The Journey, Part One

In October, I wrote a post titled "Positivity." It generated interesting feedback, including this:

What really bothers me though is getting judgmental advice from others about how if I stayed positive and BELIEVE I will win the lottery, be completely healthy... I mean, crazy amazing things will just come to me. Funny thing is I have been in that place and it is very shocking when they don't come. The Divine says, no. They don't seem to get that if this were true, some of the most negative people I know would be near death and very poor. I believe the journey is meant for lessons. Maybe you could do a blog on this aspect.

This is the first part of that suggested blog post since the topic is too big to be contained in just one post. In this installment, I'll lay the framework for my belief system so that what I have to say in reply to the comment will have some context.

My Belief Framework

My belief system is a combination of what I've been taught, what I've concluded and learned from experience, and what I understand from Spirit.

♥ I was taught that God created Heaven and Earth, and sacrificed His son, Jesus the Christ, for the preservation of my soul. Very little of that teaching has been integrated into my belief framework.

♥ While I believe, and, even more, know that a remarkable man named Jesus created a major uproar just over 2,000 years ago with his new-fangled ideas and remarkable healing abilities, I've concluded he was not put on Earth to absolve me of my sins.

♥ I've concluded that God is not a fear-instilling spiritual patriarch who created Heaven and Earth. That's too limiting of a definition.

♥ I believe and understand that God/Spirit is the complex and simple sum of many spiritual parts and that sum is the Universal Consciousness; the One or One Light. The One is co-creative; a thriving, versatile, interactive energy which surges through and around is in every moment.

♥ In addition, I've learned from experience that karma is very real and very active and that reincarnation is not a concept or belief, but a reality. We have many lessons to learn from both, which are inextricably intertwined.

I totally get that many people lump religion and spirituality together as one and the same. I don't.

♥ I've concluded that religion is devised by humans based on their spiritual beliefs and understandings, coupled with their desire to exert some control over others' beliefs and actions in all aspects of their lives. It's due to the latter part of that conclusion that I don't subscribe to any religion.

♥ I'm very spiritual and find I grow more so with every passing year as I delve deeper into the workings of our remarkable Universe.

That's my spiritual framework. It's what houses all I believe in regards to what the comment that spawned The Journey poses.I have no doubt that it won't match the framework of all readers. How could it? It's mine, after all. I invite you to keep your mind and heart open and continue reading through this short series of posts.In part two, I'll address positivity and negativity as they impact the concepts of intention and manifestation.In part three, I'll address life lessons through the lens of manifesting.