Looking for the secret of inner peace

[chica_buena]

Things are going well. Marge just had her open house for graduation today. It was fun! Jax brought an ice cream cake, thank you Jax, I love you :) Chris is away for the weekend at school and I just finished reading a really moving book about how the power of a woman's religion helped her heal from abuse and destructive self-criticism and I'm

Comments

[hlgraban]

Ahh, the secret to inner peace.

[hlgraban]

Ahh, the secret to inner peace.

[chica_buena]

Thank you Heather for sharing your beliefs with me! I appreciate your truthly response! I am also so happy that things are looking up for you and you are enjoying this time of your life. You deserve it!!

[chica_buena]

hehe I meant truthful :)

[tuliptutu]

One thing that i always remind myself is that religion is a human creation and spirituality transcends that. I attend mass and pray my rosary (occasionally) not to reinforce a bunch of dogma but to immerse myself in ritual. And ritual, to me, is a stylized reminder of the sacredness of the Universe and the human experience. Maybe the key to maintaining a healthy realtionship with religion is to build a strong, personal relationship with the One. I don't agree with what your friend said above, "I acknowledge him and thank him every night and in return, he keeps from poverty and disaster," etc. That is just setting yourself up for misery because exentually sad things happen to everyone and that kind of mentality only creates needless suffering. The Divine permeates everything and has a hand in death and disaster just as much as it does in abundance and life. There is no punishment or abandonment, only choices. God is love and God is everywhere- including within us. Om Nama Shiva!-- I surrender to the Shiva within me

[chica_buena]

Thank you Brenna!! I think you've helped clarify things for me a little. I think it would help me to develop a stronger personal relationship with my God and maybe nature and the human spirit in general. I have a tendency to focus inward and look internally for answers (it's the psychologist in me) when maybe I need to spend some time focusing on a greater relationship and understanding with my God and the world around me.