I had the unique upbringing to have parents from widely different religious backgrounds; my dad grew up Italian Catholic while later in life he went back to the reservation to be exposed to and study his Native roots, while my mother is from Israel. While my mother grew up with atheistic parents in Israel, everything is grounded in Judaism, from the language, holidays and education. The setting is similar for someone who is not Christian in America but still learns about the Christian knowledge and how we as a country celebrate many public holidays that were original Christian holidays.
My parents didn’t want to force me to be any particular religion therefore as I was growing up wanted me to have a well rounded knowledge of what is available, so we would attend any and all religious events. I have been to almost every type of Christian church (there seem to be hundreds of varieties) from kneeling down in Catholic mass to seeing snakes handled in church to holy holy revivals with people speaking in tongues to being baptized in a river to singing the gospels with thousands, touched my head to the floor with Muslims and Sufis, chanted with New Agers, hugged trees on full moon nights, danced around a fire with hundreds, visited holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, had sweat lodges with elders, talked with self proclaimed gurus, lived with a monk, ate (broke bread) with people (many now friends) of every background, held hands in a circle with hundreds at the Teotihuacán pyramids in Mexico, and have been touched by the spirit at all of them.
My greatest feeling of wonder and greater purpose is when I am in nature. Knowing that my church is anywhere and everywhere I am makes me want to respect, take care off, and have wonder for everything and everyone I see and experience.
I think of God for want of a better word as everything, Oneness. I think at one time we were all One big ball of energy and as times goes on our oneness with each other and the universe has spread out. When we do things together, by occupying the mind and body, whether at a church, religious establishment, or dancing together at a concert, our spirits are free to get reconnected to the oneness and this connection to each other reminds us that we were once all One.
Have you ever felt a connection to everybody, beyond just a telepathic connection, and everything when you get a large group of people together doing the same thing; whether ritual or dance or a concert?
Since it takes both positive (good) and negative (evil) to make energy, I think that we should never worry about negative things as we need them to be in balance. Without negative things how do we know something is positive? You have to have one to know the other and life is all about having a good balance of both. I think the greatest people I have ever met were people that went through “hell” and therefore know and appreciate what they have. The happiest people I have met have been the ones with the least amount of material wealth. If we don’t feel grateful for what we already have, What makes us think we would be happy with more?
I look forward everyday to the interactions I have on my Living Off Grid, Really!?!? Facebook page and hope you will join the discussion there.
Stay energized, aur
Aur Beck has lived completely off-grid for over 35 years. He has traveled with his family through 24 states and 14,000 recorded miles by horse-drawn wagon. Aur is a presenter at The Climate Reality Project, a fellow addict at Oil Addicts Anonymous International and a talk show co-host at WDBX Community Radio for Southern Illinois 91.1 FM. Find him on the Living Off Grid, Really!?!? Facebook page, and read all of Aur’s MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.
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