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| Butterfly Nebula via HubbleSite |
A spiritual journey well, that sounds fluffy doesn't it? Oh yes it does. If one wants to empty their mind of all reason and truth and hum to Deepak Chopra tapes, well, there's that too. But if one is interested in actually seeking after what is true, then that's something entirely different. We can all float what feels good for a while, hoping it will bring us peace and personal affluence, but it never quite works that way, does it? Well, reality doesn't align to our thoughts and emotions. It certainly responds to us, but it doesn't conform to our every whim. No, we are not gods. We are people.
The common approach of the culture, major media, and so on is to attempt to combine religions into a sort of spiritual potpourri. Unfortunately this approach fails, crumples up under systematic contradictions between religions and ends up being an arrogant farce intended to bludgeon Christianity and spiritualize a self-deified sort of mystic atheism. I know this because I once did it. It's a dead end. It's appetizing because I can simply edit out anything I don't like, say like moral teachings, and I can just take whatever I want. So new age universal at the conclusion, ends up being an American consumerist buffet transferred into the region of God and spirituality.
To seek after a God who is really there is something quite different, and it may not be what we envision when considering a spiritual journey. The thing about seeking after a God who is really there, is that he is actually, really there. He responds to and literally replies to our seeking is quite a wondrous thing. And quite scary, let me tell you. The reaction often is fear when the God who made the universe with his own unimaginable powers begins to interact with me. Fear and wonder. Extreme wonder comes, and a sense of severe gratitude, almost unspeakable gratitude, as if I was blessed beyond measure.
It's a sense of shock as the presence of God is felt. It could be comparable to seeing a ghost, or staring at a 3d picture just right so one sees the image. More so, like seeing a ghost, at least in the panicked, excited feeling, when noticing the presence of God. As if something spiritual has just cut through the mundane of the material and reinvigorated something vital within me.
Because the daily grind can be so soul crushing. And then a hope cuts through the night, and that hope is the presence of God.
When we begin to realize that God is really there, and really wants to have relationship with us, then we begin to have a spiritual journey. The journey can start anywhere. It's amazing. It's scary at times. It challenges our deepest viewpoints and opinions about the world. It stretches our emotional capacities and challenges us to grow. It leads us into dark places, just as much as light places.
I'm so so convinced that this journey is the answer to everything we young people seek for in political heroes, heroic dramas, and ambitious educational endeavors. We're seeking for something greater, we're seeking for the ultimate expression of unity in diversity. It can only be found in God, of course.
Why is that so hard for so many to accept? Well, it's because attached to this saga is a challenging new lifestyle. It's a lifestyle of peace, as described on this blog. But so often a lifestyle of peace means daily warfare. Ironically enough, it is so. I must fight my own desires, because those base desires threaten to destroy me. My emotions don't dictate reality.
It's almost like an RPG or MMO where I level up, one level at a time, growing and maturing through struggle after struggle. A real spiritual journey smashes you to pieces and remakes you into something totally different. This isn't Oprah's mythical universalist buffet. This is the real deal, and it's not for the faint of heart. But if your ready for an insane, life transforming spiritual saga, then the road is Christianity.
Why? Because unlike other religions, Christianity is true. And it's tough. It's difficult. It calls us to live radically different. Who is Jesus? Why the Bible? There are many questions to explore. But there are good answers. I never thought there were, but it's true, there are excellent answers, it's just those things had been hidden from me by a secular culture.
People don't like it. It's a challenge. It calls out the worst in me. But something inside me enjoys that struggle. I want to be free of those terrible dark things within me. I want real righteousness and real love and real transformation. I'm thirsty for it. Are you? I hope you are. This is the way. Begin that journey. It's a real spiritual journey. It's tough. It's fun. It's amazing. It's a challenge. It's the real meaning of life. It changed everything in my life. Do it. You won't regret it.
Related Posts:
- Origin, Meaning, Morality, & Destiny: An atheist and a Christian on discuss Worldview
- Seven Objections to the Bible and Seven Reasonable Responses
- Quick Fact Sheet: Four Points to Consider
- 10 Answers to Common Questions Raised by Skeptics
- Believing in the Miraculous: The Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross
- Can you see through the illusion?
- Philosophy, Science, Logic, and History: Presentations on the Truth of Christianity from Multiple Disciplines
- No Evidence for God?
- Declaration of Worldview (What we Believe)
- Reasonable Evidence for Christianity
