path_of_one
Embracing the Mystery
Dondi, I've never had to advertise it. And I don't think I'm anything special.
People have noticed ways I am different about some things, and they ask me about my faith/religion/spirituality. My testimony is my life, plain and simple. There is no better advertisement.
If something is life changing, that change is the best advertisement for it that can possibly be. If, as Christians, we are called to be the light of the world- how can we go unnoticed?
My personal take is the same as this quote (forgetting the person, at the moment): Speak the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words. I don't think sharing the Gospel, or, as Nick is putting it, engaging in the bodhisattva work of awakening people, requires banging them over the head with advertisement. Hey, even the marketers of non-religious products know that the best advertisement is the product actually working! I don't have to advertise for my hair stylist- if she does a good job, people ask me for her name...
So, my overall sentiment is that I am not a salesperson and was never called to be one. God does not need lil' ole me to sell Him. He just needs me to be willing to listen to others, to be kind, to be giving, to be forgiving. The rest falls into place on its own. Most people need someone to listen to them more than they need someone to tell them something. When they have their emotional and social and physical needs met, and when they see that I genuinely care about them, they ask me about spirituality.
I never seek to convert people, and I hold firmly that conversion is, indeed, bringing people from one social group to another. It is not awakening them. The two are entirely different actions on the part of the guide and on the part of the individual who is changing. People can awaken in nearly any religion that promotes love, faith, hope, peace, and connecting to the joy of God. Any religion/path that teaches to give up oneself in order to be filled with Something More, that teaches justice and mercy and "humbly walking with one's God." I've seen awake people in Judaism, Islam, Christianity, neo-Paganism, indigenous religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism... on and on. It's not to say all paths are the same, but rather that many paths lead to the Divine One and the transformation that occurs as we commune with It. Awakening someone involves being the midwife that assists their birth into a more connected state within whatever their religion/path is. Converting someone involves moving them from one religion/path to another- from one social group to another.
Case in point... when Christian missionaries have shown up at my door, they are not content with my being Christian. Nor are they content to have a mutual conversation. They want me to go to their church. To have others agree with them feeds their own ego and sense of rightness, affirms their own social group is the best one, and brings more cash and attendees into the fold. If they were seeking to awaken me, they would be more concerned with my life and less concerned with whose registry I am on. Conversely, I've had many deep and fabulous conversations with people of all faiths who were genuinely committed to their own religion, yet open to assisting me in furthering my awake-ness. And each one told me it is not necessary to change religions, only necessary to change one's priorities- indeed, to be willing to give up the self for a greater measure of the Divine.
I would put forth that sharing the Gospel or awakening others is a categorically different task than converting someone. Being an awake individual that shares the Divine love with others (being Christ's hands, feet, eyes, and mouth) is a very different thing than going to church.
People have noticed ways I am different about some things, and they ask me about my faith/religion/spirituality. My testimony is my life, plain and simple. There is no better advertisement.
If something is life changing, that change is the best advertisement for it that can possibly be. If, as Christians, we are called to be the light of the world- how can we go unnoticed?
My personal take is the same as this quote (forgetting the person, at the moment): Speak the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words. I don't think sharing the Gospel, or, as Nick is putting it, engaging in the bodhisattva work of awakening people, requires banging them over the head with advertisement. Hey, even the marketers of non-religious products know that the best advertisement is the product actually working! I don't have to advertise for my hair stylist- if she does a good job, people ask me for her name...
So, my overall sentiment is that I am not a salesperson and was never called to be one. God does not need lil' ole me to sell Him. He just needs me to be willing to listen to others, to be kind, to be giving, to be forgiving. The rest falls into place on its own. Most people need someone to listen to them more than they need someone to tell them something. When they have their emotional and social and physical needs met, and when they see that I genuinely care about them, they ask me about spirituality.
I never seek to convert people, and I hold firmly that conversion is, indeed, bringing people from one social group to another. It is not awakening them. The two are entirely different actions on the part of the guide and on the part of the individual who is changing. People can awaken in nearly any religion that promotes love, faith, hope, peace, and connecting to the joy of God. Any religion/path that teaches to give up oneself in order to be filled with Something More, that teaches justice and mercy and "humbly walking with one's God." I've seen awake people in Judaism, Islam, Christianity, neo-Paganism, indigenous religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism... on and on. It's not to say all paths are the same, but rather that many paths lead to the Divine One and the transformation that occurs as we commune with It. Awakening someone involves being the midwife that assists their birth into a more connected state within whatever their religion/path is. Converting someone involves moving them from one religion/path to another- from one social group to another.
Case in point... when Christian missionaries have shown up at my door, they are not content with my being Christian. Nor are they content to have a mutual conversation. They want me to go to their church. To have others agree with them feeds their own ego and sense of rightness, affirms their own social group is the best one, and brings more cash and attendees into the fold. If they were seeking to awaken me, they would be more concerned with my life and less concerned with whose registry I am on. Conversely, I've had many deep and fabulous conversations with people of all faiths who were genuinely committed to their own religion, yet open to assisting me in furthering my awake-ness. And each one told me it is not necessary to change religions, only necessary to change one's priorities- indeed, to be willing to give up the self for a greater measure of the Divine.
I would put forth that sharing the Gospel or awakening others is a categorically different task than converting someone. Being an awake individual that shares the Divine love with others (being Christ's hands, feet, eyes, and mouth) is a very different thing than going to church.
