Today's
quotation:
Religion in its true sense is the most joyous
thing the human soul can
know, and when the real religion is realized, we will find it to be an
agent of peace, of joy, and of happiness, and never
an agent of gloomy, long-faced sadness.
Ralph Waldo Trine
|
Today's
Meditation:
"Real
religion." It's quite a concept, and something
that we don't seem to see much of. I'm always
astonished at the lack of joy in most religions, in most
churches that I've ever visited. Instead of joy,
there seems to be a lot of stress, a lot of control
issues, and a lot of the "what-a-terrible-person- i-am"
thinking that keeps so many of us from feeling any joy or
happiness at all. It's really rather sad, and even
sadder because it's so unnecessary.
When
we live a true religion-- whether it's associated with an
established religion or not-- then we'll find that our
lives are characterized by the joy, happiness, and peace
that Ralph is talking about. When we allow ourselves
to be taken over by that religion, then the peace that it
affords can be ours, and we'll feel the joy not from
sharing our religion, but from sharing the planet and our
spirits with the other people of our planet, no matter
whether they share our religion or not.
I've
been to churches in which the people are stern and
unsmiling and ready at any moment to call themselves
sinners who are unworthy of anything good. I didn't
last more than one service at those particular places
because I didn't feel any joy at all, any gratitude for
the amazing gifts that we've been given on this
planet. To me, it's impossible to feel gratitude
without feeling even a bit of joy for the wonderful gifts
we have, and I think it's doing God (whatever you perceive
God to be) and life a great disservice to act as though
there's nothing to be happy about.
We
should strive for true religion rather than striving to be
true to the religion we've adopted, or the one that's been
passed on to us. Religion should be about making our
spirits at home on this beautiful planet we call home, yet
too many people seem to pursue religions that keep them
unhappy and focused on the negative. Let's be happy
and joyful, for then we can help others to be so,
too. It's not easy-- if it's even possible-- to make
others happy with a perpetual frown on our faces.
|