Living religion: a relationship with self, love and God
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Living religion: a relationship with self, love and God
Religion and me have had one of those ‘love-hate’ relationships – I used to hate it and now I love it! I have come to realise the religion I hated was not true religion as I understand and know it today – it was made up of rules and dogmas and told me that God was a judge who had one special son and that I was a sinner and well, there’s not much to love about that! And so religion and me parted company for many, many years.
Now I love religion … and religion for me is fundamentally about love. For me, it is the knowing that God is love and that I am love – and what’s not to love about that?
Of course this knowing and these words are just empty if I do not take steps to live that love every day. And that starts with how I am with myself – my relationship with me:
- It means being aware of when I go into negative self-critique and make myself feel bad about myself and being able to change that by taking responsibility for the thoughts I choose and choosing ones that are loving, kind and compassionate, as one would if talking with a best friend
- Taking care of my body and the food I put into it
- Noticing if I am choosing foods that I know are not good for it and considering why that might be
- Being aware of whether my movements are fast, rough or harsh and instead choosing to be gentle
- Noticing if my buttons are getting pressed and I’m feeling frustrated, angry or irritated and taking steps to address that and return to a more centred and loving way of being
- Observing how I am with myself and therefore with others also
- Is there any feeling of being better than or indeed feeling less than, in defiance of the knowing that we are all equal?
My religion means taking responsibility for myself, my life and my choices in the knowing that I have within me much more power than I ever realised to experience a bright sunshine day or a wet miserable day. In other words, it is my choices and how I am that determines whether I experience a day of joy where things just flow or a day of misery where nothing seems to go right.
So what makes the difference? The difference is whether I choose to connect to myself and the love that I am and live from there – or not!
It’s simple to understand but not always easy to live, as I have lived for so long not even knowing that I am love and built up so many ingrained ways to keep me away from that which I am. But it all begins with me – so no matter how much I might want to blame this person or that situation for how I am, I also know that it comes back to my choice to choose love or not. And when I don’t choose love, it’s having the honesty and responsibility to look at why that is: why am I choosing something that I know is not true, and is not good for me or those around me?
And when I do live from that connection then all is well with me and the world around me – for there is a deep acceptance and understanding of why things are the way they are.
There is a flow to life and harmony and joy in the simplest of things – washing the dishes, making the dinner, going for a walk are all done in connection with me, with God and all of nature around me.
My life has a depth of meaning and purpose I never imagined was possible – every day is imbued with meaning. Relationships are rendered more connected and loving – even momentary passings in the supermarket or at work may all be graced with the light and love of God. The magic of God is all around me as I know there are no coincidences as such, but the divine constellation of life.
So for me religion is about an ever-deepening relationship of and with love. The daily loving practice of my religion is to be love and to serve with love and when I’m not, that I lovingly take the necessary steps to return.
Filed under
Religion, Connection, Testimonials, Love, God
