Love is a unique language

"Love is a unique language. It has no words and is communicated without sound, yet its message speaks the loudest in the hearts of anyone who receives it. Love bypasses the external and communicates directly with the heart. Love is God's way of communication. Love is the greatest language of all."

"To live a life of love, is to live a successful life. Success is not measured by how much stuff you acquire, but by how much love you give away."
Mick Mooney

I agree love is the greatest language of all, and I would add that love is a universal language that transcends borders, cultures and belief systems. Yes, love is God's way of communication and is communicated via the still, small voice of the heart that is attuned to the silence of the universe.

I also agree with Mick Mooney's quote that success is measured by how much love a person give away, instead of material possessions. Love is eternal, deep and true, and beyond the superficialities of the world. We are in the world (system) and not of the world, and I want to choose to live and be nourished and inspired/motivated by love alone.

Prayer by Paulo Coelho

Lord, protect our doubts, because Doubt is a way of praying. It is Doubt that makes us grow because it forces us to look fearlessly at the many answers that exist to one question.And in order for this to be possible...

Lord, protect our decisions, because Decisions is a way of praying. Give us the courage, after our doubts, to be able to choose between one road and another. May our YES always be a YES, and our NO always be a NO. Once we have chosen our road, may we never look back nor allow our soul to be eaten away by remorse. And in order for this to be possible...

Lord, protect our actions, because Action is a way of praying. May our daily bread be the result of the very best that we carry within us. May we, through work and Action, share a little of the love we receive. And in order for this to be possible.

Lord, protect our dreams, because to Dream is a way of praying. Make sure that, regardless of our age or our circumstances, we are capable of keeping alight in our heart the sacred flame of hope and perserverance. And in order for this to be possible...

Lord, protect our enthusiasm, because Enthusiasm is a way of praying. It is what binds us to the Heaven and to Earth, to grown-ups, and to children; it is what tells us that our desires are important and deserve our best efforts. It is Enthusiasm that reaffirms to us that everything is possible, as long as we are totally committed to what we are doing.And in order for this to be possible...

Lord, protect our us, because Life is the only way we have of making manifest Your miracle. May the earth continue to transform seeds into wheat, may we continue to transmute wheat into bread. And this is only possible if we have Love; therefore, do not leave us in solitude. Always give us Your company, and the company of men and women who have doubts, who act and dream and feel enthusiasm, and who live each day as if it were totally dedicated to Your glory.

Amen

Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho is a novelist who wrote the novel "The Alchemist". I have come to see that doubts and dreams are two things that organised religion and society tend to frown upon, yet these two are vital for honest and deep living, and it's good of him to include these ingredients as part of prayer. And yes I believe the Divine is always with us and one with us at all times.

Loving people more than the message of the gospel

I read a bit of Darrin Hufford's book "The Misunderstood God", and I like what he shared about himself coming to realise that "something changed in me after I fell in love with these people" because he used to love the message of the gospel even more than he loved people. I agree with his observation that in the evangelical christian world, too many preachers have put the message before the people, which "had mutated into something... that it actually hurt people rather than helped them".

I have come to see that almost every gospel message or sermon, no matter how well-intentioned it is, has some form of legalism. Perhaps the only way to love people unconditionally is to simply be with them and accept them the way they are, without trying to preach to them or fix them. I think in this respect, Darin Hufford has indeed shown unconditional love and acceptance to many people, especially through Free Believers' Network. David Hayward's forum came to mind too, as it seeks to foster an atmosphere of unconditional love and acceptance among the people.

Prayer, metaphysics and love

What is prayer actually?

I have come to realise that prayer is actually all about us making things happen with our thoughts, according to the power of intention. Prayer isn't what organised religion teaches about some god in the sky answering our prayers. I'm learning to see that we have the power to create our own reality with our thinking. Staying away from negativity in religion, politics, etc also goes in some ways to allow our mind to be filled with beautiful and empowering thoughts. I am learning to guard my thoughts when I read newspapers on Sundays, for example.

How is metaphysics applicable to everyone?

Having come out from the christian religion, I am now into metaphysics, which I find rational and scientifically explainable (in terms of quantum physics). I suppose the christian religion tends to demonise or stigmatise those who are into new age philosophy or metaphysics because the religious institutions want to monopolise their idea of divinity, thinking that only their version of god is the "true" god.

