perceive the text in a totally different way from someone else. And perhaps we are both right. It's important to question everything, be curious, and open minded. There can be many truths.

Religion was never for me. I never liked church and I never liked someone telling me what to do. I like the simplicity of sitting in my bedroom and meditating. When I sit or lay quietly and meditate, I receive information from my higher self and spirit guides. It's loving, patient, and helpful information. Spirit is never harsh, judgmental, fear-mongering, or unkind. Those characteristics come from human belief systems.

I see God in everyone and everything, from the wind blowing against my skin, to the trees, right down to the bees pollinating the flowers. We are all energetically connected to each other, our planet, and all living things. If religion supports your individual growth, peace within, and helps you connect to spirit and the web of life, then I say go for it. If religion causes you anxiety, fear, and a disconnection to who you are, I would suggest you look within and ask yourself why you feel the need to be part of this organization.

We are all souls learning through experience and there are many paths that we can take. It's important that we all quiet our mind, look within, and find our own truth. Not our parents' or grandparents' truth, not our community's truth, and not our school's truth. Our own truth. Truth comes from within and the only way we can find our truth is quieting our mind, being curious, and asking ourselves the question, who am I?