Having lost three good friends in the past couple of months, all of them much younger and appearing in far better physical condition than I, it has occurred to me that each day I live, each word I speak, and each writing I post, may be my last… and for that reason I would like to make sure that I am understood by friends and family, who I know are concerned about my Spiritual Life. I can assure you that I am completely convinced that if I were to leave this life this moment, I will find myself in good standing on the other side of the veil.
I realize that I have challenged your Faith in Christianity and I am sorry if I have made you uncomfortable with my accusations and claims but sometimes there seems no other way to get people to listen, but by shouting.
The fact is, I feel very comfortable with where I am at. I still have a long ways to go before understanding all things; however I am no longer hindered by the falsehood that there are questions that I may not ask or things I do not need to know. While The Source (God) remains a mystery to me, I am no longer prohibited from seeking further knowledge of Him outside of the Bible.
I spent several years living in a small village in Honduras where the predominate religion was Catholicism. Most homes had a place where they displayed their favorite Saint. Some lit candles every night while others would only dust the Saint off a few times a year. At one home, just outside of town, lived a very devote woman who had a statue of a small boy in her home. She had had it for some time and the paint was faded and worn. From time to time she would announce a special celebration for this Saint and people from the village would go to pay homage to it. Of course people always left money at the altar to show their respect but over the years the money grew less and less because of the physical appearance of the Saint.
One day she came running into the village all excited and told everyone that God had taken the Saint back into Heaven. She had seen it with her own eyes ascending into the sky when she returned from her afternoon walk. Everyone went running to her house to see if she were really telling the truth and when they got there they found the statue missing from the altar and therefore assumed that indeed a miracle had happened.
A few weeks later she came running into town again but this time she said that God had sent her a new Saint. She saw it descending from Heaven when she returned from her walk and she had to run to catch it before it hit the ground. All of the villagers went running back to her house to see if it were true and sure enough there it was, a brand new brightly colored statue of another little boy. Everyone crossed themselves and offered prayers, dropping their money on the altar as they left the house. Even the boys that lived with me were excited about this miracle and couldn’t stop talking about it all afternoon.
That night at the dinner table I asked them what they really thought of the incident and all of them were still very convinced that it was real and so I asked them this question, “If the statue really came down from Heaven… why would there be a MADE IN GUATEMALA seal stamped on the base of it?” Needless to say it ended the conversation and perhaps destroyed their Faith in miracles… but because of this incident they were forced, from that day onward, to start looking at things more seriously.
They say ignorance is bliss and perhaps that is so… but often the ignorant are misled by men with selfish motives. The God I now know does not work miracles through ceramic statues, nor does He have His Words written down in a single book that only a few can claim understanding of. We need not peer only at a poor reflection of God, as some would have us believe, but can walk in His Light with full understanding, if we shall but seek Him from within ourselves.
It is my belief that The Source of our being has never stopped writing His Holy Bible and that even today He speaks through the words and poetry of people like you and me. His Words fill the pages of a multitude of books and His Voice can be heard through the singing of birds, the sound of the wind, the laugh of a child, and the silent embrace of two people in Love. His Magnificence can be seen in the mountains, the valleys, and the rivers that flow past flowering gardens where artist sit, capturing on canvas but a moment of His timelessness.
The God I know is ever changing… evolving with each new day and I am only a part of that Evolution. Each breath I take is proof of His existence in me, for He is that which gives life to All. The flowers and trees could not exist without me, or I without them. We co-exist only because He lives within all things. We are the tools through which He Creates all that is Created and His Creating will never cease… though I may fall and wither, as an autumn leaf upon the ground, I know that my endeavors will nourish that which sprouts up around me, even after I am gone. Life is my contribution… Life is what gives me Joy. I am a part of God’s Glorious Creation, and that which I do for Him will continue for Evermore.
