God in the Garden

Perhaps I am seeking God in beauty.

I bring flowers into the house. I make feeble attemps to clear the surfaces and let the beauty of my home and the flowers fill each room. Still I must leave the work behind and walk out the door.

I’d rather walk the paths in the garden. I need to sweat with the effort of hauling rich compost filled with wriggling worms who are doing their part to create this abundance. I need to see the pile of weeds grow as I clear the way for spring starts and annuals.

Digging, planting, clipping; all are a part of the joy of being in this sanctuary that I call mine but that I share with finches, robins, gophers, the neighbors cats, and any friend I can lure into the beauty and peace of my garden.

God is always here.

God (by any name), the Soul, Religion, and Spirituality

I am fed by Super Soul Sunday on the OWN channel. There have been countless spiritual leaders who have touched me by sharing their thoughts  with Oprah.

In this broadcast they are sharing their beliefs about many of life’s questions.

Definition of God

Several speakers defined God as Love.

Wayne Dyer

God is the highest place within each and every one of us.

Michael Singer

The indwelling consciousness.

Our Source

Deepak Chopra

God is infinite creativity. Infinite compassion. The evolutionary impulse of the universe.

What is the difference between spiritual and religious?

Ilanya Van Zant

Religion is the rules, regulations, ceremonies and rituals developed by man to develop conformity and uniformity in the approach to God.

Spirituality is God’s call to your soul.

DeVon Franklin

I think that religion is the structure for spirituality I think that spirituality can exist even outside of religion but I do believe that most religions came to be because they wanted to help people understand how to navigate this life from a spiritual standpoint.

Can you be spiritual and not religious? Absolutely!

Can you be religious and not spiritual? Absolutely! Unfortunately.

What is the Soul?

Eckhart Tolle

The consciousness that you are, beyond form.

Wayne Dyer

The soul is the birthless, deathless, changeless part of us; the part of us that looks out from behind our eyes and has no form.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

The soul is the divine part of our self. It is our divine nature. It is a part of us that is one with God.

Jean Houston

The soul is the essence of who and what we are. It is the lure of our becoming.

What do I believe?

Michael Singer

I believe in the divinity inside of every single human being.

. . .

Isn’t it all fascinating? This journey?

The Student

P. S. I wish Rev. Ed Bacon had been included.

What E’er Betide

I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian home.

Because of that, or in spite of that, religious does not always equate to spiritual for me.  I was fortunate that because of parents’ continued searching and growth, my path into a universal spiritual realm was paved, even if it has a few potholes.

In times of stress I return to my Bibical roots.* My sister is having a serious surgery tomorrow morning and I am reverting to humming old hyms:

God Will Take Care of You.

Be not dismayed whate'er betide, 
God will take care of you; 
beneath his wings of love abide, 
God will take care of you.

It is Well with My Soul

The Student

*My parents often quoted, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 NKJV