Well said!

Choice, there is no substitute.

http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/COAT1733

Yes and my purpose is the gatekeeper, I will lead you to heaven.

I'm told I've taken the road less traveled. Now, where the hell am I?

well in order to tell you where you are we have to know what things look like.

So what do you see??

Let's see. I do not follow (there are a lot of leaders, but they're not quite going where I want to go). I do not lead (although I'm told others are interested in my path). There is no traffic jam, but I feel that I'm riding the median - rocks and trees in place of too many vehicles. I enjoyed the path when I had more energy. Adding the roles of wife and mother has just made me tired. Both my career and spiritual paths are unconventional. When I'm not moving forward with purpose, I feel quite lost. So, I come here.

Sounds like you're where you're supposed to be, that scenery sounds really familiar.

So keep moving forward with a purpose. You're not lost, you just can't see the rest of us for the trees.

Thank you. This is the beauty of the internet. I get to hear the voices of similar soles. I just don't see many soccer moms buying Goddess candles and essential oils at our local head shop. I do see them at the liquor store tho' . . .

Geez, I always get "souls" wrong. Sorry about that.

Of course, "soles" works in its own way too.

I am searching for what i could be or am .
There are many paths that lead to the main road in my opinion .
No one has to be a leader ,that is meant for the strong ,the truly strong in all they do .
To be a follower is not a bad thing .All leaders have to have followers to be leaders .
Followers are the backbone ,the work ,the way .
My path is to find out where I truly belong .
Where that takes me ,I will go .
It does not matter because eventually we all are in the same place .
I know ,because I have seen that place .
Leader or follower ? I have allot to learn before I choose which I need to be .

Ah! But there really is no "main road". Just many smaller paths that eventualy run in the same general direction.

Each individual walks thier own path, wether they lead or follow. There comes a point in time when each one of us has to "get out of the way".

But April ,is not the same direction the same road or main road ?
Out of the way for whom ?
For someone to pass us on our path ?
Please explain ...

Hm. I'm having a little trouble with "get out of the way." (Perhaps it has something to do with the way I drive) Was there a less abrasive meaning intended?

I'm picturing a vast field. There are many paths, some are travel worn and others are barely visible, many cross. In some places the path is obscured by tall vegetation and in others many paths are visible. (Kinda a cool visual. Pity my artistic skills are lacking) There we all are "outstanding in our field."

Some days I lead, others I follow. Right now I'm trying to get enough energy just to keep moving forward. I'm working on it tho'.

kids and husbands do that ya know ? Zap the strength right out of ya !
Right now I seem to be in a limbo state .
I see the paths well and the field or main road as I would call it is right beyond .
However ,I have reservations and those are within .
So I am at the thresh hole waiting for my own decision .
I can lead ,I do it well when I put my mind and cause to it .I also can follow, but to follow I have to have reason and it has to be more than just say so ,for me to follow I would have to find cause and know clearly where the path would lead . I do not want to jump blindly into anything an most times will not .
Not to say I have never made huge mistakes ,I have .
I just try now not to make as many .
I see it somewhat different Nancy .
I see a meadow ,there is a waterfall to the side .
On three sides there are may trails that lead away .
Many are coming through these trails ,but few make it to the meadow ,few get renewed in the water of life that rushes over the rocks of the waterfall .
The reason I see few that make it is the paths are dangerous ,there are dragons and clifts in way ,the rocks shift and the earth moves and people cannot or do not continue because they fear and some just are too tired and so not go on .
Some say in loud words 'It is not worth it "
So few find the meadow ,few see beyond the trees .
But in the end ,they all go to the same place ,the ones that made it and the ones that did not meet again .
Who then leads ,who then follows ...I want to be a leader .I want to make it to the meadow and renew in the waters of life .

Yeah they've already touched on it.

Many paths, visible to one another but no two alike. No one can walk where we go. It is for us to make our way through life, and we have to do this on our own. The paradox is that we are not alone, infinatly, eternaly connected to every living thing around us, we travel through this existance.

Oh the "get out of the way" is meant both gently ( tounge in cheek) and as a warning for those who will try to stop and hinder us with "there is ONLY ONE way" yet they don't know where they're going either.

Re: "get out of the way"

Now I get it. Thank you. And, yes, I too wish they'd get out of the way (and get over themselves, and go jump in a lake . . .)

I think the same way. who are they to decide what's right or wrong for me. They don't live my life.

