Spiritual Awakenings
By Darryl Duke. Filed in Belief |Tags: agnosticism, atheism, creator, god, religion, spiritual awakenings
I use to worry about telling people my views on religion because I didn’t want to offend anyone or scare someone away in AA that wanted my help. This has changed however, as I find most people are going to believe what they want to when it comes to there being a god or not. Although I believe in a Creator I call God and don’t believe in a devil or Hell, I refuse to argue with others about their beliefs or religion and truly want people to believe in what ever they want to. This is because I have met good people who have done good things in their life and some were religious and some were atheists and agnostics. All of this actually makes me think of the question I use to see on T-shirts and bumper stickers, “What would Jesus do?” I think Jesus was a person who like spiritual leaders before and after him, realized his calling and knew he had the ability to “do”, “feel”, and “believe” that which he could not before and wouldn’t have argued about who was right or wrong. I first learned about this ability to do, feel, and believe that which we couldn’t before, in the Twelfth Step of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was being used to describe what a “Spiritual Awakening” may be. I personally have experienced a Spiritual Awakening by practicing The Twelve Steps of AA, but I do have my days when I let the outer world affect me. There is just so much coming at us today, that it sometimes can “block” our ability to do, feel, and believe that which we couldn’t before. Although I am usually happy and optimistic, sometimes the “extreme and negative changes” that have taken place in our world causes my fears, insecurities, and negative emotions to rise to the surface and make me unhappy. Fortunately I’ve learned to use this unhappiness to motivate me to “do” what ever I can to rebound by practicing love, kindness, understanding, and tolerance towards others. Try to “feel” everything’s going to be all right even though it isn’t. And “believe” in a Creator I call God. Although I may let this world affect me at times I inevitably remember who, through what I call a Spiritual Awakening I have become, and this along with my belief in a Creator fills me with an inner joy that’s different from any other happiness I experience.
