Info for Your Potential

First, an explanation. I am not a religious person, meaning I do not go to church or have an affiliation with any organized religion, but I do believe in the Divine spirit of God. I know the Bible for what it is: a book of God’s word, interpreted through the ages by man. This post is my opinion supported by Biblical quotes. It is my hope that anyone who wants a truly spiritual life will find the support and encouragement in this post that they need without religious bias.

New Age Spirituality

I am amazed at the number of folks who condemn and judge those who wish to become more spiritual by labeling them as New Age fanatics. Do you think the Romans walked around saying, “Hey, what do you think of all these New Age Christians?” Every new idea or concept is greeted with the same lack of openness and respect. Why would the so-called New Age Spirituality be treated any differently? It wouldn’t. Some folks, when they do not understand something or they fear it, seek to condemn it before they understand it.

I was reading a blog on New Age Spirituality. The author was obviously against the idea of being spiritual outside the realms of religion by expounding his opinion on the rise in mediums and communicating with the dead as part of spirituality. While his discussion was on one aspect of spirituality known as spiritualism, he failed to realize that for many people, including myself, spirituality also refers to those who practice a philosophy, doctrine or religion that teaches the spiritual aspect of “being.”

New Age Spirituality encompasses:

• the use of meditation to find balance, feel centered and as prayer,
• a means of closer relationship with God or the Divine Spirit,
• the use of listening to one’s intuition (from a Divine source) and
• the belief that we all believe in a single Divine Spirit.

While some critics think that New Age Spirituality revolves around the belief in being guided by ghost and space aliens, they need to realize that like all religions, New Age Spirituality has its extremists. These same critics of New Ageists state that there is no rationale, common book of reference or scientific basis for this type of spirituality, yet they would say the same thing about any new idea or religion that revolves around spirituality that is not within the confines of excepted standards of religion. New Age Spirituality draws its inspiration from most of the world’s major religions without being an organized religion itself. Therefore, I fail to see a problem with “being” truly spiritual with God without all the religious bias and prejudices.

When I was a girl, my family and I did not go to church and my mother and father never stopped me from exploring my curiosity of religion. They already knew what I was to discover over the course of the next few years of my young life, that religion or being religious offered no real answers to life’s questions, rarely had anything to do with being truly spiritual and lent itself to the behavior of judging others by their religious beliefs.

Many people do not take children seriously when it comes to any subject, but children are the prefect monitor. Their thoughts and ideas are unbiased since they have not been subjected to the bias of another person’s, mainly an adult, thoughts or ideas. Many children are confused by the Bible and any explanation they receive, even by a minister or priest, only serves to confuse them more. I remember thinking that Sunday School would answer my questions, but all we did was color and play. Questions were answered with the general, “In time, you will understand.”

If a family is devoutly religious, then over time, their child may develop the same religious doctrine of his parents; therefore, he may become biased that to be truly spiritual, one must have an association with an organized religion. Notice I say “may.” This same child may decide that his parent’s religious doctrines are not fulfilling his spiritual needs. This is the case for many people who are looking to become more spiritual in “being” and are finding that organized religion does not fulfill that need.

As a child, I discovered, much to my disappointment, that many people went to church only as a means of bettering their standing in the community. It had nothing to do with being more spiritual or communing (communicate) with God. I also noticed that several people parroted quotes from the Bible without so much as a single thought as to what it really meant. They also had no opinion of an interpretation of a quote from the Bible. They just believed that their religious instruction was right.

As I grew older, I found several ads in the Yellow Pages that stated, “Christian Owned and Operated.” Again, I was disappointed to realize that many people put these words on their ads to get business and had no idea of the Christian concept of morals or values. We were the victims of a few Christian Owned companies, one being a roofing company who charged my mother for work they never did. I saw this happen many times, not just with my family, but with others as well. I realize not all companies that state their Christian affiliation have criminal intent, but I will admit, if the ad states Christian company, I look elsewhere.

The Bible itself was very confusing to me as a child. Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, yet their children married other men and women not of their own family. How is that? When I asked about this, I was treated like a blasphemer. How dare I question the word of God? A good answer may have been that Adam and Eve were the first Jewish man and woman. Later, when I realized that the Bible (referring to the King James version) had been translated through the ages, I began thinking several things, all of which I arrived at by commonsense and free will.

Translation of the Bible

The word “fear” is a translation from the Jewish word “Yirah.” Yirah was translated into English as the word “fear,” but in this case, Yirah means immense respect of, faith in or overwhelming awe from being in the presence of great being or spirit. There is a quote from the Bible that to this day tells me that there are translation problems with the word “fear.”

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Exodus 1:21

The quote above, in my opinion, is a mistranslation of fear. It obviously refers to the midwives’ respect of and faith in God. Even as a child, I could not understand why any one would be paralyzed in fear of a loving and merciful God or angels. Why would a merciful God want his children to be paralyzed in fear of Him? It seems to me that this mistranslation has been used for centuries as a means to control and manipulate by fear. To fear someone or some thing does not create respect nor does it create love. Yet, Jesus taught that we should love one another since God is love. Why should anything that “is love” be feared? It shouldn’t. It should feel comforting and loving.

Interpretation of the Bible

I am very surprised how many people think it is wrong to pray for help. Somewhere along the way, this has to be a problem of misinterpretation. Whatever is needed will be given if you ask and have faith. Jesus in His sermon on the mount said this about prayer and the golden rule,

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8.

