As the founder of Lightward Bound, I had to decide on what the purpose of the organization would be. Over time I developed a mission statement that expresses what I intend for the organization to work toward. (Read the mission and vision statements.) The central objective is to increase the light in our nation.
As a person of faith, I have grown aware over time that many religions bring much good into the world. Too often we may tend to focus on our own religion as “The One,” but really no religion has the corner on all that is good. On the other hand, most religions are founded on principles of light–basically some intent to bring good into the lives of people. For many people, however, the history of religion has left them with a bad taste, thinking that religion is about money, power, and control of people. There is no denying that such things have existed and still do exist in the world of religion.
But I believe there is also enough clear evidence that many religions had their origins in the intent to bring good to the lives of people. If we look at the origins of Buddhism or the Lutheran Church, for example, their histories clearly show that each faith began with an interest in the big questions that affect people’s lives. They each came about because someone sought out a better way of life and sought a spiritual course of action to find it.
It is also important to note that if a religious institution does have money, power, and some sort of control, it is not inherently evil. The question, regardless of the amount of resources, is “what do they intend to do with these resources and what is manifested in the way they actually use their resources?”
When a church distributes goods to the poor and needy, they are using their money and power to bring light into those people’s lives. When a faith helps people to genuinely have experiences or encounters with the divine, there is light resulting from their resources. When people find hope and joy as a result of what they learn through religious sources, light is entering their lives because of resources of some religious group. When the teachings of a faith tradition motivate and empower individuals to make themselves better people, they are becoming beacons of light themselves, again because of money, power, or control held by a religious sect. All these things are good for a community, a nation, and the world.
For these reasons, I (and Lightward Bound) encourage being involved with a religious congregation or other form of religious or spiritual affiliation or pursuit. Look for what light you can find there. In most cases you will find some. But some people may discover too much darkness in the places they are looking, which is a good sign that it’s time to move on and find a better source of spiritual light. While there are many sources of light in our world, I believe that pursuing light through religious or spiritual sources is essential and shouldn’t be left out or neglected because it is the one avenue that is typically intended to lead people toward our Creator, whom I consider to be our greatest source of light.
So please, don’t neglect your spiritual side. Look around at what’s out there or where you came from–your spiritual and religious roots–and find out where the light is. You may be surprised what great things you may discover. I wish you well on this new, or renewed, spiritual journey!
Emil