|
* * *
I found it a big surprise, and disappointing, when seeking an inclusive spiritual home, after coming up in a fundamentalist religion, and I came to see how attachment to belief, including the criticism of others with their beliefs, could be as present in groups claiming to be inclusive, to be liberal, as in groups claiming to be exclusive, conservative. I worship in a spiritual communion now that claims to be inclusive. Yet, in attending this group in different places I have lived over the last decade, I have heard and hear commits of ridicule of the faith practices or beliefs of others, even with attending laughter on more than one occasion from a person engaging in this profane act of disrespect. This is not of Grace. This is not inclusive, even if we sit in a group with inclusive ideals. So, it seems, if we wish to be narrow-minded and prejudicial toward other belief systems and those in them, that fits in either the more conservative or the more liberal, or anywhere in between. As long as we live from our head, with our compulsion of need to be right and the other wrong, whether we claim to be inclusive or exclusive, conservative or liberal, we will live in the duality of us-against-them. In this duality we cannot consistently live in Love.
we are to live in Love,
not in our beliefs, which are
intellectual, of the mind, and
our one heart always prioritizes living in Love,
for it is Love
* * *
Recently, in a worship gathering, a dear soul remarked of how difficult it can be, at times, not to criticize the religious beliefs of others. I mused on that later. I realized that this difficulty is an invitation for us to face the criticism as a form of resistance. So, while one may disagree or agree with what another thinks, the felt-need to criticize is not about the other one. Yet, this is complicated in that some beliefs are not innocent. Some beliefs are harmful. Some beliefs are abusive when taught, for example, to children. Still, we need to be wise in such criticism. We need to explore what leads us to think we need to voice a criticism in the first place. We can ask, "If I speak, is this from Love, or from another motive?" And we each can pose the question to ourself, "Can I live in a world of diverse beliefs, and live from a consciousness in which I am neither denying agreement or disagreement, while not living in that duality of the mind in which I cannot meet the other as an equal and as part of the same human communion I belong within?"
* * *
In my childhood and youth, persons would refer with derogatory estimation of a certain religious group who would make visits to homes to share about their faith and offer religious literature. Persons, claiming to be Christian, would brag about how they would rudely turn them away. They called this group a cult. I came to find this rudeness unacceptable. Why would I mistreat these persons? Why would any Christian speak with happiness about doing this? I could find no reason. Then, in midlife and a prison chaplain, I worked with volunteers from different religions who would come to offer meetings. A volunteer came each Saturday to hold a meeting for the inmates. He was of this group I have spoken of, the group the confessing Christians of my earlier years ran away from their homes. This man was one of the most Christlike beings I had ever met, a gentle, kind being of Love. I much respected him and we shared joyful fellowship each time we met. If I had held to the beliefs of my younger years, I would have missed truly seeing this man, and enjoying communion of heart with him. I would have missed the grace of meeting with him beyond what we think to be true, so to meet in the truth.
we each are so much more than
what we believe,
for we are never what we think,
but if we see the other through our beliefs,
we fail to see that something more in the other,
the same something more in us
Continued... |
