Understanding God, Faith and Spirituality

I’ll start by saying how much I learned in this course. It has laid the groundwork for assisting others in the understanding of the complexities of belief. I enjoyed the whole course and the way it was related to the ministry of the Universal Life Church. I felt the course was a very thought provoking and unique program. By looking into the history and development of western intellectual thought as is associated with the development of religion one can see how this evolution morphs according to what is most accepted at the time.

The tools in the form of information within this course will aid me in dialoging and ministering to skeptical individuals. There are those who would rather ridicule people who think in mysticism. These are individuals that too are looking for meaning in life and when seeking our council we can approach carefully with the knowledge necessary to deal with those driven by the mind.

This will be a class that I will be able to use as a background to assist those I minister. Many of the people I come in contact with have a background in extreme religious Christian churches and have left this and grown away from any form of religion or spirituality. They are tired of being told they are not good enough to have love in their lives and to live life to the fullest. Because of this they are lonely and feel unworthy. This was a point brought out in Lesson 8 of the course. Unfortunately the younger people of today seem to be those that are the most affected by the thought they are not good enough. My little group has people in menial jobs, overcoming addiction, bad relationships, and despair. None of us have much formal education but we all have a desire for a better existence for ourselves and the world.

This course also takes us through a history of western thought starting with the Pythagoreans going all the way to Freud. Fascinating is all I can say. I think the philosopher I really enjoyed the most was Plato. I think the reason for this is because I’m very intuitive and spiritual and I found my spirit resonating with Plato’s philosophy. Plato feeld in the duality of the universe. He feeld there exists another dimension or a dual or parallel universe. This world that we live in now is imperfect and there exists in another dimension a perfect dimension or universe. Jung talks about this years later and calls it the unconscious mind. According to Plato the ultimate goal of Mankind was to reach for this perfect world as much as they possibly could. A good example of this perfect world is shown in His allegory of the cave. After taking this course, I was inspired to actually read Plato’s Republic in its entirety and was amazed at how little has changed since Plato when it comes to people. Although I admitted to liking Plato this course teaches to learn from all philosophers. Balance in all things.

I really appreciated how this course ended by the author. He went on to share his personal life journey and open himself so that He could show us His real self. This takes courage and guts to say the least. I agree with the author that to be an effective minister requires one to be open and transparent with one’s own life thus being believable and trustworthy. People open up to you more because they have found someone they can relate to and trust. I find that this makes you a whole lot more effective minister than someone who comes across as this perfect person on an ivory tower.

I realize my purpose is to be one of a guide not the expert who knows the truth. I can give guidance through non-threatening questions. I will plant the seed and perhaps see it germinate but perhaps not. I must be patient to let others blossom according to their understanding on their own journey.

Every ministry is an opportunity to learn.

If we believe our reality is a creation of a collective manifestation of imagination we can realize our expansion continues in search of more perfect conditions existing somewhere else that we cannot currently see.

Physics unite the two predominant views regarding the physical world versus the psychic world. This ultimate philosophy would unite the truth in these two philosophies, as there is truth to both. We limit ourselves with words and need to focus on intuition.

As ULC Seminary ministers we accept a more open interpretation of God and God’s Love. We look forward to a day when we realize the oneness of all, to our service to man, not to be envied as a chosen group.

The Universal Life Church Seminary offers courses on a variety of subjects. To learn more about yourself as a spirit in a body and how your beliefs have formed or may work, check out the affordable online courses at the Universal Life Church Seminary