Monday 12 August 2013

Spirituality for All?

Writers are about words, blogs are about words, and life is about words.  As we know "The pen is mightier than the sword" (Edward Bulwer-Lytton) because words create more wounds in life than weapons ever have, despite the millions who have died at the wrong end of various weapons in various wars.

Wars that happen because never are words more damaging than when they're used to create a cause, add rules to it, and then exclude those who don't conform.  In reality the world is full of one race - humanity - with different skin colours as our own inbuilt sun protection factor, with no religion and no real borders other than the sea (and we can use boats, bridges and planes to get across that).  Everything that we are in this day and age, prejudices, beliefs, religions, has been added on top of the family of humanity by men using words in order to create power bases.

Nowadays many people have stepped outside the structure of religion and either think very little about Spirituality or try to find their own with varying levels of success.  All helped, or not depending on your viewpoint, by a Spiritual field with very little structure that does have rules which change depending on who you're talking to, because those rules have never been written down and are not formal.

Yes, there are organisations who have created a structure and have formalised their Spiritual beliefs into something specific, and the ones I can find seem to be mainly based around the idea of the existence of the Spirit World.  But is that what Spirituality actually is?

I don't know.  Oh...sorry...were you expecting a definitive answer?

You might find it odd that I'm not prepared to tell you exactly what I believe in, why I'm right.  You might be wondering what the point of this blog is?

I believe one thing, that this world should have no barriers and no walls, no specified territories, no excluding religions beliefs, and no prejudices.  But it does.  Even to this day, in this apparently enlightened day-and-age,  people still seem to need to don a uniform of some description, ascribe to a belief, and then declare that's who they are.  Not all people, but the need to belong is still out there.

Because if my beliefs I don't want to describe myself as anything other than a member of the human race.  To me this means that everyone is my sibling, everyone is a part of me, and everyone matters.

I'm well aware that there are people in this world that make you wonder how on earth such evil was ever created and why, and I'm no blinkered do-gooder that can't see that.  However, it doesn't alter the fact that I do not believe that there is any difference between me and any, shall we say normal (as in those with no criminal intentions) person anywhere.

As such I've chosen a word that I do my utmost to use to guide my life, and that is kindness.  Yes I would say that I have Spiritual beliefs, yes I do believe that there is a Spirit World and that's where our loved ones, friends and pets 'retire' to wait for us in a better place.  Yes I do believe in a Source energy that some would call God, and why not.  It's a good word.

What I don't believe is in drawing a line around myself that creates a difference between me and anyone I meet.  When I meet new people I try to find out who they are.  Can we blend?  Can we enjoy being together?  Is there honesty in the relationship.  I don't ask for perfection because I've been looking for 56 years and haven't found it yet - including in the mirror (smile).

I just try to find out if I can be kind to them, they can be kind to me, and we can be there for each other.

So, the message is, that if you're a person seeking a point to your life and you're becoming confused by all the options you're offered to belong to, and all the rules within the options:  such as money and success being bad things and you're not allowed to enjoy your work without being 'unspiritual' even though your company employs many people and allows them to survive in a world that runs on money.  Stop looking outside yourself and start looking within.

Look at when you feel happy and when you don't.  Look at how you want to feel, and how you want others to feel around you.  Those sorts of things.  And anything you attempt to join that doesn't feel right, leave without a backward glance or a smidgen of guilt.

Kindness is a difficult emotion because people feel that others think it equals weakness, but nothing could be further from the truth (more on that on the next blog).  If you remember that kindness must be exhibited towards yourself as well as others, you will become a person that people just enjoy being around, and when that happens you will be able to form links within the family of human-kind wherever you are.

Your kindness will seek out injustice and encourage you to do something about things that you feel are wrong, and you will have all the reason for being here that you could ever wish.

In other words, don't necessarily look for an organisation to create a sense of belonging in you or purpose for your life, look into your heart and at what needs doing.

Deb Hawken
07912 374226, deb@debhawken.com, www.debhawken.com
Join my website today to receive my newsletter and information on FREE resources for members


No comments:

Post a Comment