Thanks to all of you posting on this thread, all contain much wisdom & food
for thought...
Here are some of my thoughts:
Well. I have been into magic my whole life. Believing in it I mean. I guess
I am both a magical thinker & a realist. The funny thing is I feel the two
are related. For me magic IS real. Believing & dreaming has brought things
into being for me. I believe in a higher power, god, spirit which has often
gotten me through times that I don't know if I could have survived. I have
found that cultivating gratitude often leads me to faith. And vice versa.
But it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge my upbringing, specifically
my Mom for this. She believed in god & prayer & angels. Though hers was more
of an established religion than mine has ever been, it was she who planted
the seeds of faith in me. And she lived her life accordingly, as a kind &
giving person.
For me, prayer often works, not always how you want it to, but sometimes
even better than you could imagine. And if it helps anyone overcome
adversity, inner or outer, then I don't care if someone calls their higher
power jesus or god or dog.
It doesn't matter to me what belief a person subscribes too- that is a very
personal matter. I don't care if they do or don't believe in a higher power.
To me what is important is how they live their lives & how they treat
others. My belief is that we are all spiritual beings, just as we are
emotional, intellectual, and physical beings. A lot of bad has been done in
the name of god so I can understand people being turned off by religion.
I love & am inspired by many of Jesus's teachings, as well as Buddha, Lao
Tsu, & many others. Thoreau, Emerson, lots & lots more. So I could never
limit myself to being just one thing. There is so much of wisdom &
inspiration to be found out there. Sometimes it appears everywhere,
sometimes it is hard to find.
I have no respect for any belief that says it is the only way or tries to
reform others. I get really uncomfortable listening to preachers or
ministers or new age spiritual teachers who exude an attitude as if they
have some special connection with god or knowledge which they are imparting
to those who they presume to be, what, less connected or knowledgeable? My
view on it all is that people teach what they need to learn. And that we all
have our own connection & do not need anyone to interpret anything for us
(and that goes back to what jesus taught!).
I could never call my self a christian (though part of it is in me)
primarily because of what has been done to indigenous cultures throughout
history in the name of christianity. Arrogant & destructive. Complete
opposite of what jesus was talking about in my opinion.
I love myths & fairytales because there is a lot of wisdom to be found
there- you know all that Joseph Campbell stuff, I love it. Living close to
nature & to young children are the key to me, for staying in touch with the
magic of life. And the most powerful magic to me? Music! Where does it come
from? Out of thin air into sounds & rhythms & bringing up emotions & going
deep into our souls!
Who knows what exists beyond this earth. I do believe in heaven but I don't
know what it is like, nor am I anxious to find out. Maybe to those
otherworldly heaven dwellers, earth is heaven. Here we have trees & animals
& we can touch & taste & laugh & cry & love & smell, etc etc.
Okay, that's enough rambling for now...
********************************************
Kate Bennett
sponsored by Polysonics www.polysonics.com
hear the music at:
www.taylorguitars.com/artists/awp/indies/
www.katebennett.com
www.cdbaby.com/katebennett
www.amazon.com
