As I continue to research and understand the world in various ways, I have become very focused and enlightened by the truth. I know what I believe now is not the historical “norm”, but it resonates within me greatly.

I grew up in the Catholic religion with my grandparents and parents, before my parents divorced. Once they divorced; religion or faith was never a priority in our lives.

As I grew older and tried to form my own opinions, I never felt like I belonged in the Catholic church. I didn’t understand why we didn’t have Bible’s to read ourselves and why the Priest was the one interpreting the Bible for us. It just felt like it wasn’t right. I don’t know why I felt that way, but it did so I never attended the Catholic church much more as I grew up.

I have attended some other religious places of worship, but still, they never made me feel whole or like it was where I wanted to be. Searching for a church “home” just made me feel more lost. So, it’s fair to say I never made it a priority to attend church.

Over the past year of healing, I was looking for a deeper connection to God and decided to revisit the Catholic religion. I practiced Lent this past spring, dedicating every morning to prayer and Catholic guidance.

I am not going to lie; it was very emotional for me. It did allow me to realize things that I was holding onto that were still hurting me. Past relationships or even childhood stuff that was lingering deep in my heart.

As I moved through the season, I still felt lost and not connected to God like I truly wanted to be. I also felt more guilt, sadness and shame than I ever did before. I felt like I wasn’t good enough and that’s why I couldn’t feel connected to God. It was heartbreaking and left me wanting to isolate myself more than ever before.

Then I found some information that started to open my eyes to other possibilities on how to connect with God. So, my research began in another direction outside of the Catholic teachings.

Again, I know what I believe now is not what the majority of people believe and not many will agree with my thinking.

I believe that Christ is within us, and we do not need a religion or church building to connect with God. I believe when we remove the intermediaries and that when we stop looking outside of ourselves for God that we will have inner peace.

In my opinion, I am the body of Christ and all I need to do is be like Him to have the connection that I have been longing for my entire lifetime. Above all else, show everyone including yourself love.

When we stop looking outside for the love, peace or validation of God we will find He has been right here with us all along. There is no place in the sky called Heaven, it’s actually within your very soul.

This enlightenment didn’t come to me on a whim, and I have spent months researching organized religion and the history of how it all began. I feel different in an inspiring way than I did after I tried to reconnect through religion.

My soul feels whole, loved, at peace and enlightened in ways that are difficult to explain unless you can open your mind to a truth that most won’t consider.

If you have felt that you don’t fit in or don’t belong or lost in general, then you might be able to relate. If you are looking for a better understanding, then I highly recommend looking at how and why religious organizations were created. I would also advise looking into the truth about Jesus and His name then what was hidden from the Bible. There’s so much more to understand but if you seek the truth, you will find it.

~Many Blessings