Julia asked me if I believe in God?
She doesn’t play with her questions – straight to the serious ones 🙂
So do I believe in God?
Yes I do.
We weren’t raised in an overly religious family – we did go to church until my brother took money out the collection box instead of putting in and we were kicked out :-p (OK I don’t think tha’ts really how it happened but that’s the story my mom tells). My mom is quietly religious – she allowed my brother and I to make our own choices about what we wanted to believe.
Like most of us I have battled with religion and I do not do organised religion willingly. We do not go to church. I am more than likely not having Jack christened/baptised just yet because David and I aren’t even sure what church we would go to if we did decide to go to church and it seems rather hypocritical of me to just pop into the closest church and ask them to christen my child.
I also really battle with Christians, in general. They are often some of the most judgemental people I know and while my Bible knowledge is very limited I am pretty sure that it does mention tolerance, acceptance and “love thy neighbour”. So I tend to avoid labeling myself like that. I also battle with the need they have to try and convert every person they meet. Yes share your beliefs but do not try and “sell” them to me.
Having said all of that though I still do have faith and over the last 6 months and the challenges associated with starting your own business I have found that I am more and more turning to that and surrendering to something bigger than me and learning to trust that faith.
There 2 quotes/scriptures that have stayed with me over the years – the first one is “The Lord shall provide” – my mom would often say this and still does and you know she has never been wrong and He has never not provided.
The second one was given to me as a gift – my flat mate made me a cushion for my birthday years ago that had this written on – “I alone know the plans I have for. Plans to bring you prosperity and not harm”. I have found comfort in this one when things have been really really tough.
I have often mentioned that my sister in law is Budhist and how I love their religion – the understanding I have of it is that it embraces everything I battle with with Christianity. The Budhist people believe in and practice acceptance. The books I have read about these people have all supported this. They embrace each person, they do not judge or try and change – they simply accept. I have great respect for this religion and it is the only religion that I actually enjoy reading about and found the wedding ceremony my brother had to be so beautiful in it’s simplicity. There was no “you will honour and serve and obey” – Â there was simply a blessing.
I am also finding that yoga is bringing me closer to my faith. Yoga isn’t a religion. I like how it is explained here.
The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility
This is exactly what yoga is to me. It is a chance twice a week to be still. The poses have nothing to do with how fit I am or how thin I am – they have to do with my ability to shut the world out and trust myself. Some days I can balance perfectly – other days I can barely stand on two feet. I am learning how to let thoughts go – listen to them, see them – then let them go, if I need to. I often find clarity in my yoga classes and when I walk out things never seem as bad as they did when I walked in and I feel more in control.
The 10 minutes savasana we have each week are vital to my well being. The total release and almost surrender to the universe is incredible powerful for me and it is my quiet time with me and my God.
Religion is such a deeply personally experience and I believe that everyone should be allowed to believe what they choose to believe – as long as no one gets hurt and intentions are pure.
My children attend school with a large number of diplomat children so they have Muslims, Hindus, Greek, Portuguese, Italian, Russian and many more in their classes and on their play grounds. It is so great. I am so glad they are exposed to all of these cultures and the religions that area associated with them. It is, for me, the perfect platform for them to gather knowledge and ultimately make a choice that suits them and their lives. But more importantly they are learning tolerance and that is so important for me because it is, for me, the biggest downfall of all religions.
6 Responses
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You know, my mom always said the Lord will provide while we were growing up too. It’s one verse from the bible I won’t forget either 🙂
Loved this post. I also battle with many, many things when it comes to organised religion. I may have written an angry post about that at one time. And I totally get what you are saying about yoga enhancing your faith. I can definitely say the same thing – in fact, I have a post written up about that. Will publish it tomorrow.
That Savasana is something else hey. I absolutely LOVE it.
Oh, and re the judgemental and even fanatical Christians – I find that you get those types in EVERY religion whether you are Muslim or Hindu or whatever as well.
I have never felt that my yoga interferes with my belief system.
I have never felt that my yoga interferes with my belief system.
I’ll have been doing yoga (consistently) for 14 years come January and I have gone from completely a(anti even)-religious to being quite spiritually awakened in that time. It is amazing to get you in tune and in balance with the world, yourself and whatever other higher powers are at play. I too love learning about Buddhism. It feels right to me. Gentle, accepting and peaceful.