Today, A Reader asks a question.

Dear Jeanne,
I belong to a church/organization with very strong ideals, most of which I believe in. And although the vast majority of what I am learning through this work (with you) resonates with those ideals, my faith is being challenged in some areas as well. Do you have any advice on this and on religion/faith in general?

Thanks,
Eva

My Dearest Eva, look not outside of your self for the answers to your inner questions, for in looking outward do you intercept only other outward seeking concepts and propositions. Faith and religion have been misconstrued as fact, and as God-proclaimed annunciations that may have little to do with inner truth and the inner reality of your own life.

I do not dismiss such attachments to religions as wholeheartedly distant or indistinct, for I know they do offer anchors to many who struggle greatly upon that Earth. These are struggles not only within the self, but also with the world at large. Religions offer a basis, a grounding in order to make sense of all that life upon that planet offers, giving anchoring ability to those who struggle. There is great force in such anchoring, great strengths and teachings offered as well. There is the possibility to connect to spirit, to experience God as one, revelations of the self as all-inclusive in the universe and connected to all things. But I do also instruct those of you who seek innerly, to ground your energy from being invaded by too much doctrine that may hold you back from such experiences of oneness and wholeness. For not all can travel the same path, for not all have thus far traveled the same path.

Your own path must direct you on your journey, no matter what religious or faith-based connection you now caress. There are many, many fabulous lessons to be learned among the religions of the world, just as there are many fabulous lessons to be learned among the humanitarian groups as well. I speak also of the creative spirits who live among you, who offer their own connections to the wholeness of the universe in their music, poetry, and artistic endeavors of all sorts.

Do not dismiss the teachings of one religion over another, nor the pursuits of one individual over another to achieve connection with spirit. For all are valid, and all are holding within many aspects of spiritual enlightenment that fully explore and offer guidance.

But not all guidance resonates. Not all guidance is truly meaningful. Not all guidance is individual enough for you, My Dear One, or any of you. You must be allowed to explore your own inner truths. You must be allowed to think and feel freely your own discoveries of what spirit means to you.

I prefer to call religion and faith the broader term of SPIRIT. Within the self is spirit defined as: resonance, knowing, clarity, and truth of awareness of place in the universe. Have you found your own place in the universe, My Dear One? I think not yet. I perceive your seeking self is pushing you to question and explore further not only your inner self, but your outer place that the inner self must one day enter and reside in. This is the ultimate test of spirit.

Where is your spirit? Is it emerging and seeking a place of residence in your life? If so, then must you discover how and where it will fit into the outer world. Perhaps your church is offering you a place to seek this inner/outer resolution, guiding you to find your inner/outer balance, in a place that truly resonates with you. But you are the ultimate captain of your ship, and you must know who you truly are, who you are fully capable of being, and then must you not be deterred from fully experiencing your self as captain and first mate combined.

Your God must come from within. Your God must be total resonance; resonant with who you are on your path already completed and on your path yet to come. Your God must be a total package of you in your universe, and that, My Dear, can only be achieved if you are allowed full exploration of what it means to be you.

If you are your own God, what does that pose in the context of your religion and your practices of worship? Who now directs your thoughts, your ponderings, and your experiences of God? Who now approaches you with questions and offers you explorations of the self? Do you give these things to your self? Do you dare guide your self through your own discoveries of who you truly are, as a spirit, based in that physical world?

You are but energy in a world of matter, there for a reason that may have much to do with religious faith, or may have little to do with such structural beliefs. You may find your resonance in what is outside of you first, and then be drawn to seek what is inside you as you see reflections of self in that mirror of faith-based ideas. Or you may be the kind of spirit energy that must turn only inward for resonance. Only you will know these things about the self.

There are so many options and means of seeking resonance. But ultimately, what I am teaching in my mission is for you to recognize and have experiences of self in that world. Only in experiences of self, of your own resonance, will you discover your perfect balance, your place in the universe, and your energetic potential. That is what you seek fulfillment of, you know. You seek fulfillment of your energetic potential. And if you break your struggles down to that simple statement, perhaps will you find your inner quiet self is perfectly contented to slow down the looking and simply BE.

To simply BE in your self, without attachment to anything, may at first seem impossible, or even quite a fearful prospect. But if you trust your inner self to the point where you know that it is all-encompassing; your friend; your guide; your companion; and your leader-self, so can you rest there a moment perhaps, and have experience of this calm inner self and learn to trust its desire for acknowledgment. With knowledge of self as whole, all-containing, and all-knowing can you then seek outer connection.

This is why I stress recapitulation, so that you may find your inner connection to self as wholeness. Then may you understand your place as spirit in the world of matter, and then is your job simply to discover what truly does matter outside of you. If you can achieve true knowing of self, then can you achieve true knowing of right resonance outside of you.

I hope this answers your question. I do not dismiss any thing that truly resonates as having importance. But in order to discover both resonance and importance of factors in the world of matter, must you first fully know the self. And that is what matters the most, no matter what you believe otherwise.

Continue seeking knowledge of the self. That is my best advice to all of you, My Dear Readers and Seekers. Question the self, but also ask the self to reveal what it knows as you struggle. You may be surprised to learn that the inner you is already quite connected, and fully aware of just what resonates and what is spiritually important to connect to in your outer lives.

Keep doing the work on the self. It is your greatest chore, but also your greatest joy. Do not hide from the challenges life offers; they are your guides, letting you know you are truly on the right track.