October 13: Day 105

STONE TWO CONTINUED: Open: I partake of spiritual wisdom and knowledge from a variety of sources and open myself to different insights.
 
Instruction: Open to life.

The greatest teacher of all is life. We learn from our experiences, good and bad, and we develop in positive or negative ways, depending on how we interpret our life experiences. Perhaps this helps us understand why there are so many different religions in the world. Life is the greatest teacher, and because all of our experiences differ, it’s not surprising that we have different religious fields of thought that have arisen to try to help us make sense of our existence. When one religious experience denies the validity of another and tries to establish itself as the “one (and only) true path,” then it denies that The Divine can reveal itself to other countries in ways that are meaningful to their experiences. It also denies any validity of other religious or spiritual experience to their members. Some religions try to prevent this religious straying out of the conviction that they are doing what is best for their members. I wonder; however, if some might be prone to keep their flock under lock and key for selfish reasons.

We no longer have to fear branching out into other areas of religious faith. For some people who have been caught in a religious trap, this fear is real and palpable. I’ve met people who feared for their lives and for the lives of those they love should they stray from the fold, I’ve met people who had developed physical ticks due to their fear of what might happen to them should they choose to leave their religious organization, and I have met people who struggle with the concept of going to hell if they don’t believe exactly as they have been taught.

If we believe in a loving Higher Power, then let’s use some common sense. If this loving Higher Power created the world and all that is in it, wouldn’t that Power have created many ways for its creation to connect with their Source and to return to it? Would that Higher Power select one nation or one religious belief system that man created as the only way home and condemn all the others? If that Higher Consciousness made multiple paths Home, then wouldn’t we benefit from learning all we can from every path that leads us there?

Our task today is to open to all of life’s experiences. As we do, we will find that The Divine can be found in all walks of life, and there is something to be learned from everyone we meet. We are on a journey together, so let’s greet our fellow travelers as the sons or daughters of divinity they are and open our hearts to learn from all who walk beside us.