Spirit Alliance

RELIGION OR SPIRITUALITY? Is there a difference between religion and spirituality? And if so, what is that difference? For me, there is no right or wrong way to deal with these questions. No doubt there will be those who will disagree with me and that is their right to do so. I am not concerned with agreement or disagreement; my only concern is for each individual to find the path that is right for them. What I share with you are my own personal beliefs. All I ask is for you to have an open mind and to explore what feels right for you. I perceive the difference between religion and spirituality to be this: Religion is a coming together of a group of people with the same beliefs to worship the same deity, such as Christians, Buddhists, Islam, any of the Hindu gods or goddess or any other form of organised worship. Usually there are guidelines for people to follow and all of them adhere to sacred ceremony. Within most religions there is a hierarchy of the learned ones, the teachers or the leaders down to the common worshipper. Spirituality on the other hand is an inner journey with self; with my heart and soul and their connection to that divine energy I call Great Spirit. It is a deeply personal, loving relationship between the realm of spirit and self. I prefer Great Spirit to God. For me the words Great Spirit removes the religious connotation and is, therefore, encompassing of all people, all of life upon this planet and, indeed, of all the cosmos. I see spiritual growth as the bringing together of heart, mind and soul, an awakening to the beauty within us and around us, the evolution into our inner divine love for self and love for all that is. This does not mean that the two do not go hand in hand. They can and do for a great number of people. One of the most devoutly religious and deeply spiritual people I have known was my mother. My dad was a wonderful man but he was a born-again Christian and at times it was difficult for me to see the spirituality in amongst the religion. The difference between the two…my dad lived his Christianity through fear of judgement beyond death; my mother lived her Christianity through love. My father pushed religion onto his children; my mother showed her spirituality by simply being the quiet, gentle and loving person she was. Poor Dad, if he only knew it, Mum had a far deeper and more sustaining effect on my spiritual development than he could ever have. But, I bless him for it. Without realising what he was doing he gave me a clear understanding of the difference between religion and spirituality. As I do, more and more people these days are choosing to not belong to any organization that is of a religious nature. Instead we are finding our own deep and personal inner experience with that amazing divine essence I call Great Spirit. There are many paths to the top of the same mountain. None of them are right or wrong, they just simply are! The more I work as a medium, connecting in to the realm of spirit, the more I realise how little I know. The realm of spirit is way beyond my human ability to fully comprehend how it works and what it looks like. I get glimpses into colours so amazingly beautiful there is no way to describe them. I get to hear faint strands of music that composers throughout the centuries have been trying to capture. I get to see fabulous beings of love and light that are so magnificent I am pulled into absolute humility and tears of joyfulness. All the while I know I am only seeing or hearing a tiny drop in an immense cosmic ocean of love. It is an incredibly privileged place to be, and yet we are all connected to that love, that beauty, that powerful energy called spirit.