I love it when people quote back to me, “God helps them who help themselves” and they honestly believe it is a quote from the Bible. When I tell them that is a quote from Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1757, they look at me like I’m about to be struck by lightening. We all have free will and since we have free will, we must ask or pray for help when we need it.

Our lives are predestined by God

I have yet to understand this concept of predestination of our lives between the time of birth to our death. We all have free will. We are all in control of our thoughts, feelings, actions and our lives. Who or what we believe is our choice. Predestination, according to the Bible refers to the fate of they who do not have faith in God, then their fates are predestined. All that has ever been asked is that we have faith in God. Our everyday lives are of our choosing.

The concept of a predestined script for our lives makes me wonder why we are here at all if our lives are predestined. Since our lives would already be known, why bother putting on the play of life? I believe that in the case of predestination, it is another misinterpreted to mean that every choice we make, every thought we think, everything we feel has already been predetermined by God. It goes without saying that our birth is predestined and possibly our death, but the living of that life between birth and death is of our own free will.

There is a reason you are here…

I honestly believe that since each of us has free will, we need to discover our life’s purpose and act upon. This is where most folks have problems in their lives and with religion. Many religions do not teach how to find one’s purpose in life. They study and quote the Bible, taking many quotes out of context and distorting quotes to fit their own agendas and giving no real answers or guidance.

Many religions teach that our lives are predestined and we simply need to choose to live a virtuous life. If our lives are predestined, then why would we have the choice of whether or not to live a virtuous life? Having a choice implies free will. I think there is more to life than thinking God has preordained our lives. Each of us needs to find our purpose in life to be happy, fulfilled and to feel spiritually connected and we do it by our own free will.

Recommended Reading

I have read a few books on the New Age concept of spirituality. I like Doreen Virtue’s Angels 101 and Chakra Clearing. Both books are purely spiritual without religious bias, but her other books reflect her religious bias and stray from being purely spiritual. She interjects too much of her religious beliefs. Her psychology PhD is in question, but recently, I started a conversation with a lady and her husband at a restaurant. She is a psychologist and he an attorney.

In the late 1970s, the private college she attended for her PhD, lost its accreditation and her PhD was no longer valid and her licensed was revoked. Many of these private colleges, mostly in California, are referred to as degree mills. She was able to transfer a few of her credits and received her degree from an accredited state university.

The point here is that no matter Doreen Virtue’s (or anyone else’s for that matter) degree of education, the above mentioned books are very good, provide a point of view that is loving, kind and spiritual in nature. She teaches that angels love unconditionally, never tire of being of service, do not mind being called into service for even the smallest thing repeatedly, have no egotistical attitude and are omnipresent being able to help the multitudes all at one time. She also teaches that God is loving, compassionate and should not be feared.

If you look at her website, you will see she has workshops and seminars. The only problem I have with any workshop or seminar is the ridiculous prices some speakers charge. The price is a deterrent to those who really need help. I would like to think if someone was truly in need of spiritual counseling, that Doreen would be kind enough to provide her services without a fee.

The Secret by Rhoda Byrne. I was impress with the subject of The Secret, the Law of Attraction, but the more I looked into the contributors of The Secret, the more I became disappointed. Some of the contributors seem to have their own personal agendas and it’s called M-O-N-E-Y. They each have a website, they each promote, with a passion, their books, one to one coaching, seminars and programs. The one to one coaching is very expensive.

After reading The Secret, I looked at some of the contributors websites and was shocked at the cost of one of the contributors seminars; it was $3,200! I was floored. This wasn’t about helping people achieve their desires, this was about one contributor who was achieving his desire. I researched today and found that some of these contributors must have developed a conscience, because their seminar fees dropped to well within reason. If they’re going to speak at a college, church or hospital, they’re going to have to be much more reasonable than $3,200. I honestly do not recommend The Secret.

Law of Attraction by Michael J. Losier, expands on the real subject of The Secret. Many people feel that the subject of The Secret is visualization and positive thinking. Visualization and positive thinking are integral parts of the Law of Attraction and if used independently, would not be as effective as the full process behind the Law of Attraction. Actually, Michael’s book is much better than The Secret. He has a website and yes, he has seminars, but you know what? They’re actually affordable! I found most events charged $35 to $65.

Another author that I like is Richard Webster. His book Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians is very good. He does discuss spiritualism in depth. Spiritualism is contact with spirits, actually ghosts. God and angels are spirits and we wish to have a closer communication with them, but spiritualism takes it one step further by communicating with spirit guides and ghosts. He discusses pendulums, table tipping and automatic writing, which is interesting, but it is an area in which I am not interested. His claims are supported with proof by the research that has been done in the area of spiritualism.

He doesn’t indicate that angels love unconditionally and being of service. He instead he says to ask angels for help only when it is truly needed, don’t waist their time and to thank each one personally. I have found I can ask for anything, at anytime, take all the time I need where angels are concerned and of course, I always give my thanks and gratitude. I think some folks put way too much negative, egotistical human behavior into the personality of God and the angels. Any person or spirit that loves unconditionally wouldn’t have an egotistical personality. Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying about Richard’s book. It is very good and is purely spiritual in nature.

Like anything you read, you take the good with the bad. Every book has something good to offer. You simply filter out what doesn’t make sense to you and apply those ideas to your philosophy that do make sense. I personally prefer to believe, and it has been my personal experience, that God and the angels don’t seem to be bothered in the least by the simplest thing I ask. They seem to have no egotistical attitude and don’t seem to be perturbed in any way by the fact that I ask for their help. How do I know? I’ve had too many prayers answered lately that tells me I’m on the right path.

I hope this post has helped you and I hope you find your true spirituality.