Changing

It's been a little while since I've posted something other than a haiku. I've thought about it several times in the past week, but just haven't felt like it. There's a part of me that wants to add to the family chorus of sharing about my dad's funeral and the weekend we spent together, but I think I'll just hold those thoughts and feelings to myself for now.

Life goes on -- and it is time to get back to writing.
So ...

Pastor Phillip has been preaching/teaching through a series on changing -- how we view God, how we view others, how we view God and suffering, how we view love, how we view religion and spirituality, how we view prayer, ...
It's been a pretty reflective kind of study. My personal spiritual journey has been similar to Pastor Phillip's in many ways.

It is sometimes difficult to verbalize how or why I've changed. It isn't difficult to understand that I needed to change how I was thinking about God, religion, and life in general. It's like I spent most of my life learning how to be successful as a man (human) and now I'm trying to unlearn those things as I become more aware of the spiritual aspect of my being.

When I began this spiritual growth, I didn't know anything about mindfulness and had never really practiced any meditation or serious, independent contemplation about life, death, God, etc. As I have grown or evolved, I've become much less concerned with competing with or being better than my fellow human beings, and more concerned with understanding them and understanding my place as I relate to them and their own life's journey.
When we stop competing, we can start helping.
If we are not busy trying to outdo, out pace, out distance somebody, we can share the journey and travel together rather than succeeding to arrive first. Life's journey isn't a race.

Stephen Covey said, "Remember, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

As I have become more aware of my spiritual being and the other spiritual beings around me, I have become less agitated with people. I have to admit that I am often frustrated by the humanness of life and the humanness of, well -- humans, but I get it. We are all learning and trying to find our place in this life.

I know that my evangelical friends might be reading this and fearing that I've gone off into the Eastern philosophic deep end, but I haven't. I am still very Jesus centered and am actually following Jesus more closely than ever. I am still reading my bible daily, although I admit I am reading with a different perspective.
I wish people would take the time to step away from religion and the teachings of other people and listen to Jesus for themselves. You don't need someone else to tell you what Jesus says or means.

My Facebook cover Pic says, "The further I got from religion, the closer I got to God."
You should try it.

John