Maybe 'getting out of the way' is all about getting out of our own way...obstacles are manifest beliefs...what we attend to,because of what we have learned is possible, limits us to a particular perception...breaking out of old limiting expectations opens up a brand new 'map', where each road is an adventure and each traveler met is an opportunity to bless creation...x0

Sometimes, that is the case.

But if many here are like me then what they are finding right now is.... Groups of people who all believe the same thing, saying that the others are wrong and wanting to " show you the way", "Save your soul", and all of the other claptrap rhetoric that we can tell ourselves.

Sometime too, obstacles are just the universes way of saying "how bad do you want it?" It's up to us to find a way around the walls that can pop up in our paths, or to divert course.

It's amazing how many of those brick walls I've built myself. That doesn't seem to keep me from slamming my head into them repeatedly. (Of course, when my sister starts to lead the family in her prayer, I realize that I don't need to own all the brick walls that are out there.)

Yes, I need to get out of my own way. However, in the mean time, it helps to step back, look up to the moon, breath in, breath out, repeat.

With a little perspective I can usually see around the wall - or just decide that I'm okay with the view for now.

Well,I believe that each person is responsible for their own soul .
And no one but that person can change it or even save it .As for walls ,everyone has them ,no life or path is easy or without walls .
Groups ? Hate ? Dislike ? It is what it is and is on all sides of any debate .
I have said I am searching for my true self ,and I am ,but I also pray .I am one of those Christians .
There is nothing wrong with it unless I take that and try to FFT anyone into my belief .
FFT is what I call any group or belief that just gets out of whack .
If they (any group or belief ) cannot Talk you into it ,the try using Fear ,if that don't work Force is an option to most and I still say each person is responsible for their own .
If all left their so called idolodigy at home and just met another person for who they are ,we all would have less walls and more to learn from each other .
No one can fuss or complain about someone elses belief if they choose not to understand and accept . Oh they do ,but then it makes all that do the same and that is the real issue and why alot turn away and why alot just keep building those walls .
It takes understanding ,communication ,acceptance and a great deal more on all sides .
Good Day to all .Peace

I find myself in this situaion...

I take care of elderly people during the day. This means that I go into their homes and help them out with whatever they need. This includes companionship.
I have had to tell myself that these "bible study" sessions are practice for them, and just part of the companioship side of my job. But they take my not getting up and walking out as a sign that I am pursuaded.
I have covered the fact that I am Pagan with the old cover I'm a unitarian. But they don't get it. My rules of hospitality won't allow me to be unyeilding in their home, so...

Ummmmmmmmmm.......
Allot of older people are so set in the way they were taught that they cannot or will not accept any other way .
I know because my mother was that way .
Her way or no way .
That is why all have the opportunity to change that .
By communication and acceptance instead of anger and pushing away by word or deed .
I cannot understand why (in some religions ) that they cannot accept a different belief yet in their church it is hard to find 2 that agree on all things .And then I cannot understand sometimes why anyone would push another away because of a belief .
I do not ever think I could be myself ,without truly being myself .
I hide nor do I cover who or what I am from no one .
I am whom I am .
I think what I think and I believe what I believe .
I am responsible for my own soul .
I understand though the trying to cover because of anger or hurt that could follow .
But I still at my old age do not get it .
I see it ,even understand it ,but still I ask why ?
Maybe I just see the Christian God different than most Christians ,well.......actually find 2 that think the exact same underneath all the organization or preaching and I will sprout some wings and fly .......or maybe with an umbrella pop it open and float about a bit ...unho .forgot my broom ......hehe

Wow, April, that has got to be frustrating. I know there are days when that sort of thing doesn't bother me - then there are the other days. What are some of your coping techniques? I'm guessing you've tried to steer them towards the newspaper or other forms of fiction during reading time.

Spirituality is such a personal journey. I am fascinated how some get so concerned that they got it 'right' when they get near the end. I'm just pulling out of a dark place where I wanted the end now (hormonal shifts can really suck). I'm trying to remember what I tell my sons; "practice patience."

Fiction ?
Maybe ,maybe not .
I do think it is grossly misused both in the negative and the affirmative .
I actually think it tells us a story of creation and of laws ,however it has been so distorted you may as well read a paper ,get as much out of it .
The end is not because you are getting old ,the end can happen anytime in life .There is only one thing you must do when born and that is die .
It is how you live your life in between that counts .
When some are preaching to me about this or that ,I go into another time or space ...
Find a thing I like and concentrate on it .
Patience is good if you have it ,I don't .
So I find other ways of getting away .
Bitterness leads no where ,so that is not an option for me .
Besides why should I be bitter about what someone else feels or says or does ?
Older people just are what they are and not often willing to change or listen to reason or another way of thinking .
Allot of that is because allot of them can't think past go anyway .
They just hang on to what they think is .let them ,it harms no one and sometimes even if you are in a far away place ,you learn something .
Tolerance first .

