The Devil Made Me Do It…
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It’s true: The devil made me create this blog.
Well maybe I’m fibbing…
The truth is I just wanted a place to put some of my deeper articles on spirituality, expansive thinking, and experiencing the human mind.
But I anticipate at least a few of those always-pleasant crusaders will eventually find me and accuse me of being wicked, “of the devil”, and so forth. So I thought I’d drop a few keywords in here for their benefit. ;o)
I was raised in a Christian family, which gave me a valuable insight into one of the world’s largest organized religions. I learned a lot of interesting things reading the protestant bible and I’ve had many amazing experiences with prayer, “evil” spirits, and other phenomenon.
But the cult mentality, dog-like obedience to tradition, malice against people of other views, and numerous logical, intuitive, and historical glitches made it impossible for me to remain rooted in the faith of my youth for the long haul. I drifted away and even actively sought wisdom from other schools of thinking.
I had some dark days – years really. In fact I was lost to drugs and the accompanying lifestyle fro quite some time. And there were many amazing spiritual experiences during these times as well.
At one point, after a long period of general numbness and deliberate effort to separate myself from the realization of any kind of spirit world, I experienced the presence of God.
Seriously. Think what you will of that statement but I stand firm on it.
I experienced God in the form of a warm (literally), loving, presence and intelligence that filled my body and the space around me for several days. It was unlike anything I had ever encountered before and I was moved to tears.
Immediately after this experience that I chose to call God, I began attending the church my mother is a member of. I had frequent meetings with the preacher and began to read the New Testament… well religiously to be honest.
Looking back I now understand that I tried to take a living experience and format it neatly into the structured faith I was taught as a child. It didn’t work of course.
In time the old friction returned.
The presence was still there – though not at the same intensity I had experienced during those few days mentioned above. But I began to again see the hatefulness, fear, and at times insanity being taught by the modenr church.
I know many good people who are part of an organized faith. I believe these people know divinity and I believe they are right and good in all they see as truth. But it is not my truth and it never will be.
And the fact that I’m “going to hell” because I am unwilling to recite specific ideals as fact is at the root of the above statement. I’m fine with disagreeing and not being sure about things – it’s part of life. But the church is not fine with my being casual in this manner.
I am, as many others of expanded mind find themselves, given the clear ultimatum of converting my mind to a particular set of arbitrary beliefs or being “condemned.”
Fair enough. I’ll take the condemnation.
And the good news is, I’m not being damned by the real creator of the Universe. I’m just being blacklisted by the “keepers of the faith.”
My soul is in no danger I promise you. I am a part of creation, divinity, God… whatever name you’d like to give to all that is.
And nobody needs to be wrong for me to be right. I’m not interested in taking anyone’s truth from them.
Everything our species knows, from modern science to the teachings of the enlightened thinkers and writers of ancient times, suggests there is no need to cling to the idea of only one truth. Right now as I type this a Universe of infinite possibilities unfolds and flows in every possible direction and “timeline”.
This blog is a sharing of my mind and spirit. I look forward to what lies ahead.
Tags: devil, devil made me do it, divinity, mind of god, organized religion, religious crusader, spiritual journey, Spirituality
