ditch the dogma dudes!

D O G M A

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

- Steve Jobs, CEO and founder of Apple Computers, Pixar (now chairman), and NeXT.

I would have to absolutely agree with this amazing quote. Being surrounded by too many opinions and ideas can sometimes get overwhelming, especially if you are the type of person that listens to what people say and actually takes the time to process it carefully.

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Growing up in a Christian environment, I very often found myself in a frazzled state trying to figure out what was right and wrong, and I lived with a lot of fear and shame because of this. I am not putting Christianity down in any way as this type of perceived tyranny is the product of any religion, belief, idea or standard that you are held accountable to by your friends, loved ones, or community. The reason Christianity and other religions can become heavy and opressive stems mostly from guilt and shame people begin to feel for "breaking the rules"- rules sometimes with God at the source, but rules with man at the source as well. They are pressured to change, to fit the "mould" but sometimes they just don't have the resources or foundations to make those changes - and no one is offering them either! At the end of the day many end up feeling hopeless and substandard, unable to see the accepting and forgiving nature of God (or people for that matter), or the value of their created lives. I have seen this happen to people myself, too many times...

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Religion, supposedly put in place to connect us with our creator, has mostly served to put a wedge between us.

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It was a day of thunder and lightening in my heart when I finally realized that many of the things I thought I believed, and actually measured other people by, were most likely false... or at least not intrinsically true! Its a humbling experience for every human being to finally say "I don't have all the answers". I mean, how many arguments are fought and wars waged on the basis of one side believing something different from the other, both sides believeing things impossible for human beings to prove anyway? Sigh.

Its hard to be human sometimes, having to learn to live with our many limitations - knowing all the secrets of the universe being just one of many from a very long list! The hardest part is that we are truly hungry for knowledge and understanding, and if we could have it all we would take it! But, alas, we must be content with the little morsels of truth that fall from God's table from time to time.

I stopped judging people for searching a long time ago. I stopped judging myself for doubting my faith at times also. Its not to say that I don't believe in God and that Christ came to save the world, I do, and very fervently, its just that I have come to terms with my own humanity and have realized that my faith truly is based on "things unseen". Because of this, I must believe as a child believes, without total proof, and with humility towards others who are also trying to figure out what that "unseen" thing really is, even if their beliefs fall outside the ideas of my christianity, your Islam, their Judaism, his Bhuddism, or her atheism, etc.

I think that God is big enough to help those searching for him to find him, including me. I learn a little bit more about God every day, and even though I have a HUGE list of things I have decided are "ultimate truth" (the existence of God being one of them), mine are just the first pages of a very very long book of revelation...I (we) have only just begun.

I mean, think about the concept of heaven - being up there worshipping God, everything is happy, everything is in order, but what happens after that? Do we just stop learning and growing as spiritual/emotional beings? No...yes...huh? I would hate to think of my journey of revelation ending, to be honest. "There must be more than this..."

Don't ask me what that "more" is though, I couldn't tell you....I won't ask you either because you couldn't tell me!

So friends, don't be worried about not knowing all the answers...no, be worried instead about not embracing and enjoying the learning process because you already think you know them all. Be worried about becoming arrogant and judgemental of those around you with different ideas, and being one of the people (I believe) God will hold accountable for waging the wars mentioned above just because you weren't willing to share the world with someone different from yourself.

If you think that I have "a lot to learn" for saying what I just did, you are probably one of those people. My advice to you - stop judging (lest ye be judged), don't be afraid of being wrong, and remember that you are just as finite as the rest of the human race. You will enjoy life and people a lot more if you can relax a bit. Why worry, "God is in control" after all, isn't he? He's gonna work out all the details...so chill.

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To summarzie, I will ask an age old question - what came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Ponder, ponder....E X A C T L Y !!!!!
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So, I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to understand anything, just that you shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket!

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Hee hee...punny! I crack my self up!!! Get it? I "crack" myself up, like an egg? Okay, I'm done.

Isaiah 55 verse 7-11 says...

"Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD,
and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,'
declares the LORD.
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.' "

What you ask is certain?

God knows what.

Peace out,

Amber