Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.
— Betrand Russell
I love this very inspirational quote! It’s on my church’s website as a banner leading to the Unitarian Universalist’s website.
That site has another great quote, from Ephesians (in the Bible), where Paul writes:
Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places … Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. — Ephesians, 6:11-15
It’s funny, after years of life experience and exploring many different religions, this really makes sense to me.
As a very young child, I had a great connection to Christianity; I felt it, lived, it and loved it. Our minister was great. Ironically, it was our church’s next minister who was awful, all hellfire and brimstone, who had a lot to do with me looking for a better path. He said that we children couldn’t take communion as we had been doing our whole lives because we couldn’t intellectually explain transubstantiation. I knew and understood the connection I had with the Divine as I took communion, and I knew that God loves everyone, all the time, no matter what, no matter where, no matter who or how. I think Reverend O’Brien didn’t understand God very well, or Love.
Jumping ahead a few years, I found some things in the Bible that I vehemently disagreed with, namely women submitting to men. Coming from the background of the Bible being the infallible Word of God, my connection with Christianity came to a grinding, screeching halt. After extensive debates with fellow Christians about how this all worked, I walked away and began exploring other religions. I remained, however, very spiritual and explored other paths, trying to find something that made sense to me and felt right in my soul.
Now that I know much more about many other religions and spiritual paths, and now that I have a much better understanding of things metaphysical, I see Christianity through a new lens, and aside from submission issues, I have a much more profound appreciation of the principles taught in the New Testament. It is, of course, right back to what I believed/knew/felt/connected with as a child: that Love is Love and Peace and Righteousness and Equality. That there is nothing and no one in between you and God (which I prefer to refer to as The Universe or Divine Love). The metaphysical principles and social revolution of the New Testament are just referred to in slightly different wording these days: “cast your bread upon the waters and it will multiply” = abundance requires ingoing and outgoing flow and “love your neighbor as yourself” = karma (the Western, modern version) or the law of 3.
If you would like some help sorting through your life path, get coaching with me.
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