As I’ve now had time to look back upon which events in my life have made solid stepping stones for my conscious evolution I must include the involvement of Organized Religion, specifically, Christianity and how it helped shed light into my life.
A brief background on my religious past:
None. 
No, I’m kidding. Growing up, church just wasn’t something our family did. No big deal. We didn’t look down upon it, nor did we feel uncomfortable that we weren’t attending. Later in life I asked my Mom why and she said we tried out a few, but never really felt welcomed, or that we fit in. I believe these were all Christian based churches. As I got older (teen years) I always had a vague sense there was a God, but never interested enough to do any of my own research (book wise or introspectively). I only attended church if I was with a friend’s family for the weekend or on a rare holiday. We only said grace at the table when it was Thanksgiving and we were at Grandma’s house. I was basically only versed in what was shown to me on through popular culture and took it at face value. I also had a hunch Eastern religions had some truth to them as well, so I was turned off to the idea of having to make a decision on which religion to start believing in.
Fast forward to about 1999 through 2006 I started to attend church every now and then when my partner got the itch and I wanted to be supportive, plus I was genuinely curious how things went down. (I didn’t know it too well then, but I was longing for a connection as well.) I felt a little uncomfortable going to church still, but not enough to make me stay home. There always seemed to be something (a way of thought, ideas about life, etc.) to disagree with/didn’t resonate with us when we went to a new church.
The real stepping stone was when we found a nearby church to our new home that accepted ALL people. It was a Christian church (Disciples of Christ) that accepted and embraced ALL people. We were amazed and actually felt comfortable attending. I was able to let my guard down, as they spoke of Jesus’ love for all and how He invited everyone to His table.
That was very powerful for me. I resonated with that idea very much. I then realized my vision of God was someone who loved all, for we are all His creation. This also resonated with my thoughts on some Eastern religions and how they seemed to embraced all beings.
I actually attended on a regular basis for over a year. I even volunteered and attended special events (that’s a long way from not going to church at all). It was at this Christianity based church where I learned and became comfortable with the idea of giving thanks for everything, what role worship played in life, how everyone can be included in your ideas of faith, and how much love is the core of so many things in life.
I feel this place helped me water and nurture the seed of Love inside me so that I could grow it into a beaming light inside and eventually have it overflow for everyone to see and feel. The atmosphere there made me comfortable enough, to think and talk things over with my partner so we could both grow spiritually. It gave me some solid ground to walk on, experiment with new ideas, and expand my consciousness.
This is why I give thanks to my awesome local church, to Jesus, his teachings and acceptance of ALL, and to God, true source, our divine creator.
Thanks for reading and I hope, through my sharing, you too can find the Love inside you to share with everyone.
