Did you ever ask questions as a kid? Like where is God?
Were you given answers that didn’t feel right? Were you told not to ask questions? Were you told to just have faith or to listen to the adults in your life? If so, we have something in common. I’d like to know if your soul is still prodding you to ask questions. Living a spiritual life means asking questions. For me a wholistic, spiritual approach to life is one that is in harmony with my heart, mind, body and soul. Marci Shimoff says in The Five Foundations for Living in the Miracle Zone,
“Listen to your soul. Live aligned with your Highest Truth, honoring your inner guidance. Be self-referral rather than outer-referral.”
I believe that listening to that small voice within holds the key to facing any situation. I feel a connection between Marci’s words and the scripture Psalm 4:10 that reads,
"Be still and know that I am God.”
I’m an avid student of spiritual studies who is willing to listen. I am also an independent thinker and I question everything from my soul. I am inquisitive, and excited to explore new and out-of-the-box modalities to living my life in my own laboratory. I sit with Spirit, ask my questions and trust that still small voice within me. I am confident that the spirit of the living God has got my back. What are your questions? Who are you asking?
Although I am grateful for my early lessons in life, I am grateful also that my years of adhering faithfully to the authorities of religion, health and happiness have ended. My inner calling to ask and trust within myself took many years to develop. Awakening to my inner spiritual power has brought me joy, freedom, creativity and feelings of wholeness. I enjoy being me; I enjoy experiencing God in every person and situation. I enjoy exploring uncharted territories, accepting nothing at face value, and playing with life as if each day were my last and my first! Have you ever thought that the reason you question is that your inner guide is telling you something is “off” in what you are hearing?
I first questioned religious teachings in 1952, when well-intended but misguided congregants in my church told me that they would pray for my mother because she was not Catholic and would not be able to enter heaven. That was in second grade. I didn’t believe them, and I also didn’t believe that God cared if I ate hot dogs or fish sticks on Friday. I was horrified at the concepts of hell, purgatory and limbo, that “special place” for unbaptized babies. I’d like to know why I never heard that God’s Omnipresence meant that God was present in me and my mother. Dear God! How could God ever be separate from any of God’s creations?
I tried very hard to be a good Catholic. As an adult I became lay director of women’s Catholic retreats, substitute teacher at my children’s Catholic school, member of their parent teacher association and Eucharistic Minister. Sadly, I only heard, “Lord, I am not worthy.” This did not lift me to living a better life. I never heard about our soul authority, our divine spark or our Oneness with God. I wanted to feel and breathe and live the divine spark of God that I felt. God is everywhere present, right?
My belief in my life purpose was and remains: “Awaken to God within All, Create more Good and Share”. There is a union of God with all. I am here to find and experience the spark of divinity and to lead from that point. Genesis 1:31 says,
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
“Very Good!” Did I read that right? Yes! I read that right.
I first questioned doctors and medicine in 1970. My daughter was just one year old. I was totally unaware of the power of foods, but I was curious. My doctor told me that I had no need to be concerned about my daughter’s food. He said, “No matter what your daughter eats, she will be fine. If it weren’t safe it wouldn’t be in the grocery store!”
I asked him what hexametaphosphate was. I had read that word on the label of a bag of marshmallows. I had never read a food label before. It didn’t “feel right” and it didn’t sound like food. He said he didn’t know and it didn’t matter. That office visit was the beginning of my rebellious and necessary research that led to a serious diet change in our household and a shift in what I could expect a medical doctor to know.
Over the years I’ve irritated many an instructor, doctor, dentist, neighbor and friend with my questions, but I am committed to asking, considering, learning, going within and knowing more than I did before. When we ask questions we learn more, engage and connect more and we make better decisions. We need to stop being blind followers. Our questions are our first clue that something is “off”. Questions allow for more awareness and creativity and they help us to re-define our perspective. Questions often lead to a complete paradigm shift, one that we would never have had without the question.
“Sometimes we get so caught up in appearing smart that we become afraid to ask the question that will actually make us smart.” John Hawkins author 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know.
What is your soul saying to you? Are there questions you need to ask of others and ask within yourself? Please ask. Some questions we ask from the head and others we ask from the heart. Science is showing us that the heart has the best answers because there is more intelligence in the heart than in the brain! Charles Fillmore knew that and wrote,
“In this babel I will go to headquarters. If I am Spirit and this God they talk so much about is Spirit, we can somehow communicate or the whole thing is a fraud.”
Before making any decision go directly to your powerful place, God right within your own heart.
"Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Asking Questions in the Stillness,
Barbara
Rev. Barbara Hribar, Minister Emeritus Unity of Medina
