Spirituality vs. Christianity...Wait, WHAT?!

Now, I am more spiritual than Christian. Why? Because I do not do what I do religiously, I do what I do because it comes from my soul. I want to be who I am because it is in me, not out of routine (going to church every day), especially when you live in a world of false prophets and churches more messy than the beauty salon and tabloids combined. Besides, I think Mahatma Ghandi summed up best how I feel about today's Christianity; " I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Your body is a temple, which is a place that is a house of God and worship. God lives in all of us. You are already equipped with the tools and resources to live an righteous life without the church gossip,the preacher twisting the words of the Bible and not lifting a finger to help the same congregation that fills the collection plate every week, financial drain of having to compete in the "church fashion show" or to be guilt-tripped into putting all of your money in the collection plate or feeling ashamed as the preacher damns the sinners that does the sins that he is preaching about, as if God isn't a forgiving God. I've even heard of some churches requiring a W-2 as part of the "membership application" and demanding ridiculous amounts of YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY, because they know how much you make each month. AND there is a TV preacher "named" Creflo Dollar. Seriously?? Didn't the Bible say that you can give your 10% through tithes and charity, or just tithes alone? You see where I am going with this? Is it a place of God and salvation or a Country Club?? You tell me. So what about the people that are unable...just because they could not sow much to reap as fruitful of a harvest as the financially able, they are stuck hanging onto a wing and a prayer that God will provide? Granted he does, but you get what I am trying to say. You do not need the church nor the preacher to find something that is in you all along; the power, mercy, love and strength of God and our Earth-bound Savior, Jesus Christ. You have to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF first, have faith second,thirdly, be diligent in your works and lastly have a DIRECT LINE to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After all, he would love to hear from you, not just your "representative".

Do not rely on anyone to tell you any differently. Search within yourself or listen to that voice. You'll realize that he have been your guide your whole life. Whether you listen or not is up to you. But you have to "stay tuned" into the "right channel" to receive the message. Don't judge me, understand me, think outside the box like me. I am not against the Church nor Christianity; I'll let you know that I was raised in the Church and ADORED my pastor. Granted, I will doze often as a child and teenager, but I managed to still get the message and he actually helped the community and personally had a hand in me being the person that I am today and I love him DEARLY for that and if I win the lottery, he is in my top-five list of people that I want to thank in dinero instead of words. However, it took for me to move to a different city, struggle to find a different church home to open my eyes to the UGLY side of Christianity that has given me the "side eye" I now have for the religion today. This church was so big, people were not only outside the congregation watching it on TV, they were OUTSIDE THE CHURCH BUILDING watching it on TV. I can stay home to watch church on TV, thank you very much. Someone pointed out to me how the Pastor, Wife and Daughter roll to church every Sunday in THREE DIFFERENT CARS. Next Sunday, lo and behold, an Escalade on dubs, a red convertible Benz and an Audi, I think. I also noticed on how they stressed the importance of paying your tithes and how he made note to also note his disgust for the ones that do not give so much. Dude... you all got over $150,000 worth of vehicles parked when you all can drive the same car like regular people, money that you could have spend on EXPANDING YOUR BUILDING, but you wanna trip on folks for how much they decide to give in tithes? Talk about discouraging. I then attended a church that I loved! For the first time in my life, I could completely stay awake during the sermon, I felt like he decoded the Bible in a way that I can apply to my life, and every sermon I FELT LIKE HE WAS TALKING ABOUT ME. Talking about something I was going through, I've been through, or about to go through. It was like he put eyeglasses on my face when I thought my vision and understanding of what I've known was clear. Then I moved to a country where visitation of mosques were forbidden and there was no good options for a Christian church then returned stateside. I dreaded having to find a church home again and my last experience with the search left me discouraged in doing so. Some churches just left a bad taste in my mouth...besides, I've learned to find the God in me and utilize my knowledge, the internet, Holy books (including the Bible and other books of other religions), fellowship amongst my peers, coworkers and complete strangers to keep me spiritually grounded when I felt I had nowhere to go to lay my spiritual "hat" to call "home".

