Last night I had a great discussion with a couple of guys who had a quite varied background in their spiritual quests. John had tried Satanism and other variaions along the theme, winding back up at Christianity. Another, younger man had researched various ancient and modern eastern religions. The most interesting of all was an older Episcopalian who has studied Gnosticism.
When Gnosticism is distilled, it is esentially the (heretical) belief that man can communicate directly with God. Such a belief is heretical because it eliminates the institutional middle man and its sometimes power hungry beneficiary administraters also known as Clergy.
It is essential for us to recognize that we are created to be spiritual companions of God. Far too often we fear growing in this realm. We develop spiritually to a point, but fear being different, or on our own. We rely on ritual to try to maintain our spiritual contact with God, failing to realize that depending upon our ritual diminishes our growth and enlarges our sense that we are somehow effecting our own salvation.
It is impossible to pray when we are unwilling to be part of the answer. It is impossible to grow spiritually when we limit its manifestations to the literal.
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