A Soul Searching

Jeff Lilly over at Druid Journal has constructed one of the best religious analogies I have ever encountered. Basically he asserts that religion is like language. Language is used to communicate person to person and religion is designed to communicate person to Spirit. That’s it in a nutshell but you really need to read the whole article to fully appreciate the elegance of the analogy.

Jeff’s commentary has given me a lot to think about. The most significant issue at hand is what I want out of religion. As funny as it might sound, determining what I want has always been a challenge for me. One of my fundamental personality traits is that I perceive the infinite possibilities of life vividly. By choosing one path over the others I feel that I must give up many of those possibilities and I hate to lose that potential. The gotcha there is that by not choosing anything I can’t realized any of those possibilities anyway. Most times I do pretty well at managing my dilemma, but it is a constant challenge. More times than not I find myself sitting on the fence between any significant issue in life and I think my fence sitting is a function of failing to choose a path. I guess that I just have to accept that all choices have a cost and I have to pony up sometime or all my opportunities will escape me.

As I have searched for a religion that fits me I keep finding myself drawn more towards the older religions such as Wicca, Paganism, Druidism, Hethenry, or Shamanism. I’m looking for a direct interface with God and these traditions seem to have the most direct connection to God. More modern religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism seem to have more layers of abstraction between worshipers and God. Perhaps that is what pushes me away.

Lots to think about.