Question For The Day

Today’s question is…

What is the biggest turn-off you have when it comes to organized religion?

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson


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Spiritual Attraction, Not Promotion…

I’m all for spiritual attraction and not promotion, and this correlates directly to why I don’t like organized religion and am not a member of any church. This became even more clear to me during a recent vacation to see my best friend when I went to a living nativity event at his place of worship one evening during my visit.

While I support everyone on their own individual spiritual paths, including if they choose to be a member of a place of worship or follow some organized religion, the main reason I do not have either in my life is related to my dislike of being proselytized to, which is the very thing that happened to me while I was trying to warm myself up inside during this church event.

As I sat in a room set aside for prayer that evening, trying to heat up my hands, and doing my own form of spiritual connection with God, a man walked in and asked me point blank, “So, have you found Jesus and declared him your Lord and Savior?” As he waited for me to answer, he smiled in a way that made me feel so extremely awkward that honestly, I felt creeped out by it all. Even so, I told him my truth in that I had found a relationship with Jesus after a suicide attempt in 2011 and have been on a path with him strongly ever since. What I didn’t tell him though was how I am also a strong blend of other spiritualities as well, including some Buddhism and other energy practices. I knew telling him those things wouldn’t bode well if I did, especially when he said he had been on his path for over 50 years and went on to discuss things I didn’t really feel comfortable talking about with him.

Honestly, I don’t understand why people must throw their religion and their beliefs upon another who isn’t asking for it. I’ve come to learn in my life that everyone has their own unique tailored approach when it comes to spirituality, which is why I simply let people find their own way with it all. Sometimes people ask me about my own spiritual practices, and I’ll tell them what I do on my own path, but I also tell them as well that they don’t have to follow any of it if they don’t want to. And never do I tell anyone that they need to be saved and declare anyone or anything as their Lord and Savior, because for me, doing so is judging another’s spiritual walk in life and me claiming to know what God wants for them.

Frankly, I don’t even know if I buy into the concept of being saved as anything but something humans created. I feel it’s become a lot more about what man believes must happen than what God desires for someone. What I do buy into is that there is Something up there, out there, around here, and in me, that continues to guide me. There is some Higher force, some Being of Light, one that I choose to call God, and It has been the closest thing I’ve come to know in my life thus far by practicing the main principle of what Christ represents, which is simply to just love God and others unconditionally and nothing more.

While I follow the love of Christ, I also have passion for other spiritual teachings as well, all of which continue to lead me to become more of my Higher Self. But that is my spiritual journey, and not anyone else’s, and one I would never place upon another. So, having anyone approach me and try to “save me” only turns me off from wanting to even connect with that person or their place of worship for that matter.  The fact is, if I had never found or been introduced to God at the very point where that man had approached me, I wouldn’t have pursued God any further there, that’s for sure. I do not say this with anger or hate, I only say this with love in that it’s not my place to push my spiritual path upon another like this man tried to do with me.

As for the rest of my experience that evening at this living nativity event, I also observed two members of the church angrily discussing the current political administration of our country, talking quite negatively about “all the bleeding-heart liberals who are making our country a total mess”. I was so turned off by overhearing their conversation about this, I went down a quiet hallway, planning to go into a family restroom where I could lock the door and find some private serenity for a few moments. But before I could, I also overheard two other individuals nearby discussing a third individual who wasn’t present, a person who apparently was going through some struggles with addiction. One of them was quite heatedly bashing this individual behind their back which brought me great sadness to hear.

While I know there are no perfect people, and there is no perfect place of worship, for someone who might be looking to become more spiritual, I can assure you that after all these things happening to me, I had no desire to be a part of what was being offered at this church. Sadly, this is what I’ve come to know from many people in this world who have left religion and organized places of worship, all due to experiencing things like this.

What I am attracted to when it comes to spirituality and religion is full acceptance of everyone, full unconditional love, and full embracement of each person’s walk. I accept each and every person on their own individual path, even if it isn’t one that’s spiritual at all. Because I believe that deep down in every single individual on this planet is a soul worthy of being loved, which is the very thing I work on daily rather than proselytizing someone or talking in a way that might create polarization and make me appear to be self-righteous.

Ultimately, at my core, I simply believe in spiritual attraction and not promotion, which is something I often find doesn’t exist when it comes to organized religion and its various places of worship and that is the very reason why I stay clear of it all now. Because the closest I ever feel to God is never at a church, or with religious people, or in trying to convert anyone to my own spiritual path. Rather, it’s always when I am showing someone that God loves them just as they are, by simply loving them unconditionally.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Silly Joke Friday

Silly Joke #1

The teacher was trying to help his students on map reading. He spent the class explaining about latitude, longitude, degrees, and minutes. Towards the end of class, the teacher asked his students, “Suppose I asked you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude…” Little Johnny, that mischievous little boy who always said the most inappropriate of things as a kid and still did as a young adult responded, “Well sir, I guess you’d be eating alone!”

Silly Joke #2

An elementary school teacher decides to pole the class on the difficulty of last night’s homework assignment: How many people were able to complete the assignment without their parents help? About 75% of the class raised their hands. How many people we able to complete the assignment with a little help from your parents? The remaining students all raised their hands, all except for Little Johnny. The teacher then asked Little Johnny who always said the most inappropriate of things, why he hadn’t raised his hand for either question. Little Johnny responded, “Well, you asked if I had completed my assignment on my own or with a little help from my parents. In my case, it was neither because my parents did my entire assignment for me!”

Silly Joke #3

Little Johnny who always said the most inappropriate of things came home eating a big candy bar. Seeing the candy bar, his mother remembered he had already spent all his allowance money. Surprised, she asked him where he got it. “I bought it at the store with the dollar you gave me,” he said.”But that dollar was for Sunday School,” his mother replied. Smiling, the boy said, “I know, Mom, but the Pastor met me at the door at the church and he let me in for free!”

Bonus Silly Joke (Adult Humor)

A guy goes over to his friends house, rings the bell. The wife answers the door. “Hi, is Tony home?”  “No, he went to the store.” “Well, you mind if I wait?”  “No come in.” They sit down and the friend says, “You know Sara, you have the greatest breasts I have ever seen. I’d give you a hundred bucks if I could just see one.” Sara thinks about this for a second and figures what the hell – a hundred bucks. She opens her robe and shows one. He promptly thanks her and throws a 100 bucks on the table. They sit there a while longer and Chris says, “They are so beautiful I’ve got to see the both of them. I’ll give you another 100 bucks if I could just see the both of them together.” Sara thinks about this and says what the hell opens her robe and gives Chris a nice long look. Chris thanks her and throws another 100 bucks on the table then says he can’t wait any longer for Tony and leaves. A while later Tony arrives home and his wife says, “You know, your weird friend Chris came over.” Tony responds, “Well I guess he can be a little weird sometimes, but hey, did he happen to drop off the $200 he owes me?”

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson