When we live from our true self in God, religion ceases to be about requirements, but about relationships, the quality and capacity of our relatedness to God and others. Our true self, which is oneness with God, is prayer. Just by being, just by doing anything with the awareness of our oneness with God is prayer. That is why Paul said to pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
The surprising thing is that this place of relationship with God is not about being perfect. The self in God will still make mistakes, but it lives from a center other than its own. When we meet a really grounded, happy, and free person, we become more like that person because we will be satisfied with nothing less. This whole thing, our faith, spreads through and by the quality of our relationships.
In prayer, we experience that quality of relationship with God. It is the place of ultimate freedom. We become a reflection of our own experience. God rubs off on us. It is that simple!
All the elements and practices of religion: the Bible, sacraments, churches, prayer, meditation, worship – everything is to help us experience this essential and united self. If our religious practices do not help us experience this undefended and beloved self, then pray for and find ways to change it and do something very different. Loving God is going along His path of making all things new.
Matthew 9:16-17 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
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