Religion VS Faith; What's Love Got To Do With It?

Religion VS Faith; What's Love Got To Do With It?

The dictionary definition of Religion is; “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and beliefs of the universe..involving devotional and ritual observances, often containing a moral code for the conduct of human affairs.

About Faith, the dictionary says; it is a confidence or trust in a person or thing; a belief that is not based on proof.

Love has many definitions and none of them accurately describe the love I am speaking of here so I will come back to it in a minute.

Religion has seemingly evolved to be the structure and ritual of the thing. The basic tenets are mouthed and gone through weekly on the prescribed day and time in the prescribed order and with the appointed facial expression and body attitude. I remember watching the grownups coming and going to and from the alter on Sunday with the oddest look of piety on their faces, holding their hands in a prayerful attitude as they processed back to their seats. All of that only to be seen later acting in a manner unbecoming... I wondered then what was going on. They seemed to just be experiencing the “shell” of the experience. In conversations later I found out I was correct.

Faith on the other hand comes from a maturity of spirit that is not easily reached. It is a knowledge of a truth that comes from a place of knowing deep within ones Self. A knowledge that does not require “proof”, one that doesn't look to pie charts and graphs for confirmation. It is a feeling of correctness that brooks definition or defiance. It comes from a connection with ones true, higher Self. This connection comes with the love that I mentioned earlier.

This love is a direct link between our heart chakra (the energetic/spiritual heart area of our system) the love at this level is completely unconditional, meaning completely without conditions of any kind. It is all inclusive. It is the truest of loves. It does not wish to control or to judge. It just is and it allows everything else to just be.

When you reach this level of balance within yourself you vibrate at a higher level and because of that those around you will also. Your faith in your chosen religion becomes new, pure and sacred. You raise every thought, every word and every deed to a new level and growth, understanding and experience becomes a sacred and joyous exercise for you. I challenge you to examine your true, inner feelings in this area and decide where you truly are in your growth process, decide where you want to be and proceed accordingly.

Bright Blessings Chessie

© 2011 Chessie Roberts all rights reserved

STANDING IN YOUR OWN POWER

STANDING IN YOUR OWN POWER

How does one stand in their own power? First thing you need to do is to determine who is holding your power right now. We are taught to give it away at an early age. We learn quickly to live our lives by committee and not make any decisions without the approval of those around us. Secondly you need to decide if you want to stay in that situation or do you want to take back what is yours; whether you gave it willingly, grudgingly or unknowingly it is still your power.

We have to give over our power to those who raise us in order to survive but when we reach a certain maturity level, we should learn to take it back. Instead we trust others with our opinions and feelings. Every time we look to them for approval for any decision we may make, we give them some of our power. The medical profession has done a stellar job of convincing us that we should listen only to them when it comes to our physicality. When we allow someone to anger us, hurt us or make us sad, we give away some more of our power. The list of others we look to for approval is rather large when you count it up; friends, relatives, agencies, and other well-meaning people who seem to know more about what we require than we do. Pretty soon, we have no power of our own and we wonder why we feel so helpless.

The truth of the matter is that we are only as helpless as we think we are. Others control us only as much as we allow them to. Think about exactly where your power is leaking, who/what do you go to for validation and acceptance? How angry do you get in any particular circumstance or around certain people? Who do you allow to make you sad?

Dr Wayne Dyer says,” Release the need to be upset with others. Remember that any time you are filled with resentment you are turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate.” When you are strong in your own power, no one and nothing can deter you from your path. So the next time you feel an emotion about something or some one ask yourself if you really want to give that thing or person the ability to manipulate you. If you do then go ahead but don't whine about it later. If you do not,good for you , you have taken the first step in taking back and standing in your own power.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2011, all rights reserved