William T. Robinson, Jr.
Life has a way of making you confront who you really are as an individual. There are events and situations occurring during your life forcing you to examine your purpose and your actions while here on earth. The truth of your existence, morals, and purpose is at times put before you. While you can lie to others, you cannot hide the truth from yourself and our Creator. There are divine and universal truths that defy man’s ability to manipulate and defile.
Divine truth is inherent, found within, to be revealed and manifested. It is unchangeable, despite man’s attempt to use and manipulate it through some religions for his own selfish, mundane purposes. It is innocent, unadulterated, and an untarnished truth of love and humanity. It is eternal and impervious to man’s vain attempts at manipulation.
These are truths that transcend religion. But we must guard against calculated philosophies and mandates by self serving individuals and groups proposing to dictate what they themselves personally feel is expected by human beings while here on earth. Many religions are conceived from spirituality, with the universal and divine truths being devoid of worldly things.
Some people believe religions are divisive tools keeping the world as a whole from acknowledging and worshiping the same divine Creator. This thought supports the idea by some that religion divides people (causing unnecessary wars and racial and religious intolerance), while spirituality unites us.
I believe to each his own in their attempt to navigate through this life—choosing what they feel is right for themselves during their earthly trek. Thus, you have major religions vying for our patronage. Many times you have religious hierarchies that don’t believe or adhere to the religious doctrines they preach or use to subjugate the masses.
All major religions have a propensity to acknowledge a Supreme Being, the Creator, or God. The major focus is on benevolence and humanitarian concerns for others. Any religion teaching hate, murder, racial discrimination and corruption cannot be of God and cannot be seriously considered as divine and universally spiritual.
We should respect and honor people who by their own choice follow a religion that may be different from our own, especially when the main goal is of a humanitarian and peaceful nature. A religion promoting hate and killing should be suspect, because one’s religion should be spiritual and of a divine nature—promoting peace and humanitarian love.
I was raised a Christian, and I unapologetically follow Christianity because of experiences in my life that have cemented my belief. The tenets of Christianity naturally appeal to the innate and inherent spirituality found within me. No disrespect to other religions, but for me—Christianity offers a guide through life not only teaching me how to live but how to die and gain salvation and eternal life. The Christian religion that I follow is the foundation of my faith guiding me to do what I know is right in a spiraling, immoral world.
But let’s make no mistake, many of those claiming to be die-hard Christians are not practicing Christians. Their actions show otherwise. Going to church every Sunday and being knowledgeable of the Bible doesn’t make you a Christian if you talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
In this life, there will be disasters, tragedies and deaths involving loved ones that will test how strong our faith is—or if you really even had faith at all. Remember, it is easy to claim to have faith when everything is going great, but can you maintain that faith when things don’t go your way?
We live in a world where most people want explanations and reasons for everything that happen, but some things are meant to be accepted without explanations. Sometimes our faith is tested. We may momentarily waiver because of the enormity of the hurt and pain brought on at the time. My Christian faith teaches me that God has our backs and will never leave us despite how dark and gloomy the storms may seem.
Remember faith is an ardent and adamant belief in something you can’t see or understand. But you know it is the will of God. Because we are humans, we experience fear, anxiety, disappointment and uncertainty, but faith should prevail in the end if we are true believers.
My God is good and helps his children (true believers) navigate through the trials and tribulations of life. He makes this world a better place with a promise of salvation and eternal life if we truly believe. Believing is in doing his will. I believe in one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Where do you stand in your faith?
