What is religion?
Why is it dangerous?
What does it do to a person?
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” – Colossians 2:16-17
Religion is a synonym for creed or set way of thinking on a matter. The problem with that is simple, the God of Grace can’t be put into a pigeon hole.
If we try to think of God in our limited mind set, we could block Love:
1) Our cultural bias- We all have a cultural screen that we hold from a very young age that says that our culture is right- Does this affect the way we can Love others?
2) Our predisposed religious bias- Which many picked up from their family of origin and sad to say never really tested it for themselves. Does this affect the way we relate to “different” people?
3) Our personal experience bias- Do experiences change people and does that affect the way we treat people?
The fact is that all these three screens and many more that we could probably think of not only hinder Love but they also hinder growth spiritually if we can’t look beyond them or even notice that they are there.
What religion does separates people and causes people to think they are better or more special than others. This is anti-Christ as it is also anti-Love. It also happens way too easily.
Find a time and a place where you probably won’t be disturbed and just take some time to breath a few times deeply and with each exhale try to relax a bit more. Once you feel fairly relaxed just follow your breath and try to relax any lingering stress points. As you follow your breath think about any rules that separate you from sharing Love and:
Breathe in and say:
“Love”
Breathe out and say:
“Without judgment”
Practice this meditation until you no longer see a person as a sum of their actions but instead you see them as a beautiful being made in the image of God that needs, deserves and seeks the Love you have inside!
Don’t worry- Be Grace-Full!!
