We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; We are spiritual beings having a human experience. – Pierre Tielhard de Chardin
The vast majority of human beings believe in a religion or faith that sets their moral compass as they journey through life. They see themselves as a flawed human
, striving to act according to their God’s will on earth.
There is nothing unusual about this
, but neither is it unusual for members of one religion or faith to go to war with those of another, or worse, persecute those within their own sect, whom they judge as not worthy. The devoted pray for forgiveness of their sins and that they be not led into temptation, but “delivered” from evil. Yet, many righteous religious followers sit in judgment, Christian, Jew, Muslim, or what have you, comparing their own piety against others and condemning those who don’t measure up, as if they speak and act for their God.
This compulsion to speak here on earth for one’s “higher power” is at the root of all faith-based bias and hatred committed in the name of God
, HaShem, Jehovah, Adonai, Allah, or whatever other name may be invoked to justify it. This begs the question: Is the all-too-human desire to judge others the very “evil” from which we all need deliverance? Instead of being humans striving to act for God, what if we are “God,” here to defeat the frailties of being human?
Spirituality is the belief in a better
, higher being that is somehow separate and apart from our human selves, but to which we strive to become one. What if we switch this thinking around? What if we were to live life knowing and truly believing that we already are that higher power we worship? Would we be more merciful to each other?
There is no faith that preaches spiritual salvation through apathy for others, or hatred, bias, selfishness, cruelty, or revenge. These baser human indulgences that cause us to judge and make war with others are what deaden the spirit and rot the soul.
The best of any religious dogma is that part of the message that promotes the good in humanity – compassion, tolerance, love, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, and opportunity for redemption when we fall short. These are the ingredients for making peace, not war – peace with each other and the peace with ourselves and our “God” that is the very essence of spirituality.
No matter what your religion or faith, to practice love, forgiveness, and respect for Life is to guarantee resurrection on earth from the spiritual death brought about by harm, hate, and injustice; Embracing what is “divine” within the human spirit is what leads us not into temptation, but delivers us from the “evil” that comes from judging others.