Yep. Tolerance first.
I'm learning to just go with the flow. Bend and not break and just continue, one foot at a time. There are times when I get really frustrated, and that ususally happens when they become SO intolerant of those others who worship the same God. The "we're Christians but these others aren't they're false religions" crap. It's this mentality that causes so much hurt and division in the world. That is when I find I have to speak up, I can not hold my tongue.

I suppose I should explain why the "cover" story... They are Jehovas wittnesses. Things could go really badly for them if it was found out that they allowed a witch into their home to take care of them. They are very reliant on that church so I will not do anything to jeopardise that. Instead I will give a more acceptable answer for what I believe. That we all, as humans, have a right to hold whatever religious belief that brings us comfort and hope, and no one has the right to tell us that we are wrong.

April ,most religions are the same .
I have JW's in my family .married a Catholic ,mama was a penacostal and in my family there is about 4 different religions more .
So I understand all the "we are right ,everyone else is wrong ' stuff .
I just am a little of all I guess in the way I believe .
It is hard not to be with all the 'see this ,see that " I grew up with .
But I am myself and that is what counts the most .
I thought my husband ,him being Catholic would actually be more understanding ....I mean look at the history there ,but nope ,and he is not even a practicing one .
I actually have family that do not even go to church and not religious in they do not follow religion at all and they seem to be my worse critics .
SO ,I just be me and let them be them .
I have found as long as I feel right about it ,it really does not matter .
And I just walk my path or way and let them walk theirs .
I cannot change them nor do I want to ,it is all up to them and to you .
I will tell you I learned allot form my cousin's wife that is a JW ,some made sense ,some not to me .
But in the end ,I am who I am .
Be brave ,be caring ,and you will be who you are suppose to be .
This subject is Fate or Destiny ....life is both .
I salute you !

And ...April ,I know the thorns and barbs people throw at others they think are different .I also know how hard it is when someone is determined to 'change you ' to their point of view .
The pressure is intense and sometimes over bearing .
But always remember ....you are who you are .
If you change some or think about something in a different way than before ,it is okay ,you are still you .
I think that maybe sometimes you are having doubts about somethings..?
It is okay to learn and doubt .
That is human ,we are not without our trials and errors and give and takes .
No matter who we are ,we change some each day .We learn ,we incorperate into our being all we see and hear and sometimes we even change completely our thought process .
We tend to apply what we learn to what we already know .
And that is good . We are still who we are .
Challenges come from all walks of life ,from all we see ,do and hear .
The battle is not that we have to hide or fake it ,but that we tolerate and allow dissent from those about us ,those that are family and those that we care for and for those that just enter our path long enough to disrupt it ,challenge it and try like all get out to change it .
You have to know that they believe as strong as you or I or anyone else does in what they believe .
So it is a two way street .
No one belief has the monopoly on right or wrong ,good or bad ,is or is not .
Everyone ,Every belief ,Every Religion or non religion has a contribution to make to any conversation or debate .
For example ....Which is God ,we all have A God /Goddess .
Is it more that they think theirs is right or you think yours is ?
Why does it make a difference whose God is right or wrong ?
Do they not teach in the whole the same .
All is one ,all things /people matter /pray or meditate ,give thanks or gifts /love / respect /honesty /humane ?
So ,does it matter who is who in Gods ?
No ,it only matters that you are you and you believe the way you do and accept others that are different .
Is it all black and white ? No ,the gray is always there .
Nagging at you ,sometimes berating you ,annoying you .
But you and I will learn more from the gray than we ever can from the black and white .
Does that make sense cause I am in a hurry and kinda going and coming in thought process today ?

Well ,thank you .
Yes you can definitely be spiritual without being religious ,but the two are very closely related .
To be spiritual is to aspire to a higher calling to a degree .
Religion is based in that .No matter what belief ,the Higher Being or Calling is somehow always inserted into it .
So seperation from the two is almost impossible if not impossible .
JMO

This is what is happening to me this week .
I can see why some here are very anti Christian ,I always have seen it ,but this week has really brought light to allot of it for me .
I was planing a Halloween Party on the 30th ...Exibits of Celtic /Druid beliefs ,native American ,Fortune telling etc ...and put up some posters for a Ladies Night ...come and join us and have fun and learn about what Halloween really is and about other subjects ,just a fun time ,some games ,some prizes and just relax and talk ...
I put the posters up and suddenly one store was threatened with boycott if they did not take the poster down .
Satan ,Evil was coming to our small town to sweep children up and cast spells on everyone to burn in hell ....Have mercy really !
So I called the local paper and sent a letter to the editor .
I was born and raised here ,have presided over many charity functions and had all types things to do with this community .
This is wrong and I am not one to back off .
I am still having my get together ,but I am in a fight and I will win .
I never fight to lose .
Wish me Peace .

