I M Perfect lady

Tag: faith

  • God or Non-Reality.

    In an email I received, there was talk about faith in God and also a group who gather who “truly love the Lord and are very interested in learning and growing in their faith in God and only want to learn about the truth.”

     

    I found this interesting.

     

    How do you put a gauge on your ‘faith’ in God?  How do you grow that faith or learn more about the faith in God?  What truth are they seeking of God?

     

    What is being challenged, God or you?

     

    The words faith and truth seem to be such honorable things to have towards God.

     

    How does that work?  How can you tell if someone has a bigger faith than you, or know more truths than you do?  Is there a better religion to find this?

     

    Of course I had to look up the meaning of Faith;

    belief or trust: belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof

    – religion or religious group: a system of religious belief, or the group of people who adhere to it

     

    – trust in God: belief in and devotion to God

     

    “Especially without logical proof” stands out to me.

     

    To have faith without logical proof is that without a direct experience?  It seems that religions are asking you to believe in something without ‘logical proof’.

     

    What is logical?

    -sensible and based on facts: based on facts, clear rational thought, and sensible reasoning

    – able to think rationally: able to think sensibly and come to a rational conclusion based on facts rather than emotion

    – of philosophical logic: relating to philosophical logic

    Based on facts, clear rational thought isn’t needed to have faith?  Is that right?  How can they want us to leave our clear and rational thoughts behind, to not think sensibly and not come to a rational conclusion based on facts rather than emotions.

     

    It does seem to me, and this is my experience, that rational thinking or facts do get left behind, and it brings you in to a pretend world.

     

    My childhood religion was based on ‘forgiveness’ of sins.

    Of having the ‘faith’ that they indeed would be washed away.

     

    It came to me shortly after discovering who my father was, that this religion had been ‘forgiving’ him all along.  It (religion) had the power to erase or delete reality. 

     

    To believe or have faith in words erasing an action just seems impossible to believe in. 

     

    You really have to use your mind and conjure up a clean slate, even if your feelings are not so easily fooled. 

     

    And the sentiment is that if you can’t “forgive” you are worse than the original sinner!  It is our duty to forgive, our duty to erase the actions of another.  Do we really have that power?

     

    To have faith in certain religions means to step further and further from the truth of life itself.  When they have rituals and rules and words that can upright the fallen is weird to me.

     

    If you look at my father alone, it is impossible to cure or heal or right his wrongs.  They are done. The bells have been rung!  He and he alone sit with his actions.  His mind is very confused and no amount of forgiveness can unravel that mind.  It will take years of work to correct that, and a willingness to do so.

     

    Again, Martha Beck’s meaning of forgiveness rings more true, “Forgiveness is accepting the past cannot be changed.”

     

    What are religions selling?

    What is the actual application you are signing up for?

    What is their connection with God that you have to go to them to get?

    Where is God kept?

     

    I know this may sound like sour grapes or the mental ramblings of a mental woman, but I am truly and indeed seeking to know what it is they are selling?

     

    What I know is that reality wins only but 100% of the time.

    That a confused mind does confusing things.

    That when you clear your mind you clear your actions.

     

    I am much more inclined to seek to broaden my awareness, to see and question more and more in reality and sit less and less in a pretend space of ‘faith’.

     

    What I know is that reality is truth and truth is reality and both are God.  I need no faith to know this.

     

    It seems to me when I wasn’t in reality I needed faith, but once reality hit me smack in the face, religion and faith flew out the window.  It was useless and pointless in the face of reality. 

     

    There was no amount of faith that could change what was.

    No amount of forgiveness within me that would un-ring the bell that had been rung in my childhood.

     

    It seems that religion takes the place of reality.

     

    Faith to me is like a new F word. 

    It separates you from reality and logic.

     

    We need new religions that are reality based, instead of ‘faith’ based.

     

    Ironically I found God in the midst of Truth and Reality, where he was all along. 

