Religion need not be a one-stop reality center. Traditional roles of religion can be replaced by non-religious practices and spaces.
Morality needs to be an inner conviction.
Charity needs to be tied to the general community, both local and global, that surrounds us.
Fellowship can be found in both, religious and non-religious circles.
Beauty and inspiration and the experience of God’s presence can likewise be found in a sacred space set aside for the purpose, and in nature. However, there is something to be said about a space specially prepared by humans. There is a balance to be had between Nature – God’s speaking to us, and Sacred Space - our response to God. We make an effort to likewise return the favor of beauty and inspiration by creating sacred spaces where we gather with others wanting to commune with God.
Agreement between the faithful is impossible on all matters, so it’s pointless to use this as a litmus test of where we ought to worship.
But worship we must. That is something I feel deeply, the need to worship. Not just stand outside and take in with awe the beauty of God’s creation, but also to DO something about it. And not just to gather together and talk intellectually about generic faith application. Worship, to me, means getting lost in the presence of God. Living the way God intended, in the present moment, with God at the center of the experience.
And when I think of the experience of worship, when I think of how worship should feel, I think of beauty, awe, inspiration, being transported to a timeless space where the mundane falls away and I begin to sense a merging with the people around me, all reaching spiritually for our greater sense of self, all being united in God on a plane invisible to the naked eye.
Truth becomes something that cannot be explained or understood within the confines of language. Therefore, no doctrine, no theology, no dogma even comes close to the Gospel of the Real Presence of God, which can only be attained through direct experience. In the end, we cannot come to God, to a relationship with God, vicariously.
We cannot merely read about it in Scriptures and think we have arrived. We cannot merely take the word of prophets on their personal experiences of God and think our reading about their experiences is the same thing as us experiencing what they experienced. We cannot ever use what worked for others and try to force ourselves into it, for the minute we do, we fail to look to God and instead look to mere messengers. In lieu of observing the moon through the telescope, we gaze longingly at the telescope, thinking we have seen the moon.
When we say we are people of faith, faith in what or whom? Faith in a religion? A human organization fraught with imperfections? Faith in others? If we believe their experiences, why not our own? Do we believe God has favorites? I don't!
When I say I have faith, that I am a person of faith, I mean that I have faith in God. That God exists, though I cannot tell you what this God is like, other than that God is beyond anything I could come up with in my human imagination. I can draw comparisons, like God is Ultimate Reality, or God is Truth, or God is Life, or God is Love. But I like what God is purported to have said about Godself in Exodus 3:14; "I AM that I AM." In other words, all we need to know about God is that God exists. That's it. Who God is, or even WHAT God is, is not at all the point. We get lost bickering about the details of something none of us will ever fully comprehend within the limits of our minds, yet we insist on using our intellect to try to "prove" a reality that is beyond us in every way.
The faith that I have is linked with trust as well. I trust that all I need to know about God IS that God exists. I trust that God does not try to hide Godself from anyone, myself included. Therefore, I trust that God is always present to me, and all I need to do is turn my attention to God's presence and I am in communion with God. I can do so without the aid of others, without the aid of specially "trained" or ordained ministers who claim "authority" that is withheld from others. I can do so without the sanctions of a special organization (religion), outside the walls of special buildings (church or other "place of worship"), and using my own words or no words at all to arrive "at the gates of heaven".
My faith tells me that God loves me and guides me and meets me where I am. My faith tells me that I don't have to have anything figured out in order to enjoy God's presence. My faith tells me that death, like everything else in life and nature, is a mere transition, and there is no reason to fear what's on the other side, because no matter what, God will still be "there" with me. My faith tells me that each of us is working on different parts of ourselves at different times, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all spirituality. Judgment is a sure sign of falling away from communion with God, so I am learning not to judge - others or myself.
But I also recognize that God made us for community with each other. And perhaps the imperfections of my fellow humans are necessary in a well-balanced spiritual life, to keep me honest and humble, to expand my horizons of spiritual experiences, and to allow me the chance to recognize God's presence in others, so I don't fall into the delusion of thinking that *I* "am" God. God dwells in me, this is true. But *I* am merely an incarnation of a small spark of the Divine Spirit. That one spark (me) is not equal to the whole from which I come and in which I belong. So long as I am in this human, earthly body, I must maintain a sense of separation between where I end and where God begins, without losing the crucial component of us being intimately connected at all times. It's a fine line, a nuanced dance, and it is called the art of life.
Therefore, I am both spiritual and religious. I do not take religion at face value. I do not "believe" in the teachings of religion as "facts". Perhaps some of the features of the religion I choose to affiliate with are helpful to others, even if they are not helpful to me. I cannot judge where others are on their journey. I can let them be on their journey and stay on my own journey and we can come together in the sacred space and during sacred time of Divine Liturgy, where we gather to worship God and commune in God's presence.
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