Marla Vendret
Author of Romantic Fantasy & Mythos
Spiritual Realm Archives
"God generates beings, and sends them back over and over again, till they return to Him."
Koran
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Spiritual Realm
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"God generates beings, and sends them back over and over again, till they return to Him."
Koran
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Spiritual Realm
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I didn’t realize it at the time, but religion taught me to be afraid. Afraid of being deceived. Afraid of being a failure. Afraid of society’s influence. Afraid of being different. Afraid of being a child. Fear is a horrible way to live your life, but it is spectacularly effective. When you’re afraid, you don’t need someone else to be looking over your shoulder.
This morning I woke up feeling a desperate need to pray. As many of you know, I abandoned my faith about 5 years ago so when these moments come upon me, I have several options: a) psychoanalyze the reason behind the need; b) give into the need and pray to "whatever;" or c) ignore it. 
In humanity’s far distant past people curiously observed the world around them and learned to live in rhythm with it. The universe, including the heavens, land, rivers,rocks, plants, trees, and animals; all of nature was alive and imbued with spirit. They observed the cycles of the moon and developed rituals as participants in its mysteries. They created stories explaining the cyclical changes of the moon, and its connection to the seasons.
If lottery players are any indication, most people, and I include myself, have waited on miracles in one form or another. For most of my life, as a matter of fact, I waited on the “will of God.” It wasn’t always big things; sometimes I sweated over the small stuff. During times of severe money problems, I prayed for a financial miracle…and once I actually got it. 
It would be easy to regard this topic as simply an intellectual discourse and never realize the true importance of symbolism to mankind. I’d like to correct that misrepresentation right now. Symbols are important. More important than many of us would like to give them credit for. They, quite simply, give us hope.