Do the best you can
What if.....
The soul doesn’t separate, the ego does.
The soul doesn’t need security, the ego does.
Every form of religion could support the ego and focus on (a false sense) of security, through means of control, separation, and discrimination to the point of violence - which feeds fear and therefore more followers seeking its “comfort.” I fear many religions do.
Every form of religion could support the soul and focus on understanding our ego’s desires and our soul’s desires. They can teach us to listen to the soul, to seek the collective soul, to use our ego’s triggers as a way to uncover our longings to understand, love, and connect to the point of unity - which feeds compassion and therefore more followers seeking its “comfort.” I fear many religions don't.
I'm sad that within religions, like Islam and Christianity, the loudest voices are those for and against the sects that serve the ego, the interpretations that seek certainty over mystery and soothe fear at the cost of others. Those that serve the soul are being grouped with those that serve the ego. I hope that I can and will stand up and make this loving way more known. I believe that the reason these religions have survived centuries is that love endures. My soul longs to give support, love, and compassion to myself and others who feel this longing to overcome the discrimination, separation, and violence that is done in the 'same name' of our religions.
I called myself 'spiritual but not religious' for decades because I was only hearing the loudest voices. When all I could hear was a divisive and violent fundamentalist perspective, I kept all religions, including the one most familiar to me, at a 'safe' distance. Once I had a big enough crisis and my soul's yearnings became urgent, I found myself hearing other Christian voices, loving, uniting, open minded, nonjudgmental, reconciling whispers in our world. Today, Christianity and its many practices for stillness, connection with loving and uniting interpretations of sacred texts, non-judgment, nonviolent justice, and recognizing love and spirit 'in all things and everyone', serve my soul and open a new world to me. I am so grateful for the churches and retreat centers that make it easy for me to bring my brain to church and take my fully engaged heart with me when I leave. Had I been born into another faith, I could be writing about how grateful I am for these principles, practices, and places in my Muslim, Sufi, Hindu, Baha'i, Jewish, or other faith tradition.
We don’t cease having fear and judgement, it is how we process it that sets us on a new path. We aren’t perfect. We can’t be. But we can attempt to catch these thoughts and fears, take a step back, listen to the soul, and choose love. All we can do is choose love as much as we can.
What if we live as if we are all one even if we don't fully understand or see that yet? What if all that stands in our way is a fearful illusion we feed? What practices and priorities do we have to slow the mind and the ego's function to listen to the still small voice of the soul, the light within us that connects us to all others?
May I free my mind and feed my soul today. May your soul be fed regardless of your place, faith, or fear.