The Goofy Stuff We Believe...!

OK, so we've got these holy books ... and they're filled with revelations from God ... and we've believed that they were inspired by God, and that therefore these folks were *special* ... after all, we believe, such inspired experiences were reserved for the very FEW.

Our religions have told us:

~ that we are separated from God,

~ that we are distant from God,

~ that God is angry with us,

~ that God must be appeased,

~ that we are hopelessly depraved sinners,

~ that we cannot trust ourselves,

~ and that we are entirely too UNworthy to be spoken to by God, BUT that a very few special ones among us somehow were chosen to be inspired directly by God, and it just so happens that all of those folks are dead.

What IF Divine inspiration is the birthright of every single human being? What if we're ALL that special? What if God is *still speaking/revealing/leading*...?

For some reason*, religion tells us that this is wrong, dangerous, blasphemous. Religion says:

~ If it's old, it's good; if it's new, it's bad.
~ If it's old, it's true; if it's new, it's deceptive.
~ If it's old, it's right; if it's new, it's in error.
~ If it's old, it's trustworthy; if it's new, it's dangerous.

(Of course, we do this in the opposite extreme, when it comes to humans -- if they're young, they're worthy -- if they're old, they're unworthy, but that would be another blog post...)

We humans cling to the old and familiar, WAY past the time when it's been proven ineffective/incomplete/harmful. How long did the church cling to the notion of flat-earthed geocentricity? How long did doctors resist washing hands? We have a most stubborn tenacity to cling to what we think we know, what most folks believe, and to refuse innovation or new thinking until some sort of PAIN forces us to do so ... and this has been slowing down our progress for many millennia ...

So, as we look around at the current messes that are evident in our world, amongst humanity, we have a choice. We can toe the line of status quo ... or we can dare to imagine that we are here for such a time as this ... that we are here for a divine *purpose* ... and that we CAN turn the tide of our self-destruction, and actually change the world.

IF that resonates with you, IF something rises up in you as you read this, consider the following five choices we can make NOW, in each of our own lives, in order to be, and thus invoke, the change we want to see:

1. We can choose to acknowledge that some of our old beliefs about God and about Life are not working any more.

2. We can choose to acknowledge that there is something we do not yet understand *about* God, and about Life, which if we understood, would change everything.

3. We can choose to be willing to receive a new understanding of God and Life - and understanding that could bring about a new way of life for all.

4. We can choose to be daring and courageous enough to explore and examine this new understanding, and if it resonates with our own inner truth/knowing, to enlarge our current belief system, so as to include it.

5. We can choose to live out our lives as exhibits and demonstrations of our highest and greatest beliefs .. rather than as denials of them.

These five steps to Peace are modified from the book, "The New Revelations" by Neale Donald Walsch (a very engaging and easy-to-read book).

We've tried and tried and tried to make a difference through changing behaviors -- after more millennia than we have left to waste, it's not worked. We need to go to the root of behaviors -- to BELIEFS.

We need to examine, and change, our beliefs ... because beliefs create behaviors.

Next - examining HOW beliefs create behaviors...

Shalom, Dena




*OK, so the reason is that if we learned to trust ourselves, to follow God's leading for ourselves, to be as autonomous as is our birthright, then why would we *need* religions...?