I've decided to not only have an understanding of Christianity on my own, but to study and research other religions. If the devil knows the Bible, why can't I get an understanding of my religious "adversaries"? Knowledge is power, right? Right. My experiences have taught me to open my eyes, keep my mind open, seek knowledge on my OWN and not have to depend on a reliable church to do so, and to be religiously independent. Because when you get in a situation to where there are no churches around you, just mosques and other temples, what are you going to do? Fall apart spiritually because you do not have a pastor and a church to rely on? Or are you going to gather your bearings and continue your walk with God on your own, having faith in yourself and faith in God that you will be okay, because he never left you in the first place? Think on that one. Peace... -SpicyCreoleAmazon

The Secret aka The Law of Attraction aka...

So, it was suggested to me about a year ago, after discussing the documentary "The Esoteric Agenda", to check out "The Secret" on Youtube. I never did, but instead bought the book. A lot of it seemed like common sense, pretty much. As I continued to turn the pages, I was intrigued.



The book broke down common sense stuff to a science and put it in ways that made even more sense. Some of the excerpts about good things only happening to people that apply themselves and think positively made sense, but was NOT an all-inclusive fact. If that was the case, then there would not be the saying "Nice guys finish last". We all know that crooks, assholes, schemers and tyrants put the nail in the coffin on that saying and made it pretty much gospel. But, who is to say that crooks, assholes, schemers and tyrants aren't optimistic? They have goals in mind, possibly a beneficial goal (to them). They are just way more crass and even cruel in their methods, but I digress...

The Secret defy the verity of the old saying with expressing the power of being positive. They took something as simple as saying "be positive, have faith, work hard" and broke it down to Layman's terms, provided examples and methods, and pretty much put enough words together to make a book. Sounds simple, right? It is. However, don't sleep. Check out the book. It just might put it in ways that you would have not realized otherwise. We can always use a daily reminder to stay positive in the midst of turmoil and stay faithful and true to your convictions and desires. It certainly does not hurt to have someone give advice on HOW to BE positive, faithful and diligent in life. I really appreciated this book for its intentions.

I can bet you ten dollars that the pessimists, being the pessimists that they are, will see this book as stupid or complain about the simplicity of it. Well, to the miserable assholes that refuse to get the true message and intent of this book and refuse to find the beauty and appreciation for self-help resources, keep your misery to yourself. Energy is not destroyed, it is merely transferred,so keep your negativity and misery to yourselves and find something to be happy or positive about.

Open your minds, people, and accept goodness in your lives. Accept help, chances and ways to improve your career, your health, and possibly your lives. The more you become positive, faithful and optimistic, the more you will recognize the beauty and the good around you. You will attract goodness, happiness, success as well as good, happy and successful people. In turn, that will lead to opportunities that will bring you to success and other greatness in life!

In a nutshell, have the right attitude. Your attitude determines your altitude. The Secret is optimism, positivity, faith and diligence.

What books or movies do you watch/read to keep you squared away?

The Power of Love...er, Oxytocin??

Fall in love, in love, love itself... it all starts with Oxytocin. Well, it starts with a hello, but I digress. Falling in love is one of the greatest, yet scariest feelings in the world. It is a feeling the females seem to feel more often and more strongly than males. Have you ever wondered why?

Well, the answer is Oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone that is dubbed "the love hormone". It is mainly excreted in the bloodstream, brain, ovaries and testes. It is the hormone that is excreted during lactation before a mother breastfeeds her child. Unfortunately, men do not produce more Oxytocin than women. Men are also more capable of releasing Oxytocin in women during copulation, increasing her rush during orgasm. It is not that easy for women to release Oxytocin in a man. This is the scientifical explanation why women are more likely to "fall in love" than men.

It is excreted when two people kiss, or make love (if you're lucky, during orgasm). It is the chemistry chemical that bonds two people. Some may mistake it for infatuation or lust, but it is not. Dopamine and Endorphin is not the only hormones that occur during sex. Oxytocin induces trust and generosity and reduces fear by inhibiting the amygdala, which is also known as "the fight or flight gland". Ever wondered why Ecstasy makes people all feely-touchy? Ecstasy stimulates Oxytocin in the body during consumption. Interesting...

So, boys and girls it is a scientific fact that love, or falling in love, is not just an emotional occurrence. It is not just an opinion that women can not be sexually involved with a man over time and not fall for him, or at least grow to love him, unless she had ulterior motives for dating him in the first place. Love is real and not just an ideal, scientifically speaking.