Secondly, the institutions want to have control over people with their fear-based doctrines about an angry and jealous god (which is only a mirror reflection of the shadow self), and so they would not like to see people being empowered to create their own reality instead of being co-dependent on them for guidance and support.

I have also checked out Carlton Pearson's latest status update on his Facebook wall, and I agree with his observations that religions tend to be divisive and controlling - "as long as we allow religion to divide and conquer us as a human race, any positive effect it can or is presumed to have on humanity is sabotaged."

I have come to see that the divine or the source is in every one of us, and no religion can ever claim a stake or ownership on our shared divinity, and say "Hey, that is my god, and he is called Yahweh/Allah/Jesus/etc, and you'd better bow down and worship and submit to him, and call upon his name and be saved/pardoned/accepted." The divine in us is too expansive and infinite to be ever confined within a particular belief system or religion or name.

How has love been religionised?

People who talk a lot about love doesn't necessarily show love to oneself and/or others. I think it's partly due to indoctrination in the religious circles, in which people think that the more they talk about "holiness", love, pleasing "god", living a "moral" life, the more they are seen by others as being "holy", loving, "god-fearing" and "moral" (or so they thought).

Unfortunately, by doing so, love becomes religionised, and love becomes a law and a burden for people to try to live up to their self-imposed standards. Love becomes a "have to" and "must do" instead of "want to". It also causes those who preach a lot about love to judge and feel condemned whenever they think they fall short of their standards, and they also end up judging and condemning others.

I am learning to "be" love, and recognise that no one can ever meet the kind of unrealistic standard that religion demands, because everyone is human and messes up in some way or other. It's better for people to focus on living loved and loving others and accepting ourselves and one another the way we are, than to talk a lot about love (which religion and society unfortunately like to do).

one light, many lamps: Indigenous Wisdom - 'Maisie Cavanagh'

one light, many lamps: Indigenous Wisdom - 'Maisie Cavanagh':       imagesourced:AustralianGeographic   Our Spirituality   For us Aboriginal people our spirituality   Is the d...

Maturity And Empathy

I have seen how youths have been indoctrinated by the institutional church. It seems that often they end up becoming mini versions of the pastors, mirroring the way they think and speak. They may be smart but somewhat misguided. I see myself in that because I have been influenced by the way the pastor speak too and I have borrowed his lingo in the past.

If I were to bring up my own child, I would prefer him or her to be compassionate foremost, and also be teachable yet discerning. While I may be pleased if my child takes me or my words seriously out of respect, I would also want my child to think for themselves and come to their own conclusion.

On another note, I think some people who have come out of the Christian religion may appear nasty or insensitive because they have not been subject to as much hurt and abuse in some areas as others, so it can be hard for them to relate to those who have undergone much pain and suffering. Besides, they may have been indoctrinated to the extent they are not even aware they have been abused in those areas. Instead, they may find themselves defending the doctrines they grew up with, such as the idea of respecting the "bride of Christ" and not being critical about the abusive church culture, since they may have accepted such mindsets without much questioning. I see myself in that because I too have been blinded by church teachings when I used to attend their services and serve in their ministries. Conversely, those of us who have shared about our pain and suffering openly in a community of people who have undergone abuse in institutional churches have chosen to be vulnerable in expressing our hurt, and perhaps only those who have been hurt similarly would be better able to empathise with us and show acceptance and non-judgment.

Emotions and Stillness

There is a place for expressing anger and bitterness. Each of us has to find our own balance to not allow these valid emotions to run our lives or affect our health and well being or cause harm to others, while at the same time, to express these emotions freely as long as we need to, in order to find greater freedom in future.

Suppressing our emotions would mean denying our humanity and thus causing resentment to fester over time. To experience healing from abuse and manipulation by society and religion, we all need safe ways to ventilate and express our emotions. Being in a community of fellow survivors where people support one another instead of trying to fix one another is one such way, and is a step towards finding healing. One such community I have visited and can recommend is David Hayward's forum.

Being still and finding time to meditate on life's experiences is another safe way of dealing with anger and bitterness. It involves accepting all our emotions wholeheartedly without making any value judgment on whether they are right or wrong. By accepting our humanity, we give ourselves permission to feel what we need to feel, and eventually heal from the inside out.

