I finished it.....

So I finally finished "Eat, Pray, Love" and I really enjoyed it. In fact she wrote a sequel and I am anxious to read that as well. For my benefit I want to quote two passages in the book that really stood out to me so that I can reference them later. These passages refer to things that I have always believed in my heart (back to believe in my heart again with nothing to really back it up).
As I read these passages, I was like "yeah, yeah that's what I believe too" and it felt so good to know that someone else felt the same way. Especially, someone else who had traveled the world and studied with many different cultures to find the connection with God that felt right to her. Because while I have not traveled the world I have certainly learned about a multitude of Christian based religions trying to find my "fit" so to speak. So here they are:

"keep searching for the metaphors, rituals, and teachers that will help you move ever closer to divinity. The Yogic scriptures say that God responds to the sacred prayers and efforts of human beings in any way whatsoever that mortals chose to worship-just so long as those prayers are sincere. As one line from the Upanishads suggests : People follow different paths straight or crooked , according to their temperament, depending on which they consider best, or most appropriate- and all reach You, just as the rivers enter the ocean"

Wow, I love that. I have always felt that there is not one "right" religion. I believe that is why there are so many different religions. I believe God in his infinite wisdom knows that different people will need different paths but that as long as we all make it to him in the end that is all that matters.

Here's the other one:

"Love is infinite, I knew then that this is how God loves us all and receives us all, and that there is no such thing in this universe as hell, except that maybe in our own terrified minds. Because if even one broken and limited human being (she's meaning herself in this sentence) could experience even one such episode of absolute forgiveness and acceptance of her own self, then imagine - just imagine! - what God, in all his Eternal compassion, can forgive and accept."

I have always had a hard time with the idea of Hell because I don't believe for a second that God with all his "Eternal Compassion" could bear the idea of even one of his children not being with Him. I am not saying that there will not be consequences to pay for the bad choices that we might have made in this life but ETERNAL DAMNATION" I have always struggled with that.

Well that is all the philosophy for today LOL but if you are looking for a good read I highly recommend "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.