What Is Pure Religion?
JAMES 1, verse 27.
Not to ease and aimless quiet
Doth that inward answer tend,
But to works of love and duty
As our being's end. J. G. WHITTIER.
It is surprising how practical duty enriches
the fancy and the heart, and action clears
and deepens the affections.
Indeed, no one can have a true idea of right,
until he does it; any genuine reverence for it,
till he has done it often and with cost;
any peace ineffable in it, till he does it always
and with alacrity.
Does any one complain, that the best affections
are transient visitors with him,
and the heavenly spirit a stranger to his heart?
Oh, let him not go forth, on any strained wing
of thought, in distant quest of them;
but rather stay at home, and set his house in the
true order of conscience; and of their own accord
the divinest guests will enter. J. MARTINEAU.
Roland's comments.
Religion is the relationship between a soul and its maker. When you are right with God, you are attuned to His delicate guidance, and you are ever attentive to the rightness of things.
Each moment you proceed through life without fear. There is always the accompanying backdrop of intuition. Attentiveness to wordless intuition is the soul's desire to be dutiful to God and indicative of its willingness to do what is right.
Much of the time we do not sense its Presence, other than a quiet sense of well being. For most of our mundane activities, there is no wordless impediment to acting, as we go about our lives, and we move fearlessly. It's called living by faith.
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But occasionally, something just doesn't sit right with you. Instead of acting without rhyme or reason, you defer, wait, and watch. For example, if someone is trying to persuade you to their point of view or get you to do something, and you sense something a bit out of order, then just defer. Neither agree nor disagree. And just don't do it. The positive flip side is this.
Mostly our intuitive guidance helps us in delicate moments with others, our spouse or children, for example.
What to say or do in any such moment can only be perfect with Divine Guidance. Most of us look into our brain for some stock answer or some thing we saw or learned somewhere. But this faithless one size fits all easy answer is never right. Even if it happens to be technically correct, the timing, tone of voice, and so on is off.
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The pre rehearsed words, or the clever reasoning of someone else who we heard or read are canned and ring false. They ring empty, no matter how technically correct or beautiful.
But the word or deed that comes from a soul who admits it does not know what the right thing to say or do is, but deeply with all its heart wants to do the right thing, will draw the compassion and the help of the Father. Suddenly you will know what to say or do, it will just come out, without pre-planning or thought of the consequence and it will be right.
Believe me, your loved ones can tell whether you are speaking from the heart and being real with them, or whether you are bringing up something someone else said and basically doing or saying something that serves or defends your pride.
On all sides we are tempted to be ambitious, to reach for some grandiose goal. We are tempted to be more, give more, do more. And of course, the means by which we are ambitious is knowledge, and we even use this predigested knowledge to try to bamboozle or brush off our loved ones.
Whenever you feel emotion rising when presented with some challenge, stand back and come to your senses. The pure in heart move by faith, not by emotion.
God put you in a certain place, for a reason. Who was Einstein's mother? Mozart's dad? Unknown in history, not famous, and unheralded, yet they had a purpose. What if Mozart's dad or Einstein's mother, yielding to societal temptations, had decided to ambitiously pursue a career instead?
Set aside ambition and be attentive to what is right. You will be able to move toward opportunities presented to you. When they are intuitive and right, you will be able to succeed and enjoy them without guilt or conflict. In the meantime, be content with what you have, be there for your kids, avoid doing wrong.
If you are living life attentive to intuition and you sincerely and deeply desire to do what is right, but realize that as you face each moment you don't know what the right is, you will then be properly attentive to others, knowing the right measure of giving and withholding.
Maybe giving a dollar to a panhandler is the right thing to do, and maybe it's not. Maybe giving money to your college kids is right and maybe not. I can't tell you what the right thing to do in any moment is, but you will know if you sincerely check with conscience.
What was Peter saying, when he said that pure religion is caring for widows and orphans? He meant exactly what he said. Helping widows and the fatherless is a noble thing. I think he means that it is better to do something for those who are innocent victims and deserving than just talking about doing good or serving the undeserving.
Action speaks louder than words. Especially when you are helping someone who you don't want anything from in return.
True religion is not feeling pious or good. Some of us do our good deeds to look good before others, to get rid of guilt, or to feel good. We study to impress others or to compensate for a lack of true faith. Christ said "let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing." He meant to do service to others without looking for approval or for a feeling.
A person who lives moment by moment intuitively does not feel much of anything other than a quiet joy.
more information about intuition and living by faith.