Don’t want Catholicism, Protestantism, or Judaism. Don’t force me to become a Hindu, a Muslim or even a Buddha. Let me form a “Me-ism,” a spirituality that takes a lot from all the above and blends it into what I feel inside when I’m alone and away from the “Shall Nots,” the 84,000 teachings, and a belief that the “hereafter” must be better than the present. 

Let me evolve spiritually. At my pace. Along the road I choose to follow after tasting cups of wisdom from all beliefs, all the streams flowing down from the same Mountain top that we all seek to reach in our journeys. 

There. I feel better already. 

Spiritual evolution would help provide for the poor. Not just the material poor, but the poor in spirit, which takes in high-class rollers and Sunday School preachers of Fire and Brimstone. 

Don’t need “fear” to control anyone in the next evolutionary process. We’ve done enough of that through some well-meaning clerics who believed — perhaps correctly — that we, as a society, needed the “Fear of God” to insure our brothers and sisters did not kill, steal, cheat or even “fool around.” We were little more than savages when many of the religious doctrines were established and imposed to help guide us. Love was thrown in as the peaceful alternative — the carrot. But for the most part, our ancient religions talk to us about death and destruction, killing and adultery, and how we must pay for injuries we cause others. We were brandished with the stick. All very good for the “base,” for those just learning right from wrong, good and bad, evil and goodness despite the evil. We need to evolve. And all religions should allow congregations, believers, “Lovers” to look within when entering an individual path to the Higher Being. The path should not be just “one” road, an “exclusive” way built by one faith, but many walkways we can follow early in our lives until we reach the point when we start to question, really question our purpose, our reason for living, our connection with others and the Universe. 

Lower all barriers at that point. Many will remain on the path they walked since childhood. Others, like me, will look towards the Buddha, the “Lovers” in Sufi, the mystics in Catholicism and Judaism, the fervor that created a Martin Luther or a Calvin or a Joseph Smith. Not just for the “wrongs” they tried to correct. But for the universal truths they all impart: Love, compassion and forgiveness — the more gentle side of an Almighty to overcome all desires and repulsions. 

Perhaps, what we need to see is what some may call the “feminine” side of a God and less of the “masculine.” 

I don’t have all the answers. I’m still seeking. Still trying to evolve myself. But look for me on the path. We could help all get there sooner. 

michael j