Keep pushing for understanding, and compassion.
I believe that it will come when we least expect it.

I wish you more than peace. I wish you serenity in the face of excessive opposition.
Good Luck.

I believe, on another post, someone commented on how great it was that we lived in a country that was so open to diversity of religion. Religion (as a generic umbrella reference to all spiritual pursuits) has hit the same road blocks as racial and sexual diversity - Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY). Makes me want to flick someone in the forehead. Geez.

Good luck with your neighbors Shirley. If you can find the one idiot who is riling up the rest you can focus your energies without wasting them on the mindless followers. Then you can get ready to explain the origin of the egg hunt at Easter.

And the cross and Christmas Trees too .... well,I have talked of several of the ministers ....told them about what I had planned ,some agreed that tolerance and the subject was valid ,some called me mentally ill ...actual statement was "The only people I know that talk about this are mentally ill people ,I have a friend that is a (spelling her ) physo ? and he talks about it ....." duh .....physo's don't have 'friends!So he was saying I was a mental case .
Anyway ,I am not sure I want to give them the stage and it would get to that point ,they would stage a boycott and prayer for all souls vigil and I would gladly walk through it ,but my family would pay the real price and I am now debating the whole issue .
I think what I will do is finish my room and set it all up in there and then invite those interested to my home ,let em come here ......then I would have the upper hand .
As I say ,I am not backing off ,maybe delaying some ,but I intend to pass it own and have written to the local paper ..
I told the minister ,well,"I ain't there yet " as to being a mental case ,but I sure don't get it ...I really don't ...

I am from Alabama and a very small community and know most of the people .
I do not have the oils or potions ,I am a seer .
I just can't understand why there is so much controversy over telling about the celts ,about what a 'real witch ' was (no flying down to swoop up the kids or to bind souls to hell ......On and when I mentioned the Bible and how it was changed to fit the needs of Kings as in James and Josiah and others ,I got a reaction from hell ...
Anyway ...I am planning .I am also tired and need to visit my niece for a few minutes and feed my animals ,so I will come back later .

oh before I go ,I thought the Bunny brought the eggs ...hehe

Insinuated that you were mentally ill? Check his garage for pitchforks. I suspect he is pretty insecure to be unable to discuss his own beliefs without belittling yours.

It's probably frustrating to back down from a fight. However, he doesn't need another pulpit. His gross display of ignorance might rile up the like-minded. Sometimes it is best to simply embody the qualities in which you believe. Continue to be an upstanding, charitable member of society and let those who know you ask questions when they are ready.

Funny how those who are spiritually restrained from having sex don't want to hear about bunnies, baby ducks, eggs and sneaking off into the forest on a beautiful spring day.

Yes he very much did .Sounded as if he was from the dark ages or the age of 'anything out of the normal ,put em into an institution ' age .
What they do not understand is ,there is NO NORMAL !!!!
I still do that ,sneak off and go walking in the forest .When I was a child I was a rock climber and tree climber .Fell out of allot of them too ,maybe that is when I became mental ...ouch my head !
But my real guess is he was just not up to talking to me and after I sorta gave him some food for thought he decided to berate me ,in a nice way of course ,by using his so call physco friend .
To tell ya true ,I do not want to go near his garage ,not that I am afraid but I might catch something .
I think that people here have so long been entrenched in believing in the 'fear ' of it all ,they cannot cope with the reality .
I fear but not for my soul ,I fear for all those that continue to teach ignorance to their young ,almost guarenteeing there is no hope for dialog in the future .
So sad .......so sad ....
Again ,I am not backing off ,I am just rearranging and kinda daring them to come here after me ,this is my ground to stand on .

Oh ,I have written several little articles and intend ot display them all over my area .
A daring game I do intend to come out on top at .
I am more than happy to debate .
Not the Bible ,there is a quote for everything and too many times took out of text ,but history I can hold my own in ...let em come .