I am learning that compassion involves being involved in another person's suffering too. In order to empathise with others, we need to stay in touch with our feelings first and not deny our feelings. Being human, no one is immune to feelings of hurt and abuse, and we all have the capacity to put ourselves in the shoes of another, and show sensitivity and understanding.

On a similar note, I think the verse "Be still and know I am God" can mean be still and know I am love; I am peace; I am non judgement; I am one with others, both in joy and in sorrow, both in bliss and in suffering. Feelings are that which makes us human and unites us as one humanity. Contrary to popular belief, expressing feelings does not make us look weak because it can forge a stronger bond between people who share similar challenges and support one another with compassion and understanding.

How we can deal with belief systems that make us suffer

"Examine your possible motives for wanting to suffer. Do you deny that there’s anything wrong? Do you think it makes you a better person not to show others that you hurt? Do you enjoy the attention you get when you are sick or in distress? Do you feel safe being alone and not having to make tough choices?

Belief systems are complex—they hold together the self we want to present to the world. It is much simpler not have beliefs, which means being open to life as it comes your way, going with your own inner intelligence instead of with stored judgments. If you find yourself blocked by your suffering, returning to the same old thoughts again and again, a belief system has trapped you. You can escape the trap only by ending your need to cling to these beliefs."

~ Deepak Chopra

In response to the contemplative post above, I suppose belief systems are complex because we human beings are complex as we are all conditioned or influenced by different worldviews and experiences as we grow up in life. Perhaps our way of thinking as little children tends to be simpler and more carefree, but after growing up and facing hardship and disappointment, we begin to form certain beliefs about ourselves and others. Usually organised religions may appear to offer some help in relieving these sufferings, through their promises of "eternal life" and "salvation", but they are limited at best and misguided at worst and may only add to the suffering, such as their sin theology which causes people to think there is something wrong with themselves and others, or the idea of denying one's humanity.

Like what Deepak Chopra wrote, letting go of old limiting belief systems and being open to life can help relieve people from self-imposed sufferings. I think the Christian religion often propagates the idea of "martyrdom" in that the followers think they must silently suffer for "God" and bear hardship and even glory in their "persecutions". While there is a place for cultivating patience and endurance in life, regardless of one's religion, I think sometimes religions carry things a bit too far in this aspect, to the extent the church culture allows abuse and manipulation to go unchecked or unnoticed by preaching submission to leaders or elders and frowning against any open display of honest questioning and any expression of doubt, hurt, anger or bitterness. A recent blog and Darin Hufford's article "The Bitterness Phenomenon" came to mind, which remind people that it is ok to feel angry or bitter, and we can choose not to allow ourselves to be guilt tripped by those in the religious circles for expressing our humanity. It is our way of finding greater freedom through recovering our humanity and being true to ourselves.

Do Myths Have Their Place In Modern Society?

I think myths and story telling have their place in conveying deep truths about the universe, our existence and so on. These literary devices have been employed by various societies and cultures since ancient times. I see myths as a finger pointing to the moon, proverbially speaking, especially when they carry certain universal truths, such as hope, courage, unconditional love and friendship.

I also have come to see the bible as a collection of myths. It is perhaps no secret now that modern Christianity has mainly taken these myths as literal events, and propagates the idea of a literal hell, literal devil and literal second coming of a literal Christ. Whether it is out of ignorance, or misplaced faith, or unquestioning attitude, or intellectual dishonesty, or misguided good intentions, or simply religious agenda to control people or build an empire (or a combination of two or more of these factors, given the multidimensional aspects of humanity), one thing we can be sure of is that such literalisation and institutionalisation of myths has resulted in many followers living in unspoken fear and superstition, being afraid of a mythical deity who is schizophrenic. A sense of uncertainty often resides beneath their veneer of certainty - on one hand, the adherents appear to be certain about going to a certain heaven in the afterlife, yet on the other hand, they are uncertain about how their god would treat other people who don't hold a similar set of beliefs as them, and they simply attempt some vague explanations such as the so-called "age of accountability", which varies depending on one's opinions.

One man's orthodoxy is another man's heresy, as the saying goes, and similarly, I would venture to say that one man's mythology is another man's idiocy. If people are willing to see myths as nothing more than myths, I think the world would be a more peaceful and united place where people learn from universal truths and see one another as equal, as brothers and sisters of the same family of the Universe.