by Judy Merrill

Created on: December 23, 2011   Last Updated: December 24, 2011

Religio or religion means to bind together.  It means community.  It means that as we bind together in the name of God and search for the meaning of God and life, we become a community.  In this community there are always people who wish to set the tone or rule, as well as control the whole meaning or philosophy of that community. 

Religion expresses the oneness of all life and living.  And at the same time sets the picture for giving power over to those who wish to control the people of the community.  The strong tend to overbear on the weaker members of the community.  When religion learns that no one is in charge, it is personal growth through personal lessons, then the picture of religion can change to incorporate everyone's growth, not just those who set rules for operation.  The soul is a free entity to grow and be among the lessons of life.

When we struggle alone in our challenges of life, we tend to falter along the way.  Our personal covenant with God was created to take it to God to help us understand ourselves.  So while we bind together, we must also find our individual way to spiritualizing the soul. 

Each and every challenge is an opportunity for lessons of spirituality.  When we handle our challenge with God's direction, we are coming together as the community of religion and it fits us for the spirituality of our individualized soul.

As religion became big business and created its own structure to enhance that structure we seemed to lose the spirituality of our personal covenant and turn to the priests or ministers to fulfil that role.  The more of our own personal power we gave away, the less we had to understand God and the place in life God fulfills.  So religion can redefine on personal lessons when we allow that growth potential in all of us.  The rules that control through fears just don't work any more but there is still a place for religion in our lives.  It is not just for releasing our own personal responsibility for our own faults and failings.

So the priests created their structure and rules to control the populace through their own fears.  In those faults was the capacity to place the power and responsibility of our own actions on others.  Because of natural law this just does not work.  For every cause we put into operation, there is an equal effect to deal with in the consequences.  And this is where personal responsibility for those actions takes the individual to the lessons of spirituality.

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