Be Moths to God's Light
What is it about the soul that attracts us to the Light? Or what is it about the Light that attracts the soul? Every soul responds instinctually to God’s Light much like moths respond to flame because the Light is the essence of the soul and a fundamental aspect of the universe. If God is pure spiritual Light, we are like moths to It. We cannot help but crowd around it or be mesmerized by Its luminescence. It attracts us by its amazing power, depth, and omniscience.
The Light emboldens us, inviting us to come
closer through prayer, meditation, service, and study. Something within grows as we progress down this path. A relationship and a conversation begin. We become susceptible to idiosyncrasy through helpful and harmful influences that may skew our direction. The mind’s perceptions of the spiritual landscape are only as good as its makeup, education, and the insights bestowed by the Lord. As if trying to ponder an unfamiliar field of knowledge, the mind struggles to find its bearings in new and deep territory. We can stay anchored by allowing the expectations and aspirations of our religion and worship community to guide us. In doing so, we are all moving towards the Light like moths to a flame.
But if all are drawn to the Light, why do we fight with believers in other religions? Because we look at the surface and notice differences in the words used to pray, the physical gestures, the ceremonial place of worship, or the customary clothes. We do not recognize the common expression of the soul.
Humankind has reached a tipping point in which we can see and befriend anyone on Earth who has a cell phone. News pours in from every part of the globe. We know that people in other countries have children and families, that they converse with each other, they work for a living, and they may possess any of a number of virtually omnipresent belongings (e.g., cell phones, shoes). We know that medicine cures illness in every community because the body works the same all over the world. We now have to realize the common underpinnings of religion as well.
Religion provides the words to use to pray, the wisdom to face adversity, and a bond with like believers but it should not exclude those who adopt different beliefs. The soul has a nature and functions that account for many aspects of religion (read the essay "Towards Universal Religion"). Instead of looking at the outward manifestation of the different aspects of religion, we should examine religious rituals as expressions of the soul (e.g., the Christian soul in church is performing the same function as the Hindu worshipper in a temple).
An Exercise
Try to find the Light in every human being you know who has different religious beliefs (different denominations or different religions) than yourself. Categorize their worship into the following categories: prayer, worship, offering, study, connection, praise, fellowship, service, initiation, blessing, and education of leaders (or create your own categories). Then concentrate on seeing how the soul underlies each aspect of their religious practice. When we pay close attention to the content of someone’s words or of their character, we may recognize God’s Light at conscious and unconscious levels even where we differ in religious, cultural, racial, economic, or ideological ways.
When we fail to notice the Light in others, we have erred. The soul is a part of the global community whether we like it or not and it is the common substrate of religious worship in every faith tradition. Be moths to God's Light and to one another. In doing so, we discover more about ourselves and connect to each other.
Share the results of your exercise of seeing the Light in someone else with scott@theorism.org.