Let us know how it turns out.

protection as in a weapon ? that I got .
protection as in Angels ,that I have too .
Got any more ideas of how to protect ?
I can only imagine what you must have gone through here in Alabama ,but as time passes ,the bigotry seems to only be a few and those are the older ones ,sure there are still those my age 56 that are and those that took up their parents arms so to speak .
Those would also be my worry as some are just plain out mean .
But I wrote an article to the paper and it will be printed the editor called me today ,he has printed me before on subjects and the first words out of his mouth was "ya know Shirley this will step on some toes ' I said " so ? " he said 'that is what I thought ,so it will run Saturday or Wednesday so check for it ...and I will .
I already got my response wrote out too cause I know some fool will write how I am a mental case ...same one more than apt .

and one more thing about racism .
I spent allot of time up North with relatives and to tell you true ,I found more racism there than I ever found here .
Maybe it is just the area .Now as in my little town ,allot exists and always has ,but it was few that showed it but were loud with it ,but my summer in Michigan and spending time in other states as in New Mexico ,I found so much of it it was just out of this world bad .
And it was on BOTH sides of Every race .Indians ,Black ,White ,Mexican ,did not matter ,it was a constant .
I did find though that I ,maybe it was how I looked at the world or maybe it was because I was just a woman to some ,was allot more accepted and like by all than my husband at the time .
People would stop me on the street just to speak ,maybe it was my old south accent ...hehe !
Well...call me mental ...anyway I had an easier time communicating and also I was very much an advocate for asking too many questions like WHY ?

Here is the first of several little things that will get in our local paper because the editor likes me ,not my last draft and some spelling and sentences are off but it is the main body of it

Tolerance
This week I have learned allot about Tolerance and Intolerance about beliefs and one reason why God has ever so slowly been taken out of our schools .courthouses and just about any public place .
And it came about over a simple Halloween Party .
I have long been a person that thirsts for knowledge ,I read ,I talk ,I debate ,I listen .
I firmly believe that knowledge not gained is understanding lost .
I also love to interact with others about subjects and so I thought to share the true meaning of Halloween and what it was to the Celts thousands of years ago with others that were like minded and wanted to learn .
So this month was Halloween and a good place to start or so I thought .
I decided to have a Halloween get together and then maybe next month one about Thanksgiving and the next Christmas and so on .
This month Some games like pulling a star from a bag and seeing your fortune ,An Angel Board ,maybe some card readings and some exibits on how both the celts and our own Native Americans used stones and crystals ,herbs and candles and the earth and heavens as their type of worship and magic .
A crystal ball exibit and more .
Some prizes and some stories of ghosts and Angels and just allot of talk ,sharing and fun .
However I guess I forgot that tolerance is something that is not a given and is not practiced by everyone .
For Businesses to be threatened to be boycotted because they showed a poster advertising or someone calling another evil because of this is way beyond anything I ever even thought of .
I wonder why some that claim to be Christian have such an intolerance for another even for a party and then scream when someone files a suit because a cross is taken down or about prayer in schools .
It is the same .
If both sides on any belief is not tolerated ,then where do we as humans go from here ?
If you do not know where life has been ,how do you know where you are going ?That is knowledge and to gain that is to be .
I have never understood why one Religion dislikes another ,never understood why an Atheist needed to remove a prayer or a cross never understood why superstition and just plain out intolerance is almost taught to our Children .
I just don't get it .
I am a Christian ,but how can I as a Christian say "become like me ' if I cannot tolerate who I am asking to become like me .
Halloween does not mean a witch in a black hat is going to fly down on a broom and take your children or cast a spell upon you to see you burn in hell .We make that ourselves .it is called choice and free will .
We choose who we are and if we cannot be humane and tolerate well.......
That a fun party can be turned into such a controversy is over the top .
That people would actually go to another level to make it a controversy is something in this day and time just should not happen .
It is why there is so much in this world that is wrong .
It is intolerance for even learning or sharing or talking or praying or most of all living .
What happened 2000 years ago is part of who we are today,ask Jesus if you don't think what happened in the past is relevant to us even today .
Knowledge is not bad ,however, intolerance is .

So I have to beat up some of my red brick ...okay ...will do this weekend .
I tell you people need to get out of the box they build around themselves .
No offense but if we all lived in a box like some want to ,their sects of Christian would not exist.
We would all still be ..well..........Pagan ,would we not ?
Their are so many good Christians out there in the world ,just like there are so many good people of all beliefs .
They go to drought stricken places and war ravaged or flooded or earthquake damaged and they do not ask " are you a Christian " before they open their hands with a plate of food or lift someone from the rubble and that is what I do not understand , they accept people as they are until talking about it and then it is a taboo .
I just have issues about it . I guess .