Can I Be

As I've mentioned before I tend to see things others don't. Or perhaps I just see things differently than others see them.

This tendency often annoys others.

That is an understatement. I've seen a declaration more than once lately that leaves me wondering. It implies that religion is bad, and spiritual is wonderful.

So, I looked up the meaning of 'Religious' and this is what I found:

b(1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural

(2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

3archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Synonyms

credo, creed, cult, faith, persuasion

and now, spirituality:

Definition of spirituality

1: something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such

2: CLERGY

3: sensitivity or attachment to religious values

4: the quality or state of being spiritual

Synonyms

church, clergy, cloth, first estate, ministry, spirituality

You could see where I'm coming from if you stop and look at what I'm saying. There isn't a lot of difference between religion and spiritual. The difference, as always, lies in the person not these words.

You might ask a person 'what religion' they are and there are a myriad of answers. I, for example, am of the 'Christian' religion. I profess a belief in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As opposed to someone who is a Buddhist, Islamist, Hindu...

How fervently and how well I am in my religion doesn't rely on my religion, and it doesn't rely on my spirituality, but on my application of my belief.

When I hear people say things like "I am spiritual" I can almost see them floating over the ground as in: "I'm holier than thou, touchest thou not me."

I am 'spiritual' is a phrase to throw people off balance. Someone I read termed those people as selfish, referring to the idea they were better than everyone else. How, for instance do you measure spiritual? And who does the measuring?

Two things here, when people begin to bat around new concepts hit the pause button. Just because it's a new thought or phrase, and it may be rather catchy doesn't mean anything.

Religion isn't bad. Spiritual isn't bad. I can feel like I'm rapturously holy, but if I'm ignoring what God's commands are, then feelings are deceiving me.

1 Corinthians 14:33 "for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

38) But if any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

40) But let all things be done decently and in order.

38) But if any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

40) But let all things be done decently and in order."