***Previous to this, I was skimming bible passages on the internet- because I find them interesting and inspiring- and came across a Christian view on New Age that just had me baffled. It made me sound like a Satanist and a girl of all evil. Writings of these sorts is not how we create unity amongst people. Rather, it has the tendency to do quite the opposite. And as a girl brought up in a Christian world, I have my doubts that segregation is the intention of such a faith.

The mushroom that you see here, is actually only a TINY portion of it’s entirety. This very mushroom could potentially extend it’s hyphae, a root like system,  for multiple kilometres. The visible part is just the fruit of a much greater system- a system that connect all other surrounding forest life.

 I’ll start by saying that, I grew up attending a Catholic school, and Bible Camp was some of the best summers of my life. I still sing, “We’re Children of the Light”, and I believe it.

My parents go to church on Sundays, and they are sure to tell me all about the latest lesson their pastor taught them (they no longer attend a Catholic Parish). Most of all, I respect and absolutely love all of my Christian friends and family.

Alas, I cannot be Christian.

I cannot be Christian because I cannot believe that any one religion is any more right than another. I believe this because humans have existed longer than the World has been socially connected; and some non-Christians, have done some wonderful things for this world.

Malala Yousafzai? That 15-year old Islamic girl who stood up for women’s rights, despite all the social pressures of her culture? Her religion is quite different from most North American Christian beliefs, but you know what? That girl took a bullet to stand up for other women. She sacrificed her life for the lives of multiple other women. Malala provided hope in a time of need; she changed the world by having her people treated with respect, love, and courtesy.

Girls like Malala are born to show us that sometimes, religion has faults we neglect to see, for whatever reason that may be.  There are tens of thousands of different Christian views, how can one possibly be “the perfect one”?

Now for the real reason for this blog…

I have a problem when Christians condemn other belief systems- namely, the New Age Movement.  Especially so when they condemn it under circumstances they do not understand.

For starters, I will say that most of us “New Age” followers (I hate that term) believe in only one God; therefore, in no way do we deny the Word of God, and the teachings that “we should believe in only one God.”

It just so happens that some of us believe differently from you…
(And even if we did believe in “multiple gods”, it is likely not really much different than believing in the Holy Trinity.)

To clarify the issue, I’ll speak as close to your language as I possibly can: Most of us believe that the Holy Spirit can be manifested in a multitude of ways. That, my fellow Christians, means that God shows himself in you, and me, and your dog. God is part of the forests, and the wolves; essentially, God is a part of all living beings.

So you see, it is a simple a matter of formality; in stead of speaking to Jesus, we speak to the Earth. But both serve as a representation of God Himself.

A painter creates a masterpiece that holds secrets only the painter could possibly know; he pours a little bit of himself into every bit of that artwork. So sometimes, you can know the painter by learning to understand his artwork.

I guess that’s how I see the Earth in light of God; the more I experience His creations one on one (i.e. through nature), the more light of God I can accept and illuminate back onto the world.

Further, we all know the game “telephone”, and how the passing of stories can ruin them. Most of us have also learned how punctuation can change everything. It all leads me to question what the church (in a formal sense), and the bible, tell me. I find it all so confusing!

Instead, I study the artwork of God, and I share a spiritual relationship through the things that provide me with a feeling of connection with the Divine. Does that make me a Satanist?

I can’t change your beliefs or outlooks on the world, nor do I aim to. I believe we each have a purpose on this Earth, and that there is a reason why so many different belief systems exist.

Rather, I hope that this blog can allow you to see that Spiritualism is a way of life. And that sometimes, things aren’t always the way we perceive them at first sight. Even an Atheist believes what he believes for a sense of his Spirit (or however they prefer to talk about it), and that is okay too. An Atheist, like a Christian or a New Age follower, has just as much of a lesson to teach us as the latter.

It’s a matter of difference, and I think learning to understand these differences can help to develop a stronger sense of unity amongst all people. Which, there really hasn’t been a more crucial time than now to smooth these kinks out and further develop the sense of we that exists in all of us.

We will always have people with different belief systems; it is up to us to open our eyes in hopes of better understanding one another. If we can’t understand, then perhaps we can at least learn to accept one another for who we are.

Trust, Love, and Honesty is what we need. Rivalry and condemnation is not.