Searching to experience Spirit
Where do you see the face of the Divine and what does it look like to you? Where do you experience the presence of Spirit in the everyday?
For many, that face looks like the face of a wizened old man and that place is a church or a temple or a mosque. But I believe that while the image and the building might be an excellent starting point, it is only a starting point. The Divine is bigger than that.
All of the major faith traditions - and many of the lesser known ones - share the common tenet of The Golden Rule. Why? Well because, I believe, the essence of the Divine is love. And when we honor and love each other, we honor and love our relationship with our Creator. When we take the time to compassionately and fully experience each other, we experience fully the Source of All.
This takes work! Deep work. Hard work. Messy work. It is a challenge to do what we must in order to experience a deeper spiritual relationship with Spirit and with each other. We need to put aside our differences, understand the filters with which we see the world and open up to a new way. A way that really allows us to live that Golden Rule whichever version of it holds meaning for you.
We need to let go of beliefs that do not serve the loving Creator, ourselves and the wider world in a way that honors all. Yes, we need to get out of our own way in order to move beyond ourselves. Just a little. One step at a time.
In order to go into a deeper relationship with the Sacred Spirit we must detach and release from our selves. From our programming, our likes and dislikes; we need to un-learn more than we need to learn. To undo rather than to do.
See, I believe that God is always right in front of us and not just in the buildings constructed for that specific meeting place. The Divine is in the world. How little of us to think that He/She could be contained within certain walls.
That face of the Divine is the face of a hungry child, an aging stranger, the injured and the broken. It is the face that does not look like us. And, in order to see it, we must be centered in that call of Love. For if we cannot live in that space, we will miss that face every time it appears.
The God in me sees the God in you. Namaste. Peace Be With You. Amen. And So It Is.