On the subject of "Spirituality and Religion”

I first became intensely aware of the difference between the two through a relationship with an intimate friend in Denver, Colorado. I admired this man more than any other.

We were both members of a large Kiwanis Club of over 200 members. We were Knight Templars in the Lodge.

No other man showed such dedication, insight, humility, and charisma in our City as ”John.” He was a truly authentic man; selfless and loving.

He headed Community chest Drives, helped build a Salvation Army Housing development for the homeless, and during a flood that inundated part of our city went beyond the call of duty to help. I’d considered him one of the finest people I ever met and worked with in my more limited task as a pastor.

One day I had an intimate conversation with him.

I said to him, “I see Christ in you…You are his hands, feet and heart in this city!”

He looked shocked and replied, “I am a Jew”

“Yes” I said, “I know. But Jesus was a Jew.”

Regardless of faith, we were both in the Kiwanis Club for the same reason. As the Kiwanas’ first objective says, “To give primacy to the human and Spiritual rather than to the material values in life.”

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Now I think:

The World today is experiencing a great spiritual Seeking that cannot be contained or controlled by the Religious Systems. I can see how all of us are potentially unique spiritual beings. We are all connected -- though we often do not realize it -- with every other life, because we are connected with the One Source of All Life.

Many people are not “religiously” connected with some organized Expression of Faith, but are still Spiritual and are growing in that Spirituality. The World Religions deal so much with rituals, practices and belief Systems. One’s spirituality, I think is expressed in an intelligent inner Connection with the Divine in the world. To me it is “God’s Presence’ around, within, above, beneath, in, and through a mind and body touched by God.

I am so grateful to the Giver and Sustainer of Life that in my pilgrimage I have come to see that there is a vast difference between “Spirituality” and “Religion.” Often in Kiwanis, Lodges and Humanitarian clubs I saw more of the spirit of Christ, who to me is a Cosmic Savior, than in the activities of some churches. Today I see that seeking in “New Age” faiths, The “Jesus“ groups, ”Burning Man,” ‘Labryinths,” etc.

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I rejoice in the “Seeking” and open search for Spirituality in many wonderful brothers and sisters I am finding in my old age. Praise God !

There is a Seeking.

Every person must forge his own spiritual path. “How we live, speak, and treat others is still the test of our Faith…This speaks more loudly than what we say.”

For me I see the Living Cosmic Christ as a permeator of the Creator’s inclusive Love for this special Creation. Many do not recognize this. Many do not know, or need to know, the

inclusive power of unifying Love. It activates us. More and more, our world will sadly learn that Love is seeking larger residence in each of us. The Light still pushes back darkness. All man-made religions are being sorely tested today not only in Islam, the largest Faith on earth, but Judaism and Christianity in a crises of relevance to the liberated mind of men and women. Hinduism and Buddhism, too are seeking new Paths of relevance to mankind’s deepest needs.

No form of Institutionally can encapsulate or control spirituality. For me, the Cosmic Christ permeates the “Seeking Souls” of the earth both inside and outside the perimeters of all mysterious "Seeking."