When I was a little girl I loved going to Methodist church with my family.
The people there were so nice.
I felt safe and loved.
I even liked going to the Youth group meetings on Sunday nights.
It never seemed to me that there was too much pressure about God or the Bible.
Thankfully, this particular church did not preach with a heavy emphasis on eternal damnation or unworthiness.
I'm not sure how long I would have stuck around had that been the case.
But my lovely little church kept me engaged through my Sophomore year in High School.
Not bad considering neither of my parents went to church with me.
But in my Sophomore year, something happened.
I was really going through a huge change in my life and I just stopped going.
I took a break from my spiritual life for a few years, never really thinking much about it until I took a World Religions class in college.
What an eye opener.
About that same time my boss gave me a book that stirred something inside of me in a very profound way.
It was Be Here Now by Ram Dass.
Suddenly, spirituality seemed so much more real and more interesting than it ever had before.
And suddenly I had a deep resonance with the idea of reincarnation.
Something inside of me said, "Of course this is how it works.
" The answers I had searched for as a young, young child started to come together.
As a young child I can remember lying in bed at night asking, "Who am I? What is this?" I struggled with this question for years, never feeling like the answers I received at church made sense for me.
And now, having been introduced to reincarnation, things started to fall into place for me.
But I was nervous.
I knew that reincarnation was not taught in Christianity and that I would be diverting from my family's belief system.
So I kept quiet.
I didn't tell my family about this for years.
These days I'm happily engaged in a spiritual community that focuses on ideas and teachings that resonate with me.
And what a gift this has been.
I have returned to that safe, loving place of a "church" family, only this time I'm more engaged and spiritually nourished there.
Are you spiritually nourished and engaged? Have you taken the time to evaluate if the church system you were brought up in is really a fit for you now as an adult? When my niece left for college, I encouraged her to question everything she had been taught.
I told her that as an adult it was her responsibility and right to look at what she believed about the world and formulate her own opinions and values.
And I'll encourage you with this same sentiment now.
I meet so many people who are suffering in life with feelings of unworthiness and shame.
Most of these people have an internal struggle within themselves, partially because they don't know who they are - or what they believe in.
What a shame! Where did we go wrong in our society by encouraging people to do what they are told, and believe as their family believes.
What happened? Even though we won't be able to answer this monumental question, we can answer our own questions - about who we are, what makes us tick, what we really like, what we believe in - about life, the world around us and what we're willing to make a stand for in this world.
And most especially what we do believe about Source Energy/God/Universal Spirit.
Socrates said it best with his famous proclamation, "The unexamined life is not worth living.
" So now as we enter the holiday season, won't you take the time, if you haven't already, to discover what you believe about Source and your own role in the spiritual expansion you are experiencing as a human on Earth? Discovering these things helps contribute to a solid foundation for your life; helping you stand solidly in this world, knowing who you are and what you believe in.
And boy is it a good feeling.