“That’s the meaning of life really … straining for a peek at what our soul looks like naked … and then accepting that we are LOVED, just as we are.”

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After meditating on my prior post (“There comes a midnight hour“), I was reminded of the Hans Christian Anderson fable – “The Emperor’s New Suit“. So much of the Emperor’s life was devoted to what others thought of him … so much so that he actually humiliated himself by parading around in a supposedly invisible garment … of the highest quality material, of course!

We do same thing with our souls really. We’ve been trained and told that we must wear clothes … we have different soul clothes for every event. Most of us don’t even know what our souls look like anymore!

It would be something of substance if the emperor had actually strutted around in all his naked glory … revealing himself for everyone to see; owning it without care. He would have been his True Self for the first time in his life.

The difference with clothing your soul is that there is no substance to it … it’s ALL illusion! Sometimes I feel as if I have stripped so many layers off of my soul, but I still can’t see what what it really looks like … who I really AM!

That’s the meaning of life really … straining for a peek at what our soul looks like naked … and then accepting that we are LOVED, just as we are.

So many of our actions, and reactions, are based on the validation and invalidation of people in the world around us.  When truthfully we should be able to strip our souls bare, knowing that God thinks you are a KNOCKOUT ;-), and walk around naked as a jaybird … not allowing anyone else to have a say in such a transformation.

It’s difficult though … we get SO tied up in relationships.  We seek affirmation from being loved … being LOVED is the most important thing in the world, it seems … but we already are; by God.  Somehow we have allowed people’s opinions, love, affection, and approval … to become more important than God’s!  As Kierkegaard said in his quote,

“… he who cannot reveal himself cannot love, and he who cannot love is the most unhappy man of all.”

Ultimately, we have to trust that God’s timing is in place.  Sometimes I strain and push as hard as I can in meditation for this breakthrough to just happen … but truthfully, perhaps God knows that my naked soul would overwhelm me at this point.  There are stages to life … all we can do is put ourselves on the path that God would have us be on … and then follow God’s guidance to STAY on that path.  I am certain that I will be a soulful nudist at some point in the not too distant future!

I continue to follow through on my life-changing decision yesterday … whenever I feel motivated to do something out of selfish “love” (seeking out my own affirmation/emotional well-being) I will stop … let it go, and open that part of me to God’s Love.  I succeeded today … so that’s day one of being soulfully naked!

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

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