SEEKING SELF, SANCTUARY AND SANITY.

Part of me at times wishes to return to the days when I accepted all the teachings of my faith, and trusted that same faith to have me under its care for 24 hours a day. Life was so much simpler then it seemed and you can almost understand why many people make such a life choice. Never being one to take the easy paths I had to tread the much rockier roads to find my own meaning of life and death. One that would sit more comfortably with me and my own life.

As I grew older I made contacts with other people who had differing views on religious issues due to their various upbringings and choices that many had made as adults. It seemed strange that all professed their faith to be the TRUE faith. It seems that even though religions themselves differ in their teachings they all have a fundamental belief in a supreme being. This being is called by many different names and is portrayed in many different ways but it is that fundamental belief in a higher power which strangely unites us all. Where religions do differ is in their interpretation of the meaning of our lives here on earth and their teachings about what happens to us when we die and leave our mortal bodies.

There are so many different versions of the hereafter and our eternal life - it is almost like supermarket shopping. All the different varieties laid out on the shelf and we need to pick the version which fits our needs at the time. Our beliefs in what will happen to us after our deaths are important factors in the way we view our lives. How many of us would relish the thought of eternal damnation? This thought is enough to frighten even the most hardened person it seems. There have been countless death bed confessions and absolutions made to prepare the soul for its journey, after a lifetime which was less than holy. The ideal situation of course would be to be ‘sin’ free, but in reality how many of us have the strength of character to put this into practice 24 hours a day - 7 days a week? When crisis hits our lives it is so easy to slip back into old religious habits and comfort zones. The old familiar patterns are called upon as are the prayers and guidance which were so much a part of our younger lives. The challenge for those of us embarking on our spiritual quest is to find answers somewhere amongst the smatterings of this and that we’ve collected on the way to enlightenment. We must take that which fits comfortably within our questioning mind and that which is relevant to our person belief systems. It is no use believing fervently in something which is totally out of place in our everyday life and which we have no hope of integrating into our lives as a creed by which to live out the rest of our days.

Part of my search for spirituality was the acceptance of responsibility for my actions. I am the last person who would tell you that we live in an ideal world. We don’t. But our unique part in this world can be made better and if everyone did this maybe the thought of Utopia wouldn’t be so far fetched after all.