     

    He and I were on the same page.

    I saw what God saw.

     

    The more aware I became the more I saw God everywhere, in fact there is nowhere where he isn’t.

     

    To me there is only one choice, either God or Non-reality.

     

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  • Faith

    I never thought I would step into a church again, yet I found myself there. In fact I really didn’t see the church, until months later. Like how can you walk into a church sit in a pew, listen and not see the Church? Isn’t that simply impossible to do?

    How about if you go to the church without going to church, instead you go for the message? Would you then see the building? What if you go because of all the interesting people you find there? What if you go because it seems this is where your people are, this is where you might fit in, this, is where you hope to find the answers?

    What if you have a burning question you want answered? Would you see the church, or instead would you look closely at what was said, who said it and you got to decide if that fit you. If it fit your experience of what you know to be true. If you went to find a perfect match, would you see the church?

    I even did like most loyal members, I found a seat, and it became my special spot. Imagine I have a special seat. This time, I was tentative, unknowing, very much aware, and listening closely and then I would let the words come real close and see if I could find how that could be true for me too.

    Suspicious at best, discerning of all, I literally felt like I was a fly on the wall, just watching, listening and soaking up words. What was also so weird to me, I did not feel inclined to speak, and better yet no one expected me to. Shy smiles, little nods, a room full of strangers, or to me at least, yet I slowly became comfortable there. No one acted like I didn’t belong….yet I was still unsure.

    Months went by, and I eagerly awaited each week, each new message, and each time I walked away unsure. Not really buying the message, the faith I wanted seemed to just outside the fence, freely dancing, twirling in joy of its assuredness. The general theme seemed to intrigue me, but when I measured myself, I seemed lacking, I didn’t have what it took, something was missing, something just didn’t ring true. But each week I entered and had no clue what the message would be, each week a new insight came out. I learned a lot by listening, just sitting and hearing words.

    One day, a day that would be my last, I heard what I wanted to hear. I finally heard the one thing that would set me free, to show me that I indeed did belong to this group. I heard her speak, and before the hour was over, I knew.

    My Writer’s Journey Class was held in St. Mathews Church on the Campus of Finlandia University. My writing class did not speak of God. Get this, the last Author to speak wrote a book called Sundays in America. A year long road trip in search of Christian Faith! And she gives this talk to me, in a church, a church I vowed I would never ever enter.

    She and I are not even aware of all it took for this to come to fruition.You see, she was supposed to arrive here in February, but a snowstorm kept her literally circling above unable to land. What she didn’t know was that it was my fault. I wasn’t ready to hear her message. I first had to begin doing what I wanted her to teach me.

    I had to start writing. Now get this, get what Day was her first day she entered a new church? Easter. Guess what day this Blog started? Easter. Now I am not a real good religious girl, but even I know that it is the day of re-birth a day that means a new beginning. Ok, and guess where she gives me the message….a Church. 

    And I am sure you have to be asking what could this Suzanne Strempak Shea have to say? What did she do? What was the secret I needed revealed? What was right in front of me all the while? What again, did I fail to see?

    She stood there and began to just tell us how each book was created from her life experience! Oh she was a fast talker, you could not squeeze a word more into that hour! Animated, excited, colorful and with humor she looked at her life simply as the seeds of another great book! It was like she wasn’t personally involved, but yet she was. Like her life was there for her to write about, and the more interesting the better. She looked at people like Characters, places a new scene in a future book, a nagging thought the inspiration for whole book.

    I sat there and smiled knowingly. I was looking into my future. Ironically or not, she is the mentor of the lady who started the Writer’s Journey. A full circle moment for me and I wasn’t even there in the beginning, yet some how I was.

    With her signed book in my bag, I opened the door and walked into a whole new world, with a whole new me, with my Faith restored.

    Suzanne’s husband is very encouraging. He is known to say. “Write about it.”

    I think I am.

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