What's your purpose for being here?

Many friends of mine go about life everyday wondering what's their purpose in life. They suffer anxiety wondering if jobs, relationships, and goals are inline with or a distraction from their "true" purpose.

In The Two Agreements, I give a simple, clear practice -- enter the Stillness and enter the Silence as often and as long as one can. Then, Intuition provides guidance to a purposeful life. All one needs are "ears to hear".

quote:

“The purpose of a relationship is to decide what part of yourself you’d like to see ‘show up,’ not what part of another you can capture and hold. There can only be one purpose for relationships, and for all of life: to be and to decide who you really are."

Neale Donald Walsch -- Conversations with God

S.L. Brannon on DBSA Life Unlimited web site

http://bit.ly/1kEBzlZ

As Natural as Breathing

AS NATURAL AS BREATHING

Many people who believe in the “spiritual but not religious” path—myself included—are often considered “anti-religion”.   This is the furthest thing from the truth. I am forever thankful for the incredible work that Christian organizations do to ease human suffering. Each day, millions of people around the world are fed, clothed and taught by Christian churches, schools, and hospitals.  For centuries, Christians have made a positive difference, from healers like Mother Theresa and Padre Pio, to the individual who anonymously donates money to a poor family in their congregation. Furthermore, I still believe in church as a sacred place and would never do or say anything to belittle it. 

That said, it is also my belief that the “faith-built” churches of today are not a continuation of the original church begun by Christ.  Instead, over the past two millennia, man has created the Church in his image, rather than in God’s.  The result is that there are some 39,000 separate and different expressions of Christianity around the earth that claim to hold the Truth.  

In a rather straightforward manner, I state in Chapter 7 of The Two Agreements, “As evidenced by the history of all religions, mankind seems to compulsively work to complicate the spiritual life of living in harmony with God, a relating that is as natural as breathing.”  Indeed, the connecting to God has become so circuitous and convoluted as to be a life’s pursuit, instead of the place from which we live our lives. I am reminded of the story of the two cats.  One is turning in circles chasing its tail. The second cat asks him why he is doing such a thing. “I was told that happiness abides in the tip of one’s tail. And I desperately want happiness.” To which the second cat replies, “I have learned that as I peacefully go on my way that happiness is with me and follows me wherever I go.” And, certainly, we need not seek something we already possess.

Indeed, upon examining church history, we find that the original church was not a formal institution, but small groups of people meeting in each other’s homes to spread Christ’s messages. The purpose of these meetings was twofold:  first, to bring salvation to those who had been born under the first covenant with God and, secondly, to spread the story of Christ’s life and resurrection.   The Church of today, however, is something altogether different. Sadly, it has become a tool to measure our “worthiness”, even one’s worthiness to hold public office and serve society.

Please note, Christ did not give a list of rules and regulations for doing church the “right way” in order to prove that we believe deeply enough or in the right way. He simply told us to accept the Holy Spirit. Ironically, the man who was persecuted for saying, “I and my Father are the same” is now believed to have been the only one so connected to Source, when in fact we all are. Now we are the blasphemers if we make this claim. Too often, instead of being encouraged to live our lives with God, we are encouraged to give our lives over to institutions that run similarly to the government and any other bureaucracy.  These institutions are largely based on the premise that we are separate, not only from God, but from each other. Ultimately, that premise leads us into feelings of fear, guilt and shame, which make manipulation possible.

As evidenced by the thousands fleeing the Church each year, that premise is no longer working. I believe these folk are being called to be mystics—to directly plug into the Source instead of going through the “middle man” that the Church has become.  

The Good Samaritan was not a Christian?

I once heard someone say, “Just because you don’t believe in God doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist.” Now, obviously, this person was talking to an atheist, and politely pointing out a perceived shortsightedness in his/her refusal to acknowledge the existence of a higher power.  As always, I must state that I am not maligning or supporting the atheist’s position; however, I will point out that religious folks often suffer from the same myopia. They feel that those who don’t believe in God, or in following an organized religion, are incapable of doing good works. As difficult as it is to believe, the atheist and that religious person have quite a bit in common, for neither of them understand that there is no way for any of us—regardless of our deeds or beliefs—to separate ourselves from the Creator. 

By way of example, I offer you the story of the Good Samaritan. The biblical story is so well-known that the term good Samaritan has become part of our every day vernacular and is even used in legal jargon.  We know the Samaritan was someone who helped others, not for personal gain, but out of a simple desire to do good. We rarely, if ever, ponder what religion he practiced, or whether he practiced any religion at all. In fact, the good Samaritan was not Jew; we know this because in those days a Jew would not touch anyone other than another Jew. The Samaritan was not a Christian either, because, as we know, there were no “Christians” at that time. From these two pieces of information, we can reasonably conclude that the Good Samaritan was simply a kind person—a Gnostic or a mystic, perhaps. His actions were not guided by religious dogma or an obligation that assured his place in Heaven; instead, he was operating on his inner guidance to help a fellow human being in a difficult situation—one of those “Spiritual But Not Religious” people I mentioned in my previous post. 

As I state in The Two Agreements: “By asking questions and engaging in an inner dialogue with the Holy Spirit you will receive deep, revealing insights into your personal world of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. In doing so, you will find rest from a belief system that has your body and mind as your own enemy.” 

Remember the challenge issued to us by Christ: “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. Those who have eyes to see, let them see.”  Accepting this challenge is guaranteed to change your life, no matter what you believe, and I humbly invite you to do so, and follow the Samaritan’s example.  

Artwork by EllenWhite