This Episode of the podcast is a bit of a curve in the road. I started this podcast because of a personal/emotional/psychological/spiritual disruption in my life that started a couple of years ago. It has been a process that I was not prepared to be vulnerable about.
However, now is the time.
I found a quote I’ve chosen to live by which says, “We are most fully ourselves when we give ourselves away.”
I have danced around enough in the past. From here on out, this will be unfiltered, unhinged, honesty.
So from now on…
This Is Will James
This episode is the first of what will be a serious of discussions of what happened to me and how I’ve grown from it and continue to grow. It will be, at times, uplifting yet depressing, biblical and “heretical”, and all in between.
This first one deals with depression, dangers religion can bring into your life with a slightly twisted mindset, suicide, the voice and character of “God”, how little importance hell should be, and my general overall mystical spiritual craziness. I hope you enjoy it if you find it, and please don’t hesitate to yell at me, agree with me, ask me questions no matter how intense or silly.
#URNotListening to this…. but if you are, lets enjoy this little ride.
As always, I love ya, even though I don’t know ya.
Here’s a little sample of what you’ll hear…
Direct Question:
If God is not the God you want, why believe in Him? Fear of punishment? If that is the plan, is that really free will?
See, Fear is effective, but it’s not lasting, and since not enough people are saying it, FEAR WAS NEVER GOD’s INTENTION! Ever. Period. Nothing to argue about.
Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. This is not how I see God. It is however, a lens through which I see Religion. And right now, I’m not a big fan.
Religion, by itself, is dangerous.
Obviously, we have seen that in the dramatic global sense, from the crusades to the slave trade, or the Israel-Palestine conflicts and radical Islam. But it can be dangerous at home and in your minds too.
Religion is only beneficial when properly combined with a real personal relationship with The Divine. This is problematic, as I’ve come to learn that many religious people do not seek a personal relationship with God. They seek personal change through an ethic, maybe. They believe in God, sure. But relationship?
Religion is manmade. It is useful and necessary to begin understanding the Great Mystery. But it is manmade.
Even if its origins and texts are Divinely inspired, the result is manmade. And Mankind is weak. Weakened with … fear.
Anything built on a weak foundation will ultimately crumble on top of itself. (I actually think I got that from the Bible somewhere.) It will ultimately be unrecognizable from its original form.
We typically view the crumbling of something as happening instantly, but imagine something eroding over time.
Little by little. Hardly noticeable. However, should no one remove the ruins, eventually, the ruins themselves become the attraction.
Do we imagine what the Colosseum used to look like or admire what is left?
Do we miss the Sphinx’s nose?
Eventually, people are drawn to the ruins without regarding the origin.
I consider many aspects of Religion to be in ruins. And since, “we cannot afford to be wrong” on this issue, I believe, one must develop a personal relationship with the Divine. Seek it out. Sit with it. Breathe it in. Trust it. In whatever form It reveals itself to you.
Developing this divine relationship may cause a need to break with your religion because your religion may have poisoned the connotation of the language it sues. I believe, you have to unburden yourself with the things you think you know or what you think you were told and go find answers yourself.
Find new terms.
A new language.
We’ve ruined the meaning of words like Church, Christian, God, Sin, Hell. We have taken the Gospel in all its wonderful, life-giving brilliance, and relegated it to “after-life insurance.” Something that if we really questioned ourselves, we’d all agree is not really the point at all.
Yet we hold on to these things so tightly. Why?
Out of love? Or fear?
I cannot answer that question for you. But when I found myself presented with the question, I answered “fear.”
It did not take long.
So I acted accordingly…..
#URNotListening
THE HEAVY ONE
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Twitter: @ThisIsWillJames
Website and Blog: www.ThisIsWillJames.com
Email: willdeejam@gmail.com
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