What Happened?

A little surprise this morning:

What’s with the title of this column?  Let me see if I can explain my growth here.  I understand I’ve talked about this before.  Bear with me as I re-examine my spiritual growth in the past several years.  As I was sitting in Starbucks in Madison, Connecticut on Monday, November 14 deeply involved in Timothy Keller’s book:
King’s Cross, I began reflecting on where I am now and where I was even ten years ago.

I don’t think I would have been comfortable reading such a book even five years ago.  I don’t openly speak about my spirituality often.  This blog is my only outlet, my only platform for disseminating my thoughts.  As many of you have read here, writing this blog began as a way to discuss Law of Attraction.  Wisdom and Life evolved, however during the first four months as I realized I was evolving.

Wisdom and Life has become more spiritual centric, more faith based and I can’t help what I write.  I write what I’m motivated to write.  Where does my motivation come from?  I understand some of my readers will feel uncomfortable now, but I sincerely believe I’m divinely motivated, that my inspiration emanates from Source, from my Higher Power, from my own God.  I no longer worry whether someone feels uncomfortable.  Sometimes we must step out of our comfort zone to make any movement forward.

Getting back to the book I’m reading now, as I sat in Starbucks reading, several people stopped and asked what the book was.  I have a following in Madison, Connecticut.  People respect my opinion on what to read.  Because I have such an eclectic taste in books, everyone comes to me for recommendations.

This was the first time anyone’s ever seen me reading a spiritual faith based book and it was fascinating watching the reactions after I showed some of my visitors what I was reading.  Some simply smiled and walked away.  I knew they weren’t ready for the message I’m trying to impart with my blog, with my new attitude, with where I’m going.

Ya know what?  I’m fine with that.  Not everyone is going to accept me and my shift in perception.  That’s fine.  We’re all on a different roads, different paths.  We’re all moving through life as best we can with the tools we have at our disposal.

Three or four people sat at my table for a moment and leafed through the book and asked me a few questions.  The conversation always started with:
Wow.  I didn’t know you were interested in this topic.

I found that the perfect opening to explain where I am now and how I arrived here.  As best as I could I explained That The Law of Attraction is what motivated my deeper faith.  It was definitely an eye opening experience when I felt my faith deepening as a result of studying The Law of Attraction.  I certainly didn’t expect that.  I loved the side effect but I didn’t see it coming.  I can see it now as I look back.  It makes perfect sense that The Law helped my faith mover forward.  Ask and it is given is one of the major tenets of The Law of Attraction.  It is also one of the major tenets of religion.  Maybe if more people were to study Abraham-Hicks, they would come to see the true meaning of religion is not exclusion, but inclusion.

Exclusion is one of the challenges I have with religion.  It’s why I don’t feel comfortable around religious people.  Now you’re saying:
But isn’t what you’re writing about and discussing here religion?

I don’t think so.  I THINK what I’m saying here is spiritual, universal, more faith based.  Okay what do I believe?
I took this from my Google Plus Profile:

A bit about my spirituality:
I believe in a benevolent loving God
I believe we ALL come back. (Yes I’m talking about reincarnation.) I believe we return in groups.
I believe God LOVES EVERYONE.
I believe God created us and he won’t forsake ANY of us.
I recently discovered Rob Bell’s Book Love Wins and after reading it I realized Mr Bell and I believe the same things.
I believe we should follow our heart, follow our soul.
I believe we should find our own spirituality.  One should not be foisted on us.

I was baptized Catholic but I found my own way.
Some have begun calling me a Universalist.
I’m not fond of tags but this one seems to fit me.

Those people that sat with me on Monday left knowing a little bit more about what makes me tick and they weren’t turned off.  They didn’t turn and run in the other direction after I explained what led me down this new road.  They were genuinely interested in what I had to say.  I had a similar experience today.  I once more found myself back at Starbucks while waiting on a friend.  Of course as usual I brought my book.  I’m always carrying a book or my camera with me wherever I go.  Both of those things are like another appendage.  It’s when I don’t have one or the other that you better be worried about me.

While I was reading this morning, several others came in and out.  (I was by the door so I could look for my friend.)  One friend stopped in and when he saw what I was reading, he did a double take.

Really?  Really? he said, pointing to King’s Cross.  Most of my friends don’t know about this change in me and it is for the specific reason that I get this reaction sometimes from people who don’t understand that someone can be spiritual without being religious.  My friend looked at me then looked down at the book I was reading and shook his head.  Then he walked way chuckling to himself.  You see?  Somewhere somehow religion got a negative rap.  I’ll admit that I’m at fault for carrying on that legacy myself.  I’m doing my best now however with my blog to shine a light on the positive aspects of religion.  I sincerely believe that religion and spirituality can once more co-mingle.  I think for anything to change, we must find a way to wed these two disparate philosophies again.

You’ve heard many times from many different viewpoints that a societal change, an evolutionary change is about to take place.  Whether it happens in 2012 or whenever it occurs, I think the next evolutionary leap will be spiritual in nature.  As I’m writing this now I’m being flooded with thoughts faster then I can type.  I’m prepared to have some disagreement here and I’m fine with that, because as I’ve said multiple times here, I wouldn’t want to live in a world where we all agreed, where we were all of one mind, where in Star Trek speak we were assimilated.

Maybe this is what the Rapture will be like; a spiritual leap forward, one where humanity finally and ultimately discovers their own divinity.  It won’t be as people think where there is a select few who will be saved.

Maybe The Rapture will be where we FINALLY see that as Wayne Dyer is fond of saying:
We Are Spiritual Beings Having A Physical Experience.

Maybe this is the time that God will finally show humanity the true meaning of religion is inclusion, not exclusion.

Maybe this is the time that God will finally show humanity that the true meaning of religion is love, not hate.

That’s what I truly truly believe!
That’s what happened to me when I took off my spiritual blinders.
Are you ready to take yours off?

Be Happy!  Be Well!  Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris